#navvies

Navigators or “Navvies” building the London Underground in the late 1800’s - early 1900’s. Navvies were cheap labourers and mostly miners from Cornwall, or farmers from Scotland and Ireland. They were willing to go wherever there was work and found steady work with railway companies across Britain. Building the Underground was a long and dangerous process. There were many serious injuries and deaths during construction, including a horrific incident where two men were killed by an exploding boiler of a steam engine. They also had to contend with frequent floods. The Navvies also had a rather bad reputation of men who worked hard and played even harder, unwinding in the evenings with legendary drinking sessions that almost always ended in a mass brawl. The railway company was hit with several complaints from the police, landlords and members of the public, all of whom demanded that the men be properly managed.