Unveiling London's Lost Wych Street: A Blast from the Past

What a poetic journey. Thank you for this well done video. Was just visiting London, sad to hear they completely tore down the historic streets. There is still alot to see and so much history to know. Downtown York kept its streets, and people flock the world over to see it

Most kids today are a different species and would have no interest in this. Most teachers are activists not teachers. Those with any decency can't survive in the system.

Nice

It’s nice to see how leafy and peaceful it is now that it has been pedestrianised. Another part of its evolution. What an excellent video. Thank you.

👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻🙂excellent video.

Bedankt

interesting, and well done. music approprite, though could be a tad softer

I dislike most modern buildings but I actually like London's skyscrapers. They're not too tall and I like how there are places in the city where you can see a medieval church, Georgian townhouse, Victorian terrace and modern glass highrise in the same view. No, they don't match but that's precisely why I like them.

I was once at the top of the hill in Greenwich park where you have one of the best views of the city and I saw three artists sketching the city skyline. Being an artist myself, I wanted to peek at what they were drawing. ALL three of them had chosen not to depict any of the modern buildings. Something about that annoyed me far more than it should.

Haven't seen this mentioned in the comments so thought I'd bring it up as an interesting coincidence: the Waldorf Hotel on Aldwych (which is just west of where the old junction of Wych Street and Drury Lane would've been) was established by John Astor's great grandson, William Waldorf Astor (the name Waldorf being derived from John Astor's birthplace in Germany). A gulf of three generations separated by a couple hundred yards.

Interesting, … but thoroughfare, is mispronounced in the commentary….

An interactive map would be cool to compliment your work

I echo another commentor 5 stars for your entertaining history of Witch Street etc. Bravo! Thank you, absolutely marvellous. Xxx❤❤

Excellent stuff. Well-narrated, with just enough detail to satisfy but not to overwhelm. Nicely done.

So interesting, and well told. Subscribed. 🙂
One small point - it's thoroughfare (pronounced Thurrer-fare), not throughfare.
Don't know why, probably doesn't make sense, but if you Google 'throughfare', it changes it to 'thoroughfare', so I don't think the word exists :)

I’m so glad I discovered your work another excellent video. I love London and it’s history your vivid descriptions and excellent illustrations really bring the past into the present with so much passion and detail. Thank you so much.

🖤🖤🖤

Another great video. Informative and well presented.
Love the photos of then and now.
❤

Thank You for sharing the history ❤

Very nice. Fully enjoyed.Thank you!

How about London Bridge? Smithfield where the hangings,executions took place,where it is?

What a LOVELY, INTERESTING VIDEO!

THANK YOU!

London is an amazing city so rich in history and character. Most of the current buildings are so impressive

Cool, very interesting. Curious, what kind of british accent does the narrator have?

What a wonderful informative video. I love exploring London on foot and discovering all the history there. Now subscribing to your channel.

One thing, if I may, "throughfare" should be 'thoroughfare'* *meaning the same, but spelt and pronounced differently ...as an old English lady, fond of English - like the other too often mispronounced London street, 'Marylebone' ...which far too many people, (including sadly, "RobsLondon", who has refused to correct his pronunciation, and he continues to call it "Marleybone" 😞 😢) 😞

As an Australian, I used to work in Somerset house, and over the years I've been to Australia House on many occasions, but I never realised that there was a previous System of streets that existed prior to Aldwych. Fascinating

Aldwich, my family had business in Covent Garden and my Nan says she remembers it all being pulled down but I think more correctly it was her mother who told the stories of the slums being demolished around there.

I enjoyed this but please, it's "thouroughfare" not throughfare. 😊

The beautiful past is keeping disappearing. Very sad… And it is not just the time that destroys the beauty. The men do this. Everywhere in the world… As if some powerful men do everything possible to remove the evidences of the magnificent inheritage.

Absolutely fascinating insight into old London. Wych street sounds very interesting.

Every time I see videos of streets in European cities I’m. reminded of just what a dump the US is

Almost thought the speaker was a real person. The clue? "Thoroughfare". Or was it really a person who cannot read properly?

Covent Garden was not a slum before the 'new shops' it was a thriving market.

The more im watching the more heartbreaking it is💔

What must it have been like, to live in such a place back in time?
Can we even imagine it?
To always be cold and hungry and dirty?
To work so hard for so little?
To walk the streets in fear?
Was it like that at all?
Was it living for the moment, for tomorrow may never come?
Was it being sharp of mind and nimble of hand?
Was it being a competitor in a highly competitive world?
Was it being a predator or the prey?
Was it so different from today?
The rules have changed, on the surface at any rate
you can wear fewer clothes and more jewelry
own a flasher car and a flashy business
and still die in the gutter
at the hands of a desperate man, or woman or child.
There are more Police now, but there are still places they fear to go.
There are still place where the taboo is served on platters.
Places where the beer is good and others where the Smak is good
and places where every thing is bad, as per order.
Not so different then?
But what about the children?
In the old town, children didn't stay children for long,
they had to grow up fast, if crooked, to grow up at all
and now children are taught how to be children all their lives,
in some shinny places,
but often they seek the old knowledge
of how to grow up crooked and fast.
It's not just the film that made the old streets look dark and bland and hard,
it's not just the stories of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen,
it's the stories your Gran tells you that their Gran told them
it's the names scratched in the wall
and the certainty that that London still exists
in every Londoner's heart.

I love London and miss it as I moved to Australia over 20 years ago, but have been back a couple of times. I’ve always been obsessed with English history, especially medieval. Thank you for your interesting video.

I really enjoyed watching this. But I was hit with sadness too.
Could you imagine if just 1 or 2 of those little back alleyways with their medieval buildings and latter, Georgian and very early Victorian architecture had survived??
What a history lesson there would right there! The timbers and materials used to built them, the people who would of inhabited them and the dark, sad, and cramped conditions they had no choice but to endure. It would of been an incredible time capsule... but sadly, they never had such thoughts like that back then.
When these buildings have survived, people gut them out and completely modenise them... losing all that charm and unique style and character.
So, so sad.

It was Covenant Garden, the place where fruit and vegetables are brought to be sold to grocery stores. Opposite was the Opera House. The place was old but it was not a slum. The market, like Spitlefield was sold off by the city and new shopping areas were made for each of the areas.

When you recognise Samuel Johnson from Blackadder....🤣🤣

Covent Garden was a beautiful flower market long before it was a shopping centre

Thanks for Uploading.

Thank you.

Wonderful video - I was in London in 2023 and visited this area (needed to vote in the referendum at Australia House) - had a lovely visit to temple Church too which was fascinating. Highly recommended if you haven’t already been there

As a Englishman and a brick mason I throughly enjoyed this well made god bless 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Yes, and it's pronounced "thoroughfare" - not "threw-fare"!

London is a museum of itself now. Completely f___d as a city.

LONDONISTAN

Aldwych = "old port". I read that this area was the port of London of the Anglo-Saxons until Alfred the Great rebuilt the Roman fortifications (now "City") and the new port of London was established there, making this the old one.