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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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frost fairs
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The narrow arches of old *London Bridge slowed down the ebb and flow of the Thames sufficiently for the river to freeze in very cold spells; and the impromptu fairs which then took place on the ice were a popular London tradition. The greatest frost fair of all lasted for ten weeks from the beginning of December 1683. There was a whole street of booths selling food and fancy wares; an ox was roasted; and as a souvenir you could have your name printed on a press set up on the ice (a sheet done in this way for *Charles II and his party survives in the London Museum). The last great frost fair was in the winter of 1813–14, before old London Bridge was replaced in 1831.
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