boat ride is very interesting, see many attractions.

lovely!

4 stars and everyone of them for history rather than beauty. Moonrising and DMJ have pretty much summed up the most interesting bits here - the inspiration for a nursery rhyme, the fact that there have been numerous bridges here, the great views of the city you get from the bridge itself and the fact that the current bridge is quite grey and quite boring to look at.

The best story is about McCulloch buying London Bridge and moving it to Arizona. The (denied, and maybe urban legend) story is that McCulloch got Tower Bridge and London Bridge mixed up (often done) and thought he was getting Tower Bridge..so he ended up rather surprised and disappointed when London Bridge was put back together in Lake Havasu City. I’ve been to see the original London Bridge and it is quite odd going across what is really an identical bridge but crossing a man made canal. Then again Lake Havasu City is pretty odd all round with its London Bus, London Postbox and so on - but that’s another review…

great monument of our beautiful country, worth going to see even if ur not a tourist its a beautiful sight jus standin there lookin and its a nice walk round only on a nice day tho

Not really very interesting, saw whilst on a boat ride on the thames, but is one of the sights to see in london so does have some interest about it!

As Moonrising says, to-day’s London Bridge isn’t really anything to look at: begun in 1967, it was opened by the Queen in 1972. 928ft (283m) long, the structure of pre-stressed concrete box girders comprises two short spans either side of a wide central span of 341ft (104m). But it is functional, and the wide central span does have a certain sort of elegance about it.

More interesting, of course, is its history. Incredibly, for many years people forded the Thames in this area. The old river (before the embankments were built) was much wider and shallower, though probably still as muddy, so crossing it must have been extraordinarily dangerous and unpleasant.

The Romans got the act together with a wooden bridge, some time around 80AD. A sizeable settlement quickly grew up on the north side, developing into the Roman town of Londinium. After the Romans left, the bridge was subject to collapse from fire, flood and war. It is clear that at certain times there was no bridge, with ferries instead.

There was definitely a bridge in place in 984AD, probably the one Olaf the Norseman and his fellow Vikings pulled down in 1014. Another was swept away by a flood in 1091. In 1163, yet another wooden bridge was built, by one Peter de Colechurch. It was he whose replacement design in stone, begun in 1176 and completed 33 years later, in 1209, was to become the most famous and longest lived bridge, lasting until 1825.

When it was built, it comprised nineteen stone spans of Gothic (pointed) arches, with a drawbridge span to allow the bridge to be closed for ships and security. A chapel dedicated to Thomas a Becket was built in the centre of the bridge, and Peter de Colechurch was buried there in 1205. Over the years, it acquired its famous double row of houses and shops, whose rents supplemented the tolls for its upkeep.

In 1269, these tolls were gifted by Henry III to his wife Queen Eleanor, and the bridge fell into disrepair. In 1281 part of the bridge collapsed, probably the origin of the song: Queen Eleanor being the ‘Fair Lady’ (although clearly the references to steel and smoking in some of the verses were added later!). But span collapses were regular occurrences over the years, with ad hoc repairs being carried out.

The narrowness of the arches produced famously fierce currents at the change of the tide, but also restricted water flow sufficiently for the Thames to freeze over during very cold winters (most notably for the 17th century ‘Frost Fairs’). But the water flow was also utilised with several mills being erected on the bridge - one in 1582 pumping London’s first water supply.

In 1304 the practice of displaying traitors’ heads on spikes was begun (a German visitor in 1598 counted no fewer than thirty such heads…). The bridge suffered numerous fires, notably during the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381 and Jack Cade’s rebellion in 1450, much of which was actually fought on the bridge. The worst, in 1212, broke out at both ends, reportedly killing over 3,000 people - many drowning, as so few could swim then. A later fire, in 1633, burned the northern part of the bridge - a blessing in disguise, as it saved it from the Great Fire in 1666, although afterwards, many houses were rebuilt in the new classical style.

However, it was the bridge’s narrowness that was its undoing. Only 28 feet wide, the houses and shops reduced the effective roadway to about 12ft, and it could take over an hour to cross. Congestion in London is nothing new! In 1722 the Lord Mayor decreed that carts going southwards should keep to the East and those northwards to the west - supposedly the origin of the British left-hand rule of the road. The houses started to be removed in 1758, and in 1763 a single span built to replace two central spans, but it was becoming clear that this was only a temporary solution.

In 1821, therefore, a competition was held to design a new bridge. The most dramatic design was that of road engineer Thomas Telford, who proposed a single great arch of cast iron, over 600ft (180m) long and high enough for tall ships to pass beneath unimpeded. George Dance proposed two bridges, each with a drawbridge. The final design chosen was that of John Rennie, and was built 180ft west of the old bridge, so that the two bridges stood side by side. It was completed in 1831, and opened by Queen Adelaide. The old bridge was torn down, during which process Peter de Colechurch’s remains were uncovered - only to be thrown into the river.

The Rennie bridge was itself widened in 1902-04, to take account of the growing commuter traffic caused, in part, from London Bridge station being located at its southern end. By the 1960’s Rennie’s Bridge was beginning to suffer from subsidence from growing motor traffic, and thus the present new design was chosen. Rennie’s bridge was sold to a welathy American, Robert McCulloch, and moved to Lake Havesu City in Arizona, after being carefully dismantled: the new bridge was literally built around the old one, with the two outer walkways and road carriageways built first, and then the central section.

So, it’s now possible to walk over two London Bridges - one in London and one in Arizona! If you want to see what the original bridge looked like, there’s a splendid model in the church of St Magnus the Martyr, close to the north end of London Bridge (which was adjacent to the old bridge).

London Bridge isn’t the prettiest bridge in London, but it has a lot going on. This has been the site of many wooden bridges, going back to Roman times, including one destroyed by the Vikings. The first stone bridge on the site was designed by Peter de Colechurch and built in 1176. By the 1300’s this bridge was home to some 140 shops. It survived the great fire of 1666 but with major damage.

It’s not totally clear which early bridge the nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ referred to. Maybe it was based on the fact there’d been a whole series? Words to the nursery rhyme from http://www.rhymes.org.uk:

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair Lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair Lady.

Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair Lady.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair Lady.

Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair Lady.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair Lady.

Set a man to watch all nigh,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair Lady.

Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair Lady.

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair Lady.

Hmmm, you’d never get away with promoting smoking to kids these days…

The next London Bridge after that is the one that is now in the USA. A millionaire bought it thinking he was getting Tower Bridge… Arguably the same mistake was made by Fergie in her song ‘London Bridge’, which seems to be referring to the Tower Bridge drawbridge:

How come every time you come around
My london london bridge wanna go down
Like london london london wanna go down
Like london london london be going down like

The present bridge is a fairly plain, grey affair. At rush hour it’s crowded with commuters in suits walking across the river to or from London Bridge Station. Though not pretty itself, it’s a great place for views of the river, especially Tower Bridge. If you are interested in modern architecture it’s worth checking out No 1 London Bridge, at the South end of the bridge, a reflective cube with a cube taken out. There’s now a ‘London Bridge Experience’, under the south end, where catacombs containing human remains were found during construction. I hope to do a separate review on that sometime!