h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: London Bridge - A2845659
Author: Mina - Go-Faster stripes not included - U290

Another bridge entry from me.

I really like the story of London Bridge, so I've worked in the nursery rhyme as headings. I think it's a shame that we've been left with what must be the ugliest bridge on the Thames (if not anywhere) as the 'final' version of London Bridge.

You say the Roman bridge was three times wider. Wider than what?

That was quick! Than the current one. I only added that bit at the end. I'll give it a tweak, but I'll let you get to the end of the entry first, in case there are more.

More a comment on style than anything else...

I absolutely love the way you have incorporated the nursery rhyme into the entry as subheaders for the relevant factual information.

Presumably the current bridge is wide enough for at least one lane of traffic in each direction. Are you really saying that the Roman timber bridge was six lanes wide? Why would they make it that wide?

Presumably it was that wide because it had to allow for swift movement of Roman troops to the South Bank and beyond, rather than for just two narrow lanes of traffic.

Hi Mina,

Excellent entry! Very informative.

I found this while looking for something else the other day and remembered it when reading your Entry:A395426

Does this contradict or sit alongside what you're saying about the 'drive on the left' rule?

Jules

I liked it v. much, well done ye

I think you should turn the song lyrics into , which would fit better with house style.

It's a great entry, Mina! I love the way the nursery rhyme is woven into the story of the bridge.

I don't believe the Roman bridge was as wide as you say, nor do I believe that there were no other bridges across the Thames until 1776. Do you by any chance mean no other bridges within the city?

If you decide to keep the bit about the Roman Bridge being three times as wide as the present London Bridge, you should reword it slightly:

was three times wider and slightly downstream from the current bridge
--> was three times wider than and slightly downstream from the current bridge

A new stone bridge was began --> A new stone bridge was begun

had a drawbridge in the middle (not the centre, about a third of the way across) --> had a drawbridge about a third of the way across

froze deeply enough -- I don't think deeply is the right word here. Perhaps 'froze solidly enough'

. Nice entry; very readable and informative.

Thought it would be nice to link it to the Edited Guide entry on Nursery Rhymes at A288966 (even though - or especially because! - this entry does not mention 'London Bridge is Falling Down'.

BIGAL

Gnomon, you were right not to believe me about the Roman bridge being three times wider - it was the Thames that was three times wider! I misread something in my hurry this morning! *feels stupid*

It was the only bridge over the Thames in London, so I've made that clearer, and made the other changes you've suggested.

JulesK, I think that entry explains why the left was chosen, rather than the right. People may have been doing it anyway, and it was just enforced as a rule for the first time on London Bridge. I'll link to that one, thanks.

I originally had headers,a nd they looked wrong, which is why I changed then to sub-headers.

Thanks for the other comments about the nursery rhyme! I wasn't sure how people would feel about it. I'm glad it's gone down well!

I'm not sure where I could work that link in. I don't want to link to it with the words 'nursery rhyme', because I'm talking about a specific one at that time.

I'll think about it and perhaps send you a suggestion, if I can get it to work.

Just off to read your article in detail

Hi again Mina,

In order to link to the N.R. Edited Guide Entry (A288966)I thought this:

Under your sub-heading 'London Bridge is Falling Down'you have the sentence: 'The N.R. LBIFD reflects the ups and downs of the bridge'. Follow this with the following sentence:

"Nursery Rhymes are often a way in which major historical events could be remembered and passed on" and then link 'Nursery Rhymes' in this sentence to A288966.

(I plagiarised this sentence verbatim from the Guide Entry).

A couple of other points that occurred to me are:

Where you say "Between 1756-1762 the houses and shops were removed" you could add "for safety reasons". (Incidentally, my source says that this happened in 1756)

Later on you say that "Westminster Bridge had been built by this time". Here you could specify the date of building Westminster Bridge which, according to my source was 1750.

Where you say "In the 1820's a new bridge was built opening in 1831" you could include that this was built 100 feet (30.5 metres) west of the old one.

Hope some of this is useful.

BIGAL

"100 feet (30m)" would be better than "100 feet (30.5m)". I doubt it was exactly 100 feet, so it is misleading to give such an accurate figure in metres.

Thanks for that line and link, I've added that.

The buldings did take soime time to be removed, so my dates are correct, they were entirely gone by 1763.

My soureces say Westimnster bridge was built by 1750 as well. I don't want to add that date though, as there are already a lot of dates in this, and I don't want to add yet another, that's nothing really to do with the entry.

Rennie's bridge was 180 feet west of the old one, rather than 100, I've added that too.

I think that's everything.

Hello Mina,

And can I congratulate you on a fine entry. What an interesting history! You have done a great job here.

Just one observation. You mention that the original thirteenth century London Bridge rhyme refers to a sinking 200 years before. This is curious because the poem clearly states London Bridge *is* falling down, and later you say that it did collapse in the thirteenth century under the auspices of Queen Eleanor. Could Queen Eleanor be the "my fair lady" in question?

Again, its a super entry!

Woodpigeon

Hi Woodpigeon,

Thanks for your comments!

The rhyme was invented at the time that Eleanor was neglecting the bridge - it was written about the time the Danish Olaf and the King of England (sorry, his name has gone out of my head!) pulled the bridge down to cut off the Danes who had invaded and occupied London at the time. "In 1014 it was pulled down in the fight against the Danes who were occupying London." It was seen to be directed at the lovely Eleanor though.

I should probably put all that in?

I would!