Tower Bridge is 125 years old tomorrow. A 125th isn't the greatest anniversary, but it is the best we're going to get before 2044 so definitely something to make a fuss of.
To celebrate, the admission fee's been slashed this weekend to £1.25 rather than the normal £9.80 (queues permitting). And while that's brilliant, I've just visited for £1 and I can do that any day of the week... as can half a million other Londoners. The lucky folk are residents of Tower Hamlets, Southwark and the City of London who can simply turn up and wave photo ID and proof of address in exchange for a special Community Ticket. Full details are here. A photocard driving licence is good enough all by itself. Which is how on Thursday morning I simply walked in and paid my quid, no queues whatsoever.
Everyone knows Tower Bridge, a structure that can justly be called iconic. It took eight years to build, the result of a design competition requiring a bridge with sufficient headroom for ships to clear the Pool of London. The successful architect was Sir Horace Jones - it was his bicentenary last month - and the chief engineer was Sir John Wolfe Barry. Their bascules still rise today, rather less frequently than originally envisaged, and sight of a boat sailing through still turns heads as well as stopping the traffic. If you ever need to impress a visitor to London, a list of lift times is maintained here.
I do wonder how many people are aware it's possible to go inside Tower Bridge and walk across the top. Entrance is from the foot of the north tower on the side facing the Tower of London (another Tower Hamlets £1 treat). The lift up to the top of the tower is very large, and also very slow (and also very much safer than it was ten years ago when it accidentally crashed). You emerge into a large upper chamber where all the ironwork's painted brown, because that was the original colour 125 years ago. Hang around and you can watch some footage of the bridge in operation from 1903, plus various contemporary street scenes. A lot of tourists don't hang around for the full loop.
And then you head out across the East Walkway. There are two of these, doubling up as supports to keep the two towers in balance, originally used as pedestrian passageways in the days when the bridge was open more than it was closed. The hike over the top was never popular so they were shut off in 1910, then reopened for tourists in 1982 in slightly more weatherproof form. Each is used now as an exhibition space, with panels of facts along the latticed walls and the occasional video to stop and watch.
Oh, and the centre of each walkway also includes a glass floor. These were added in 2014 for a bit of extra wow, and are strong enough to support half a dozen elephants let alone several tourists. If you're really not comfortable walking on the glass then there is a narrow solid section to either side, but most people go the whole hog and walk down the middle. Look down and you might see a bus or a queue of cars, or maybe a barge full of refuse containers pootling downriver. I don't always like heights but crossing the top of Tower Bridge was absolutely fine.
The West Walkway is more of the same, but with a different view. One brilliant thing is that the glass walls have tiny opening windows for pointing cameras out of, rather than being forced to shoot through something smudged and/or reflective. On a sunny afternoon the view downstream will be less dazzling. I went on a sunny morning and upstream was sharpest, from City Hall and the Shard [2007][2019] round to St Paul's, the Gherkin and the Tower [2007][2019]. London has many other observation decks these days, but only here are you slap bang in the middle of the River Thames 40 metres up, and that's a winner.
The top of the south tower is more cavernous, with a view upwards through a hole past a team of dummy workmen. This time the film tourists don't hang around to watch features a day in the life of Tower Bridge. Instead they're off down the stairs, because this time you get to negotiate the descent on foot and get a better feel for how municipal the pedestrian crossing used to be. A few levels down you reach a larger chamber, still well above the street, and from there everyone's corralled into another lift. What's odd about this elevator is that when the doors open at the bottom you walk straight out onto the bridge span rather than any associated building.
We're not done yet. Follow the blue line on the pavement down the steps and onto the south bank to find the Engine Rooms. So long as you've kept your ticket from earlier you can look round chambers housing original machinery with steamy valves and oiled flywheels from the days when an army of workers were need to keep the bridge in operation. Their stories are told in a later section, and told well, assuming you have the patience to wait and the language skills to read. And finally of course you exit through the gift shop, where a range of 125th anniversary souvenirs can be found dotted amongst more touristy treats.
In short, every Londoner really ought to experience the interior of Tower Bridge at least once, rather than leaving it solely as the preserve of international clientele. And residents of Tower Hamlets, Southwark and the City of London really have no excuse for not visiting... just don't squeeze yourselves in this weekend for 25p extra.
