“Why take a walking tour, listening to someone spout off holding an umbrella and upsetting the locals?
Why spend all that money when you can just walk around navigating with Google.”
comments about tours from the internet
While I was looking up visitor comments about London walks I came across a few people complaining about London Bridge. How there is nothing to see there and that it wasn’t worth visiting.
On the surface that is true, the modern bridge does not have much in the way of decoration and could be considered a little dull. And therein lies the value of a guide, because there is a lot here if you know where to look.
Here are four of the many items that a good guide would know about the bridge.
The modern bridge, opened in 1973, is the only hollow bridge across the Thames and it has heated pavements to keep the ice off in the winter. It was built in huge and heavy sections and floated down the river to be fixed in place. These sections were built on either side of the old bridge, with traffic diverted from one side to the other. There were only two bridges across the river at this point so they could not afford to close one of them for the duration of the build.
The south side of the modern bridge rests on the remains of Rennie’s bridge which opened in 1831. This bridge, or the facing stones at least, were sold and are now in Arizona, crossing Lake Havasu. You can still see one of the original arches without having to go across the Atlantic by walking down the steps on the southwest side. Turn left under the arch to get a sense of the older bridge.
If you found the Blue Plaque nearby it would tell you that in the novel Oliver Twist, Bill Sikes murdered Nancy on these steps. A great story but not entirely true. In the novel Bill thinks she has betrayed him and murders her in their room.
The steps do feature in the story however, as this is where Nancy talks to Oliver’s benefactors. A spy is listening and reports back to Fagin who sets in motion the events that lead to her unfortunate end.
And finally, where was the old London bridge, the one with all the buildings and the heads on spikes? If you look across to the north east side, you can see the church tower of St Magnus the Martyr. The pedestrian route across the river started directly under that tower which allows you to pinpoint exactly where the Medieval London bridge was. This bridge, which stood for 600 hundred years was not demolished until 1831. Rennie’s bridge built a little way upstream so that traffic could continue across the river whilst the new one was under construction.
So, there you have it, four items that a guide can bring to life around London bridge.
Also I never spout off nor do I bother the locals with my small group tours.
