Brownrigg is a London tour guide and leads walks through the capital all summer long, whatever the weather. His dozen or so routes range in topics from Harry Potter to the London Underground, but all have something in common." 'I often end up talking about the weather, ' he says. 'It's a national obsession (痴迷). I realised how much it has shaped London's existence and history.
Brownrigg's Discovering Britain walk takes in several of the city's famous landmarks, from the Tower of London to the Shard, /each stop exploring some of London's extraordinary weather events.
We begin at the Monument, Christopher Wren's elegy to the Great Fire of London, with is pale stone column topped by a golden orb the Monument was designed to look like a giant candle. It stands 202ft high, exactly 202ft away from where the dire began in Pudding Lane. Despite its size. the structure is dwarfed by(相形见绌) today's surrounding tower blocks. Similarly, the causes behind the fire are sometimes overlooked. The Great Fire was a significant event in the City of London's history, one that was shaped by the capital's geography: The spark was the weather.
As we enjoy some autumn sun 'beside the Monument Brownrigg explains: The summer of 1666 was unusually warm. At that time London was crammed(塞满) with wooden buildings, many only a few feet apart. A long, hot summer 1eft them bone dry. Add stores of flammable materials -including gunpowder left over from the Civil War - and the city was a giant tinderbox. It caught a light on 2 September when a bakery oven wasn't cleaned properly The inferno(特大火) lasted three days thanks to a strong breeze. Besides fanning the flames, the wind caused more mess by changing direction.
