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The Groundwater Diaries: Trials, Tributaries…
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The Groundwater Diaries: Trials, Tributaries and Tall Stories from Beneath the Streets of London (original 2003; edition 2004)

by Tim Bradford

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533486,270 (2.72)None
A flight of imagination back to a time when London was green meadows and rolling hills, dotted with babbling brooks. Join Tim Bradford as he explores the lost rivers of London. Over the last hundred and fifty years, most of the tributaries of the Thames have been buried under concrete and brick. Now Tim Bradford takes us on a series of walks along the routes of these forgotten rivers and shows us the oddities and delights that can be found along the way. He finds the chi in the Ching, explores the links between London's football ground and freemasons, rediscovers the unbearable shiteness of being (in South London), enjoys the punk heritage of the Westbourne, and, of course, learns how to special-brew dowse. Here, then, is all of London life, but from a very different point of view. With a cast that includes the Viking superhero Hammer Smith, a jellied-eel fixated William Morris, a coprophiliac Samuel Johnson, Deep Purple and the Glaswegian deer of Richmond Park, and hundreds of cartoons, drawings and maps, 'The Groundwater Diaries' is a vastly entertaining (and sometimes frankly odd) tour through not-so-familiar terrain.… (more)
Member:steelyman
Title:The Groundwater Diaries: Trials, Tributaries and Tall Stories from Beneath the Streets of London
Authors:Tim Bradford
Info:Flamingo (2004), Paperback, 240 pages
Collections:Your library
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The Groundwater Diaries: Trials, Tributaries and Tall Stories from Beneath the Streets of London by Tim Bradford (2003)

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It felt like there wasn't quite enough material to carry the book and the digressions diverted more often than they supported. ( )
  SuzieD | Jan 3, 2023 |
"The Groundwater Diaries" is a meandering book that doesn't seem to quite reach the goal the author set himself at the start of the book. That goal was a hike along the former rivers of London that have been forced underground by London's continual expansion over the centuries. Bradford does some hiking but seemingly runs out things to say about the rivers in question and instead provides the occasional humorous anecdote about his childhood, his career producing cartoons for an obscure soccer magazine, and his aborted career as a hurdles runner.

Some of the jokes are funny and some reminisces touching, such as the story of his hurdling grandfather, but Bradford seems determined to relate every toilet break he took during the writing of the book. Normally I'm all for authors revealing their toiletry habits but somehow I tired of his depictions. Maybe I'm getting old.

Still, I thought it was a useful timewaster and I'm all for reading the next Bradford tome, even if I do have to wade my way through his faecal concerns. ( )
  MiaCulpa | Aug 18, 2014 |
Anecdotal account of the various "lost rivers of London" ie the tributaries of the Thames which flow through London and have shaped much of its history. Since the Victorian era these rivers have been channeled and buried below the streets and buildings of the city, indeed many Londoners are not even aware of their existence. Quirkily illustrated throughout with sketches, cartoons, b/w photos; a good book for anyone who is interested in my city. ( )
  herschelian | Feb 8, 2006 |
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A flight of imagination back to a time when London was green meadows and rolling hills, dotted with babbling brooks. Join Tim Bradford as he explores the lost rivers of London. Over the last hundred and fifty years, most of the tributaries of the Thames have been buried under concrete and brick. Now Tim Bradford takes us on a series of walks along the routes of these forgotten rivers and shows us the oddities and delights that can be found along the way. He finds the chi in the Ching, explores the links between London's football ground and freemasons, rediscovers the unbearable shiteness of being (in South London), enjoys the punk heritage of the Westbourne, and, of course, learns how to special-brew dowse. Here, then, is all of London life, but from a very different point of view. With a cast that includes the Viking superhero Hammer Smith, a jellied-eel fixated William Morris, a coprophiliac Samuel Johnson, Deep Purple and the Glaswegian deer of Richmond Park, and hundreds of cartoons, drawings and maps, 'The Groundwater Diaries' is a vastly entertaining (and sometimes frankly odd) tour through not-so-familiar terrain.

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