England

Tower Bridge

B Byrd, A Byrd

— 3 min read
Tower Bridge

After our gunpowder history lesson, we did a tour of the famous Tower Bridge. This included going up and down both main towers, walking along the top level (including on the new-ish glass floors, to the consternation of some of our party!), and a visit to the old engine rooms. We had never done this classic London activity before but found it very interesting!

Bridge going up as we approached!
Boat going through...
...and bridge back down.
Learning how the bridge was built.
This one took the glass floor in his stride.
This one was worn out from all the steps.
This one made herself be brave!
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Looking down on an open-top double-decker bus!

We were lucky enough (with some good planning/booking by A) to have the bridge go up three times while we were there. We also learnt that, by Act of Parliament, having the bridge raised for your boat to pass under is free, provided you give 24 hours written notice, a time, and evidence your boat is over 9 metres tall.

The staff moved people off the glass section so we could better see the bridge opening...
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...like so!

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Boilers in the Victorian engine rooms.
A flywheel in the Victorian engine rooms.
We also learnt about when a bus jumped the bridge! The number 78 still runs — we saw it on the bridge.
Then we crossed the Tower Bridge on a double-decker bus on our way home. We'd never crossed the bridge before either!

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