London Bridge, City of London, early 20th Century - Sepia Saturday

London Bridge, City of London, early 20th Century. London Bridge joins the City of London on the north bank to the city of Southwark on the south bank. The London Bridge that you see in these old postcards is the 19th century bridge, designed by John Rennie and built next to the ancient London Bridge and opened in 1831. The ancient bridge was then demolished. At the time of these postcards it was the busiest part of London. It is still very busy today, but the modern Google Street Views make it look relatively quiet. I can assure you it is not. By 1967 this bridge was inadequate for the job and was sold. It now resides in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. A modern replacement for London Bridge was opened in 1973. In the first postcard you can see the view from King William Street looking south towards the bridge and Southwark. The statue is of King William IV and is now in Greenwich. The first postcard is a particularly good one, published by A & G Taylor, so I've scanned it at 300dpi. The rest are at my standard 200dpi. Click the pictures to enlarge!

In the second postcard we can see the location where the first postcard was photographed from. This is what the postcard above would look like today:


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Below, a view of traffic on the bridge from the south bank. In the distance on the right you can see the Tower of London:

Above, a view from the City of London looking south towards Southwark. The church you can see is actually Southwark Cathedral. The building on the far right is Fishmongers Hall.

Below, a view looking north, you can see a paddle steamer on the far bank. The church you can see is the tower of St. Magnus the Martyr. To the right of that is the Monument, one of London's most famous landmarks.

Above, a view from the Monument looking south. you can clearly see the tower of St. Magnus the Martyr right in front of you and Southwark Cathedral across the river. This picture looks like it may have been taken before the bridge was widened in 1902.

Finally, another view from the Southwark side looking north towards the City of London:

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For more old photographs please visit Sepia Saturday.