Pāhonoa te oro

For centuries, the River Thames was a highway. In winter, it sometimes froze solid. And when it did, London turned the ice into a city. People held markets, played games, even roasted meat on the river. They called these events “Frost Fairs.” But this wasn’t normal weather. It happened during the Little Ice Age, a period of global cooling. When the river was later rebuilt with wider bridges, the water flowed faster and stopped freezing. The festivals disappeared. Today, the Thames no longer free