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OOH, A BRAND-NEW LOOK!
GraveTalk gets a face-lift! After 3 years I felt a fresh-new look was in order! The new logo makes this appear more professional and more of a proper blog. However, it is just the logo that’s changed, I’ll still be having my say on sensitive, difficult issues! Let’s begin, after this little plug….
By the way, if you have a dark, sick sense of humour you can check out my book now! eBooks are available on my website or Amazon. Published books are available on Amazon!
‘Crossing That Line’ does exactly that. There are jokes that do cross that line as well as jokes to just fill out the book. However, the sick jokes that are in it are a lot worse than other sick joke books, i.e. The B3ta Bumper Book of Sick Jokes (My books actually has more words than that!). If you haven’t got a sick sense of humour stay well clear of my book! (And if you think I could not get any worse, my sequel book is a lot worse! In fact some of the jokes in that have disgusted me! My new book should be out later this year, I’m three weeks in and I’m not that far off the first one!)
…. OKAY PLUG OVER!
So, for the first GraveTalk under the new logo I thought I could do one about The Victorians and Victorian ways of life that are returning. I’ve been wanting to do this before, but something on the radio has got me started.
Let’s begin at the start of the industrial revolution and the canals. 1750, the UK had a canal network of 1,000 miles allowing easy transportation of goods between cities and the ports. The canals were still being built at the end of the next century (Although trains had taken over). The canal network stretch from coast to coast growing Britain and the Empire. The canals were used to build the railways – that would lead to the canals becoming obsolete.
The height of the British canal system was between 1750 and 1830. The 1830’s on-wards saw a new transport arise. However, canals continued to be built up until 1905. The canals went into a decline in the 20th Century and by 1960 many had been closed. The 1970’s saw a rejuvenation for the canal network with many being brought back into use by volunteers – who cleaned and restored them and today more and more disused canals are being brought back through an interest in canal tourism – either through walks or by boat trips. The Liverpool-Leeds Canal being connected to Liverpool’s Albert Dock in 2012.
Canals have been built, abandoned and brought back to life in past 200 years. Back in the 1960’s you would never have thought the canals would see such a resurgence as they have had. It’s nice to see them being cleaned up and opened up again – In fact new canals are being built in parts of the country. Hopefully, this continues and parts of our past are brought back.
Let’s move onto my favourite transport – trains! (I didn’t plan to do this in this order, but trains did take over canals)
I feel that trains were possibly one of the greatest achievements from the Victorian era; one that revolutionised travel across the world and one that hasn’t really seen a decline (Like the canals) since the railways caught on.
Trains became the biggest breakthrough in transportation since ancient times. Horses, donkeys and camels got people around and then came the trains – machines taking over; a true revolution. From the world’s first railway – the Stockton and Darlington railway – and the world’s first inter-city/passenger line (Liverpool to Manchester) to connecting islands to the mainland (The Channel Tunnel), railways have revolutionised travel.
Back in the 50’s, the UK saw many stations close due to them not being financially viable. Yet, in the 21st century (2020) – 200 years since the first railways, the UK railway network is undertaking major changes – from HS2 to new stations being built and old stations being re-opened! Cars may have taken over, but the trains are hanging in there and with this new railway buzz and being environmentally friendly maybe the trains will reclaim their past glory!
As countries try to reduce their pollution more and more cities around the world are looking at ways of getting people to use other means of getting around rather than take their cars. One of those ways is cycling.
The first bicycles from the early developments, such as the Dandy Horse and the Penny Farthing, bicycles took many shapes and forms until the end of the 19th century when the bike that we know it was first built.
Since 1886 bicycles have played an important part in getting people around. During the 1960’s when cars started to become more widely available, bikes were still largely used as they were cheaper and easier- with the rider not needing to pass a test. And that is still true today, even though you can get a cheap second-hand car many people still rely on bikes to get them around. City schemes for renting bikes has caught on, providing the public the opportunity to get around with having to drag their bikes everywhere. Bicycles have certainly seen a resurgence in adults an one that will see the number of riders increase in the years to come!
If you’ve ever watched ‘Open All Hours’ you will know about Granville the delivery boy. This may not be a Victorian way of life as there would have been delivery boys before this era, but there is no doubt the 19th century with the rise of the UK high street, with many shops opening for the first time – like Sainsburys, M&S – and with new technology like bicycles the Victorian’s took the ‘delivery boy’ role to a new level.
If you take ‘Open All Hours’, a 70’s sitcom the delivery boy was becoming a thing of the past with new supermarkets coming into play allowing people to get a lot more goods than they could at the corner shop. However, with look at the 21st century and the ‘delivery boy’ has come back – albeit as van drivers. With the modern way of life now used to ordering stuff from our phones, we have seen a huge revolution for delivery services. The 80’s and 90’s delivery’s were mostly from takeaways, Royal Mail, furniture, etc… now we have gone back to getting groceries delivered.
The Victorian’s didn’t have great sanitation or healthcare but they were developing systems for them. The Victorian’s had many breakthroughs in medicine and sanitation – allowing us to have what we’ve got today!
There is no doubt that the Victorians invented a lot, but who would have thought we would turn back the clock and have a Victorian comeback make a 21st century comeback! Trains, delivery’s, canals and bicycles we should be celebrating the Victorians and start appreciating them more.
So that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed GraveTalk and like the new-look!
For the next GraveTalk I will be going for the hat-trick – yes I am doing a third GraveTalk on this racism movement! I am only doing this because of the new nonsense that has emerged since my last one. I’ve already started it, so expect it soon.
Thanks again for reading! See you next time!!!
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