Going for a walk is always a good idea. Maybe, if you’re lucky, it could be a hike along jagged cliffs or along a beach, together with your family. Many of us, however, have to walk the pavements of UK towns and cities on our post-lunch walks.
As a researcher specializing in pedestrianism, I am fascinated by the changing culture of how, where and why we walk. This includes unspoken etiquette that has endured through the centuries and changed to reflect the cultural concerns of the time. You may be surprised to learn that “going for a walk” wasn’t really an activity in itself until late 18th century.
The term “pedestrianism” may have Latin roots, but in the 19th century its first association would have been sports. “Professional pedestrianism” or “athletic walking” was fiercely competitive in the 1850s.
The tournaments in the United States were held over six days, with participants walking the equivalent of 725 km, taking naps in tents next to the court and drinking champagne along the way.
The strict “heel-to-toe rule,” which is still in effect, states that “the advancing leg must be straight from the moment of first contact with the ground.”
Walking as a leisure activity emerged around the 1780s. Until then, walking had been a act of necessity, associated with poverty, laziness and even with criminal intentions.
Many people would live and die without having seen more than a few square miles of bleak cityscape and only a little more for those in the countryside.
Along with the “lake poets” at the turn of the century – who included William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge – famous walkers such as Charles Dickens They made the pastime of walking fashionable.
Much has been written about the religious zeal with which Dickens carried out his daily “walking work.” He covered an average of 19 km per day and at a remarkable pace of more than 6 km per hour, enough for others to “step aside while the great writer, who always seemed to be walking against thought, moved forward.”
Walking was a essential gear in Dickens’s creative process: a moment to absorb, almost by osmosis, the idiosyncrasies of the streets.
From forays into London’s slums to nighttime marches fueled by insomnia, their encounters provided the eccentric brilliance of their characters: the street snapshots held “in regular order on different shelves in my brain, ready with their labels to be shown when I I love them”.
In the 19th century, when sidewalks were in their infancy, walking was a completely different experience. It is estimated that 300,000 horses roamed the streets of London, depositing more than 1,000 tons of manure a day.
Worse things were also dumped into the rat-infested sewers of the slums: the word “loo” (bath) is believed to derive from “gardyloo,” from the French “regardez l’eau” (be careful with water). , which was shouted announcing the emptying of a urinal from an upper floor.
The sorry state of the city’s streets created a demand for all types of workers, including the so-called “pure diggers” who collected dog poop and sold it in bulk to local tanneries (places where leather hides were processed).
This was just one of the unattractive occupations that historian Henry Mayhew referred to as “street cleaners”: a motley crew of street sweepers and other characters who made a living from street waste.
Fortunately, social reform and urban planning have advanced dramatically and taking an urban walk is now a much more pleasant experience.
While sidewalks have changed, many of the codes of conduct governing Victorian pedestrian etiquette remain. relevant today.
In 1780, an article hidden discreetly among the news and advertisements of the popular London Magazine described “Rules of behavior, in general use, though much ignored in this populous city.”
Among its 12 points, pedestrians are advised to “be careful to look intently at the faces of those passing by.” […] because an authoritarian look gives the appearance of a bully, and an intrusive look, that of a sheriff.”
So, as you walk, do what Dickens did and avoid these missteps:
While the unspoken rules may change over time (distracted phone users, I’m looking at you), there’s a lot about sidewalks that retain their Victorian decorum. They are a place of multiplicity and variety, culture and commerce: a stretch of land to celebrate all year round.
*Lauren Colley is a PhD in English Literature, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
*This article was published on The Conversation and reproduced here under the creative commons license. Click here if you want to see the original version.
