Our Patch OCTOBER 2015
Where’s all
the traffic?
The new
bridge
in 1887
LOOKING
BACK
Simply pop a Golden Ticket
in with your recycling
HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE
Look out for your Golden Tickets or download them.
www.wrwa.gov.uk/GoldenTicket
T
his elegant structure is the
second suspension bridge
built from Hammersmith
to Barnes. The original,
designed by William Tierney
Clark and opened in 1827,
was the first of its kind over the river.
Although it was a success, engineers
questioned its structural safety as road
traffic increased throughout the 19th
century, and in 1882 plans were made
for a new version.
Three years later a temporary bridge
was used while the work took place.
Sir Joseph Bazalgette was responsible
H A M M ERS M IT H
for the design, insisting on the finest
materials and workmanship in wrought
and cast iron.
The new bridge was opened by Prince
Albert Victor on 18 June 1887. The
celebrations were muted as the council
decided street decorations were an
unnecessary waste of public funds.
From the mid 20th century on, the
bridge has been closed from time to
time for repair and strengthening. With
the abolition of the Greater London
Council in 1984, care for the bridge
passed to Hammersmith & Fulham
borough.
Hammersmith Bridge is best known
as a landmark in the Boat Race, but it
has attracted less welcome attention.
There have been three attempts to
blow it up, the first in 1939 when it
was saved by the bravery of a Chiswick
man, Maurice Childs, who picked up
a suitcase containing a smoking bomb
and hurled it into the water, where
it exploded. Childs was awarded the
George Cross for his action.
For more about old and new bridges,
a history entitled Hammersmith Bridge
by Charles Hailstone is for sale at the
borough archives and libraries.