American Couple Reacts: London, England's MEGACITY: Capital of the UK! FIRST TIME REACTION!!
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- Опубліковано 4 січ 2023
- American Couple Reacts: London, England's MEGACITY: Capital of the United Kingdom! FIRST TIME REACTION!! Can you believe in nearly a year and a half we haven't done a video on strictly London!? Well it's time! This video was INCREDIBLE! We learned a lot of information that we had no idea about! We are curious if you may have learned a thing or two as well? Let us know. London is an incredible city with an amazing past! The history is nearly unbelievable and the area is beautiful. Join us on our trip through times past and present in this episode of learning about London!
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Can you believe in nearly a year and a half we haven't done a video strictly on London!? Well it's time! This video was INCREDIBLE! We learned a lot of information that we had no idea about! We are curious if you may have learned a thing or two as well? Let us know. London is an incredible city with an amazing past! The history is nearly unbelievable and the area is beautiful. Join us on our trip through times past and present in this episode of learning about London!
If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support any UA-cam channel. Also please click the Like button. Thanks so much for watching!
Hey Natasha! A shame your exposition of your history within coffee houses was edited out. I'd've liked to have heard about that.
@josefschiltz2192 seriously? Well dang it!! It was pretty epic! Too many people complain about us talking too much, so I cut it short for time. Thanks for showing interest! 👍🏻
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow I and three of my - sadly - late friends were called - we found this out later - 'The Four Philosophers'. I miss those coffee house times. Edit: As for those that say you talk too much! Pfft!
Would be amazing if you did a expose / review of the City of London Corporation (a private state within UK). The best documentary on the subject is free on UA-cam called "The Spider's Web, Britain's Second Empire".
To get to know real London - 2 fun history channels, I'd recommend watching 'Jay Foreman' and 'Jools Guides' for street level history. For street level food and quality 'real food' eating places, checkout (Londoner) Darren John's channel. To get an informed tourist perspective, I've discovered the impressive (American) Jess of 'Love and London'. As a suburban 'Londoner', I can vouch for how fair, accurate and well-informed these guys are. 😊
Believe it or not, the great fire of London started in a bakery in Pudding Lane!
My grandma lived in London during the blitz.She said she saw a German plane fly so low, she saw the pilot in the cockpit.She only went to the underground once for safety, she said it was horrible, and people would keep you awake.She stayed in her home, and said if it's my time it's my time.People were brave back then.
Yes I totally agree, my grandparents said exactly that same, when they lived in London during the blitz, also have relatives who were young children at the time, and it was worse for them.
Not sure I believe that. All the Blitz, was all done at night. Unless the bombing was coordinated by the British Government. Much of the bombing was on sites with condemned housing. Like Tokyo, flatten it & start again. Perhaps the UK government was really responsible for the Blitz, of 1940. That we will never know highly classified.
My mum and dad are both from London, my dads house got bombed three times during WWII
People were also brave in Germany as my city of Coventry would tell you.
60,000 civilians killed in one night in Hamburg, in July 1943 alone
@@TukikoTroy lets not forget later in the war, the bombing day and night of London by "flying bombs" Doodlebugs.
London is huge. It is twice the size of New York City. The five boroughs of NYC - Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island - cover a total area of 300 square miles. London covers 610 square miles.
I don't agree with this at all. You must be referencing Greater London which itself is not a city (the City of London and the city of Westminster are). If one looks at greater London and the urban area around New York, the latter is by far bigger. My point is that this is all subjective
@@davidticktum6867 You are not comparing like with like. As I said, the combined areas of the 5 New York City Boroughs is 300 square miles. The 32 London Boroughs, which together constitute the city of London total 610 square miles. Note I didn't say City (capital C) of London which is what the square mile of the financial district is colloquially called. The City of Westminster is not the whole of London either. What you are doing is claiming that the metropolitan areas surrounding NYC - such as New Jersey, are in fact part of New York City. They are not. That would be like including the populated areas outside of the 32 London Boroughs - such as the urban areas of the Home Counties, and claiming they are part of London. They are not. Going by your definition the largest city in the world is actually Oslo, since it's metropolitan area (as opposed to the area within the city boundaries) runs into thousands of square miles, oddly enough. It is a fact nevertheless. Google, which as you know is an American company, says the area of New York City is 783.8 square kms (302 square miles) and that the area of London is 1,572 square kms (607 square miles). Just for interest, Google gives the area of Los Angeles as 1,213 square kms (468 square miles).
@@davidticktum6867 Greater London is London. Greater London is the city. It is you that is wrong.
London the greatest city on the planet or as we londoners call it the capital of the world I'm proud of being a londoner and that's me being biased 😂 great video ladies ❤️
Hi ladies. Green belt is constantly under threat all over the UK, however we value this so much in urban areas and local communities will very often protest building plans, not always successfully. My local area have recently been successful in saving our local green area. Keep the reactions coming you do them so well.
I'm a train driver in London and the views I see every day in my moving office still leave me in awe.
I thought you were on strike? Driving a UK train in London, should remind you of early Victorian Britain. The tracks have never been redesigned since the mid 1800´s. Some of the curves where the train cannot do more than 40 mph.
@@Westhamsterdam Not on strike at moment as we have an offer out to vote. Yes, I love my line, it's a complete mix of running out to the suburbs, underground and running on curvy Victorian viaducts.
Also a Londoner and although I don’t live there any more,I’m SO fortunate to have grown up there.(60’s,70’s and 80’s.)
If you can’t find what you want in London,you won’t find it any where.
@@TheCornishCockney so true!
Don't you earn something like £80k a year?
My husband is now hooked on you guys….we’re English and love your enthusiasm especially Natasha…stay safe well and happy xx
Thank you! 😃
Three of my grandparents were from London and I was brought in Kent a County in the South East of London. We moved from London in the 70s and I returned to London in the 80s. I remember the Thames Barrier being built and often heard a siren when they were raising the barriers when a very high tide was predicted.
London has been ahead of many European and world cities in the past from Environmental, Politics, Architecture and Finance's to the Arts etc. History is everywhere and you can still see traces of the Roman city Londinium to the Anglo Saxon Capital Lundenwic. To today London. It's centuries of History and culture is amazing. One of the world's megacities and home to many cultures. You should try and visit London one day. I am proud to be a Londoner.
I was born and brought up in South London (Borough of Bromley), so it's great to see your first reactions to places I know so well. Regarding The Great Plague and The Great Fire, a very famous Englishman called Samuel Pepys (pronounced Peeps), kept a detailed diary of events at that time. His eyewitness accounts of both The Plague and The Fire are the most important primary sources we have for those events. The Wikipedia entry for Samuel Pepys is well worth a read.
Up the Bromley
Born in Bromley as well.
Bromley Kent .
But where did he bury the cheese?!
I am a Londoner,born and bred there nearly 85 years ago in the East End. Thank you for appreciating my beloved home city, the most fascinating place on earth. Incidentally the Thames Barrier ( the flood prevention scheme) had been raised over 200 times since 1984.
Margaret, I am born an bred in Newham, not far from the Thames Barrier. It has a really nice park on the Noryh side (not that I would go to the south side.
@@mickcoleman5396 Of course you wouldn't. I worked in London for nearly 25 years and saw how colleagues tensed up when having to visit the barbarian encampments of South London for work, even if it was literally just a quick visit to the South Bank!
@@mickcoleman5396 I've only just picked up your posting, sorry. I do so agree about not venturing south of the Thames. My godson's family lived in Dulwich and I always felt that I was in alien territory when I went to visit them
There is absolutely nothing to fear from coming south London (except for Croydon). I defected here 20 years ago from North London, the only thing we needed was a tube station other than Brixton 😂
You can probably appreciate how resilience and ingenuity has been hardwired into Londoners (and Brits) due to responding to events over the centuries. So when you watch videos of the Blitz in WW2, or even more recent events (incl. terrorist bombings or pandemic), our pragmatic response and 'Keep Calm and Carry On' mindset kicks in.
My grandad worked on designing the lifting arms of the Thames flood barrier. Made my day hearing it being celebrated!
London has so much to see. It really is a place you are best spending a week to enjoy things at a leisurely rate. You see so many people trying to cram everything into 1 or 2 days, but it just spoils the experience essentially clock watching
@Nicky L 50 years isn't enough.
@Nicky L well no but many US travel vloggers I've seen are usually in London maybe 1 or 2 days. Lot of people lose near on a day to jetlag!. Kew Gardens alone needs a whole day
But a week in the UK trying to cram everything in is not enough time. You need atleast a month really if you plan on travelling
People forget that London is one of the greenest cities in the world, loads of green spaces. I live in East London 🌟
I'm sad I'll never be able to afford to live in London.
@@JohnnyZenith Paint yourself dark brown.....you will soon be given a fancy apartment in Haringey to live in.
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hbfound him!
I live in west London
@@JohnnyZenithI'm London born & bred, we can't afford London either but we are still here 😊
Love London ❤️ I lived in Central in covent garden for a few years and loved it , the architecture is beautiful, it full of hidden gems and beautiful shop , restaurants, free museums, theres just so much history , I miss London 😔
Weird, I lived in London for a year and that was enough for me, have never wanted to go back.
@@holliswilliams8426 weird....for who ??
I drive through London Bridge Station, and the fact they could completely rebuild it, despite it having 50 million passengers a year with only minimal disruption was
amazing. It does have its problems as a city for sure, but it's an amazing cosmopolitan, multicultural place.
What a fantastic video and I love your reaction! London is jam-packed with history and culture, a great place to visit. My mum's 15 yo cousin was killed in one air-raid during WW2 and when they rebuilt the area they named a road after her, Alice Thompson Close...my mum said she had lovely eyes ❤️
Thanks so much ❤️ We really enjoyed learning all of this
I've just looked at that on google street view, a lovely little street, and right next door to a nature reserve.
@@Al8minium that's lovely to hear 😊
Greenbelts still exist and despite developers lobbying to be allowed to build, most are holding.
They're important because they give a gap between towns and villages and avoid them being merged together
However, if that was the mindset 300 years ago there would be no London. The principal of the greenbelt is a noble one but outdated by the fact people can quite easily access open countryside with modern transport. It seems an anachronism and plainly unfair to have massive tracts of land as fields outside London whilst so many people cannot afford to buy or even rent in the city anymore, only a large increase of housing in the greenbelt can provide this.
London as wonderful parks and green areas all around it and as a country boy i was surprised just how beaty full my capital city is .
This is why our houses are small to keep our green spaces. A couple of brand new towns have been purpose built, eg Milton Keynes. Keeping development into compact areas to prevent urban sprawl and ribbon development.
Thank you for helping me appreciate my city. As a born Londoner we don’t often appreciate the city and it’s history and tend to moan a lot about our amazing position in the world x
London is my favourite city in the world and my heart skips a beat every time the plane comes in to land. However, if the stars aligned and I could live in England, Cornwall is where my heart belongs. Although born in Australia my Cornish ancestry goes back to around 1400 and I've never felt more at home than I do in that most beloved country ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
12.6% of the UK as of September last year was still greenbelt, considering the population of our tiny island as a whole I think that figure is decent. I'm a Yorkshire lass so I'm surrounded by countryside. Great video ladies ❤️
I'm a Londoner but I think York is our most beautiful city
@@jjstewart4341 either York or Edinburgh and that's from a Yorkshireman
Fabulous video ladies....there is a lot of history to our cities which is wonderful
Personally I want the green belt saved and not built up on .....we need trees and nature to survive
❤
Many people who work in London live well outside- with good commuter trains. This means that towns fifty or more miles away are expanding, and new towns are built beyond the green belt. I live over 100 miles from London but I can get to the city by train in 75 minutes - plus a 15 minute walk from my house to the station. Some do it everyday!
Developers are continually trying to build on green spaces, sometimes successfully. However, there are a lot of brownfield sites, old factories, et, that they could build on for housing but they will not because it is expensive to clear the sites and dispose of what are sometimes hazardous materials.
Westminster Abbey is a truly amazing place , well worth a visit.
I think we’re all waiting to hear when you guys plan to come and visit the UK! No one can say you guys haven’t done your research!!
Sir Christopher Wren was the architect for St Paul’s Cathedral. During the blitz, the fires raged around it on all sides, but St Paul’s survived intact. My grandad worked for the railway as a delivery driver, during WW2 he also volunteered as a fireman to protect railway stock in the blitz.
My uncle was a fireman in London during the blitz. He rarely talked about it, he did mention St Pauls though.
My grandad also worked on the railway, the LMS specifically, and also joined the National Fire Service in his "spare time".
I love the fact that you didn’t start with London, you’ve learned a lot about the UK before getting to this. Londons history is very interesting but as you’ve seen there is soo much more to the UK.
Thank you!! That's exactly why we waited. Now we have so much to dive into for London!
I thought the same Louise! Most reactors start with London, and most British people are thinking , that London is very different to the rest of UK, Natasha and Debbie , get it right every time! 😀
The Green belt still exists but has been chewed into. London now has a physical barrier to expansion. The M25 orbital Motorway. A big difference in property prices inside to outside but one has to go beyond the daily commuting distance (up to 2 hrs by train 100 - 150 miles) to find a big noticeable drop. This applies to other major cities but a shorter distance about 1 - 1.5 hrs commute time.
M25 - uk largest car park
I know someone who struggled to afford property in london lives in south wales and commutes to london mon - thurs and works from home friday. He lives in a bedsit with other commuters.
Ladies, the big difference between most cities in America and Britain is the zoning regulations. So yes we have a very strict zoning code, the green belt around our major cities especially London, we are far more relaxed about changing the use of existing land. So inside London, a lot of former industrial sites, ‘brown field sites’ are as their industrial use has become redundant, they are changed to residential, or mixed residential, light industrial and commercial use. So areas such as the Docklands, which as shipping has moved from small break bulk ships to very large container ships, became redundant, have been completely replaced, while retaining as much of their historic infrastructure as possible, into residential and commercial uses. A recent major project was the repurposing of the Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms former train yards, into a vibrant new development, including the site of the new United States of America Embassy. Which also required the construction of an extension to the underground railway to two new stations. And because of our strict housing regulations, a proportion of the homes built are required to be affordable for those on low income. In the east at Barking, what was the site again of a number of former coal fired power stations and gas works, that’s coal gas not natural, is being developed as residential and commercial. And includes a brand new overground railway station, that links to the London Overground network, and thus the Underground and Docklands Light Railway. So yes we are retaining the Green Belt, but London does have a lot of Brown Field sites, that can be repurposed to new uses. It is also the same within the Green Belt, the old goods yard at the local railway station, can be turned into domestic homes, normally flats, and the Victorian light industrial buildings, or especially around London, large Victorian Edwardian mental institutions can again become residential.
Some of the best videos you could react to are by Joolz Guides, he does amazing history walks throughout the different boroughs and you really get to know the place from a locals point of view...he is very humourous, very British and highly knowledgeble...I'm a big fan and just know you both would love him....😊👍 🇬🇧💖🇺🇸
Added!
Definitely Joolz Guides please watch some of his videos you will learn a lot.
ua-cam.com/video/9vzD_GtFVDU/v-deo.html
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow Thank you you lovely ladies yes someone mentioned Jolson London walks fascinating
Joolz
It may be the busiest air space because there are five airports serving London and I think Southend is now considered a London airport so that makes six.
Lyyd is technically considered a London airport too. You have Biggin Hill. Northolt is incredibly near Heathrow as well London City
Hope you can both can come to London sometime soon, you will really enjoy it. Goto Borough Market, busy however it is great. Closed on Sundays, and I think some stalls are not open Monday and Tuesday.
Forget Borough, go to Camden for the English market experience. Borough is full of working lunchers who are not actually from London for the most part. They just move here to work, not a true reflection of the London area
I live in London and love it to bits, it's my favorite of the mega cities. It's incredibly multicultural, has great transport and a lot of green space; it also sprawls quite a large area so the population density is pretty low compared to other similar cities so there's plenty of room to build more housing without disrupting the open spaces but the infrastructure would need some serious upgrades to handle it. Most areas tend to be quite mixed in terms of wealth, so you don't really have the ghetto problems of say Paris (which receives more tourists). The weather is also pretty great actually, contrary to popular opinion it doesn't actually rain all that much and fog is rare. It tends to be quite overcast a lot of the time, but that helps keep the temperatures in check with a fairly narrow range around 10-25C most of the time which is very comfortable to live with. In Winter you get a couple of weeks around freezing, and in Summer a few weeks around 30-35C
I do like London, the only problem is the ''multicultural'' aspect you mention which means that so many people there don't speak much English, it makes asking for directions or buying things quite difficult at times.
Still loving the content ladies! I grew up in the City of London - on Fenchurch St. in m dad's pub... Went to school down the road at St. John Cass Foundation School, (Still there!) which was also the site of the first Ripper murder and start of the "Ripper Tour." I've played in the moat at the Tower, fed the ravens, climbed the Q.E. Tower (Big Ben), had a dentist in Harley St. and been through 5 separate bomb scares and one actual bomb attack while at the pub... Took it all for granted as a kid, but now realize it was pretty friggin incredible.
Not sure how true this is but I read recently that the reason the UK and Ireland are so green is not just because of the amount of rainfall. It is because of how far North we are. This means we get less light so plants have more chlorophyll for photosynthesis, causing them to be greener. This, coupled with the fact that we are warmer (thanks to the jet stream) than other countries this far North such as Canada means we have lush green vegetation.
I learned quite a lot, with this one. I Cant help but love London, it’s so rich in history, fabulous architecture, beautiful parks, and amazing culture. The technology is impressive too!! I couldn’t live in London, but to visit, and experience, it’s certainly got the wow factor. Both my parents grow up in London. Public transport is very good too. Love the video, great work, please keep them coming. You’re great!! X
I love visiting London, to get my gallery and museum fix especially! One thing about visiting London, after a day of visits etc and you blow your nose....the colour is unexpected!
So lovely to see this.... thank you ladies .. welcome back... have a great year
You need to go to London we were there in June for her majesty jubilee it was fantastic, the city is just a history lesson we spent the week walking everywhere, I can’t wait to go back ,and I only live up the road in Glasgow.
One word of warning it is very expensive but worth the visit
Hi girls. Another great reaction. The Green belts are fixed by law, but you are right, there are pressures to encroach upon it all the time. This has permitted some development but it remains strongly protected, with people determined to retain it wherever possible. Recent events, including the pandemic, have much reduced many activities, shopping has shifted to
on line, & much office type work is now done off site, remotely or at home, meaning that commuting has reduced, severely damaging city centre business for cafes, pubs, shops &
ancillary & service industries, so much so that some question whether the latest multi-million
pound Elizabeth line cross London railway is actually going to be necessary. Now that much
traditional city type work can be done on line people can move beyond London, & it's green belt. Even government departments, & major businesses like media, are relocating somewhat
to other places, boosting business there while easing the costs, & employees can access less expensive housing etc, though it has been found that many are reluctant to leave London because of it's many benefits. What ever happens it is surely the case that London will adapt &
continue to flourish as it has for almost two thousand years. Britain cannot prosper unless the monstrous, marvellous city of London does. Best wishes for 2023 to you & all.
That was a very interesting video! Thanks for sharing with us Natasha and Debbie! 🇺🇸🇬🇧
In Oxfod the built inwards, they cut school fields and sports areas within the city and built houses on unfortunately there are some instances of farmers selling their green belt land on the outskirts of Oxford to developers to build a new estate
Hi the painting at 10:01 is of the East India Dock in Blackwall East London where today stands The Virginia Settlers Monument on the other side of the Thames to the O2 arena .The Virginia Settlers Monument pays tribute to the Virginia Settlers who set off from this part of Blackwall in 1606, Captain Christopher Newport led the Virginia Settlement expedition with three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. On board the ships were 105 men and boys, plus 39 sailors.
They carried with them a charter from the Virginia Company to establish a settlement in the New World. They arrived in Virginia in 1607 and created a settlement called Jamestown which became the first permanent English settlement in North America. Just thought you might like to know .
You two are adorable. I love your reactions, especially with all things British. I live around 30 miles outside London and it's such a popular tourist attraction. Subbed! 💜
Even as a South Londoner ( LB Greenwich and LB Bromley) I found this really interesting and loved your reaction. Always proud of my city and really its so massive that when you visit the West End or City - like most tourists do - you are only seeing a tiny part.
Now live on the coast 70 miles away and use to until a few years ago commute into 'town' every day - just under an hour on the high speed train. Miss the days when I was young and enjoyed the city it just has everything.
up the bromley
Hi Debbie and Natasha, Part of London history is the annual Lord Mayor's Show. Held every year in November , when the new Lord Mayor is installed. This event has been extant since medieaval times (1200's) ; the historical continuity. The English pantomine, (comic play), has as one of its plays, 'Dick Whittington', who was an early Lord Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor's Show is a large parade of military and volunteer organisations and livery companies all associated with the City of London. Its all very jolly and good fun , and everyone is dressed up in their finest official regalia. The horse drawn coach the Lord Mayor rides in is something to behold. Keep up the good work ladies. Len.
The green Belt has often be encroached upon. It's been called 'The Green Chain' as well, but this has also been quietly dropped.
Basically, when a Government establishes a law that reserves land for 'the people' it means that only the Government (and its ministers (and it's minister's friends)) can destroy it.
Rather similar how a place can be be designated a 'site of special scientific interest' or other such things, which results in only those named above being permitted to exterminate it.
Much of Hackney Marshes before the Olympics in 2012 for example, or the Medway Estuary's sites of great natural beauty.
There are constant battles about the green spaces around major cities developers and some politicians want to smother them with houses but most people want to keep them unspoiled. The word NIMBY. Not in my back yard applies to most people who live in areas that are threatened with nearby development because naturally they want to keep where they live as nice as possible and let the development take place somewhere else
Another great video ladies, the great fire of London is reputed to have started in a bakers shop on Pudding Lane and was more of a structural tragedy than a great loss of life.80 to 85 percent of Londoners were made homeless, but only Six people died. Strange but true !!
while one could argue many of the dead were simply not reported , it is also possible that running a few hundred yards north beyond the walls to the muddy moorfields was not that far to get away from the built up timber area, indeed this must have happened because many folk returned to reclaim "their land" thus preventing the wholesale rebuild plan of Wren with a more muted rebuilt of existing in stone and early brick
Lived in London for 45 years, until we finally moved out a year ago. It's a fantastic city, with issues. No more or less than any of its comparators.
Bazalgette not only built the London sewers but also the Thames Embankment which covers the great sewer that carries the waste down to the estuary and he won the competition to build a bridge over the Thames at the Tower, Tower Bridge.
He became famous for taking the sewage out of London, whereas his decedent in the early 2000s pumped it back in via the TV show "Big Brother".
Sorry to be pedantic. Sir Horace Jones won the Tower Bridge competition. Bazalgette’s design was a rather clumsy trussed girder affair and was rejected. He did however design Hammersmith Bridge.
The cut and cover tunnels of the Metropolitan line etc are fascinating, there’s actually fake house facades along parts of the line to hide it - that could be something worth looking into 😊
My view is leave the green space and improve transport links from outside the city so you don’t need more housing in London itself - the green belts are vital and something I miss when I’m in other countries for that accessibility to nature (without needing a car to ‘drive to nature’)
I think London is one of the greenest cities in the world, another good video could be on the parks of London, I’ll see if I can find any good ones
The fake houses are in Leinster Gardens.
Happy New Year to you both from London 🏴🇬🇧#TheCapital
It's been passed in both Houses that you cannot build on "Green belt" areas as they are protected by law. They get round the problem by using what is called "Brown belt" it's old factories, coach houses, pubs etc that have fallen into dis repair and abandoned. Law gets passed that the land can be bought, used for public housing and if any build or features that needs to be protected they have to leave them and rebuild the rest. An example of this was in my home city of Coventry, there was an old factory that made swan bicycles. The front was "listed" as important, so the whole factory except the front was pulled down, rebuilt and had the original frontage fixed back. It is now an F1 Hotel with the Swan factory front and sign still there. I now live in Gravesend on the riverfront and they are now converting the old hospital and railway pier into purposed built apartments without changing the exterior of the buildings.
That's what I like about London.. it is so humble.. would never brag about the largest, biggest or oldest.. ever..
There's an excellent 45 minute documentary on here about one of the biggest events in London's history- titled "National Geographic Great Fire of London The Untold Story"
I lìve West of London in the Greenbelt!!! And yes they are building many new houses here. There is a battle in my own village to try and stop 500 new homes being built on 'Greenbelt ' land, but councils still allow it. There are a lot of what are called 'Brownsites ' that are built on, although in Greenbelt country the land was previously built on but demolished, old factories etc, and use that land to rebuild something new. London is a good example of just that. 😊
More greenbelt must be released for building. The brownsites aren't enough even with higher rise building.
The green belt argument is a fun one, on the one side you would want to build there because well its close to the city on the other hand it is the only bit of nature left near the city so removing that makes the city pretty much unlivable for most.
Being originally from Holland there you see cities like Amsterdam and Haarlem grow ever closer together removing more and more of what remains of the last little bit of green between them, some argue that is a good thing as these are tiny cities (less than 900k residents each) so it is not really needed to keep the green part in between as they are small enough to allow for plenty of access to nature outside the cities.
On other other hand London is already very large at the time the green belt is introduced (very large for that time) and it needs to do something to prevent it from sprawling out ever further making access to nature harder and harder for those living in the center of town. So what do you do when there is a green belt around the city? You build around the green belt. You have "easy" access to the city yet are surrounded by nature how fantastic... till of course others build around your settlement as they to want to be close to the city and have nature close by. Look at the map of London and zoom out and you will quickly see what I mean. The green belt might be wel protected but just outside there is more and more urban sprawl because everyone wants both nature and easy access to the city.
This is why it is not unusual for people to have 3 hour commute's into the city, it allows the to have nature nearby yet have "easy" access to the city. Every time a new metro line is opened the surrounding villages house prices explode and urban sprawl ensues as more and more people want to be out of the city but also easy to access the center of town.
There's no shortage of subjects you could look at, like the Thames Flood Barrier, the first garden suburbs, the victorian sewer system, the Great Fire of 1666, Black Death (Plague).
The River Thames itself is massively interesting. There are people who go "mudlarking" along the foreshore when the tide is out and some amazing things turn up in the mud - cannon balls, antique apothecary bottles, hundreds of clay pipes. Well worth a watch on You Tube. x
Bit cold in January, no? Mudlarking sounds a bit dangerous.
@@Westhamsterdam Safe as long as the tide is out
Excellent T-shirt
Tea and coffee made our population a lot healthier because water was boiled
I live in the town in England that had the first green belt that London copied, it's called Letchworth and it's the World's first Garden City and the pre-cursor to all the subsequent New Towns built in the UK. What has happened to alleviate housing in London is the building of New Towns and the second Garden City plus the expansion of towns orbiting the capital to create a commuter belt. After WW2 there was a large concentration of building north of London in counties like Hertfordshire (where the two Garden Cities (Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City) and Stevenage (the World's first New Town) are located along the A1), Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and others along with massive development in the east in Essex and in the south east in areas such as the Medway area in Kent. In recent times there has been massive expansions to the west of London, Reading for example was a small town largely existing to service the Great Western Railway but has now expanded to one of the largest towns without city status in the UK. London is not allowed to expand circa laws passed just after WW2 so instead all the towns orbiting the city have expanded instead, except the Garden Cities which were built as fixed size communities from day 1. The early out of town building post war was I believe based on the areas in London most in need, the reason there was such a large expansion in the East and North of the city was because of the combination of extensive bomb damage and the need to replace the Victorian slums and improve the standard of living for the affected people, this is why Hertfordshire (along the north border of London) and Essex (East border) had such extensive development over the 40 years post war and why the cultures there reflect now those sides of London. BTW This video you watched is the only one I've seen that uses the population of the total metropolitan area of London instead of just the population of Greater London. I prefer this metric because all other cities are quoted as their total metropolitan areas. The total metro area of London is one of the largest on Earth making England's megacity a relatively low population density megacity, to put it into context Greater London alone has about twice the available land of the entire metro area of NYC with around 1-2 million more people living there.
As someone born and raised in Reading I do take slight issue with your description of it as largely existing to service the railway lol. In the 1500's it was the largest town in Berkshire, with it's wealth mainly coming from the wool trade. Henry the 1st is buried in the Abbey and Queen Elizabeth the 1st was a frequent visitor. It wasn't exactly a backwater with one road and a pub. It was known for the 3 B's, beer, biscuits and bulbs - the Courage brewery, Huntley and Palmers biscuits and Suttons seeds. Not to denigrate what else you've said but just adding a bit of information to it.
@@nickyjones88
Yeah, industrialisation [literally] changed the landscape and towns along important trade and military routes (not to mention royal usage) became like gold dust for the railway firms. Reading became so vital purely because it had the population and infrastructure of a town, a large town at that comparatively speaking. Stations in the countryside were used to bring food into the towns and towns were where the works were established. BTW I used to park just round the corner from Reading train station once a week to pop into a place down the semi-pedestrianised (busses and taxis only) road that leads up to it, I think it's a Station Road but it feels more like a high street, the older parts of the town centre are pretty nice IMO just they've been swamped by these cheap modern structures from the late 20th century as the town spread faster than Katy Price after a bottle of Sambuca following M25 and M4 development.
As someone who was born, raised and still lives in London (from central London to now the greater London area), I love when people learn about my home. It's so rich in history, culture and innovation. But the discussion on housing has always been a huge problem and you're absolutely right, it just becomes more expensive. The fact that I earn very good money but could never afford a home where I grew up is a testament to that fact. However, the green areas are protected by law, so what we do is expand up and outward instead. A lot of locals also do not want their green areas taken away, even in desperate times, we hold these green areas to high importance to our wellbeing.
I left London 15 years ago . I lived in London borough of Ealing all my life . My partner is in London borough of Brent . I’ve moved to the coast . Doubt I’d ever live back in London
Yes please ! Do a video about the Great Fire of London. I don't know where this video producer got the idea of 1000s of deaths, the official death toll was only 6. It spread slowly but surely and people had time to get away. You two really should come to visit. You have open minds and will have a great time here. London did not grow out from a single centre, but many small towns gradually spread and joined together. Many of these different areas still have their own character. All good wishes from the England/Scotland border.
A lot of people say London isn't an english or british city, I disagree, its part of england and I'm proud it is, just because its different from a lot of other cities and towns doesn't mean its not part of the UK. I live close to London and have always enjoyed my visits there.
London has always been the destination for newcomers - whether from other parts of the UK or from other countries. It's what makes London so culturally rich and diverse. I lived and worked in London for several years having moved from Sussex, and loved it's diversity and cosmopolitan atmosphere. I even loved the red haze (of pollution lol), which settles over the rooftops at daybreak on sunny days. It made my heart sing. Even though I'm a tourist in London these days, it remains one of my favourite places in the world.
I disagree. It's not a English/British city anymore. It's become something very different and it's not good. I live close and if I have to go there it's like a foreign country. It makes me feel like stranger in my own country.
@@neilgayleard3842 London was founded by Southern Europeans as a gateway for people and goods coming in from across the world. It’s the same today
@@neilgayleard3842 You do realise that this very country was founded by foreigners correct? No one originally came from here? Why is it in your mind okay for your ancestors to settle here and change things and not for the current people coming over here and doing the same? They are just repeating history, it’s natural and it’s definitely in a more friendly manner (considering many of our ancestors invaded or were very violent) We have always been a country of immigration, a lot of people like yourself refuse to admit it.
Why do foreigners make you uncomfortable when they are like your own ancestors trying to find a home?
@@neilgayleard3842 you are funny. As I said in my previous comment, London has always been the destination for newcomers. It was even founded by the Romans for goodness sake. If you feel uncomfortable in London because it's not filled with people exactly like you, perhaps you should work on your sense of self.
ps your surname indicates you have French ancestry yourself.
you have absolutely hit the nail on the head with the whole 'rent-prices and green belt' thing. Rent and house prices in London is Astronomical and the UK as a whole has an enormous housing shortage which drives up house prices even more. Many people advocate building on green-belt in an effort to tackle the shortage but others (mainly current home owners) are opposed to that, they use the facade of not wanting to destroy green space but, in reality, it's more 'nimbyism' and a fear of what building new homes will do to the price of the one they have.
After the Great Fire there was a ban on entirely wooden buildings, and thatched roofs. The only exception that has ever been allowed was when the exact replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was consturcted 1997-99, and an act of parliament was needed to allow the exception.
Another new building on the site - the Sam Wannamaker Theatre, is the only one almost entirely made of wood, and is lit traditionally with candles and other open flames. It, too, needed legal changes to allow this.
You should do a video on London Parks - Everyone goes to Hyde Park which I think isn't even in the Top 10 mega parks of London! Richmond Park, Hampstead Heath and Holland Park are my personal favs! Richmond Park is 3 x bigger than Central Park, which is crazy!
If we can find a video, we will! Thanks for the suggestion!
Jay Foreman does a video where he explains why London has so many airports. It's a really interesting story.
Around 1900 there was a move to set up new towns outside the green belt. Stevenage was the first. There are several videos on this subject.
appreciate your curiosity and open mindedness, keep it up!
Thanks for another great reaction video. We appreciate your love for our wonderful country 🇬🇧❤️
Still consider London to be my home town, even though I haven’t lived there since I was 11 - some forty-plus years ago. Time flies!
Another super video, and I even picked up lots that I didnt know, really interesting ladies, more please, Steve
Sadly, Green Belts have began to be developed over the past few years. Where I live in Edinburgh - which is the UK's second most expensive city in terms of property, there has been several major periods of expansion. The mediaeval city that we now call the Old Town - basically one main thoroughfare sloping towards the east from Edinburgh Castle, remained pretty much all there was until the early 1800s, when the Georgian New Town to the north began to be built. (Both of these districts are World Heritage Sites today). This continued well into the 1850s, by which time various dirty industries were established outside the developed area (breweries, distilleries, tanneries, glue/gelatine works, town gas works, railway maintenance & construction yards etc; as well as the rapid expansion of the Port of Leith and an entirely new port at Granton, some distance to the west. The seaside resort of Portobello - formerly a separate burgh, as well as Leith (also a separate burgh with their own town councils etc) were eventually merged with Edinburgh in the 1920s. New suburbs were built closer to these industries to house their workers from around 1870 onwards, while a suburban railway network and extensive street tramways were constructed to move them and the goods they produced, around! The suburbs of that period were mainly tenements, a type of terraced housing running the whole length of streets whereby anything from 6 to 16 individual homes share a common street entrance (and originally toilets and drying greens too), that is much favoured in Scottish cities. The vast majority are no more than four storeys high, and many survive today, giving the city its mostly low-rise appearance. By the dawn of the 20th Century, Edinburgh and Leith were joined up and the built-up area to the south and west almost filled the large semi-circle of land that was enclosed within a suburban railway system that was built in order that goods trains could by-pass the city centre stations and release capacity for yet-more passenger trains, which by now brought many outlying towns and villages into commuting distance of the city. In the aftermath of both world wars, there was a major expansion of almost every community in the UK with the advent of housing that was owned and maintained by local authorities for rent by the rapidly-expanding population. Consisting mainly of 2 or 3 bedroom, terraced or semi-detached houses with all the latest conveniences - each also allocated often quite large areas for gardening; these filled in the remaining gaps out another mile or so radius of the existing boundaries - complimented by large areas of private bungalows offered for sale, that surrounded what would become the more well-to-do satellite villages and the spaces between them - particularly in the west, northwest and east of the city, connecting it to Portobello and even Musselburgh - which remains a large town within a separate local authority area, today. Meanwhile, other towns were similarly expanded, allowing families to move out of the often overcrowded and insanitary conditions of the older tenements. In some areas, vast new housing estates that dwarfed even their own original towns became in effect, outer suburbs of the still-expanding city! The 1960s and 70s saw the last substantial public-sector housing estates built in the remaining spaces between the established city and its boundaries and so, many of these formerly separate towns became new suburbs of the city, in effect. Over the past, another massive expansion on a scale not seen since the 1950s, has expanded almost every town and village within what had been regarded as green belt - the restrictions that formerly governed this having been largely eased. Almost invariably, this is of large, luxury family homes that are either for sale to individuals or property developers who will then make them available for much-inflated rents that primarily for that reason, do not much resemble the publicly owned houses of a generation before! This has already effectively caused entire strings of three or four previously separate communities to join together as one elongated urban sprawl. like arms that reach out from the city. One wonders how long it will take before the gaps between these arms, or spokes if you prefer, will also be developed?
Yeah, those official terms "green belt' etc don't mean a thing when money/profit is involved.
I mean only 88% of the U.K. has been built on so there’s still a lot of green space
Hello Natasha and Debbie from Manchester. Love your videos and at nearly 70 you are bringing some interesting facts I did not know. The video on London paints a picture of a cramped city. Yes in the centre definitely, but when, not if, you fly in to the UK a glance out of the window confirm lots of green and forest etc. Sell up, apply for a job at Battersea Dogs Home, and move here, ha ha.
My home town was one of those expanded for over spill from London in the 60s, my mum and dad moved here for east London in to a new build. We are right on the Thames to the east of the capital.
As a born and raised Londoner I haven’t seen even two-thirds of my city. Thank you for this. By-the-way have you ladies seen a video of the Cornish coastline? Frankly the whole South-West (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset) coastline is stunning but there are some fantastic videos featuring drone footage of those coastlines especially Cornwall and I guarantee you’d be stunned.💖💖
Random comment but I remember how quiet Debbie was when you first started your channel it’s amazing to see how she has become more confident x ❤❤❤
The fire of London is a very interesting story, our children are taught this at school and my daughter as not long just done this story at school. Something interesting if you want learn the story.
Hi ladies. To answer your question, we have a massive housing crisis here in the UK.
Rents are soaring and not many people can afford to buy a home because of prices. There is such a high demand for housing.
Last year alone the UK population saw a 500,000 increase but out of a planned building of 300,000 new homes, only 150,000 were built.
There are various reasons for this. From strict planning laws to the fact we have a massive shortage of tradesmen such as bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters and so on. This means we don't have enough house building capacity to keep up with demand.
Unfortunately this fact has not stopped the influx of people through our open immigration system and is putting a massive strain on infrastructure including housing.
In places like my childhood village, despite our politicians saying we have to go green and preserve our environment, the pressure on the UK demand for new housing means that developers are now acquiring agricultural land bordering the village and building small housing estates upon them which not only upsets me but the environmentalists who don't like the tarmacking of arable land.
This is probably the biggest political hot potato as though I feel we are a very tolerant and accepting country, but as you pointed out, we have to have somewhere to house everyone and the big question is, how do we do this without building on every square foot of England's green and pleasant land.
After all facts are facts. The UK is similar size to the state of Idaho yet in that land area we have twice the population of California living. The population density is just crazy.
As a footnote, you might want to checkout some videos on the UK housing crisis to get a better idea of the situation.
According to Google the top 3 most visited cities are: 1 Bangkok (which surprised me) 22.7M, 2 Paris 19.1M and 3 London 19M.
Bangkok?? Really? Would of thought New York 🤔
According to the Office for National Statistics, London is not a city, never has been a city, and never will be a city.
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow
Seriously ladies
Do a video about Nicholas winton (he's the most important person most people never heard of)
And the 13 Hours that saved Britain
I literally just watched a 2 hour documentary on the great fire of London. I’d love to see you 2 do a video on it ❤️
Yes, please do a video about the Great fire of London. ❤️🇬🇧
The way the housing is fixed is all the houses in or close to the centre start getting either demolished and turned into flats, or townhouses get converted into flats. This slowly spreads outwards. Even London has a very long way to go before it's urban sprawl starts turning into flats.
Great vlog, I love London and enjoyed the history lesson. It might not be your cup of tea but you may wish to review the 2023 New Year fireworks display in London. It was amazingly stunning and moving. The show is about 15 minutes long.
Hey Natasha. Love the t-shirt. I know you guys don't do music reactions, but Pink Floyd is a quintessentially British band and I was wondering if you could react to one live performance by Floyd. I promise it will blow your minds. I recommend "comfortably numb" from the pulse live concert. The stage show is mesmerising especially during the end guitar solo. The massive round projection screen tilts forward creating a round lighting rig and a gigantic mirror ball opens up like a flower. Pink Floyd sing with English pronunciation and are more English that a giant English thing. ✌️♥️🇬🇧
I've seen it and it is excellent!! I can't do music reactions because I'm too obsessed with it and seen all the good stuff! We could do crappy bands 😂😂
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow 😂😂😂 crappy bands....you mean.....the spice girls?
I too mentioned Natasha's great t-shirt lol. I was at the Pulse gig. Ive loved Floyd since i was 12 yrs old & im nearly 57 now. Greatest band ever 👍🇬🇧❤🇺🇸
I was at that concert with my late wife, great memories. Love your reactions and love the floyd top. You ladies really need to visit our beautiful country for about a month, start saving lol.
Lloyds of London has a bell that is rung when a maritime disaster came about like the Titanic etc etc
Great video guys 👍London s a great city to visit with some great history and attractions. It would be great if you done a video on the great fire of london.
I woke early today feeling sad All the crap Harry has unleashed on my nation and the monarchy. Thank you for reminding me how great Britain is. X
Come on this is just a distraction
@@Westhamsterdam distraction from what?
@@sjbict the multitude of problems BG faces - one of the richest countries in the word yet a huge amount of people living on or below the breadline....rip-off energy prices...poor economic and social mobility...there are more
How privileged you really are if Harry determines your emotional state in the morning.
My Godmother is an Alderman to the City of London. She's actually in this video, during the Proclamation of the King and Cheering. Pretty proud of her.
Hi ladies, London is very expensive my son is at University there like we did and prices are high. We were lucky that we had a small inheritance that went to our deposit on a apartment. We lived there for nine year's and sold it for a huge profit. You can pay £3000 + a month for a two bed apartment in Central London. The London museum is worth a look, it's free leave a donation it helps. The fire did help finish the Plague off, Pudding Lane where the fire started is in central London. Please do a video on it, it was a fascinating era in British History.
I think the great fire of London started in Pudding Lane and swiftly spread as the houses were made of wood and were very close together. The fire killed off the rats that had brought the plague to London 🇬🇧
Your comments on the green belt were very astute. There is constant pressure to release green belt land for new homes, and occasionally it is granted. It's a theme in every town in Britain!
Happy new year to you both. ❤❤
Same to you!
Another great video! The green belt and building on it is always controversial, people campaign to stop plans to build.
I think the reason for the complaints oof rain in London is that it is quite often but usually not very strong so it feels like a lot of rain but isn't.
After 'the Blitz' of our cities during WW2, the government responded by building a number of Garden Towns in a circle around London - the other side of the Green Belt surrounding London - mentioned in this video. Each plan of each new town had residential areas, local shops and community centres etc, larger central shopping centres, a light industrial area - with a mix of office and factory space - and, although built in more rural locations, the Planners included green spaces generally, parks and open spaces within and around the town for recreational purposes. Hence the name 'Garden Towns' I suppose. So people could, if they chose, live, work and play within their new town.
For those people who chose to commute to London each day? That was easy to do too as good public transport/railway connections were a factor in choosing the site of each town. It was a 'shock' for some Londoners to suddenly find themselves 'out in the sticks' (as we call the countryside here) but it has been a very successful and popular idea. Some of these new towns have grown into cities in their own right. It was a new idea back then. Planners around the World came to study this new 'experiment' and most, if not all, countries, have adopted this idea around the Globe. There is a great willingness by people living both sides of the Green Belt to preserve it and it is very controversial, IMO, if any moves are made to encroach upon this 'Lung' of London and nearby suburbs. Thanks Ladies for this great video reaction.
Especially Wales...