Railings: Suprisingly Interesting

Oh, and some railings are made out of stretchers or whatever.
You can support the channel on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/jdraperlondon
You can book me for real-life tours! Find out about that here: www.jdraper.co.uk/private-tours
You can find me on the clock app here: www.tiktok.com/@jdraperlondon
Music credits:
"Industrial Revolution" by Kevin McLeod, www.incompetech.com
"Tape Star" by Shane Ivers, www.silvermansound.com
Sources
Atkinson, R. 2021. Alpha City: How London Was Captured By The Super Rich.
Hayes, N. 2020.The Book of Trespass.
Historic Engand. Railings Around Square, Claremont Square. historicenglan...
Ingleby, M. 2017. Bloomsbury: Beyond The Establishment.
Minton, A. 2017. Big Capital.
Morris, W. 1908. News From Nowhere. www.gutenberg....
Orwell, G. 1968. As I Please, 1943-1945: The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell. Orwell, S. & Angus, I. ed. archive.org/de...
Smith, G. 2016. Britain’s Richest Man, the Duke of Westminster, Dies Aged 64. Fortune.com. fortune.com/20...
Pathé. 1944. Out And About: Bloomsbury. • Bloomsbury Issue Title...
Winchester, S. 2021. Land.
Yates, S. & Murray, P. 2024. Great Estates: Models For Modern Placemaking.

[@redroo689]

"The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose"

[@noonynoonynoo]

Interesting quote. Who is it from?

[@YvonTripper]

"Keep your pig out of my potatoes"; "It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig." - Declaration of the US-Canada Pig War (1859)

[@erinrising2799]

@@noonynoonynoo also here's the whole poem: The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose. The law demands that we atone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine. The poor and wretched don’t escape If they conspire the law to break; This must be so but they endure Those who conspire to make the law. The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common And geese will still a common lack Till they go and steal it back

[@NotesFromTheVoid]

@@noonynoonynoo It was written anonymously so no one knows.

[@FakeSchrodingersCat]

@@noonynoonynoo It's anonymous but attributed to the Diggers.

[@tudibelle]

As a Tired Person, I approve of open public spaces with benches.

[@paulsengupta971]

I approve of benches anywhere! There are too many places and too few benches...

[@petesmart1983]

My town used to have loads but of course anti social behaviour they get damaged or druggies on them

[@AtariEric]

@@petesmart1983 I would consider calling human beings "druggies" anti-social.

[@bielr]

Tired Person should be an official title.

[@Jcatgrl]

if i ever become emperor of the world, i think "more benches everywhere" will be one of my orders within the first month.

[@johnreiland9180]

Transitioning from being a jaded teen who laughs at old people interested in boring things to being a middle-aged person who's continuously fascinated by the amount of character and narrative woven into every little place and thing in the world, has been quite the trip.

[@nilo70]

I was born in the early Fifties, and it has been a hell of a Ride !

[@Jettypilelegs]

I’m loving middle age! Wouldn’t swap being a teen again for the sheer amount of interesting experiences and hobbies, not to mention the amount of tea and cake I’m getting through. 😂

[@jalight27]

Love that comment 🖤

[@infor-qx2zl]

The trip of time

[@joeldobbs7396]

What a long strange trip it's been, indeed!

[@Esrom_music]

She's really turned into a hell of a filmmaker.

[@spikeoramathon]

She has indeed.

[@daviebananas1735]

Who is she? The cat’s mother?

[@doanmindifido8]

She's a big hero of mine. Smart.

[@Earhairy]

"She's really turned into a hell of a filmmaker." She certainly has. Her videos and those posted by Jago Hazzard complement each other perfectly.

[@bielr]

I fill some Philosophy Tube vibes. Is it turning into a British artistic movement?

[@cosmicwaffles2024]

I swear you make things like railings so interesting. You use it as a teaching tool for something bigger, and I love it. I love it so very much.

[@montananerd8244]

That thing where she makes an object (aka artifact) into a powerful lesson about a culture, a people, a country, or even humanity - that's called cultural interpretation & she's a genius at it! But you can learn to do it, there's loads of certification courses, it's a training add-on mostly for museums, but really, really great tour operators are also usually trained & educated interpreters. It's a confusing term, has nothing to do with translating languages, but it's a really cool thing to study and use in our work. I'm doing a program on sports history & our state, and one on three criminals whose conflicts defined the colonial era, and how that contrasts with the practices of the nearly crime-free (but also highly competitive) indigenous nations. It's not the highest paying career but it's amazing!

[@SQUIRRELSONASTICK]

My guy, you can do it too. Take a subject you're interested in. It could be as complex as language or as simple as hats. Research it. Find out the origin of your favourite hat. What were they first made from? Why did people make them? What does that say about the culture that created the hat? Was the hat a necessity or a fashion item? What does *that* say about the culture that made the hat? So on and so forth

[@LudvigIndestrucable]

'make my teenage self cringe' as a middle aged man watching a video on railings, that spotty teenage oiks can lump it.

[@renaigh]

you weren't always half the human lifespan.

[@LudvigIndestrucable]

@@renaigh indeed, I have learned much in my time, such as how to enjoy the history of railings. Of the things left out from the video, a lot of the railings and collected scrap from war drives were just dumped in the sea as there weren't sufficient scrap processing streams. There are also lots of railings outside council blocks that are made from repurposed WWI stretcher frames.

[@spikeoramathon]

This middle-aged woman was a spotty teenage oik who would have also loved talking about railings....

[@SylviaRustyFae]

I mean, i know my teenage self wudnt cringe at this aspect of my existence, tho others perhaps; but rly my teenage self wud just be stood there shocked as can be at both the fact im still alive and that i and "he" arent even remotely akin in our existence... Im livin a life "he" was certain was impossible, in multiple ways My teenage self wudnt cringe at what my middle aged life looks like; theyd be celebratin the future theyve got ahead of them... Whilst entirely unaware of the hell that was my 20s they got to look forward to xD

[@theawecat27]

as a teenager, i'm glad i can appreciate this type of thing already:)

[@joerenzullo4257]

This is so fabulously produced, down to the visual metaphor of annoying railings getting in the way in the beginning section.

[@wipis59]

The key garden is becoming a thing here in South Korea. Whenever a new apartment complex gets built they usually put parking underground so there's ample space at ground level for trees, walking paths, playgrounds, ball courts etc. Some of them are quite nice. They usually fence it in. But in the past there would be no locking gate so the public could use the garden or playground or just walk through going from point A to B. It's also just practical. These apartments hold thousands of people. That's thousands of keys. Thousands of people coming and going, possibly leaving the gate open. But now electronic door locks and automatic doors are pretty cheap and very reliable. So we see more and more new places being totally fenced in with no way through. Want to get to the bakery on the other side of the block? Sorry you gotta walk so the way around. Hot day and want to sit in the shade for a minute and catch your breath? Keep walking. More expensive building and places with a lot of foot traffic don't even let you see the garden. They put shops and parking in the ground floor then put the garden on the roof of that. Again they can be rather nice. Then they put the apartments above that. My current apartment board is discussing putting up higher fences and adding locked gates. I'm opposed to this personally but I think it's going to happen anyway. I'm not sure why. We don't have tons of trespassing or thieves. It will just make it more unfriendly.

[@saraa3418]

Start talking to your neighbors. If you get enough of a group together, you can make the community you want! We had a problem in our shared garden where the Board wanted us to stop allowing our kids out to play, we got together and explained that children owned it too and could use it too. Now the kids play and the old people are cranky, but no longer feel justified in yelling at them.

[@forest_green]

That's one thing I think Montréal gets right, at least in the average neighborhood. All the alleyways are open and made pleasant by the people who live there. There are children out playing in the road, shady trees everywhere, grandmothers putting out laundry on the line, flowers and even berry vines growing, cats laying in the sunshine to pet.

[@tesmith47]

Copy cat western capitalist thinkińg

[@Rumade]

This is the same on private apartment developments in London too. Ours is open during the day so people can use it as a shortcut, but closed from about 6pm onwards. We have a bit of communal garden, but no one ever uses it... you don't really see people sitting out in it because there are no benches.

[@ProkrastinationMeisterei]

Is putting super-glue in the locks a "peaceful" protest?

[@squidundertheinfluence]

In E. Nesbit’s The Story of the Amulet (1906), the children travel to future Bloomsbury which turns out to be a Fabian Utopia with lots of green spaces and places to sit down with “not a single notice to tell you not to walk on the grass”

[@kmcq692]

Love E. Nesbit.

[@emmaplover]

I walked through Hanley Park in Stoke recently and I got a bit nervous cutting a corner over some nicely planted lawns and then I realised there wasn’t any signs saying so, but also there was spiral gravel paths encouraging people to walk on this area 🥰

[@roderickjoyce6716]

When the lake in Leazes Park in Newcastle was drained various sunken model boats, a Mills grenade, and a lot of Keep off the Grass notices were found. The park was opened in 1873. it seems Victorian Geordies showed their displeasure at being told to stick to the path by throwing the notices in the lake. Nowadays every one and their dog can sit on the grass ...

[@amycox5733]

Hey I’m a teenager and I very much enjoy this kind of thing. We must not kill the parts of ourselves that induce cringe, but rather the part that cringes.

[@beetsbeautifulbeets2553]

Well put!

[@doriannewendymarsh5266]

Nice credo. I want that on a throw pillow.

[@paultoensing3126]

Bravo!

[@therealhatchlife9013]

You are one wise teenager

[@christabedwin]

That's an awesome quotable thing you just said! I love it.

[@scott2836]

You have a gift, J Draper, for telling stories about things that are often unremarkable and making them QUITE remarkable. And for telling us things about the remarkable that we either did not know or had forgotten. While I have never been to England, I feel as if I have been receiving an excellent tutorial in regional social history. Thank you very, very much.

[@mrflipmrflip]

If giving the audience of JDraper a video on railings is boring, I am happy to call it boring. In their zeal to avoid cringe, certain teenagers do not stop to consider the costumes, the vibrant historical asides, and the glorious enthusiasm of the presenter. They simply judge it by the caption, using thumbs to click right. The traditional brings comfort, but the call to adventure is everywhere if you keep your eyes open. For six years we have been receiving an education in history that illuminates the present and in social justice that makes the patriarchy gnash its false premises. If that is boring, all I can say is so much the better for boring.

[@pirlie]

I see what you did there! 😄👏

[@sade1212]

Thanks ChatGPT

[@MenaceGallagher]

This reads like a boomer copypasta. If you can't praise your favourite creator without tearing other people down, don't bother.

[@allanjmcpherson]

@@MenaceGallagher you do realize it's a joke. It's a rewording of the George Orwell quote from the end of the video.

[@mrflipmrflip]

Boomer Copypasta is my next band name. We'll go on tour with post-klezmerpunk Railings of Mayfair and ambient deathmetal string quartet Gnashing of Their False Teeth. I hope everyone watches to the end of the video to hear the Orwell quotation. Such a magnificent wordsmith.

[@Hannah_Em]

The zoom on the ciggy whilst talking about lung cancer at 7:23 was just... _chef's kiss_ 👌 so good, I had to pause the video and take a moment just to laugh at that bit 😆

[@LambentIchor]

I don't think it's a cigarette, rather a highlight on his shoulder. I took it that she was alluding to how handsome the man in. Something that would have been missed out on if he'd been wearing a welding mask.

[@Hannah_Em]

@@LambentIchor Oh, hm, maybe? I guess I'm too gay for that explanation to really occur to me, oops lol 😅

[@LambentIchor]

@@Hannah_Em And it's probably that I'm gay that it's what jumped out at me 😁

[@dajolaw]

I think she simply made a mistake: she mistook the light reflecting off the edge of the collar of his coat for a cigarette.

[@LambentIchor]

@@dajolaw Of course it was a simple mistake. I wasn't implying otherwise😇

[@nBasedAce]

Frankly, we don't talk about the acts of civil disobedience and riotous acts of the movements that fought for the rights of people because we like to think that progress can be achieved through completely peaceful means, which it cannot.

[@SAOS451316]

There's also a distorted view of what "peaceful protest" means. Blocking a road for example is indeed peaceful. Violent protest involves a lot more blood.

[@SapphireRose0205]

I think progress can indeed be achieved peacefully. Take the case of Gregory Watson, for example, who got the 27th amendment to the US Constitution passed through an essay for his government class and a campaign of writing letters to Congress. Now, I will concede that violent acts are often more efficient; we probably wouldn't have a constitution to amend if we hadn't gone to war over it.

[@nBasedAce]

​@@SapphireRose0205That amendment hasn't stopped politicians from regularly taking large bribes from political PACs.

[@nBasedAce]

​@@SapphireRose0205I am taking about actual social progress.

[@hopenield8234]

In which case look to Gandhi’s nonviolent movement in India which successfully campaigned to end British colonialism in India. A very clear case of actual social progress I’d say.

[@i.b.640]

Now I have the English Word for the insanity that is going on in my neck of the woods. "Leasehold". Thank you.

[@alexanderc.4654]

I never stopped to think about this. I live in a small American town, and at least 20% of the acreage in town is public green space. Even in the nearby metro, there are public parks totaling in the hundreds of acres. I never stopped to consider how fortunate that is.

[@amycox5733]

London is roughly a third green space (source: The World Cities Culture Forum). This comment sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to find out what percentage of MY city is green space, haven’t found answer yet.

[@alexanderc.4654]

@amycox5733 lol, I'm pleased I could help.

[@zivkovicable]

I lived in LA for a couple of years. the city with the least amour of public green space in North America..However there is plenty of private free space occupied by golf & country clubs. Adding insult to injury they get a substantial tax break from the city. . I believe this is source of many of the cities social problems.

[@llamatronian101]

Huh. This makes me really happy about the number of public gardens and parks here in New Zealand.

[@d4r4butler74]

I think the colonies learned from what London, England was like and chose to be more green in their Cities... It makes more sense to have places be green if you can manage it.

[@SkepticalSteve01]

They’re currently pulling down a bottle shop (that’s “off licence” to you Poms) in Ponsonby to make a nice little park, with a few benches for those tired out by excessive trendiness to rest their tired feet. Hurrah!

[@SirAdelaide]

I came here to say that same about Adelaide, South Australia: planned with parks built in

[@christinesmith7838]

Perhaps people are more territorial when there’s less space available.

[@squee222]

great orwell quote. love to hear something new from my favourite author

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

There’s also somewhere in London - I forget where exactly - which is a 1950s/60s build. The railings there are apparently repurposed emergency stretchers which were made in anticipation of mass casualties.

[@PastPresented]

Several estates had this. There's a nicely illustrated article on the Transpontine blog under the title "History Corner: WW2 Stretchers as Railings"

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

@@PastPresentedthanks!

[@lucyrharrold]

Yes! That’s one of my favourite London facts!

[@Chevy-jordan]

A lot of places have these. Seen them in Deptford, Borough, and Camberwell.

[@andyalder7910]

Shewsbury House opposite the Oval, you can see the curls at either end to act as legs.

[@molybdomancer195]

Keyed gardens exist (or existed) in other cities. I remember my mum saying about how as a young mum she had to struggle down the stairs from her top floor flat with a baby and pram and walk past the beautiful garden in the square because she and my dad as a young couple with a baby couldn’t afford to rent a key. This was in Edinburgh.

[@alexythemechanic8056]

Edinburgh New Town is like these squares, it's ridiculous. All these nice open spaces in the centre of the city, and they're usually empty and locked tight. At least Scotland no longer has leasehold, as far as I'm aware.

[@ThornyLittleFlower]

My husband's Great-Grandfather wrote a book about English Wrought Iron. His name is John Seymour Lindsay. He designed all the ironwork in the RAF Memorial chapel in Westminster Abbey. The silver cross, candlesticks and rails. During the war, he was the person responsible in London for deciding which iron railings could be pulled up and used in the war effort and which were not to be touched. I think you might be the only person in the world who'd be interested in checking out his Books. 😅 An Anatomy of English Wrought Iron by John Seymour Lindsay. 1964 Emphasizes the technique and design of English wrought iron, 1000-1800 A.D. The many examples illustrated are from royal palaces and state buildings.

[@WyvernYT]

Well done, then! I like to imagine that the railings outside the British Museum were among the first to go.

[@user-yc4fz7vv6u]

Well I was thinking this was what the video would be about, so she would not be the only person in the world interested! thanks for the book info.

[@juleswhicker]

I've heard before that the removal of railings made no substantial contribution to the production of war materiel and was primarily a measure to encourage public commitment to the war effort. It would seem from this video that it may also have had a socialist motivation, the seizing of an overdue opportunity to create public spaces for the people of London and other cities. Is this possible?

[@stuartd9741]

​​@@juleswhicker Interesting about the removal of the fences being socialist. . Allegedly all that ironwork was dumped at the coast of Sheerness in Kent. .. It was a morale boosting exercise. .. Iron is not used in the overall construction of aircraft at the time. maybe in small quantities.. .. I don't think tanks use iron either more likely steel...

[@doriannewendymarsh5266]

@@stuartd9741 And this is why I come to the comments section.

[@SamAronow]

AFAIK there is only one surviving key garden in the US: Grammercy Park in New York. Chicago has an even weirder take on key gardens in the form of community gardens (seemingly every city block has one where a house used to be): they're open to the public, but getting your own plot to grow vegetables is extremely difficult due to the high demand. They're iconic.

[@katrinhasnolife]

In Minneapolis, there are a few different condo buildings with gated grounds including gardens, tennis courts, pools, and fountains. They're along a public greenway but these sections are gated off from the public pathway.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Interesting fact the reason they are often so fancy is because they are made using moulds and therefore whatever the design it is bascially a rounding error in terms of cost. The shame is nowadays it cost 5 - 10x as much for a design close to what was produced back then, when it literally costs almost the exact same to manufacturer, as a horrible straight one.

[@mortisCZ]

I think it has more to do with speed and universality than anything else. My wife is a woodcarver by trade and she works in a company making models and cores for industrial moulds and she tells me that this dreary utilitarism makes her work much less interesting but it's what the market wants and pays for.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@mortisCZ it's not what the market wants though is it, it's what the companies want.

[@Quazey]

@@AndrewBlacker-t1d it's used for emphasis. Like 'exact same' which means.. 'same'

[@benjaminwilson2945]

@@AndrewBlacker-t1d We call that a banister.

[@montananerd8244]

​​@@benjaminwilson2945Did we Americans lose our minds when we landed in the Americas (lol my family came in the era of religious nutters, so yes)? It's like we get so many English words slightly wrong. A bannister is typically the handrail for stairs only, usually called that indoors tho. Outdoors, it's a railing, indoors a bannister. We used to "slide down the bannister" as children and use the wide railing as a slide downstairs. Our apologies, I think it's so silly how much the US has messed up English.

[@themetatron0000]

I think she would like to work at the BBC.

[@gianfrancobardiaparicio721]

I love to see how your content is getting better and better all the time. And that you can tackle sensitive debates while still making an educative relativization of the views at the time 🙂. Keep up the great work 😀

[@iainawatson]

I'm so glad you still do this fantastic relatively long-form content.

[@sylvanaire]

My American brain thought this video on “railings” was going to be about what the British call “banisters” because while we have the word banister, railing is usually used for that top rail around a fence or staircase. In fact, I would say “fence” is closer to what she was describing as a railing. Funny little language, English. 😊

[@lancemagmer9701]

I was going to post this, just not as well

[@blindbrad4719]

We've used the English language for far longer than you have we know how to tie in words with images. The term railings Harks back to win iron was being easily manufactured for the railways and these "fences" were able to be produced, looking a lot like the railway lines that helped jumpstart the industrial revolution. Rail lines railings it just got slang… GED? 😂

[@veganguy74]

Railings, fences… don’t get me (as an American) get started on “gardens” vs “yard”/“lawns.” Gardens have plants/flowers! Yards are usually just grass. 😄

[@holyknightthatpwns]

@@blindbrad4719 Brits have used English longer than Americans? That's not really a true statement - you individually have only used English for as long as you're alive, and American use of English divided from the British use, which is to say that it comes from the same history. Just because people immigrated from Europe to the new world doesn't mean they reset their historical knowledge of language. It's a very silly belief to hold that there's a higher mastery of English in Britain just because that's where it originated. I've been using English my whole life, and I imagine you have as well - our skill at it comes down to the abilities of our teachers and our personal talents, not the nation we happen to live in.

[@blindbrad4719]

@@holyknightthatpwns colloquialisms though go back far longer than a single human life. some go further back than the entire age of the country of America. so I disagree with your statement because there are some that the British use that Americans don't. i'd also point out that early settlers of America came from all over Europe, not just Britain. Which means they would also have no idea about some British colloquialisms which is why they weren't passed down as it were

[@c.i.demann3069]

Love the dress-up, love the socialist message. 10/10.

[@Hill_Walker]

Sure would be a shame if we taxed land/wealth

[@EloiseEighteen]

As someone who works by a Bloomsbury sq. I cannot imagine how miserable I would be if we didn't have free access to the squares!

[@LumenLukas]

Thx for the lovely video, was surprised how many of these railings are still up today

[@Smachfest]

I was on the fence until I watched this fenceinating story of Railings by the wonderful Ms Draper. 😂

[@peggihunt1825]

An hour ago I was reading an article about how few men in NYC wear suits these days. It made mention of how historical pictures show (almost) all men in suits. To come across the welders in suits and ties was perfect timing.

[@AB-dm1wz]

What was the article?

[@MrJimheeren]

Just Wearing a suit doesn’t make you ‘more responsible’ look at trump for example. People didn’t own a lot of clothes back then, you had your day to day clothes and maybe some Sunday clothes. Those guys welding knew they were going to be filmed that day and wore a nicer suit, it was still full of patched holes, grease marks and worn out pieces.

[@MrJimheeren]

Also what kind of article talks about the amount of men in suits, seems kinda dumb

[@willbass2869]

HATS....In the US, men wore hats as a matter of course....until JFK administration. Then that rising generation of WWII veterans simply stopped

[@pendlera2959]

@@MrJimheeren You just watched a video about railings. Seems kinda dumb.

[@PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

I love how clear it is that opening a green space to the public is a win for everyone, including the dogs!

[@aleisterdupont4971]

In 1850, the railings of the British Museum were a topic of debate because of the suggested involvement of french craftsmen or firms, like André from Val d'Osne, who cast the railings of Hope House (116 Piccadilly, demolished in the 1930s). The Civil Engineer and Architects Journal wrote : "Let the trustees of the Museum offer even the two thirds of the price that was given by Mr Hope, and they will find plenty of English manufacturers who will produce railings quite equal to the fancy-price foreign article in Piccadilly". (Studies in Victorian Architecture & Design, vol 8, 2023, p 82-84).

[@MrTumshie]

Fascinating video, thoroughly enjoyed it. One small point though: the men removing the railings were not welding. They were using torches to break the railings up rather than welding which is used to join metal objects together.

[@montananerd8244]

I love that putting metal together has a proper word, "welding." But, there's no word for using a torch (no auto emoji, not 🔦 a real torch with🔥) to break stuff up lol!

[@lhlfrb]

@@montananerd8244 Cutting ?

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

true that they weren't technically welding, but maybe still a good idea to wear a welding mask to protect from the fumes. Would the fumes of metal-cutting be similar to the fumes from welding, or made from something totally different that we can be sure is not a cancer risk?

[@edgeeffect]

Welding often includes a flux to stop the metal oxidising... cutting torches don't need any flux because they are cutting BY oxidising.

[@jrcorsey]

​@@SomeoneBeginingWithI The fumes from cutting iron are a lot less dangerous than the fumes from welding. The metals, the temperatures, and even the heat sources all matter. That said, almost no smoke or dust is safe to breathe. Our understanding of health has changed so much since then

[@AP-pp8ji]

Took 6 minutes for me to notice the railings on your head 😂 nice touch 👍🏾

[@aidanjhickey8949]

Fantastic video as always. Absolutely fascinating and thought provoking. I dont think I've ever heard of a private park. The idea of fencing in an open space and only allowing some people to even walk through is hard to comprehend. I imagine even the people who have access use it less and get less value from the park than if it was open. Bet they feel pretty lonely inside

[@aflojo]

I live in Savannah, Georgia where our city plan is attributed to General James Edward Oglethorpe. He was from London and had traveled extensively throughout Europe. His city plan was not only inspired by London, but many other European cities. We have kept the same city plans in 1733 and all of our squares have always been public. It's one of the best parts of living in Savannah! We have over 20 squares. They are all within the downtown historic district which is about 2.2 square miles.

[@redkaufman892]

Wow the end almost made me tear up. I love public spaces so much.

[@owencrater7089]

Draper is great. Very, very rarely do I not watch her videos all the way through. Keep up the good work!

[@katebowers8107]

George Orwell taking the very long view to demonstrate that “theft” isn’t theft is most JDraper of all JDraperings. Bravo on this entire fascinating video!

[@danjcollier]

After the grills were removed from the Ladies' Gallery, they were installed in Central Lobby as a tribute to the Suffrage movement, and can be seen by the public when visiting the Palace of Westminster (I used to work at the Parliamentary Education Centre, who have one of the original grills as an exhibit; and show a film on the Grill Protests, which I've seen countless times)

[@christopherlaumer6721]

Her power increases 🙇 fantasizing about a collab with PhilosophyTube.

[@WyvernYT]

I think she and Jay Foreman would have delightful conversations about London, and I would like to vicariously share them.

[@susanvinson2667]

I love how you bring everyone into the history lesson. My favorite history teachers all did that. It’s not just a story about Dukes and railings, but a class history of London. Which of course leads the country. Through the development of the park system of one of the largest cities in the world. Brilliantly done.

[@maximthemagnificent]

My teenage self would be very happy watching nerdy subjects presented by an English person, as I grew up mainly with PBS in a time before cable.

[@grunt22]

What a gem of a video. I really do enjoy your longer videos. Everyone of them teaches me something and opens my eyes to something I had never realised. Great work

[@TefiTheWaterGipsy]

I grew up in a key garden square. Not in Mayfair or Bloomsbury. We had huge iron gates, but no railings. We had that kind of like chain link but with green plastic covering the wires, held by lumps of concrete. Those who didn't have a key (£5 deposit in the 70s) climbed over the gate. There were enough parents who had upper floors, they could see all the kids and knew all the kids in their own buildings, as well as sometimes others. So we had eyes on, but still got up to mischief. We were allowed dogs, if you needed to let it do is thing, there was a dog pen along one wall, you put them in there and they'd come to the gate to be let out , now you have to file your registered dog with a free poo bag and deposit it in the available dog bins. We played ball, had a climbing frame that wanted us all dead and a swing set. Now they've got lush wooden play sets with soft ball underneath. We were the only square in the area without railings, but it was hardly open to the public as such. We didn't get our railings back until the early 90s. It's a very nice garden now. I used to take my daughter to play there, we walked our dog when we visited my parents. But it wasn't the same. It was very nice, but no key, no come in, (£125 per key, only residents allowed) it was probably safer, but there were kids with their nannies getting half an hour to an hour to play. We ran that place when we were kids. Bike races, war games, karate chop the shed which was on it's last legs. I used to sit on it's roof all the time just to pee my brother off. We were chucked out around 9 to half past and came back only to wee or for food. Back out all afternoon until six or seven. Summer holidays in London would've been awful without it. It isn't like that now, it's kind of a shame, we had so much fun, there were about 30 of us in total, a main group of ten at the most. Loads of games for ten kids to play. But it does look better with the railings, it definitely improved property prices. I can remember being really little and playing in the front gardens at Kensington Palace when i was little. It was either meant for public or no one minded me being there. I was always the only person there. My mum would be sat on a bench reading the paper not far away. It had railings now, in places. Great video, thank you.

[@Gothicktouch]

As a blacksmith, I absolutely appreciate this, railings are so interesting! I do a lot of restoration work, and it's brilliant to see how traditional railings were constructed when you take them apart.

[@tomdchi12]

The way that public versus private space (and the shading between them) is fascinating and well worth discussing! In the US, the rise of the "suburb" with it's pseudo-public space being the privately owned shopping mall led to similar issues of where public events (including protests) can be held. Anyone interested in the American counterparts to these sorts of issues should read City of Quartz by writer Mike Davis about the cultural and political aspects of the changing eras of how Los Angeles was built.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

The street where I was born in the East End had had the railings cut off at their base - presumably as part of the ‘Spitfire craze’ at the beginning of WW2. Although what they were going to use cast iron for in an aircraft made largely of steel and aluminium, god only knows…

[@Seal0626]

There's a school near me that has the same thing - brick wall with little stubs of railing from where they were sawn off for the war effort. Which couldn't use them.

[@alaricsnellpym]

@@Seal0626 My primary school in Luton had a wall with the stubs on :-) I asked why and we were told the metal was used in world war 2. And you can convert cast iron to steel, the process of making steel from iron ore basically goes via cast iron anyway.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

@@alaricsnellpymI don’t think a shortage of iron ore was an issue at the time…

[@hayleyevans7697]

I did my MSc at UCL and spent many summer lunchtimes sat on the grass in Russell Square and Brunswick square - being out in the fresh air among the beautiful flowers and greenery was amazing for my mental health!

[@jamespusey7186]

who'd have thought that a 10+min video about railings would be this interesting

[@gracet7533]

this really has BBC educational programme vibe

[@methos-ey9nf]

As an American this was really fascinating. I had no idea that parks and gardens would be anything but public because the first ones I think of are NYC's Central Park, Boston Public Gardens, etc. Also interesting because I think of a "railing" as something to hold onto while going up and down stairs, what's described here I would describe as a fence.

[@alicequayle4625]

I think we usually think of a fence as involving wooden posts outdoors. With maybe wire or wood to join them.

[@ShadowDragon8685]

Waaait... Are you saying that there's large parts of beautiful, Victorian London that _didn't_ get remodeled by the Luftwaffle sometime in 1939-1944? Basically I've resigned myself that everytime an Englishman or Englishwoman starts talking about some majestic, grand, fascinating, clever, or just plain _neat_ that they used to have in the vicinity of London and mentions Victoria, the description of its existance inevitably comes to an abrupt end with "until it was bombed by the Germans in WWII."

[@demetriusoconnor8149]

This was fascinating. I live in America in Denver, Colorado. We have so many parks that a group in the 1800s protested the start of making more public spaces because we had so many now is our city is grown is able to enjoy public access to parks I never knew how lucky we were.🎉 in my neighborhood there is a green belt as we call it a space that follows a river with six parks along it so everyone between my city of Denver, Colorado and Englewood Colorado can wander up and down. Enjoy picnic meet Bike and bring their dogs. I feel very special thank you for your fascinating fascinating video🎉

[@brockmckelvey7327]

"'Some smashing window shopping'? Oh no, you misheard me, I said 'Let's go do some shopping for window smashing. I need a better hammer.'" -a suffragette, most likely

[@nickcara97]

0:01 Ah yes, a casual Londonian greeting.

[@BastiatC]

That's why you don't approach the wildlife.

[@davidsparks6146]

Your video on railings kind of went "Off the Rails" so to speak... suddenly it's a pitch for Russell square (whatever it was called).... I do enjoy your videos.

[@landsil_]

- Will it be a sad video? - Haaaa!!! - Ah, it won't, nice 🎉

[@musiqtee]

I’m a simple and very biased person, so what JDraper brilliantly describes is to me ordinary socialism. Not in the political power sense, that’s frightening to most people now. It’s just socialism by practical means, as a result of bygone, forgotten struggles. So - why are we so afraid of socialism when it hasn’t had any political power for two generations, and we struggle anew…? Well, I’m a simple biased person asking silly questions…

[@jackieokcal4888]

Love love loved this. George Orwell at the end was fabulous to hear. Thank you

[@nicholasbuttery511]

In Birmingham all the Spiked Railngs have been replaced with Palisade Fencing . There was some interesting Victorian / Edwardian design features with ornimental additions but now bland silver industrial catacombs.

[@thekaxmax]

Melbourne, Australia, was built with no city central square specifically to suppress public gatherings.

[@alexbelikov6660]

There're a few squares and parks around CBD

[@thekaxmax]

@@alexbelikov6660 ...now. Most created by not rebuilding bombed-out buildings after WWII.

[@philroberts7238]

@@thekaxmax What bombed-out buildings - in Melbourne?

[@chlorophyllheart]

Really? Where did you learn that?

[@idridian]

"i have no idea what this will be" *12 minutes later* "you're right, i SHOULD tear down the railings around key gardens in london to let the public enjoy them"

[@blakksheep736]

These videos are giving me Tom Scott energy, in the best way. I love them.

[@alveolate]

tom scott but only london!

[@timflatus]

Tom is just an interesting bloke down the pub compared to J's teacher that inspires people to go and change the world. Quality over quantity.

[@pirlie]

Yes, if only more people who are missing Tom Scott would know about her!

[@JanPospisilArt]

Immediately thought of "The Sin", that painting of a nun getting railed through a metal gate, for absolutely no reason. Yes, "railings" are very interesting.

[@ThousandTimesBefore]

0:45 where did you store that book? 😂

[@pirlie]

Magic! I think she had put it half under the skirt waistband.

[@Vinemaple]

"I'm going to make my teenage self cringe" needs to be my new motto. It's only fair, as my teenage self makes my desperately-failing-at-adulthood self cringe, daily. Also, I don't think that's a hand-rolled cigarette in that welder's mouth. I think it's a highlight on the right shoulder of his jacket.

[@louleg23]

Fascinating watch, thank you. Wasn't there something about a large quantity of London railings (not necessarily from parks) being found dumped (the Thames?) because they didn't end up being used for armaments and it was deemed too much of an embarrassment to admit it? Can't remember where I read that.

[@PastPresented]

There is (inevitably) a page about this on Reddit's r/AskHistorians, under the title "What really happened to the UK's iron railings that were taken during WW2?"

[@louleg23]

@@PastPresented thanks!

[@frankharr9466]

I like the Russel Sq. solution. You also need a space to be social beings. And it should be publicly owned, but I can handle this. Or could if I lived there. So, you can only rest for five minutes? I demand a manditory half-hour available rest time! If you don't need it, that's fine, someone else can use it. But if you need it's not a luxury, it's a nessesity!

[@notlurking2128]

I live in Brisbane, Australia, and one thing I love about my city is how much is parks. We have two (two!) botanic gardens completely open to the public. Its a shame that for about 1/4 of the year the outside is too hot to really enjoy it without risking heat stroke for many.

[@alexbelikov6660]

I live in Cairns and I've never been to our Botanic garden, because it's too hot the whole year, except maybe after the sunset in winter, when it's too dark to enjoy its beauty. Maybe I'll make time to go there in the early morning someday in winter this year.

[@chlorophyllheart]

I don't think it's a shame. Even with the few days that are very hot, having more sun is great. Solar energy and vitamin d being very important, and going outside even when it's hot is fine if you are properly prepared. I wish it was more popular to have parasoles though. Due to heat, I get annoyed at people not drinking enough water, and then complaining of headaches or other issues. Drinking water is such an easy and essential thing to do but many don't do it.

[@Thelykane69]

I mean, thanks to time and maths, pretty much all of us Brits have an ancestor who was close friends with Billy Conquerer. Heck, we’re probably all descendants of the bastard himself

[@AndrewJohnson-oy8oj]

We're not going to talk about how flawlessly handsome those WW2 welders were?

[@maddie9602]

A suit definitely does increase a man's attractiveness

[@LexieAssassin]

"... can't ... sunbath topless" *Germany enters the chat* (or so I recall my German teacher telling me back in HS)

[@paulpardee]

I love that knowledge is so freely available that we can geek out about something so random as the history and social implications of fences

[@anjaanja6448]

This is one of the things I noticed when first going to London. Private parks would be unthinkable in Switzerland, them being closed off might even be illegal here

[@hannahk1306]

My favourite London railings (not sure if it also happened elsewhere in the country) are the repurposed WWII stretchers. Basically, as was mentioned in this video, all the railings were cut down for the war effort - including for stretchers. After the war, they decided that the stretchers were essentially just funny shaped railings and popped them back where the old railings used to be (mostly in poorer areas I believe). They're fairly easy to spot, once you know what to look for: there's a curved part at either end of each section where the stretchers' handles used to be. I've been through Russell Square Gardens many times and probably eaten lunch there once or twice, but I had no idea that it wasn't publicly owned. I've often wondered about these mini parks across London, so thank you for the context - them essentially being communal gardens for the surrounding houses makes so much sense. It's interesting that nowadays we often associate communal gardens with cheaper accommodation and less wealthy areas. However, it's important to remember that there are still many people without proper access to green spaces at all.

[@katebowers8107]

Across the pond, any iron fence in New England manufactured prior to 1863 was melted down to create cannon for the Union in the US civil war. They were donated by the owners, but the social pressure was intense. Anyone still having an iron fence during the US Civil War in the north was displaying support for treason.

[@mynameisjoejeans]

Private property and personal property are two different things. Private property is held for profit production and can morally be appropriated to benefit the community. Personal property is for one’s own use value and shouldn’t be appropriated unless glaringly unjust, and even then they’re usually earning from unproductive rentierism on private property, so that addresses the problem.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

It's a shame how much of the railings and other exterior ironwork has been lost mainly due to WW2.

[@peter1062]

Many, many things about WW2 are highly regrettable. For me, railings are not the first thing that come to mind.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@peter1062 where did I say it was?

[@oglebeyoval7833]

Is nobody going to mention the fact that you pulled that book out from behnd your back video game inventory style? Had to rewatch it like 3 times laughing.

[@StackingLimit]

Thank you! I learn so much about the London my mother grew up in before she married my father after the second world war and moved to America. I have visited countless times and seen these keyed Gardens and never knew their history. Thank you again I watch every one of your videos as they are informative and entertaining.

[@SciFiFemale]

Yes, open them, and also get the right to roam in England. For over 20 years a few unused fields near me had all sorts using them, to walk, picnic, play, take their dogs etc. New owners, fences have been put up and no trespassing signs.

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

Wait, there are STILL private gardens? Honestly, I've never heard of this type of thing in the Netherlands, but I get why it would exist in the Victorian era. But to keep it in the modern day? That's just ludicrous.

[@angrytedtalks]

Not at all. The right to privacy is a fundamental human right. Only communists think otherwise. If you own it, it isn't a public space. Again, only communists complain about ownership.

[@etherealtb6021]

Interesting! We call this fencing in the USA. Railings are on stairs or other places to keep you from falling over! 😁 (Love your railing crown!)

[@98Zai]

I bet there is enough history in the parks that you could make a video for each of them! Love that they were so early with "green space", it sounds like a MCM concept to me!

[@TadeoDOria]

What a great video! About a month ago my partner and I visited London and we stayed in Bloomsbury, walked all around and enjoyed seeing the ravens and squirrels in Russell Square. This video is like a perfect unintended coda to that trip, giving us some context and history for the area, thanks!

[@Marauder99991]

"Only built on in the last few hundred years" Me, an American "Only? Only?!"

[@keithheaven176]

I love your presentations of London. I was last there in 1976 for an economics exam and have since felt no intention of visiting it again (afraid of what my reaction would be if I bumped into any politicians or bankers). You are the only person who has aroused my interest in London as an historic asset. I now hope to visit sometime - and not just for the museums and art galleries.

[@montananerd8244]

2:01 make sure you have a relative who was a FIRST son (of a first son of a...) & a good friend of William the Conqueror. I'm descended from the Plantaganet line in numerous directions - Im descended from bad king John AND the fellas who killed him! We became regulars (non-noble) by the 1600s & nobodies by 1800. The Dukes and Earls forget that the cousins and even later siblings produce lines that become the peanut gallery!

[@pirlie]

peanut gallery ahahhaha

[@AndrewBehm]

9:20 thank you for assuaging my fears about the Duke’s land. Was worried 😧

[@ShadowDragon8685]

"So what, you wanna let people, trample 'round in your garden?" Yeah, sure. "You wanna abolish all private property?" Very nearly. "You wanna let people share your toothbrush?" Okay, that's just being a bit silly, on health grounds!

[@ShadowDragon8685]

"Now the Duke still owns it; don't worry, no-one took his land away." Damn.

[@Rumade]

Your point about key gardens being useless is so spot on. When I worked on the hop-on-hop-off buses we would go through Belgravia and you NEVER saw anyone in the key garden bar the gardeners, and a once a personal trainer making someone do burpees.

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

If the council doesn’t want to take the upkeep of smaller key gardens on, they should put coin/card operated mechanical turnstiles/gates on them that charge like 50p for entry to put towards the upkeep.

[@natasha8302]

This is going to sound random but this reminded me of the show Sarah & Duck 😅. This add some context to that episode of Sarah & Duck when they went to a park you had to pay to get in when their usual park was closed for maintenance 😯. We have private gardens that you have to pay to enter but the only pay to enter parks I can think of that we have in the States are in private gated communities.

[@tailstalker]

So what you did here was a Philosophy Tube video about railings. Instant Subscrib+upvote

[@no_justno]

I do agree RAILING is interesting. If i say so myself. Im sorry I'll see myself out👋.

[@EnordAreven]

Thought I saw the singular, not the plural of Railings in the title there and thought I was about to see a very different video 😅

[@YetAnotherGeorgeth]

I never thought I’d ever watch a video about railings…that’s actually interesting! You’re such a good story teller. 🙂

[@noir8255]

I can't tell you enough how lovely the editing, design and dress is. You are a true master. Love your videos. I wish there would be someone who would do this kind of video on Romanian history❤ love from Romania

[@ed-edd-n-eddiee]

yes!!! i've been looking for something like that as well! avem si o istorie frumoasa si interesanta!!

[@ed-edd-n-eddiee]

❤