Ebb & Flow

Continuing my last post, and looking upstream in the early evening from Westminster Bridge, you can see Lambeth Bridge, and both bridges are to be illuminated this spring as part of the Illuminated River art project. These two, along with those already in the scheme, will be lit up at sunset, later reverting to their quiet darkness at 2.00 am, leaving the river with a few glittering reflections of lights from riverside lamps and surrounding buildings. The lighting for Westminster and Lambeth Bridges will subtly reflect their existing colours, said to have been changed back in 1970 by the Historic Buildings Committee of the then GLC (Greater London Council), to green for Westminster Bridge, echoing the green benches in the House of Commons and a red motif, now mostly faded pink, for Lambeth Bridge, echoing the red benches in the House of Lords.

While setting out this piece I discovered some interesting notes in J. H. Herring’s book: Thames Bridges from London to Hampton Court, published in 1884, some of which I will share with you. For example, he says that the name Lambeth “is derived from lam: dirt, and hyd or hythe: a haven”. However, several other sources say that the name came from the old English word ‘lambehyde’, or ‘lambehitha’ recorded in 1062, meaning literally a ‘landing place for lambs’, or as Stephen Skinner puts it in his Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ, 1671, ‘Portus Agnorum’. The Lambeth Village History site gives credence to both, and suggests that the name might refer to the geological marine profile of the area: loam or mud in the harbour and London clay.

Herring writes that “Vauxhall, or properly Fulke’s Hall, so called from Fulke de Breauté, the celebrated mercenary follower of King John, who appears to have built a hall or a mansion house in the manor of South Lambeth.” And if you search the Online Etymology Dictionary you will find it more or less in agreement.

The first Chelsea Bridge was built in 1858. Known then as Victoria Bridge, and later as Old Chelsea Bridge, it is described by Herring “as the only direct approach from Belgravia to Battersea Park, crossing the Thames at the vastly improved borough of Chelsea…”

Albert Bridge, though commissioned in 1864, suffered a number of delays due to technical problems and didn’t open until 1873. Named after the Prince Consort to make up a pair with Victoria Bridge, it’s one of London’s favourite bridges. According to Herring: “The light perforated Gothic towers supporting the chains, though elegant, fail to give an idea of stability […] however, the main towers are substantial enough to somewhat relieve the idea of general want of strength.” The story that soldiers marching from the nearby barracks were ordered to break step to prevent setting up potentially damaging vibrations when crossing the bridge, is widely known. And though over the years, Albert Bridge has undergone strengthening and a number of moderations, notices from the Royal Brough of Kensington and Chelsea still remain fixed on the old toll booths at either end of the bridge: “All troops must break step when marching over this bridge.”

Battersea Bridge is five miles upstream from London Bridge. In Herring’s day it was a “rude wooden superstructure erected in the year 1771”, and he clearly wasn’t a fan, coupling it with Putney Bridge, also made of wood, saying that they “are perhaps the most inconvenient and dangerous obstructions now remaining on the River Thames.” The present Battersea Bridge was opened in 1890, four years after Putney Bridge.

The old, wooden Putney Bridge, built in 1729, was only the second London Thames traffic crossing to be opened, challenging the long held monopoly of London Bridge, and ruffling a few feathers of the existing ferry operators, who had to be compensated. Herring, who earlier denigrates the structure along with Battersea Bridge adds: “It is positively dangerous to the inexperienced aquatic {…] It makes a picturesque but at the same time an inconvenient obstruction to the noble waterway.”

There are more bridges spanning the tidal Thames further upstream, enough for a third section but lacking sufficient photographs, I will wait until it’s possible to go as far as the limits of the tidal Thames at Teddington Lock. Hopefully not before too long.

Sources and further Information
Herring, J.H.: Thames Bridges from London to Hampton Court, London. 1884.
Online Etymology Dictionary: A useful site for further research into place names.
Article on the Bridges of London in The Engineering Timeline
Article in The Londonist ‘How London’s Thames Bridges got their names’.
A London Inheritance: An excellent London site if you would like more detailed information on Albert Bridge and others.
List of Bridges in London: Wikipedia.

One of my favourite descriptions of the Thames bridges comes from the Gentle Author on Spitalfields Life, where he writes of “a line of bridges, holding the north and south banks of London together tightly like laces on a boot.” It’s an image that’s particularly effective when you look at aerial pictures of the Thames and see how the bridges indeed appear to be fastening the banks together.

Tower Bridge is an ideal vantage point for looking downstream, following the river’s slow curve to the east, leading to the Thames Barrier and eventually to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and the Estuary beyond. But turning upstream towards London Bridge and the Tower of London is where my journey begins. A journey looking at London’s famous Thames bridges, told with random snippets of information and images of day and night, summer and winter, taken over the last few years.

There is a rich history linked to this particular stretch of the river: maritime, military, and social, eloquently expressed by such writers as Peter Stone in his History of the Port of London and by many historians including Simon Jenkins in A Short History of London. There is also a small army of mudlarkers, strictly licensed by the Port of London Authority, or as writes Fiona Haughey, ‘inter-tidal archeologists’, who have contributed much to our knowledge of the past. Exploring the foreshore when the tides allow, they have discovered, and continue to discover, a whole variety of artefacts, many of which have found their way there thrown from the bridges, boats and the river banks, including coins, household objects, religious offerings, tools, toys and weapons. The Museum of London has a large collection of finds from what is described as “London’s longest archaeological site”.

The crowding in the above image seems a little strange now after nearly a year of social distancing but hopefully that strangeness will soon be a thing of the past. The tree-lined building in the background is The Custom House, now the subject of “a planning application for an unsympathetic conversion to a luxury hotel that will be destructive to the fabric of the grade I listed building.” Please read here for further information.

Until the first covid lockdown the river along the Pool of London looked busy on my visits, but not as busy as it was in its 1950’s, early 1960’s heyday, before containerisation in the 1970s when Tilbury became London’s leading container port. But there was always some river traffic: sightseeing and party boats; tugs towing barges of material to construction sites, or removing London’s waste, and a variety of ships on official or publicity trips to the city.

Surprisingly, Waterloo Bridge was actually built during the Second World War under the constant threat of bombing raids. Built mainly by women it’s known as the Ladies’ Bridge. There was no official record of the part they played but the story was kept alive since the 1950s by the guides on sightseeing boats. For more background, there’s an interesting article and short film on the Londonist site.

Like Tower Bridge, Westminster Bridge is a good place to watch river traffic when life gets back to normal. Westminster Pier, next to the bridge on the north bank is the departure point for many of the popular sightseeing trips as well as the regular Uber Thames Clippers’ service. It’s also a good vantage point for watching some of the festivals and events that normally take place along the river throughout the year including the Doggett’s Coat and Badge; events organised by the Thames Festival Trust; and The Mayor’s Thames Festival.

Further Information
At the time of writing, visits are either cancelled or subject to covid restrictions but you can still explore the following sites to plan for better days, hopefully coming soon:
Tower Bridge
Thames Luxury Charters
H.M.S. Belfast
Thames sightseeing trips: City Cruises; Thames River Services; with more info on Visit London

Articles on London Bridges
Spitalfields Life: The Bridges of Old London
A London Inheritance: A Winter Walk from Tower Bridge to Westminster.
How London’s Thames Bridges got their names The Londonist
For sightseeing search Bridges in London

You can also explore the Illuminated River public art commission to illuminate the central London Thames Bridges. The lighting on London, Cannon Street Railway, Southwark, and Millennium Bridges has already been completed. The next stage will shortly see Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster, the Golden Jubilee Footbridges, and Lambeth Bridge in operation too.