Clearing Up A Bridge Confusion

~ beetleypete

As someone who lived in London for most of his life, I do get unusally annoyed by the same old mistakes concerning that city. Because of recent protests by climate change activists, both Tower Bridge and London Bridge have featured heavily on the news media and social media over the past few days. Twitter is busy today with many videos and photos about the protests, and hundreds of people are also posting photos of themselves by the bridges in question.

Trouble is, many of them don’t know which bridge is actually London Bridge, even when they are standing on it. Allow me to clear this up for you, once and for all.

THIS IS LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS IS NOT LONDON BRIDGE, IT IS TOWER BRIDGE.
SEE THE DIFFERENCE? IT HAS TOWERS. AND IT RAISES IN THE MIDDLE TO LET SHIPS PASS THROUGH.

Twitter users, bloggers, social media maniacs, tourists, and photographers. PLEASE REMEMBER!

Rant over.

71 thoughts on “Clearing Up A Bridge Confusion”

  5. Great post 🙂 Reading a lot about stuff like this, I knew that those two bridges were different from each other. When I was in geography class two decades ago, our teacher clarified this 🙂 Anyway, keep up the great work as always 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. So many people think Tower Bridge is London Bridge, and it annoys me because Tower Bridge is so distinctive and unique. But the Thames does have 200+ bridges along its entire length, so some confusion is to be expected I suppose. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. WE saw a question on Pointless last night ( a repeat) about the bridges across the Thames. I don’t know how many there are but I would have answered Battersea Bridge, I don’t think they won any money.
    It’s so sad about Hammersmith Bridge. Couldn’t the council and the Govt. come to some arrangement? It seems symbolic that they can’t agree who needs to look after it. The longer these things are left the more expensive they are to repair.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I might have said Barnes Bridge, Julie. Most people forget about that one because it is only for trains. 🙂
      There are more obscure bridges though, this from Wikipedia.
      ‘The River Thames is the second-longest river in the United Kingdom. It is crossed by over 200 bridges, 27 tunnels, six public ferries, one cable car link, and one ford along its 215-mile (346 km) course.’
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  12. Could be worse, it could be mistaken for Hammersmith Bridge. The bridge nobody wants to fix!

    My favourite bridge across the Thames is Albert Bridge. Beautiful when it’s lights are on.
    Which is your favourite?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Albert Bridge looks great when it is lit up, I agree. Tower Bridge has always been my favourite. I remember how many times it used to go up and down when I was young, and loved to watch that.
      Cheers, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  16. You know, the very idea that it is confusing is scary. The road to get on the bridge is of course “Tower Bridge” Rd. . . But then the climate change crowd and the media that covers their antics haven’t been too keen on the realities of things either, so there’s that too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes, they probably didn’t approach it from the south along Tower Bridge Road, Chris. That was just for us working class oiks living south of the river. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  24. I saw the Climate people article yesterday and held back from explaining in no uncertain terms that the picture was of London Bridge. If anyone wants to know, my scribe has lived and worked in London for 31 years and should know their way around. It is frustrating when national media outlets don’t fact check and just issue articles which are clearly inaccurate. Yes they did occupy Tower Bridge but the photo was definitely London Bridge. Canine rant over.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. They need to try harder! I haven’t been to so many places that I can recognise in photos, but never confuse them. These people are actually standing on Tower Bridge (it has big nameplates) and calling it London Bridge. Grrr! 🙂 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. The original London Bridge was built by the Romans, and there have been many more on that site since. Tower Bridge is a much later bridge, constructed in 1886. It is so much nicer than any other bridge in London, and I used to live close to the south side of it, which is why I get frustrated when so many people call it London Bridge. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

        1. I have never been to India, but I know what the Taj Mahal looks like and never confuse it. I also know the difference between the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, though I have never been to New York. Maybe I’m just being too picky? 🙂 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          1. It’s not being picky, that’s having exceptional knowledge 😀 But regarding the bridge I just have to say the tower bridge might simply be everyone’s expectation of how The London Bridge looks like, I mean it looks ancient, magnificent and marvelous no offence to the actual London Bridge 😀

            Liked by 2 people

            Reply

  31. when i was young, i used to think the Tower Bridge was the London Bridge. just because that is the only bridge in London that is famous on prints. not until many years later when i lived in Windsor that i got it straightened out. 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

All comments welcome

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.