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Series 13: 9. Dagenham to Battersea
Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide, Michael is in London, where he tracks the River Thames from east to west. Michael is drawn to the industrial eastern suburb by the unexpected sound of pipes. He finds their origins in a Sunday school band for girls begun by a cleric in the 1930s. Still going strong, the Dagenham Girl Pipers explain their history and success, as well as treating Michael to a performance of Tipperary.\n\nAboard a Thames Rocket boat, Michael finds out how the river is both the lifeblood of and an existential threat to the capital. He hears how a great flood claimed 14 lives in 1928 and investigates how London is protected today on a visit to the Thames Barrier.\n\nMichael finishes this leg of his tour at one of London’s most iconic buildings, Battersea Power Station, built during the 1930s by Giles Gilbert Scott. Michael hears how Battersea once produced a fifth of London’s electricity. He discovers its inner workings and decorative detail and hears what the future holds for the former Cathedral of Power, now undergoing a £9 billion redevelopment.
Source: BBC 2
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