Tower Bridge is one of London’s most iconic sights, but did you know that each tower weighs the equivalent of 37,840 London black cabs? I learned this and other fascinating facts while exploring inside the famous structure.
The River Thames dissects London through the middle, and an assortment of bridges cross it from north to south. Tower Bridge is undoubtedly the most striking with its blue and white paintwork, but while I’d walked over and passed it many times, I’d never appreciated how much there is to see and learn inside it.
You enter Tower Bridge through the north tower and you’ll be in a shorter queue if you book your tickets in advance. Once inside, we walked up a series of staircases featuring information boards about the history and construction of the bridge, which opened in 1894. At the top is a larger area where films are projected and a member of staff brings the history of Tower Bridge to life. There is also a lift if you can’t manage stairs.
From here, you get to explore the Tower Bridge walkways which link the north and south towers and are a real highlight of the visit as they have glass panels in the floor. The glass is very strong and can take the weight of two black cabs or an elephant. I was happy to jump up and down and lay down on one of the floors. But if you don’t like walking over glass and looking down on the traffic below, there is a solid wooden floor on either side of the glass panels.
Also in the walkways are fascinating displays explaining more about the many people who were involved in constructing and then operating Tower Bridge. I also learned that a law passed in 1885 gives river traffic priority. So if a ship needs to pass, the road vehicles have to wait. Originally, ships communicated with the Tower Bridge staff by light or semaphore signals. Nowadays, they have to request a bridge lift by email 24 hours in advance. I guess that’s progress for you, but it is still a free service. Another law says a bundle of hay must be suspended from the bridge whenever work is being done, so ships know they have less room than normal to pass under it.
And of course, there are fantastic views from the walkways. In one direction is St Katharine’s Dock with Canary Wharf in the distance. In the other direction, there’s the Tower of London and famous skyscrapers including the Gherkin, Cheesegrater and the Walkie-Talkie.
Having explored the walkways, you come back down to street level via the south tower and then walk along to the bridge to the Tower Bridge Engine Rooms. Here you’ll see the original steam engines, coal burners and accumulators that once powered the raising of Tower Bridge. In 1974, this equipment was largely replaced with a new electro-hydraulic drive system, but it was very well preserved.
Needless to say, the final part of a visit to Tower Bridge is the shop, but it’s actually a really nice one. As well as souvenirs related to the bridge, there is plenty of other London memorabilia for sale. And for one last view of the bridge, you can walk through historic Shad Thames with its cobbles and warehouses and then back along riverside Butlers Wharf. The perfect place to see London’s most iconic bridge against a backdrop of the skyscrapers that came long after it.
For more posts about the UK’s capital city, visit the London section of my blog.