June 28th, 2014: London's Bridges Now and Then

[Carruthers]

The past and the present is bridged in these images of London landmarks from the Museum of London Docklands.

In a new exhibition opening on Friday, June 27, 16 photographs of London's bridges show 'then and now' views of the capital across the ages.

The original photographs were taken in the late 19th and 20th centuries and have been merged with modern images.

Francis Marshall, curator of Bridge at Museum of London Docklands, which runs until Sunday, November 2, said: 'Contrasting historic shots with those of

today allows us to see how the city has changed over time. Or in some cases, how it has remained the same.'

Several more photos on the Daily Mail and Metro websites.

[Gravdigr]

Cool pics.

[sexobon]

Looks like they were taken with a TARDISCAM. When did London get colorized?

[Diaphone Jim]

These photos reminded me of a thread from a couple of years ago.

http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=28008

That photographer called them "blends."
They bring a great perspective.

[Sheldonrs]

You'd think, with all this excellent bridge work, their teeth would look better.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[fargon]

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

You'd think, with all this excellent bridge work, their teeth would look better.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

That is horrible.

[Sheldonrs]

Originally Posted by fargon

That is horrible.

Overbite me. lol

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

You'd think, with all this excellent bridge work, their teeth would look better.

Originally Posted by fargon

That is horrible.

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

Overbite me. lol

[infinite monkey]

Does anyone else hear:

♪ London's bridges now and then
Now and then
Now and then
London's bridges now and then
My fair lady ♫

And do you know the meaning of that song? Actually that's up for debate but this one is sort of fun, in a horrible terrible fun sort of way. I make no claims about the veracity of this information.

It's a song about starving children to death.

There have been a lot of theories over the years as to what the collapse of the London Bridge in the song means. Some believe that it refers to Viking attacks back in the 11th century. As no documented records of such an attack on the bridge exist, however, we'll instead focus on a different interpretation: immurement. Don't know the term? Well then, here's a new reason to drink in the morning!

Immurement is the practice of entombing someone within a structure, where they slowly die from lack of food and water (not to be confused with being buried alive, where you mercifully just get to suffocate). The tradition is centuries old, based on the belief that such sacrifices would ensure the stability of the structures in which people were imprisoned.

It was thought too awful to be anything but myth, but some documented cases have been recorded: They turned up a slew of bodies within the walls of several old European structures, including castles, churches and, in the case of Bremen, Germany, at least one bridge. In other words, London Bridge is most likely a reference to the sacrifice of a child within the bridge's base to serve as an "eternal watchman."

http://www.cracked.com/article_20032...ens-songs.html

[Scriveyn]

Yes, I knew, from this album



Here's the text, based on the original children's rhyme



You can actually hear part of the album on 4th August on BBC RADIO 3 (JazzOn3)
(No I'm not getting paid for the promotion )