In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration

by Shane O'Mara

We have come a long way in the development of our urban environments. The streets of our cities and towns a century and a half or so ago presented a considerable public health risk. Open sewers were common, indoor toilets were few and far between, and human waste and effluent handling were of an especially poor standard. Observing acts of necessity that would appal us now, John Gay’s 1716 poem, ‘Trivia, or The Art of Walking the Streets of London’ warned of the dangers posed by the emptying of chamber-pots when walking underneath London windows, where ‘dropping vaults distil unwholesome dews / Ere the tiles rattle with the smoking shower / And spouts on heedless men their torrents pour’.11 The effluvia and miasma of the time must have been dreadful. House design reflected this: boot-scrapers were commonly placed at doorways and are often still present at the entrances of Georgian and Victoria-era houses.