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This blog is a sneak preview and I decided to concentrate on just a couple of the photographs that will be on the web page.
London Bridge: Many people confuse this with Tower Bridge, but in Tudor times, the latter did not exist. London Bridge was the only bridge over the river until Kingston Bridge almost 15 miles upstream
and not far from Hampton Court Palace.
Some of the buildings on the bridge were 7 storeys in height and included shops and houses. As more buildings were added, the bridge supports had to be strengthened and broadened. One effect was that the waters passing through the arches was very turbulent and made "shooting the bridge" very hazardous. It was not unusual for people to disembark at one side of the bridge and get back on the boat at the other. At the same time, the strengthening of the starlings slowed the water flow under the bridge, something that helped the river to freeze. Henry VIII is known to have travelled downriver by sleigh on the frozen Thames and Elizabeth I also played "shooting at marks"- a form of archery - on the ice.
Tyburn Tree: Close to what is now the site of the monument called Marble Arch, is the location of the infamous Tyburn gallows. There is a plaque set into the ground at the actual site. Here felons were hanged, or if they were low-born traitors, hanged, drawn and quartered. A hanging brought out huge crowds . Houses close to the site would rent out rooms with windows overlooking the gallows. If the felon met a "good" end, he was praised.In the case of traitors, the hangman might be paid to allow the felon to hang until he was dead before cutting him down and disembowelling him.
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