A wonderful collection of photos showing Tower Bridge under construction has come to light. The sepia shots from the 1880s were, unbelievably, recovered from a skip outside the former offices of a bridge contractor many years ago. As luck would have it, their discoverer lives next door to London tour guide and blogger extraordinaire Peter Berthoud, who is now sharing scans of the photos on his web site (see here for the full set: post 1, post 2).
As far as we can tell, the shots have never been seen on the web before. They show a surprisingly metallic giant under construction. In one image, diminutive workers pose next to massive iron girders. In another (above), we can see a number of rail lines laid down on the bridge approach to transport materials to the building site. All fascinating stuff, and deserving of a mini-exhibition somewhere.
Peter will publish the remaining images from the set on Wednesday. In the meantime, be sure to explore his site, Discovering London, in more detail. The author has an unrivalled gift for finding the incredible with every stroll around London.
The image above is used with permission.
