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The Great Fire! Fire! of London 1666-2016

You've heard the nursery rhyme, "London's burning, London's Burning.. fetch the engines, fetch the engines.
Fire! Fire!
Fire! Fire!
Pour on water, pour on water"
Well, it was no nursery rhyme.
It was a true story...
Barge on Thames w Shard in background. Pic Credit Hina Pandya 2016©️

Walking down the river on the 1st of September, I came across this barge by Blackfriars bridge and near the Temple buildings, if that walk wasn't beautiful enough, this barge appeared and shows the beautiful skyline of London in 1666, when of course the great fire of London happened.

It started across the river in Bakers Lane and destroyed much of London, to be rebuilt and of course took many lives, but it also took the lives of the plague infested rats that spread disease to people like wildfire, if you'll pardon the pun.
Close up of the skyline of London in 1666. Pic Credit Hina Pandya2016©️

It also created The Monument- another landmark of London also on the Thames and accessible only by it's 311 stairs; built for the observation of the whole of London, so that if a fire broke out again then there would be a forewarning, and therefore prevent damage and casualties, because with the creation of the London Fire Brigade a bell would be rung and the fire service signalled so they could get to the fire and smoke fast, and put it out.

Which reminded me, that even in the darkest of times..macabre events described in the innocence of a nursery rhyme, people can learn lessons, improve and change, that horrid infested places can be saved, not without loss and in the most dramatic of ways, but eradicated of disease.

Proving miracles happen, and even when you're burnt to a cinder; good days are a comin'; have you seen the banks of the Thames lately?

The BBC has a nice video explaining how it was constructed, how school children were involved and when it'll be burnt down tonight at 8:30

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37270751

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