Hidden History of Tower Bridge | Unusual Facts About Tower Bridge
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Although this is one of London's most recognisable buildings, Tower Bridge has plenty of hidden history if you know where to look. In this video we go behind the scenes; under, inside and on top of Tower Bridge to discover the unusual stories from its past.
In the video you'll discover;
- The story behind its iconic paintwork
- What happens if you're trapped when it starts to lift
- The 13th century company that still looks after it
- The grim story of 'Dead Man's Hole', and
- The incredible role Tower Bridge played in the First World War!
I'm Katie, founder of Look Up London and your guide for the city's hidden history. I'm a Blue Badge Tourist Guide and give private and public walks as well as virtual tours across London. Find out more here; lookup.london/virtual-tours/
VIDEO LINKS
Sign up for the weekly London history newsletter here; eepurl.com/ge-hfj
Guiding Photos shown at the beginning are by the brilliant Roman Fox - follow him on RUclips here: / @snapsbyfox
Martin Belam Photos (CC BY-SA 2.0) - www.flickr.com/photos/currybe...
Imperial War Museum Photo of Tower Bridge Gun Station - www.iwm.org.uk/collections/it...
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Welcome to RUclips! I've already learnt a couple of things from this!
Thank you! I'm thrilled to hear that, London's history really is never-ending isn't it?!
I think the bus jumping over the bridge must have been a spectacular view!
Imagine! I think the gap might've been exaggerated but I like to think it was very steep! :)
I love the 1000 or more years old businesses..... such history..... such permanence... we miss that here in the states....
Has to be my favorite bridge.... thanks for the video!!!
I love the jumping bus story. Thanks for this video Katie. 👏👏😍
It's great isn't it?! I was particularly proud of my 'footage' ;)
Great video! 👍
Excellent Katie. Interesting to learn about the bridge owners !
Thanks Nick! I find it fascinating that something that old still has a tangible connection to London's infrastructure.
Thanks for sharing katie. So much interesting history. Great video!
Thank you so much :) Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for the video, Katie. Informative and interesting as always. Can't wait to watch your 'series 5' online video tours:)
Thanks Judit! Glad you liked it :) and yes excited for Series Five!
Thank you for mentioning my late uncle Albert Gunter, my mother's brother, her maiden name was Florence Priscilla Gunter, he did very well out of his heroism, and after appearences on What's My Line & Tell the Truth he purchased his house in Theberton St. Islington, I believe later on his son became a curator at the museum on Tower Bridge, my last memory of him was visiting him in St. Bart's Hospital with my mother & father as he layed srticken with stomach cancer all his bus garage pals were there giving their respects to him, he was a lovely person.
Congrats Katie! Interesting as always! Waiting for the next one! I attended to Xmas lightings virtual tour and it was great. Hope you the best 😘
Thanks so much Rocio, so glad you enjoyed the tour too! :)
Really enjoyed that Katie. Keep up the good work. Really well produced👍
Thanks James, all a learning process!
Well done Katie - this is fabulous!!
Thanks so much Laura, glad you enjoyed it!
Great as always Katie!!! I always learn a lot from you!! Thanks 🙏
Aw thank you for watching! :)
Yaaay first video! Actually missed the live but I love it anyway!
Thank you! No worries, I was actually a bit confused about what 'premiering' meant but all a new learning experience!!
Great video Katie - in the 1980s my office used to look out onto Tower Bridge! I am looking forward to your virtual tours Series 5 which I have already signed up for.
Thank so much Jill, looking forward to it! No matter how many times I've seen it, this bridge is very special and always catches the eye!
A really informative video. Lots of info that I'd not known before. You have such a perfect voice for this kind of thing, very clear and easy to listen to!
Thanks so much Chris, what a lovely thing to say and I'm thrilled there was lots of new facts there for you!
That was excellent Katie! :) loved it!!
Thank you so much 🤗
Hello Katie, just came across your channel, you explanations are excellent, being an East Ender myself it is my favourite bridge, it has character. I will being subscribing to your channel. Thank you very much👍
I loved your first you tube video. The London bus story gave me goosebumps. Imagine being a passenger in the bus! Thank you for all this great information.
I know! Thankfully no one was seriously injured, I've read a young boy broke his collarbone but recovered fully!
Fascinating video, thanks Katie! I was lucky enough to have Tower Bridge as the view from my office for 15 years and was always excited to see the bridge lifts and witness which ships were coming through. I've learnt quite a few unknown facts today and will look forward to your upcoming videos.
Thank you! No matter how many times you've seen it, watching Tower Bridge open is always special!
Most excellent. The perfect length too! Fav fact - Dead Man's Hole and the mortuary. I shall look forward to further videos.
Very macabre choice but I like it! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the feedback too :)
Thank you so much, Katie! The jumping bus is of course a surprising story, and also I didn't know there was a glass floor on the top bridge. To me, as Argentinian, is fun to see that it's painted in the colours of our flag! :-)
It's definitely worth visiting when you next get a chance, the Victorian engine rooms (included on the tour) are so cool as well! :)
@@LookUpLondon When I saw it, I thought my Dad would have liked to see that.
Love this! Went on a tour you led last Sunday. Subscribed
Thank you! 🥰
Thanks for a great piece on this landmark. Especially appreciate the BTS photos and rare facts.
Glad you enjoyed it Robert!
I got a chance last month to visit the Tower Bridge on my birthday and I loved it. I didn't realize that you could tour it so I went as a birthday present to myself. Steampunk and beautiful inside!
Love it - thanks for doing this
You're welcome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent, thank you Katie!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video so much imformation keep it up katie .
Thank you John! Will do!
Excellent video Katie ... my favourite fact was about the morgue!! I will certainly walk over the Bridge both at vehicle level and the upper level next time I visit London!
It's a great macabre one isn't it?! Gotta love street and area names for their to-the-point bluntness!
Thank you, Katie! London is my dream! I hope that one day I will be lucky enough to walk the streets of this city ❤️🇬🇧
You’re welcome Anastasia! I hope you can visit soon too :)
Great start Katie. Must have been fun on the top of that No.78 bus.
Thanks David! Ha, I know! Although it might have been a single decker at the time!
Katie! You’ve made me fall in love again with London...
This makes me SO happy! :)
As usual fun and at the same time informative. Favourite fact - bus 78 and a scene like straight out of an action movie. And even that I like chocolate 😂, I agree with you that the current colours are more suitable to the scenery.
Thank you and good luck with the next videos and tours. Always a pleasure to be part (in one or another way) of them 🙏🍀❤️
My husbands uncle was on that bus, ended up with a broken collarbone and dined out on the story for the rest of his life! Great video
It's such a fantastic claim to fame!
Thought you’d be interested to know that your Turnagain Lane video came up for me on TikTok and that was super interesting, so I thought I’d see if you’d done any others on Instagram, then found you’ve just started this new RUclips channel! Really enjoyed this, particularly the facts on them making the bridge look older to fit in with the Tower of London and the different types of bridge technique used. Can’t wait for more.
Thanks so much for letting me know Andy! That's great and welcome :) Yes that video has gone a bit crazy on TikTok! It's a little overwhelming but please the vast majority are enjoying the videos!
Fantastically informative and expertly presented.
Thanks so much Paul!
Great videos, and a super pleasant voice to listen to, as calming as your fellow youtuber Jago Hazzard. I hope you will soon have as many videos as he does. I look forward to watching all your videos!
Do you cover Art Deco London?
Great job! Hidden histories are the best-thanks for sharing! (Are you by chance using Ecamm to record and post? Thanks!) 😊
They sure are! It's not with Ecamm no, just edited this together just in inshot - super simple!
@@LookUpLondon Awesome, thanks!
Superb stuff 👍👍👍
So glad you enjoyed it Terry!
Fascinating! I see the Bridge House Estate badges on many buildings around south east London too...charitable funds helped those builds I believe?
Yes I believe that's right, they give a huge amount to various projects across London and beyond, often to do with 'bridging gaps' so often improving accessibility on buildings etc
Thanks loved it
So interesting video ...
Any idea if the large pole or gaff fixed on the wall under the north tower was used to pull bodies in from the water ?? I’ve read that but it’s not confirmed. Great video Katie
I haven't seen any concrete sources to confirm but it's a nice (well, morbid) bit of history. Think it was on the Londonist site and they are very trsutworthy!
I'm also love the tower bridge ❤
Wow awesome 😍
This video is interesting !!! 👏👏
Thank you! 😃
Thanks
This is so brilliant. So much to learn about a bridge everyone thinks they know!
Exactly! Even if it's a losing battle to correct all the google images :/
I love your video of Stamford ... putting it on my ever growing list of places to visit one day!!
@@judithbarnett2966 Thank you very much Judith! I filmed that on my daily dog walks on my iPhone! I hope you get to visit.
@@theoldbuilding4818 Wonderful. "See you" on 27th!
Hi Katie, I've just discovered your channel. My favourite fact was the story about the chimney that I've never noticed, also it's a shame that there is no attempt by modern developers to blend their buildings in with nearby neighbours, as the builders of Tower Bridge did.
What are your thoughts about the glass and steel structures, that are starting to change the face of the City, and other parts of London, namely Victoria.
I love hidden chimney, especially the Royal Albert Hall chimney, although not hidden, not obviously a chimney!
Regarding the chimney, I kind of like the fact that it looks so different when you spot it, you can't believe you've never noticed it before. I also love those hidden chimneys across London, perhaps can make a video about the hidden vents/stink pipes!
With the new skyscrapers, I don't have a huge problem with them within reason, London is a unique city in that it's a historic place but also a world-leading financial centre and modern city so the architecture reflects that. I find it funny that since the 17th century commentators have always been annoyed about how it's changing. That being said, I personally don't like the look of some of the new skyscrapers. I think they'll probably be outlived by the smaller historic building though!
Look Up London I think if I accept that London does have to be a leading financial centre, modern city, and historic place, it's a bit easier to accept the radical architectural changes, but unless what we are building now can last several hundred years, what will we have to show for this time in history. We know that with maintenance stone can last indefinitely, but steel and glass, what are the long term effects on that.
It's fascinating to think that while St Paul's cathedral and many other churches are still standing, they could be demolishing these skyscrapers.
I know about the 'stink pipes' mostly in south London. They are rather difficult to identify at street level, because they look like lampposts.
Do you know about the Urine Deflectors in Clifford's Inn Passage, also at the back of the Bank of England. I would like to know if more of these exist.
@@johnorchin8567 Yes a few deflectors do exist - dotted around London. Don't know if there's a definite list anywhere though!
Well done you
Thanks Stephen!
Near tower bridge you'll find a factory called alaska factory, it was a fur factory.In the nineteen eighties there was an archeological dig there that found tanning pits dating back to roman times.the water table round there is about thirty feet below the surface but two thousand years ago it was a lot higher.there were many amphibious dwellings.The museum that conducted this research was the london museum in the barbican.
I first read the story about Albert in a comic, (possibly The Victor) in the early 1970s.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👌🏻
👍👍👍👍 the following
My favourite fact was that TB had a gun station during WWI
Crazy isn't it? Imagine the recoil!!
There is a rumour that a Spitfire (or similar) flew under the walkways during WW2. Has any plane ever done this?
That's true! More info here; ruclips.net/video/_m9CcvPczcY/видео.html
This bridge was made by best quality steel of swords confiscated from 1857 indian revolt or mutiny against British.
Tower bridge a.k.a. London Bridge to most of us Americans.😂
is walking on the tower bridge is paid?