It is actually in the Unitary Authority of West Berkshire and in the ceremonial County of Berkshire.
And in quite a few other paces as well!
So how come a bridge over the River Thames is called "Hungerford" Bridge?
Actually it isn't! To be pedantically accurate it, and its predecessor (of which more below) were officially known as the Charing Cross bridges. "Hungerford" was a bit of a nickname, applied after this guy ...,
... a certain Edward Hungerford.
Sir Edward Hungerford, KB, (20 October 1632 – 1711), was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1702. He was famous for his profligate ways and sold thirty manors, including the family seat at Farleigh Hungerford, to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
He had a London home, called Hungerford House, and a large plot of land south of the Strand, London. There are no pictures or maps showing this edifice in detail, but it came with a fair parcel of land.
Today's Hungerford House is a trendy restaurant built in an old electricity substation on the Victoria Embankment.
But, on this land the bewigged spendthrift build his only commercial venture, a market selling fresh food.
In an act of uncharacteristic modesty (?) he placed his own bust in the upper wall of his market. When Hungerford House burnt down the market hall was badly damaged and, undaunted, his Lordship built a new and better one.
Note the spire of St Martin in the Fields Church (on todays Trafalgar Square) in the background - and suitably over scale!
As befits Ted's profligacy and incompetence, the market was a total failure with Covent Garden and Billingsgate offering a greater range of produce at better prices.
But to encourage the crowds to cross from the south of the river, a footbridge was constructed. and duly opened to the admiration of the crowds in 1845.
It was designed by a certain Mr Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The bridge took pedestrians from Belvedere Road near Waterloo to where the Market stood.
Remember that the river was significantly wider than it is now in advance of the building of the Embankment.
Note the substantial brick piers below the footway deck.
We shall meet them in tomorrow's blog!
And one irrelevant snippet; here is the real Hungerford Bridge.
It is over the Kennet and Avon canal, surprisingly, at Hungerford!
Yesterday's Blog
It was a diaster, darling!
There were several hundred typing errors and a few non-sequiturs to add to the fun!
Something happened with "Blogger".
Late on Monday night, a weary fbb added the picture of the tin tabernacle at Butterley and pressed "update". By Yesterday morning not only had that picture disappeared but it seems that Blogger had replaced the updated and correct version with the very rough first draft.
fbb would have had to make a whole string of mistakes to allow this to happen.
So blame Blogger!
For those that gave up in disgust yesterday (and who could blame them) the whole blog is repeated below.
Exmoor - A P.S.
Correspondent David, who lives Minehead way, has sent fbb a full and frank explanation of the moorland pictures posted yesterday. fbb will explain all tomorrow.
Illuminations - Final Phase!
Work has begun on he Cross, the final element of the fbb mansions CHRISTmas decorations; due for installation later today. Mr Tubbles is offering helpful advice, as ever!
The Easy Leaflet Quiz for Letter "V"
Mostly pitifully easy, but with a few teasers!
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Advent Calendar Day 7
Godly Guidance
If Abraham and his fellow Patriarchs were the key characters in the Bible book of Genesis., then Moses is the central character in half of the 40 chapters of the book of Exodus. Genesis ends with Joseph as No 2 Guy in Egypt and his family moving south to settle there. It matches a period when Egypt's economic expansion needed skilled labour and thus welcomed workers from neighbouring nations.
But the policy changed and the Habiru tribe (Abraham's extended family that we now call "Hebrews") became enslaved and down-trodden.
And Moses (modern "Moshe") was given his big job by an unlikely messenger, viz a non-burning burning bush!
The upshot of this was a battle of wits between Yahweh, the God of the Habiru, and the "god-king" (pharaoh) of Egypt which Yahweh won. The series of ten "plagues" nearly broke the king's refusal to let God's people go.
"I know all about their sufferings, 8 and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile."
In the end it was crossing the Yam Suph, (Reed Sea erroneously called "Red" in many translations) ...
Moses announced, “Don't be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again. The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.”
... leaving the Egyptian army is disarray, that effected the Hebrew's escape from slavery.
Some modern readers are uneasy about the "miraculous" in these stories and seek an "explanation" for, say, the pillar of smoke/pillar of fire which led the Hebrews on their way.
Explanation or not, the important conclusion is that this rabble of escaping slaves knew deep down they they were in God's hands and he was guiding their route to the land that he promised.
Such pointless searches seem to forget that a God can do stuff that humans or terrestrial nature cannot. That is what "God" means!
Abraham's life of Faith becomes Moses journey of Faith.
But the "rabble" needed a bit more help than a miraculous smoke and/or fire event, because they kept messing up!
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Next Hungerford blog : Thursday 8th December
REPEAT (corrected, hopefully) OF TUESDAY'S BLOG
(the original disastrous blog was corrected yesterday morning)
The Beauty from an Uber Bus
Imagine the joy and privilege of commuting daily (?) between Barking Riverside and central London and, at this time of year, experiencing this!
Thames Barrier
St Pauls
Tower Bridge
Oxo Building
London Eye
And plenty more besides. Pictures twittered a few days ago.
The Beauty from a First Bus
The little belfry (sans bats!) Has to be glued on.
fbb does wonder how long it will be before he knocks it off on to the floor and it disappears into the capacious and greedy maw of Mrs fbb's vacuum cleaner, never to bell again!
Cheap Shopping in Guildford?
And free bus fares as well? Obviously not.
Sadly, fbb thinks these snaps were twittered by a driver on his way back over Exmoor to base after a school run.
So such magnificence is unavailable to those of us who are beyond education.
The Beauty from a Stagecoach Bus
But we could all enjoy this!
How about a pleasant open top bus ride in the Lake District. The famous 599 was still running topless a few days ago.
Please dress appropriately ...
... or not!
The choice is yours!
Yesterday's Puzzle Picture
This will be revealed in tomorrow's blog. What started as a "Variety" blog item has now been developed into a fully bloggable topic. So you will have to wait.
Terrific Tin Tabernacle
This delightful model of the former Westhouses place of worship, now preserved at the Midland Railway, Butterley ...
... finally arrived at fbb mansions yesterday. Snapped in poor artificial light at least we can see something of this resin cast model's accuracy.
Christmas Good News
The fbb's car is busted. The clutch has deteriorated until changing gear is well-nigh impossible. Their local (and usually very helpful) garage cannot deal with it until 20th December!
This presented a problem for yesterday's Fellowship meeting with at least five to collect. "Ish" (No - neither fbb nor Mrs has any idea) collected three very elderly ladies from just along the road and took them back afterwards.
"Ish" declined payment as the work was "for a charity"! fbb insisted that he take £15 which was still a bargain. The meeting had a record attendance (14) and everybody appreciated their time at fbb mansions.
Praise the Lord for "Ish" and attendee Graham, who helped transport the other two.
Christmas Very Poor News
And it is from the BBC. In an on-line article giving five ways to beat the cost of living crisis the Christmas ...
... item five is ...
... which the Beeb helpfully explains.
Erm, no.
CHRISTmas (there's a clue in the name) is about celebrating the historic birth of Yeshua ben Yusuph (a k a Jesus) called the CHRIST, i.e. the Messiah, and His role as the Saviour of the world.
Those that celebrate CHRISTmas will have a far better time than those who don't. And celebrating CHRISTmas costs NOTHING!
Yet more progress to a greener, cleaner society - NOT!
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Advent Calendar Day 6
Father of Faith
A song packed with theological principles - NOT. Many moons ago it even made the UK charts, sung by "Father Abraham", although not the one from the Bible!
In fact he only had eight sons. Ishmael from his slave girl, Isaac from Sarah his wife and six more from his second marriage to Keturah.
The key son was Isaac born in his parents' old age. When mum Sarah was told this by "an angel", she laughed ...,
... and who wouldn't?
Abraham was called by God to offer his precious son back to Him in a sacrifice.
Just before the sacrificial plunge, a ram caught in a bush was offered instead. The idea of a ram/lamb's blood being offered to save a human became a huge theme in the Bible. ("Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world").
It was God's thrice repeated promise made BEFORE Isaac was born that placed Abraham in real history.
God said, "I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.
"I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.
I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God."
God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations."
The story of Abraham and his descendants Isaac, Jacob and Joseph is written from Genesis Chapter 12 to the end (Chapter 50) and it too vast to cover in any short bit of writing.
Suffice it to say that none of them was squeaky clean in the sight of God, yet their lengthy journey of faith eventually led to the nation of Israel and on to the CHRIST of CHRISTmas.
Thus "Father Abraham" had many "children" (i.e. descendants) and they were - or should have been - powerfully guided by their FAITH ...
... except when they ignored God and his Guidance. Then ...
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Next Londin blog : Wednesday 7th December
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