Saturday, 2 February 2008

London icon

On my way to a meeting on Thursday, I had the chance to cross Tower Bridge - one of London's many truly iconic landmarks (Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, etc). At the time it was built, 112 years ago it might have looked kitch, trying hard to blend in with the medieval Tower of London next to it. Below: Detail from the wrought ironwork on the northern approaches to the bridge - evidence of the fierce municipal pride of the Corporation of the City of London. In its heyday, the bridge spanned the River of Empire; its solid bulwarks and batiments the gateway to the Pool of London.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mythology comes alive in these wrought iron structures! Look at the defiance hewn and chiselled and sculpted upon the faces of the winged ones by the stout craftsmen or craftswomen! Guildists all! Defiance and pride and resonant power! Power that protects Lud, power that resides in its architecture and its alleys, in its backwaters and in its gritty commercial monoliths and suburbs. Hail the Wicker Man of Lud and all its proud inhabitants!