London Bridges Past and Present

Unknown photographer Lower Pool, with Tower Bridge under construction Glass lantern slide c. late 19th century © Museum of London

In recent weeks I have published a number of posts about London Bridges centred around the Bridge Exhibition in West India Quay.

As part of the promotion for the exhibition , the Museum of London took some of the photographs from the exhibition and added the modern view.

These then and now hybrid photographs are very popular at the moment, so I thought I would share some of the best ones.

What is perhaps most noticeable is that in the older photographs , that the Thames was a working river filled with ships and with cranes and warehouses dominating the riverfronts.

The modern photographs seem more dominated by the large buildings that have multiplied in the City in the last few years.

Henry Turner (active 1930s) A Windy Evening on London Bridge c. 1937 From Wordsworth to T S Eliot, the crowds streaming across London Bridge have always attracted attention. Turner was a photographer and General Secretary of the Empire Press Union (later Commonwealth Press Union). He made this image for E Arnot  Robertson’s book Thames Portrait (1937).© Henry Turner/Museum of London

Unknown photographer Charing Cross Railway Bridge Glass lantern slide c. late 19th century Taken from South Bank. © Museum of London

Albert Gravely Linney Tower Bridge framing the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral c. 1930  Taken from the river, looking west. © Albert Gravely Linney/Museum of London

Henry Turner (active 1930s) Southwark Bridge  c. 1935 © Henry Turner/Museum of London

Albert Gravely Linney  Beginning the Demolition of Old Waterloo Bridge c. 1934  Taken from Hungerford Bridge. © Albert Gravely Linney/Museum of London

George Davison Reid (1871–1933) Looking north across London Bridge ) c. 1920s Taken from inside on the 5th floor of No1 London Bridge.  © George Davison Reid/Museum of London

Christina Broom (1863–1939) Waterloo Bridge from the Embankment c. 1903–10 Taken from the North Bank of the Thames. © Christina Broom/Museum of London

 Museum of London Docklands – Bridge exhibition

27 June – 2 November 2014,

FREE exhibition,

For more information visit  the Museum of London Docklands website here