the 19th century in Europe is called the Little Ice Age because of the severity of the climate, especially the winters. In England, when the ice was thick enough and lasted long enough, Londoners would take to the river for travel, trade and entertainment, the latter eventually taking the form of public festivals and fairs. The Thames was broader and shallower in the Middle Ages – it was yet to be embanked, meaning that it flowed more slowly. Moreover, old London Bridge, which carried a row of shops and houses on each side of its roadway, was supported on many closely spaced piers; these were protected by large timber casings which, over the years, were extended – causing a narrowing of the arches below the bridge, thus concentrating the water into swift-flowing torrents. In winter, large pieces of ice would lodge against these timber casings, gradually blocking the arches and acting like a dam for the river at ebb tide. The frost fairs AD 695 (first known frost fair) The first known frost fair on the River Thames was in AD 695, although it was not known by the title of frost fair. The river froze over for six weeks. Vendors set up booths on the frozen river in which they sold goods. 1608 (first frost fair that was called a frost fair) The first recorded frost fair for which the term "frost fair" was used was in 1608. There were barbers, pubs, fruitsellers and shoemakers, who lit fires inside of their tents to stay warm. Activities at the frost fair included football, and according to an article published in The Saturday Magazine in 1835, dancing, nine-pin bowling, and unlicensed gambling. 1683–84 The most celebrated frost fair occurred in the winter of 1683–84. Activities included horse and coach racing, ice skating and puppet plays, as well as football, nine-pin bowling and sledding. There were also other activities that would be considered cruel or controversial in present times, or even illegal. They included bull-baiting, fox hunting, and throwing at cocks. John Evelyn's account of the 1683-84 frost fair: Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other stairs too and fro, as in the streets; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cooks, tipling and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water.