Fatberg: The Danger That Lurks Down Below.

As I started reading a story on Russia Today's UK News page, at the end of paragraph two something struck a chord in my memory.

from Russia Today:

A giant “fatberg” found in a London sewer could have put houses at risk of flooding over the festive period, Thames Water has warned.

The huge mass of waste products, made up of grease, fat, and items which do not break down in sewage water such as face wipes and diapers, was found underneath Leather Lane in Clerkenwell.

Thames Water said if the fatberg had not been discovered, it could well have caused sewage pipes to burst and flood homes.

Following the discovery on December 19, teams of specialist engineers have worked throughout the week to break down the mass into smaller pieces and get rid of the numerous items that had become stuck in the grease.

And then it came to me, this is why the story stirred my memory:

DOWN BELOW by Sidney Carter
(tune: Sam Hall)

When you're working in the dark, down below
Underneath St James Park, down below
When you're working in the dark
Underneath St James park
It isn't half a lark, down below

Now it isn't hard to tell,down below
If it's Bow or Clerkenwell, down below
Cos Bow and Clerkenwell
Has a different kind of smell
And you knows it pretty well, down below

.

Come down Covent Garden way, down below
in the merry month of May, down below
The fragrance of the flowers
Gives us many happy hours
And we sing a roundelay, down below

When to Billingsgate you come, down below
When to Billingsgate you come, down below
When to Billingsgate you come
Then things really start to hum
And the smell will knock you dumb, down below

And the objects that you find, down below
Serve to exercise the mind, down below
There are watches that wont wind
All wrapped up in bacon rind
And that isn't all you find, down below

Yes there's something in a sewer, down below
What must have a strange allure, down below
The magic of the drains
Is a thing I can't explain
But it's calling me again, down below
Yes it's calling me again, down below

Not a suitable subject for humour (or humor) at Christmas you may think, but people need top be aware of all the many existential treats to our civilization that are out there. Who knows what monstrous life form may evolve from the fatbergs. Obviously there is human and other types on DNA 'Down Below' along with all sorts of dodgy chemicals. Was there an X Files episode about it once?

The London Fatberg (below, image source: The Daily Mail ) is still growing.