I was always fascinated by the idea of the Thames freezing every year in the 16th century, people walking on the ice, merchants grabbing the opportunity to set up shop. Thank you for this video
I grew up in Harrisburg PA on the Susquehanna river. At Harrisburg, the river is about a mile wide and quite shallow. In a dry summer you could walk across the river through the mud, sand, and sinkholes. In winter, it always froze hard making available lots of ad hoc ice rinks. When the ice broke up, you could hear it groaning and squeeking at night and the huge chunks of ice frequently backed up against several bridges causing the river to backup and sometimes top the banks. It is a fond memory although it probably worried all of the adults no end.
I grew up in Binghamton and I remember the river being frozen and hearing stories of people in the 1800's using horse drawn slays to cross it. I guess it must be deeper there because I don't remember the Susquehanna ever been dry. Those are good memories. Now I live in AZ you see dry rivers all the time. 😄
I live not far from Niagara Falls. I recently learned it froze a time or two and people would brave the ice and dance and skate. It all sounds fascinating, mighty waters freezing, but I don't know if I'd been brave enough to venture out onto the ice. Thank you for the video and the unwitting book recommendation!
I have always been a bit fascinated by the frost fairs, it seeming worlds away that london would be so consistently cold ❄ to enable such a thing. Really enjoyed this one as it isn't a subject that's often tackled in any depth. Seems a brave thing to do to set up there!
What an intriguing topic! I grew up in Michigan in the 60s-70s but even then, adults would flood a field or parking lot for ice skating, rather than let us take any chances on the rivers, creeks or lakes. I'm sure the Frost Fairs were most fun on the coldest days. Thank you for another excellent video. Stay warm and I hope you feel better soon! ☃❄
We do have those fairs whenever the River Alster freezes over here in Hamburg. At the ripe age of 57 I have consciously experienced it only three or four times. Always a wondrous experience.
Thanks again, Dr. Kat ❤ The movie 'Orlando' had a beautiful Frost Faire scene. Ottawa hosts Winterlude, celebrated with a skate down the canal with stops for beaver tails and putine - great fun!
Doctor Who fan here too and that episode was the first time I had hear about the frost fair 🙂 Thank you for another great history lesson, Dr Kat. I hope you get to feeling well soon.
Your video might answer a question I've had about mudlarking finds. I love to see the items brought up from people that make reg. trips to see what can be dug up on the Thames. I always wondered how some interesting and sometimes expensive things are found.
I love the idea of printed names being a popular souvenir, it just puts me in mind of all those t-shirts and magnets and various tat that is sold around London today with people's name on it and just makes me laugh thinking that as humans we really don't change much! We love our names on stuff and will happily pay a lot for it!
So interesting! I had no idea the Frost Fairs went on for so many years - or that the bridges might have played a role in the freeze-up. The cold weather in the late 1600s has been suggested as a factor in the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company - people wanted furs! In Winnipeg, Manitoba, where I live, we expect the rivers to freeze solid and be used for recreation.
It was the cold. I remember as a child getting history in school in Canada saying that they had to stop a war because the St Lawrence River froze up and the ships couldn't sail up it between October and April. Now that River is deep and has rapids just west of Montreal. I thought they were nuts until I was much older and learned more. The idea that you could use a sleigh to go from Quebec city to Montreal is impossible now. The River has not been changed much since then. They built the Seaway in the 50s on the side so ships could go past the rapids but that is it. Bruegel shows similar frost fairs in the Netherlands, and the skating on the canals and waterways there. It was cold. Probably because the gulf stream wasn't doing its thing. Climate change could cause that to happen again which means Britain and Europe will get colder long before they get warmer.
I have lived most of my life near Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada. This video maybe me reflect on all the business related to the lake freezing and how it has changed. Before my time there was a Winterfest on the lake that might not have been that different from a frost fair. The ice doesn’t get thick enough now so it is held on the shore. Talk about history repeating itself.
Hahaha! In California, we have annual Christmas Dickens Fairs. In the early 1990s, we were In Sacramento and all the pipes froze and broke in the building we were in. That year was dubbed Freezer Fair. These days we hold the Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Fewer chances of freezing over.
I live in Ottawa, Canada which is the home of the "longest skating rink in the world" when the Rideau canal freezes in winter and Winterlude. It's normal for me to see businesses, warming huts, competitions, concerts, etc set up on the ice, I can't imagine how novel it would have been on the Thames! How exciting for the people of that time! And how dangerous. Winterlude and the canal are very well managed with modern practices and monitoring, they would have little to no warning when ice became dangerously thin back then, and it happens so quickly. I have to wonder if the common people knew just how dangerous? Or maybe they did and, just as today, deem the excitement and merriment worth the risk? Very interesting video, Dr.Kat! I hope you feel better soon.
I wonder how deep the Thames was back then and if it froze all the way down. The ice must've been very thick if carriages and even fires didn't really do any damage to it.
I love the printed souvenir cards with your name! It sounds exactly like the kinds of personalized souvenirs you can get today at various kinds of events, like Renaissance Faires. Always wildly overpriced and the sellers making a great profit lol
I am reminded of a portion of the film "Orlando", in which the hero/heroine falls in love with a Russian princess during a frost fair. James I is featured at the fair, and at the end of the segment, when Orlando realizes the Russian princess was just using him, the ice breaks and the thaw begins. As an aside, I grew up in NYC in the 1960s. When I was a kid the Hudson would partially freeze over, although a shipping channel was kept clear in the middle of the river. 19th century prints and accounts talk about people crossing the river on foot in cold weather. No frost fairs though. Now the only ice ever seen on the river is from upriver during a thaw.
Dr ..In North America,during the American Revolution,a short ice age occured.The winter of 1779/1780, was extremely cold.The Hudson,East Rivers were frozen over.This allowed the English,and Hessian troops to easily cross over from occupied New York to New Jersey.General Washington and his army wintering in Morristown,suffered greatly with over 25 ft of snow.Many of the Continental Army went home.Well of course the earth,cools,and warms since the very begiining,and always will. History reflects on the climate. Drew,
Another fabulous view into the past. Thank you for sharing your excitement about the Frost Fairs with us! It sounds almost enchanted, I can only imagine the merriment in the air. 💜
✔ If we're prepared, it's an event. If we're not prepared, it could be catastrophic. Dark Winter, indeed. So ... let us think of NOW. Interesting concept of hard-to-find water, fuel, heat, power. We are no different than these fine people mentioned. Great segment. Thank you.
This reminds me of a Dr. Who episode. There was a faire on the Thames, I believe. He was traveling with Clara. Before I had seen that episode I had never heard of such an event. Fascinating how humans move right in. We are a strange lot. Pushing the envelope. It had to of been cold on their feet. Maybe it's the descending cold fact. I've seen people build a fire in the ice. Heat rises. I'm just prattling now. Awesome episode! Great content 😊 ❣️🌹❣️ Thank you for sharing all of this!
I agree the history of the frost fairs the way we know it keeps it whimsical . Thank you for all your videos they are always so informative and enjoyable
They had Frost Fairs in Jane Austen's day so it wasn't the Little Ice Age. The explanation given at the Docklands museum that had a little exhibit about Frost Fairs, was that the place around London Bridge is very prone to freezing because it's shallow and slowed down there...I've also seen The Little Ice Age explained by the Plague causing a lot fewer trees being cut down for fuel causing a cooling period.
Another American here - my first time hearing of these Frost Fairs was on Doctor Who - the Matt Smith years. River Song told Rory about the Doctor taking her to one
I hope you feel better soon. I'm having the same thing here in the states, and it happens every year for me. Ugh. I love videos like this, thank you for it, especially when you're not feeling very well today.
Absolutely fascinating! Growing up in NYC skating in Rockefeller Center was a blast, but I bet it was at the London Frost Fair as well! Thanks Dr. Kat. 8 trips to London and I never the poem or heard of the Fair!
I was looking forward to that episode, because you've mentioned it. Lovely. BTW I've had a hoarse throat and congested airways too, try ginger infusion, it does miracles. In my corner of the world the Baltic Sea froze solid during the little ice age which was decisive in the Swedes' winning the first Danish war.
My grandfather lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on the West Bank of the Hudson River across from Manhattan island, where he worked. In the winters around 1916, he walked to work across the frozen river. Call it a mini ice age.
One of my favourite films os “Orlando”. In it, they feature a frost fair which Orlando visits. There was a poor unfortunate fruit-seller who had fallen in and was frozen in the clear ice. She appears like a still-life with her hair and apples and dress stopped in time. Orlando’s friends find the sight immensely amusing.
I have been travelling today and this was a lovely way to end the day watching your latest video .I first heard about the Frost fairs when reading Liza Picards Elizabethan London and am just fascinated by them .I am watching all your back numbers and saving the History of Christmas till Xmas Eve to watch .Each video feels like a lovely treat .thank you Dr Kat
A great video. Here in New England frozen solid ponds, lakes and rivers are not unusual in winter. Here is a guideline for knowing when ice is safe foe various activities: Less than 4 inches: Stay off the ice. 4 inches: Walking, ice fishing, ice skating, or other activities on foot are permitted. 5 to 7 inches: Snowmobiling or riding ATVs are safe. 8 to 12 inches: Driving a car or small pickup is allowed. 12 to 15 inches: Driving a medium-sized truck is safe.
In 1816, the Old Farmer's Almanac (a reliable publication in the United States at the time) had a typo, and predicted that it would snow on the 4th of July. It snowed on the 4th of July!
I'm in Denver. It has snowed on the 4th of July a couple of times since I moved here in the late 70s. I thought it was great, but, then, I prefer the chill of winter to the roast and bake of summer!
I have similar symptoms, but it’s due to covid, unfortunately. Came down with it the day before Thanksgiving, thus ruining my holiday plans. Yay. Hope you’re feeling better soon!
In the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River the river is clearly full of ice floes and people familiar with that river currently scoffed at that. But obviously it was much colder in the 18th century.
The Potomac River, south of Washington DC freezes fairly often. With the snow on the ice, it looks like an empty field. When driving down the George Washington Parkway, I can imagine someone getting run off the highway and thinking that it was a safe place for a car to skid out onto. It isn't!
Oh another wonderful tutorial here. I learned so much from you Dr Kat and I enjoy your program so much. Hope you are better soon and have a great safe and healthy holiday with your family
Would you mind doing a video on the change of what we read in history, and see and hear in television and movies as courtly life and the importance of courtiers and how that changed as times changed? For example: how during the 16th/17th centurys and earlier court life was all important, but centuries later we see more aristocrats living separate from the court, like the Ton we all have heard of and social lives outside of their monarch as taking precedence. I cant figure out how the change evolved but would love your take on it 😊
Great stuff Dr Kat! I find myself thinking about the Great Stink… No ice for London Bridge in Arizona now! I really should go see it. Hard to feel festive in California as I’m more accustomed to the weather in Dr. Louis, Missouri(cold ice snow). Feel better. Soon.❤️👍
I had heard about frost fairs and thought they were fascinating, however I am ashamed to say that I had never considered the hardship that the freeze would inevitably have caused. It must have been dreadful, especially for the poor
I've known about the Little Ice Age for a long time. There are a lot of factors I, as a non-weather geek, would think of besides volcanoes. The Gulf Stream has been known to ramp up and shut down (as one person you mentioned pointed out) with some regularity. However, it was full functioning with the colonization of the US as ship's logs can attest. Still, England was growing grapes in large quantities prior to 1300. So, obviously the climate was a bit more hospitable. The change does seem sudden though beginning with the famine in the early 1300s. Also, it's interesting when reading things from the first episode of the Black Death in 1348 in England, one of the comments that is most often made is how wet the weather was that year. Things like 'the wet started in early summer and continued on into December'. Which would give rise to things like anthrax and a host of other things. Was England's percentage of deaths also caused by diseases or the murrains of animals? I believe they are looking at it. I'm beginning to wonder this year if Montana might finally get as much snow as I've seen in the 60s though. 😁
Loved this. I've wondered if a hard freeze on the Thames might have been responsible for the Chamberlain's Men being able to move the timbers from The Theatre from Shoreditch to Southwark in 1597. Do you have any info on that?
I’ve seen pictures of people ice-fishing in Canada where people have camp- or -bonfires on the ice, too. Those extra-cold centuries must have been very hard on the poor and animals, too, in the cities, especially, when fuel was so expensive to bring in.
You and the excerpt from Evelyn answered some of my questions. I’m so glad that public efforts were made to keep the poor from freezing to death or going without food or water. The smoke pollution sounds awful. We can get these atmospheric “inversions” where I live and in these cases, the evening woodsmoke layer sitting n the area is just unbearable, even in my shut-up house. Everyone has clean gas heat here, they just like fires “for atmosphere”. The atmosphere I prefer is one in which I can breathe.
Minnesota girl. All the lakes freeze over every winter. Little houses sprout up on many of them for Ice Fishing. A lake near Brainerd Minnesota has a fishing contest thousands of people show up and with them venders to feed them. So yeah I think we have “frost fairs” we just don’t have such a great name for them!
I don't think that last London Bridge you showed will ever have water freeze under it at all. Lake Havasu has never 🌬frozen. But they do make ice rinks on the Tennis Courts. Not quite the same.🤔😄
I find it odd that of your library of wonderful videos, there’s not one on Queen Victoria or Queen Anne. Would love to see your opinions on these two historical figures
I think they are awsome. I wish they could happen again, but understand why they will not. It is like the time they allowed people to walk the river bed above Niagara Falls because they had diverted the rive to make repairs...it is just awsome.
