A tour of the bridges over The Thames
Today I went on another of the history walks around London. This time we started at Embankment tube station, and headed off to look at all the bridges over The Thames. The weather wasn't very good (barely 11C/51F, dull and drizzly), but it was an interesting two-hour walk and I learned some new things about bridges :)
We could see the railway bridge from Embankment Station into Charing Cross Station (The Hungerford Bridge). The original bridge was a suspension bridge designed by Brunel. When it was decided that it needed replacing, the suspension cables were repurposed in his large new Clifton Suspension Bridge near Bristol in 1864.
The rail bridge that replaced it is quite ugly, but the brick supports from the first bridge can still be seen with their ornamental arches at the base.
Alongside the rail bridge is the pedestrian Jubilee Bridge, a small suspension bridge.
It was a particularly grey day but the views down The Thames were still rather fine.
Looking back at the Hungerford Bridge - you can see the modern façade of Charing Cross Station. The foundations of the Bridge were
Across the river on the left is the back of the Savoy Hotel, and on the right, the building with the clock used to be called the ShellMex building but is now just given the name Eighty Strand. The Art Deco building has the largest clock face in London. In front of that, you can just see Cleopatra's Needle.
I love the lampposts along the South Bank - Waterloo Bridge in the background.
nder the Southbank Centre is the skate park which has a LOT of graffiti.
Past the statue of Sir Lawrence Olivier outside The National Theatre.
The 'London Pride' Statue (named because it was designed for the entrance to the Festival of Britain in 1951 and held a plant in the bowl called 'London Pride'.
The view into the grey city buildings. On the right is the OXO building which was originally a power station for the Post Office until the OXO company took it over. They remodelled the building in and despite being told they couldn't advertise they embellished the windows at the top of the tower to spell out the company name (naughty!).
There were mudlarks taking advantage of the tide being out. You can only go mudlarking by paying a license. In this photo is one of the original wharves which would have given access to The Thames in the 1500s.
Blackfriars Bridge in the foreground, St Paul's Cathedral on the horizon.
Back in 1977, there was a walk you could follow around London to Celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. The medallions can still be seen set into the pavement.
Blackfriars Station - the old and the new. The columns are from the old stone bridge and were kept alongside the new one which was remodelled between 2009 and 2012. The new station building has 4,400 solar panels on the roof which makes it the largest solar-panelled bridge generating half the electricity the station uses every day.
The original medallion of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway.
London Cityscape, Dusk by James Cochran (aka Jimmy C)
You can see the solar panels on the new bridge/station here.
The London Millennium Footbridge opened in 2000 but was quickly closed when it started to sway alarmingly once people started to walk across it. It closed for two years while 'dampers' were installed to calm it down!
We walked past the reproduction (and working theatre) of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Southwark Bridge - the white building on the left is the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners. Once a year the ceremony of Swan Upping takes place from here (an annual ceremony in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, ringed, and then released).
Further along in the side of a restaurant is an old Ferryman's seat.
Canon Street Railway Bridge has two towers which are actually water towers which used to provide the hydraulics for the turntable in the station. The steam trains would be turned around to leave again by the turntable.
Past the Clink Street museum - Clink Street was where the old Clink Street Prison was located and which burned down in 1780
The ruins of the palace of the Bishops of Winchester - one of the largest and most important buildings in medieval London. This was part of the Great Hall with its Rose window.
Past the seaworthy reproduction of Francis Drakes's ship The Golden Hind in its dry dock. He sailed the original ship to circumnavigate the globe between 1577 and 1580.
The only remaining part of New London Bridge (1831-1967) - the rest is in Arizona.
It was (as usual) a very interesting tour. Next week we'll be meeting at Russell Square station :D
We could see the railway bridge from Embankment Station into Charing Cross Station (The Hungerford Bridge). The original bridge was a suspension bridge designed by Brunel. When it was decided that it needed replacing, the suspension cables were repurposed in his large new Clifton Suspension Bridge near Bristol in 1864.
The rail bridge that replaced it is quite ugly, but the brick supports from the first bridge can still be seen with their ornamental arches at the base.
Alongside the rail bridge is the pedestrian Jubilee Bridge, a small suspension bridge.
It was a particularly grey day but the views down The Thames were still rather fine.
Looking back at the Hungerford Bridge - you can see the modern façade of Charing Cross Station. The foundations of the Bridge were
Across the river on the left is the back of the Savoy Hotel, and on the right, the building with the clock used to be called the ShellMex building but is now just given the name Eighty Strand. The Art Deco building has the largest clock face in London. In front of that, you can just see Cleopatra's Needle.
I love the lampposts along the South Bank - Waterloo Bridge in the background.
nder the Southbank Centre is the skate park which has a LOT of graffiti.
Past the statue of Sir Lawrence Olivier outside The National Theatre.
The 'London Pride' Statue (named because it was designed for the entrance to the Festival of Britain in 1951 and held a plant in the bowl called 'London Pride'.
The view into the grey city buildings. On the right is the OXO building which was originally a power station for the Post Office until the OXO company took it over. They remodelled the building in and despite being told they couldn't advertise they embellished the windows at the top of the tower to spell out the company name (naughty!).
There were mudlarks taking advantage of the tide being out. You can only go mudlarking by paying a license. In this photo is one of the original wharves which would have given access to The Thames in the 1500s.
Blackfriars Bridge in the foreground, St Paul's Cathedral on the horizon.
Back in 1977, there was a walk you could follow around London to Celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. The medallions can still be seen set into the pavement.
Blackfriars Station - the old and the new. The columns are from the old stone bridge and were kept alongside the new one which was remodelled between 2009 and 2012. The new station building has 4,400 solar panels on the roof which makes it the largest solar-panelled bridge generating half the electricity the station uses every day.
The original medallion of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway.
London Cityscape, Dusk by James Cochran (aka Jimmy C)
You can see the solar panels on the new bridge/station here.
The London Millennium Footbridge opened in 2000 but was quickly closed when it started to sway alarmingly once people started to walk across it. It closed for two years while 'dampers' were installed to calm it down!
We walked past the reproduction (and working theatre) of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Southwark Bridge - the white building on the left is the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners. Once a year the ceremony of Swan Upping takes place from here (an annual ceremony in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, ringed, and then released).
Further along in the side of a restaurant is an old Ferryman's seat.
Canon Street Railway Bridge has two towers which are actually water towers which used to provide the hydraulics for the turntable in the station. The steam trains would be turned around to leave again by the turntable.
Past the Clink Street museum - Clink Street was where the old Clink Street Prison was located and which burned down in 1780
The ruins of the palace of the Bishops of Winchester - one of the largest and most important buildings in medieval London. This was part of the Great Hall with its Rose window.
Past the seaworthy reproduction of Francis Drakes's ship The Golden Hind in its dry dock. He sailed the original ship to circumnavigate the globe between 1577 and 1580.
The only remaining part of New London Bridge (1831-1967) - the rest is in Arizona.
It was (as usual) a very interesting tour. Next week we'll be meeting at Russell Square station :D