Laying Monster Tubes from the New River

The exact location of the view in this unusual picture has not been identified but it is almost certainly in north London, most probably around Islington or Stoke Newington, or near the artist's home on the border of Camden and Hampstead. The laying of large cast-iron pipes would have been a common sight during the second half of the nineteenth century. A great deal of work was undertaken at that time to increase the supply of clean water to an ever-growing number of customers.