The Mercenary River ~ October 2025

Nick Higham, journalist and author, gave a talk about "The Mercenary River; private greed, public good ~ a history of London’s water".

No city can survive without water, and although today we take it for granted that when we turn on a tap, the water is safe and clean, it wasn’t always the case. For centuries London, one of the biggest and richest cities in the world, struggled to supply its citizens with reliable clean water.

Nick told us about the development of fresh water channels, company finances and investments ~ including the first known stocks and shares investments, the spread of disease through dirty water, and how the water companies dealt with making water safe to drink.

The talk also raised the question of whether today’s 21st century water companies are an improvement on their Victorian predecessors.

Copies of Nick's books, "The Mercenary River" and " Mavericks", are available from bookshops and Amazon.