Why The Medieval London Bridge Was So Important | The Bridges That Built London

Why The Medieval London Bridge Was So Important | The Bridges That Built London | Chronicle

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Chronicle - Medieval History Documentaries

3 ай бұрын

Dan Cruickshank explores the secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is. Along the way, he uncovers stories of the sublime ambition of London's bridge builders. Dan Cruickshank explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what it is.
Welcome to Chronicle; your home for all things medieval history! With documentaries covering everything from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the beginnings of the Renaissance, from Hastings to Charlemagne, we'll be exploring everything the Middle Ages have to offer.
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Пікірлер: 567

@netherwent2725 2 ай бұрын

Dan Cruickshank made the best series of history documentaries ever shown on UK television in my opinion. I saw the original of this one on TV years ago - it has been a treat to stumble upon it once again.

@joannamallory2823 3 ай бұрын

Well done. I never would have thought I’d enjoy a show entirely about bridges but he makes it so interesting.

@terryhoath1983 3 ай бұрын

Dan was a very compelling presenter. I think he is now wholly retired. He still lives in London aged 74.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

London the greatest city in Europe?! You deluded, jingoistic relic. Thanks to a succession of neo-liberal and neo-liberally sympathetic governments in the UK, London isn't even part of Europe. Any European city would be ASHAMED to be compared to 21st century London. Its disgusting that programs like this are allowed to make untrue statements to an already abused and suffering population. London is a hovel compared to European cities. Our people poor and unhappy with a hopeless future prospect of worse to come. Tell the truth

@avidviewer112 3 ай бұрын

Dan Cruickshank was absolutely the right presenter for this video. The subject is fascinating anyway, but his infectious enthusiasm made it very exciting to watch.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

@sophiabee8924 2 ай бұрын

Dan Cruickshank is to history what Attenborough is to nature.

@philandrews100 2 ай бұрын

@@sophiabee8924 Well said!

@knockshinnoch1950 3 ай бұрын

A terrific documentary. The old London Bridge must've been a fantastic spectacle and a busting thoroughfare connecting both banks of the river.

@punksintheback7062 3 ай бұрын

I think it was actually pretty disgusting and smelly...

@knockshinnoch1950 3 ай бұрын

The people, towns and cities across the entire world were smelly back then! @@punksintheback7062

@headishome8452 3 ай бұрын

Of course it was, but i bet it was vibrant with ppl and goods! @@punksintheback7062

@davidbnsmessex.5953 3 ай бұрын

I think you mean BUSTLING .

@JohnyG29 Ай бұрын

@@punksintheback7062 Yeah, but you got used to the smell of the city. I didn't find it too bad tbh.

@Piedog769 3 ай бұрын

Somewhat surprised to see Dan Cruickshank didn't crash while driving. He's so estatic looking at bridges that I half expect him to veer off the road in his excitement.

@Horribilus 3 ай бұрын

The Thames is called the Isis in Oxford. At the head of it is a Pub called “The Swan”. The stone floor upon which one stands to order repast at the service window has a very noticeable declevity because it is over 800 years old. Go there!

@FigaroHey 3 ай бұрын

Likewise many staircases in Oxford colleges and other old buildings across Europe.

@MistressQueenBee 3 ай бұрын

anything Dan does is fantastic. he is raw energy in any project.

@susandikko3521 Ай бұрын

I will watch anything Dan Cruikshank presents as his enthusiasm, knowledge and love of history and architecture come shining through in a way few other presenters manage.

@EarthScienceTV 3 ай бұрын

The history beneath our feet is so rich and complex. The medieval London Bridge is a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of our ancestors. It's a shame we've lost so much of the historical architecture to modern development.

@Kaz.Klay. 3 ай бұрын

Maybe we should go back to calling it Londinium?

@fez3416 3 ай бұрын

Right, ur german ancestors

@leafmebee 3 ай бұрын

These comments 😂

@michealhand1001 3 ай бұрын

It,s called now Londonistan if you know what I mean.@@Kaz.Klay.

@naughtiusmaximus830 3 ай бұрын

Nobody is more ethnocentric than the British. They think they invented culture.

@johnnyblade4351 3 ай бұрын

Really interesting & The old bridge with churches & chapels ,houses, boatmen & people the model is a phenominal work ..Amazing

@joannholmes8726 3 ай бұрын

Game of Thrones had a bridge just like that featured. I wondered about it while watching the tv series. So the writers knew quite a bit about history of bridge construction. Very amazing work. My question answered.

@johnnyblade4351 2 ай бұрын

Thankyou really amazing & almost surreal .. But what a greatscape not an escape .. I found it profoundly more than interesting. Great Doc great bridge .. Thanx JBX

@bluegold21 2 ай бұрын

There were no churches on the actual bridge. You hear Dan describe them as something akin to spiritual toll booths. The modern-day Anglican ritual of throwing a wooden cross off the bridge actually contradicts the reason why the religious sites associated with the bridge were built at the ends of the bridge and not on it. I'll let you figure out why that is for yourself.

@gandalfthemead3121 3 ай бұрын

After many years, I finally got the opportunity to see the London Bridge in Arizona. It was Christmas time, a cold crisp night in the desert. I took time to really gaze upon it and wonder what it would have been like to experience this bridge while looking upon the old medieval bridge before its demise. Truly, a unique experience to drive across this old bridge. I can't believe that it was dismantled, brick by brick and put back together.

@mj6962 3 ай бұрын

I’ve never heard of that in Arizona…???

@heatherjones4981 3 ай бұрын

Apparently. The man who bought it thought he was getting Tower Bridge!

@terryhoath1983 3 ай бұрын

@@heatherjones4981 NO HE DIDN'T. They knew exactly what they were buying. They had engineers in London to study the dismantling to help them with the re-assembly on the Colorado. They organised the transportation to America. If they had made a mistake in the purchase, they would have realised the mistake before transporting the thing. If they wanted Tower Bridge, having made the mistake, they could have sold the very high quality Dartmoor granite for a very good price and got Korean ship builders to build the steel frame and the other metalwork including the bascules for a replica of Tower Bridge and sources the stone facings closer to home for far less money than it cost to transport all that stone and then complete one of the biggest Jigsaws in the World. It must be remembered that at the time of the purchase of London Bridge, Tower Bridge was less than 70 years old.

@louisemarsh6106 2 ай бұрын

It is now used to open portals for satanic rituals

@JohnyG29 Ай бұрын

That one isn't the medieval bridge.

@gregedmand9939 3 ай бұрын

Since we recently sent the ashes of our parents down a creek, which eventually leads to Hudson Bay, I find the notion that rivers are sacred quite natural.

@Madonnalitta1 3 ай бұрын

It was common sense to our ancestors, water = life.

@randomvintagefilm273 3 ай бұрын

You did what??? OMG SO you have no place to go visit or pay your respects?

@robinpeppin 3 ай бұрын

i bought a big book at the state museum that takes you to the very beginning of the hudson river. i was brought up in troy, ny & lived next to it in two of our homes.

@debb4809 3 ай бұрын

@randomvintagefilm273 You usually don't if people are cremated, unless the ashes are interred. My friend scattered her husband's ashes in a river, near a spot which was very special to them.

@gregedmand9939 3 ай бұрын

@@randomvintagefilm273 We can go anywhere to do that. Surely you don't believe that the spirits of your loved ones are confined to the place they're buried or stored?

@victoriabarclay3556 2 ай бұрын

I needed something pithy after watching shorts. This is so wonderful and surprising with its revelations. I’d love to see a similar documentary on Paris bridges!

@grannyweatherwax8005 2 ай бұрын

That would be fun to watch! I have a degree in Medieval English history but admit I know very little of the details about other European countries. French history especially has so much depth that I know little about.

@basaltplainscreationsaustr1194 3 ай бұрын

Ammersmith is a beautiful bridge. As an Australian, I have been truly blessed to get mud larking permits for sections of the Thames. Some of my best finds sit in the British Museum collections department, not worthy of display, but still significant in a small way. It is a river that requires special consideration.

@Seattlelegacy51 3 ай бұрын

What were your best finds?

@wheezebat 18 күн бұрын

Hammersmith is closed now and will be for several years after they discovered cracks

@ingridfong-daley5899 3 ай бұрын

I absolutely love this man's enthusiasm for bridges. His euphemistic description for his passion between @1:45-1:55 is precious... he's trying so hard not to tell you the bridge is giving him wood but he just can't contain himself. As a fellow bridge fetishist, i'm genuinely gleeful to watch a fellow nerd be amazed--nay, stimulated!--by architecture. :)

@Kaz.Klay. 3 ай бұрын

That's quite the conclusion you came to.. .heads surely in the gutter(or would it be called something else on a bridge?) Lolo

@ingridfong-daley5899 3 ай бұрын

Hahaha--it's definitely been said about me before, but i maintain that the narrator started it :) @@Kaz.Klay.

@mackpines 3 ай бұрын

Always wanted know more about this unique bridge. Even though I’ve never lived in or visited London. Everyone is fascinated with Tower Bridge but, London Bridge is the one that really made the city what it is.

@paulacornelison243 3 ай бұрын

Well, you can now as it is in Arizona.

@Kaz.Klay. 3 ай бұрын

It functioned almost like how an ancient city gate would... taxes, judgments in civil disputes... things of that sort... on top of that it was highly necessary to cross the Thames... it's actually pretty wide even a few miles from the coast as London is.... I'm sure the water was highly polluted even in the middle ages ( refuse, restroom activities--like you'd see in Bangladesh or India-- as well as whatever commercial activity is going on) .... thank God for our modern bathrooms and sanitation!!! Yeee

@michealhand1001 3 ай бұрын

@@paulacornelison243Why the F is it there bring it Back.

@marytolhurst5165 3 ай бұрын

@@michealhand1001the bridge was sold off back in the 1960/70s.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

@ewittkofs 3 ай бұрын

I was stationed in Augsburg in the early 80’s. It was really wonderful to participate in German cultural life in Southern Bavaria and make acquaintances with many German civilians. I really felt like I was doing something important with people that shared many of the same ideals. We were really proud to share our culture during German-American festivals. My unit ran the “Corn-on-the-cob” concession which was immensely popular with the German visitors. Seeing how the Germans organized their society changed our own views of America. So many Americans had this opportunity that they probably never would have had because of income or because of their own upbringing. It was such a positive thing. The vast majority of us had no feeling of superiority or of being occupiers. For example, most of us felt that the Bundeswehr was so professional. The many service members that married a German spouse is a real unifying force! Thanks for bringing back many great memories.

@terryhoath1983 3 ай бұрын

Did you still have "Bouncin' in Bavaria" and "Luncheon in Munchen" on AFN. We picked up AFN on the radio in the late 60s when on holiday there.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

I apologise on behalf of this bought fool of a presenter for comparing the dynamo of human misery and suffering we call London with your city

@grannyweatherwax8005 2 ай бұрын

That must have been a trip during the Cold War! Kids today have no idea how very different the world was not to long ago. They just know the 80s by the fashion.

@ewittkofs 2 ай бұрын

@@terryhoath1983 No, those programs were gone. We did get to Munchen several times each year for both business and pleasure, our unit’s headquarters was there. We often drove to Garmisch-Partenkirchen to have dinner, how beautiful it was to see the mountains ahead of us on the Roman Road! AFN seemed to change its local programs regularly as people rotated stateside.

@ewittkofs 2 ай бұрын

@@grannyweatherwax8005 yes it was really amazing. There was still some war damage in the city, we were using bases that 40 years before were being used by the German Wehrmacht and the SS. We had acquaintances that served in the German Army in WW2. And at any moment, the Soviets were going to pour through the Fulda Gap.

@j.b.3825 Ай бұрын

Love Dan Cruikshank. I love how he loves architecture and art. Thanks for posting this.

@GreggyAck Ай бұрын

Dan Cwuikshank

@porkscratchings5428 3 ай бұрын

If you look over the side at low tide London Bridge Station end, you can see remains of the old bridge foundations embedded in the mud, it’s very visible with wood showing the outlines of the pier foundations and you can see the direction the bridge went not line the current one of today is. I’d love to go mudlarking there, would be amazing finds no doubt!

@ApolloCGP 3 ай бұрын

You should check out the Battersea shield and Waterloo helmet, incredible finds both found mudlarking on the bed of the Thames with the shield dating from 350 and 50 BCE from the Celtic period years before the Roman invasion and the helmet being the only horned helmet from the Iron Age found anywhere in Europe. So much cool ancient treasure found in England but my favourite has to be the Sutton Hoo helmet!

@JC-mi8fw Ай бұрын

It's wonderful to see documentaries that celebrate the achievements of the West. There is much to be proud of.

@JOHN-tk6vl Ай бұрын

It's nice to think that we still have things that are the envy of the rest of the world.

@denisecaringer4726 2 ай бұрын

Beautifully photographed, written, and presented. I loved every minute of this. Thank you.

@mickvonbornemann3824 3 ай бұрын

Just as they rebuilt Shakespeare’s theatre, they really should do a rebuild of the original London bridge in the original spot, complete with shops all away along, all built using the same types of buildings. It’l be a great tourist draw.

@tonyclough9844 3 ай бұрын

You can't do that the arches were so small it created whirlpools, when the tide ran up and down the river.

@jamesjohno1180 3 ай бұрын

The 1700s London Bridge still lives on! Just not in it’s country of origin where it’s tied to but…Arizona for some bloody strange reason, Americans don’t have history so they have to buy others history, they should have built a modern one next to it in the 60s instead of selling a part of British/Londons history

@tonyclough9844 3 ай бұрын

@@jamesjohno1180 the bridge in Arizona was built in the 1800s victorian era.

@madMARTYNmarsh1981 2 ай бұрын

I doubt health and safety rules would allow a structure like the old London Bridge these days.

@mickvonbornemann3824 2 ай бұрын

@@madMARTYNmarsh1981 ok plumbing, sewage & electrical services would need to be added, but everything else could be done. Solid wood frame then filled construction is still a standard way of building houses in rural areas for the newly rich from the city - ever watched Grand Designs?

@Nieldyboy Ай бұрын

Proud to say ive worked in Tower Bridge. Been up and down all over the two towers. Was great fun as a 16yo

@user-ou9hr3uy3s 3 ай бұрын

Cruickshank always a class act.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

@EmbraceTheJourney 3 ай бұрын

thank you so much for this informative, historical video. Always wondered what was in the towers of the bridge

@lisalambrecht6676 3 ай бұрын

Just what I was wondering. Can you imagine the RENT 😮

@1973Jojje 10 күн бұрын

It’s delightful to hear his genuine excitement for the subject. I found myself completely engrossed in a subject I’d never reflected on before. What an interesting documentary and so well presented. Thank you!

@debcarroll8192 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for this fascinating information! For me, London is the most historically evocative city of all.

@intervention.07 2 ай бұрын

@davefellhoelter1343 3 ай бұрын

I have crossed a "LONDON BRIDGE!" many A Time! In the US! I have looked at WWII Graffiti on this Bridge! Boated Under, Drove Over, Cars, Trucks, RV;s and Motorcyles, Walked Under and Over! HAVASU AZ!

@rundmk00 3 ай бұрын

Kilroy woz here?

@davefellhoelter1343 3 ай бұрын

With DATES!@@rundmk00

@kellyshomemadekitchen 3 ай бұрын

@@rundmk00😂😂😂 I had forgotten about that hilarious graffiti trend from so long ago!

@terryhoath1983 3 ай бұрын

I ... CAN'T .... GET .... Oooo .... VER .... YOU .... so I'll have ter go round.

@cocoaorange1 2 ай бұрын

I saw a video that stated that is a dark , sad history behind the classic children's song, "London Bridge Is Falling Down".

@sarcasmo57 3 ай бұрын

I BLOODY LOVE BRIDGES.

@robinpeppin 3 ай бұрын

i'm coming to england next early december next year, on a repositioning cruise on the qm2. i cannot wait. i want to spend a few days in london basking in your holiday lights & festivities. i hope to see some historic homes in a ancient little village, & go over the london bridge to see exactly what we sang about in kindergarten about 'london bridges falling down, my fair lady'. it is a beautiful bridge.

@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 3 ай бұрын

You'll love it, but it's not as clean as it was in the late 90s, in certain areas, but I think it's still worth an extended visit.

@onecupof_tea 3 ай бұрын

Take a boat from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich, it has Cutty Sark sailing ship in the harbour, and the old naval college, which is now a museum, where officers were trained. The ceilings have paintings which are like an art gallery. And go to Richmond, Surrey by train. Cut through the back streets to the Thames and you can walk to pubs and Richmond Park. Further on you can go to Hampton Court Palace, where Henry VIII used to live. In London, go to Saville Row where tailors are, and Sothebys. You can see paintings etc before auction day and it's free. Have a nice time.

@beautifuldreamer3991 3 ай бұрын

Do not forget to see the Madam Tussauds wax museum. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

@micheleford4282 3 ай бұрын

i went to london in 1997 and honestly it was beautiful but i couldnt deal with the smell by the river savanah ga has the same issue the river is nasty there too

@tonyclough9844 3 ай бұрын

You won't see many white people there anymore.

@Hal_T 3 ай бұрын

I love London. I've been there on several occasions. I stay in a B&B that is near Pinewood Studios where the James Bond soundstage is located.

@dennisoconnell6067 3 ай бұрын

I USED TO WORK ON THE RIVER IN 1979. IN A WET SUIT REPAIRING THE WALL NEAR LONDON BRIDGE.

@_dbzeibert_1718 3 ай бұрын

THAT MUST'VE BEEN INTERESTING WORK!

@tobim5574 3 ай бұрын

@@_dbzeibert_1718WHY ARE WE YELLING!!!

@RenegadeSound 2 ай бұрын

@@tobim5574 I DON'T KNOW !

@p24hrsmith 3 ай бұрын

While Tower Bridge is like the gateway to England just imagine how much of an attraction old London bridge would be today. Property on it would be the most sort after in the world. I do think that it could be rebuilt in its original style as I'm in no doubt there would be no shortage of keen investors

@edwardmiessner6502 3 ай бұрын

A better sight would be the first, second, and third London Bridges side by side. The original with the most expensive and sought after properties in the world, the second as a pedestrian, bicycle and tram bridge, and the third as it functions at present: for cars, trucks and busses.

@p24hrsmith 3 ай бұрын

@@edwardmiessner6502 it maybe but the money wouldn't be there for that where as an old style London bridge I think companies and the rich would fight to get a place on it

@caroleast9636 3 ай бұрын

To rebuild it in its original style would be far too much of a blockage to the river flow, as it was in the old days. A lovely thought to recreate the bridge, but too impractical to ever happen.

@p24hrsmith 3 ай бұрын

@@caroleast9636 Original style doesn't mean an exact copy and with modern building materials and technology the spans and supports could be larger and better shaped so as not to affect the flow of the river like the old one did

@jdhenge 3 ай бұрын

@@p24hrsmith If Hoover Dam can be built, I'm sure a recreated London Bridge wouldn't be too hard to master. I think it's a great idea

@terrylandess6072 3 ай бұрын

Playing the game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate had me running around London during the time of Jack the Ripper. The reason I bring it up were those bridge span footings which have the shape of a ship. It makes sense when past constructions likely failed sooner without creating a design which took into account the natural erosion of water for the materials and engineering used. I never realized they were doing that hundreds of years earlier as we see with the model having those pylons driven into the riverbed backfilled with earth for support.

@patricialong5767 3 ай бұрын

History is amazing and oh, so fascinating!!!

@jamesjohno1180 3 ай бұрын

The history of all of the United Kingdom’s are amazing and so so rich, as Tony Robinson said “you only need to scratch the surface of our great land to find history” but there’s nothing quite like London, it makes you proud!to know you’re on a land so rich and you descended from people who where strong and laid the blocks for generations and generations to come, you can still see parts of their life right beneath your feet, I wish today we had more respect for the land we stand on and the ancestors that built it up.

@joycepetrina2791 3 ай бұрын

London bridge is falling down, falling down my fair lady, Take the keys and lock her up, lock her up my fair lady. We use to play this in our school yard when we were kids in The Bahamas.

@stephanieyee9784 3 ай бұрын

Great documentary on the Thames, London, her bridges and history. Thank you.

@mickymantle3233 3 ай бұрын

There is a great book available "Old London Bridge" by Patricia Pierce. Fascinating read.

@quartzboye 3 ай бұрын

I love the houses and building on the London Bridge.

@Cynthia-rt2mz Ай бұрын

It was an experience traveling back in time with the documents presented, to get an inside sneek peek into yesterYEARS's society. Pilings of when the Romans stomped the earth into submission, and the millenniums thereafter of the all roads lead to Rome...kinda made me have to take a breath just to inhale such an idea. My. My. The nursery rhyme of London Bridge became so much clearer than my less than imaginable mind. Actual houses, shops...never in all the hundreds of times "we all fall down" into a giggling heap pile; did I imagine houses, shops being part of the ALL! Greatly appreciate the time you took expanding my imagination with FACTS, thank you. Sharing this was fabulous.

@angelabrown8458 3 ай бұрын

The fact that the dance class today is funded by the toil money of medieval Londoners just connected it all in a magical way. These were our ancestors who aren’t so removed from us.

@mollylundquist9145 2 ай бұрын

Lovely. But, oh!, how I wish the aerial photography at the very end had given us more time to view the urban-riverscape. Beautiful shots and I wanted more. Also quite wonderful to explore the actual London Bridge and the meaning of the nursery rhyme. I had no idea that the bridge included buildings---houses and shops. Goodness. Loved this video. Thank you!

@QuizVortex.1 3 ай бұрын

The content creator's talent shines through in this quiz. Well done!

@bishwatntl 3 ай бұрын

Published in 2012 and it's noticeable how the skyline has changed since then, even though the history doesn't.

@deathwrenchcustom 3 ай бұрын

History changes all the time depending upon who's in power.

@AudieHolland 3 ай бұрын

I was very much surprised when we visited London in 1986, to learn that Tower Bridge wasn't even a hundred years old at that time.

@ShineHenny 3 ай бұрын

It would be wicked to see the medieval London bridge brought back looking all real n what not….interesting choke point for the plague

@EvilUnderTone 14 күн бұрын

How times change. Go over Lambeth bridge now and you certainly don't find the promise land! Great documentary.

@billybilly5951 3 ай бұрын

What a wonderful historian.

@user-mb6pb8cu1s 3 ай бұрын

very interesting, and proud to be here, Amazing,

@leosaura1993 3 ай бұрын

Very good program thank you for posting it.

@eleanorgilmartin4072 18 күн бұрын

Wonderful documentary. Enjoy Dan's enthusiasm. Only criticism was the outdoor filming blurred the soundtrack and I lost much of what Dan was saying sadly.

@LondongirlMaryam 2 ай бұрын

Fascinating. Thank you

@unitedstatesdale 3 ай бұрын

I enjoy this so. Thank you ❤

@Guangrui 3 ай бұрын

Outstanding field work

@rhmendelson 3 ай бұрын

So well done:) ❤

@loriar1027 3 ай бұрын

Fascinating video.

@steveclark5357 3 ай бұрын

very well done,I learned things about bridges that I had not known

@Celtopia Ай бұрын

Extremely interesting programme , ... thank you.

@cratecruncher4974 3 ай бұрын

Imagine having a bar on medieval London Bridge. Thousands of thirsty pedestrians each day and tariff free gin hoisted up through a trap door right off the smuggler's skiff at night!

@HendrixTaylor24 3 ай бұрын

So sad how boring the current inception of London Bridge is. Not to mention the terror attacks being the last event of note. Depressing age we live in.

@averyintelligence 2 ай бұрын

Not sad at all

@jacquelinevanderkooij4301 3 ай бұрын

Time Team also was escavating there.

@miraajan3652 15 күн бұрын

So beautiful London ❤❤❤❤

@carreyperea9856 3 ай бұрын

I was just in London in november and totally loving to see the bridges there, then this week finished watching again the Tutors series on Amazon, now looking differently at the tower bridge, yike!

@sian2337 2 ай бұрын

I live in Havering, so the Dartford bridge is the closest to me. It’s a lovely looking bridge that I feel is underrated because the surroundings are so miserable and the only reason I ever used it is if I wanted to go shopping at Bluewater or get to an airport (except we now have Stratford Westfield and the Elizabeth Line from Romford to Heathrow 🤷‍♀️) You could drive over it loads and then every so often you realise how high up you are and how thick the mud is underneath. It used to be a toll bridge, we were told that, basically, once the bridge was paid for, the toll would end and it would be free to cross. Funnily enough, that never happened. It was paid for but they got used to having all that extra cash, so it’s still a toll bridge.

@vickywitton1008 3 ай бұрын

What a wonderful programme!

@StephiSensei26 Ай бұрын

I quite enjoyed the quick jab at the selling of the "New London Bridge" to the wealthy Americans in Arizona on Lake Havasu as an ornament to their "development". I always thought it to be quite a disgraceful display of avarice and completely out of place. I enjoyed my visits to London and all it has to offer. Perhaps an equal note of interest could have been made to "Ponte Vecchio" in Florence as was "Rialto" in Venice. The structure of Ponte Vecchio as an inhabited bridge of life and commerce, rivals the Old London Bridge in my opinion. Fine Documentary.

@janicesmyth1713 3 ай бұрын

Wonderful history, I have been in this church and seen this model.

@Ben-Hollingbery 3 ай бұрын

great video

@staninjapan07 3 ай бұрын

The existence of the bridge may have contributed to the freezing of the river in winter, but the data we have on the climate of the UK at the time, known as the little ice age - 14th to mid 19th century - would surely have contributed to a greater degree.

@johnmorgan8868 3 ай бұрын

What year was this made it seems pretty new Thank you enjoyed it❤

@BeachcomberNZ 3 ай бұрын

Made in 2012.

@johnmorgan8868 3 ай бұрын

@@BeachcomberNZ thanks for that

@justinhoward5556 3 ай бұрын

I read that for a time in the 13thc the Templar precinct had its own bridge

@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 3 ай бұрын

Wonderful. Fascinating documentary. More like it please. British who can afford to live in London enjoy a splendid quality of life. I love their watering holes: clean, classy, often quiet and offering impeccable service.

@joycehorstmann2634 3 ай бұрын

I loved this-thank you!!

@Evilzionistbabykillers 3 ай бұрын

Very good documentary 💯

@geekpie100 3 ай бұрын

Big fan of Dan Cruickshank.

@royparsons360 2 ай бұрын

Nice work all!

@pmajudge 3 ай бұрын

💯💖👋👋👍👍💐💐!!!! MANY THANKS !! MR. DAN CRUICKSHANK. FROM, U.K. (2024).

@sheila1115 3 ай бұрын

these bridges are stunning... and so much history has been discovered in the river thames muddy banks

@laetitialogan2017 3 ай бұрын

Hi..I worked at at London Bridge for many years ( Citibank ).. my view was HMS Belfast and the beautiful London Bridge..stunning at night..♥️♥️🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

@MrDaiseymay 2 ай бұрын

Dan Cruicshank, the best Historian ever, especially suited for television, with his obvious love of his subject, which he shares so well with his audience. I've been watching and enjoying his work for many years. Long may he continue to educate and inform in his inimitable way.

@rainwaterd 3 ай бұрын

Yes....I can agree that the first bridge mentioned could possibly have been a spiritual space for offerings....but every spiritual bridge I have ever come across, mostly in India; the bridge was always also used to get people from one bank to the other bank.

@danhurley6152 3 ай бұрын

Great program very clear, something that struck me from the footage was just how empty the river is now no boats nothing even in the side basins or moorings but I guess you need to be very rich to park your boat anywhere around there.

@Dr.Pepper001 3 ай бұрын

London Bridge was relocated from London to Arizona in 1968. It's a tourist attraction.

@a.salmon8193 3 ай бұрын

I guess in today's world that makes sense. 😂

@Angelicwings1 7 күн бұрын

Americans want to claim everything. I highly doubt you have any real London bridge stuff there.

@GhilaPan 3 ай бұрын

Thank you, i love the Thames and its' bridges are wonderful...!

@VictheChick 3 ай бұрын

"Battered stumps" sounds like an amazing name for a football team 😊

@chrisvowell2890 Ай бұрын

Or, better still, a cricket team!

@VictheChick Ай бұрын

@@chrisvowell2890 YES! 😆

@redareda4470 2 ай бұрын

Because of the river thames i never left London. I just love ❤ the thames

@t0mn8r35 3 ай бұрын

Very interesting.

@SpaceExplorer Ай бұрын

what a great video

@sunmoonrainwindflowers 3 ай бұрын

I hope to come back to London again one day and breathe this magic and mystical air. Sooo interesting! Love from Moscow❤

@redactedanticretin 3 ай бұрын

trust me you dont ,its basically pakistan with rain these days

@zyxw2000 3 ай бұрын

You can spend years there studying the history. It's magical.

@sandrastevens4418 3 ай бұрын

The London Bridge, which is currently located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was originally built in London in 1831.

@lucasrem 3 ай бұрын

Nothing original about that London bridge, that bridge was where the curant bridge is. Great marina now, peace for peace shipt.

@ronwilliams1094 3 ай бұрын

The one in Lake Havasu is the one that took heavy damage during WWII, correct? I was in Lake Havasu way back in 2000 for spring break and remember it being pretty intact.

@ronwilliams1094 3 ай бұрын

@@davidogborn47 No, I get that. I'm just saying you can't tell it had been through a war at all. 🙂

@Angelicwings1 7 күн бұрын

Right oh Yank

@rw4754 3 ай бұрын

One of London's Bridges, London Bridge, is in Arizona at Havasu. The millionaire who bought it created a lake around it and a London style village attracting an expensive retirement community. It is beautiful and astonishing to visit.

@Angelicwings1 7 күн бұрын

Ugh gross

@Angelicwings1 7 күн бұрын

You really buy into that?

@rw4754 7 күн бұрын

@@Angelicwings1 I am British. The dismantling of London Bridge & transport to Arizona brick by brick was not a horrible violence like when Trump destroyed Bonwit Teller & all the Art Deco frescos in NYC. NY Times hence called Trump, "That short fingered vulgarian". London Bridge was resurrected in Arizona and celebrated there. It is a hilarious monument & much appreciated. A folly of a billionaire with imagination. If left in the UK the bricks would either be tossed in a landfill or repurposed. No worries. London Bridge was not the iconic Tower Bridge in the post cards with the Tower of London in the background were severed heads were hoisted back in Tudor times. 🥰🤗

@markstothard630 3 ай бұрын

I wonder what William Wordsworth would've made of the big London Ferris Wheel on the opposite bank?

@tracy419 3 ай бұрын

Holy f*ck that thing is huge! But with an English accent and time appropriate slang.

@colekimball4945 3 ай бұрын

God that last story broke me. Even though I knew he was almost certainly going to die (given the theme of this video), I still sat there until the very end going he'd make it

@AndyJarman 3 ай бұрын

As recently as the 1970s Craig Court near Trafalgar Square was paved with elm blocks or "setts". Elm is a very tough and rot resistant wood. Sadly most of Englands elm's were killed by Dutch Elm disease un the 1970s.

@Bertie_Ahern 2 ай бұрын

This is from the BBC (2012; filmed in late 2011)

@MrBoliao98 Ай бұрын

I hope, the next time London Bridge is rebuilt, may we reinstate starlings, the shops and maybe a stronger iteration to the starlings and the multiple differently shaped arches, with of course the commercial spaces.

@aib0160 3 ай бұрын

I'm no archaeologist or historian, but I'll wager they built the bridge to get to the other side without getting their feet wet!

@HappyQuailsLC 3 ай бұрын

I am surprised to see the mud that adheres to the ancient posts being brushed away, because I understood this coating to preserve the wood by protecting it from exposure to oxygen. A comparable process protects many bodies sunken in bogs and some swamps for many hundreds of years.