About
60% of my waterways collection is made up of River Thames cards. This is my
home waterway and I have been boating on it for over 50 years. (My father
bought a converted lifeboat in 1948 when I was quite little!).
This
Thames addiction makes collecting very easy as I am sure that there are more
Thames cards than those of any other waterway, but it requires you to show
a certain amount of restraint as there are any number of 50 pence or £1
cards of the more common scenes. Your collection can get swamped with this
kind of card and when beginning I have to admit to falling into this trap
as 28 cards of Tower Bridge or 21 of Boulter's Lock, Maidenhead prove. Mind
you a dealer told me of a customer of his who specialized in Tower Bridge
cards and had over 200 of them.
I
am now trying to be a bit more selective and one of my aims is to collect
a card of every bridge and lock on the river. Although I have a high proportion
in both categories I think I am still some way from achieving my goal as the
final 25% are of course the rarer ones especially in the remote rural reaches
above Oxford. In this article I will just look at the more interesting Thames
bridges and if Trevor needs more copy in the future I will do another one
on Thames locks.
To
check the list of bridges in the London area I use my old A-Z. I haven't lived
there for 30 years but the bridges generally haven't changed and my collection
is of Old Cards rather than moderns, so I can ignore the new swaying bridge!
I have a few missing in London but I hope with enough searching in the London
boxes at Card Fairs I will eventually get the full set. I don't have a card
of the present London Bridge but this really counts as a modern as it was
built in the 60's. The old London Bridge was quite interesting as it was widened
in 1904 and there are plenty of cards from that era specifying either before
or after the widening. Waterloo Bridge is another that has been replaced by
a new version but this was in 1945 and I have cards of both old and new.
Gilbert
Marlet was a Putney stationer before the advent of picture postcards. He subsequently
published postcards but often used older photos by W. Field all of which are
stunning examples of the photographer's art. I have four of his cards, one
of which shows Old Putney Bridge (of wooden trestle construction) in 1878.
Two other cards of his: 'Severe Winter at Putney 1881' showing a frozen river
and 'High Tide at Putney 1882' are just as good and detailed but not relevant
to the present discourse. I also have cards showing the present Putney Bridge
with almost identical churches at either end.
The next bridge of interest is that at Walton. Not a particularly exciting
bridge except that it was bombed during WW2 and was replaced very rapidly
by a temporary 'Baily' bridge. This ugly contraption however is still there
and although I have a card of the original bridge, I'm not sure that anyone
has bothered to publish a card of the 'temporary' one.
Just
above Datchet there are two identical single span metal arched bridges either
end of Windsor Home Park. They are called respectively the Victoria and Albert
Bridges and were built in Victoria's reign when public access and the towpath
were no longer allowed through the park. There is also an Albert Bridge in
London so there are two Thames bridges of the same name. I have cards of both
Albert Bridges but I haven't found Victoria yet.
My
favourite Thames bridge is I.K.Brunel's Maidenhead Railway Bridge. At the
time of it's construction (1848) it was the widest, flattest brick arch in
the world and this may still be the case. There was considerable doubt at
the time about the strength and practicality of the bridge but as it is still
standing over 150 years later and carrying far greater loads than originally
envisaged, I think it has comfortably passed the test. Brunel also built two
further high brick-arched bridges over the Thames for the Great Western. These
are further upstream at Gatehampton and Moulsford and although both are quite
impressive they don't compare with Maidenhead. Also both are in very rural
locations above Reading and I have not yet seen a card of either.
Marlow
Bridge is the only upriver suspension bridge, all the others of this type
being in London. This has not lasted so well and for some years has been subject
to severe weight restrictions. At one time the bus route was only completed
by passengers walking across the bridge and picking up another bus on the
far side. Windsor Bridge has gone one step further and is now completely pedestrianised.
This however is all to do with tourism and the fact that there is a new by-pass
bridge nearby.
I
have cards of three different bridges on the same site at Caversham. The earliest
is a strange combination of very narrow arches (probably medieval) across
two thirds of the river with two wider wooden spans across the balance. There
is a story that this was the result of a budgetry dispute between Reading
and Caversham and although there may be some truth in this, I feel the wider
spans would have been necessary to allow barges to pass. My card was produced
by a local Reading publisher but has no other details, not even a legend and
has not been posted so dating either the card or the photo is difficult.
The
second Caversham Bridge is a flat metal lattice affair, again a fairly low
cost construction. A fairly common card of this bridge shows it being crossed
by a horse drawn hearse complete with black plumes on the horse's head. The
third bridge was erected in the 1930's and has two wide reinforced concrete
arches. This no doubt relieved the local traffic congestion but is not so
interesting for the postcard collector.
Whitchurch
Bridge by Pangbourne is one of two toll bridges remaining on the Thames. The
other is Swinford Bridge near Eynsham, above Oxford. Nearly all Thames bridges
originally charged a toll but they were generally bought out by local authorities
towards the end of the 19th century. How these two escaped is not clear, especially
Whitchurch which is close to Reading and directly links the small towns of
Whitchurch and Pangbourne.
On
the lower river I have cards showing most of the railway bridges although
usually this type of bridge just happens to be in a shot of some other subject.
In only a few cases have I got a card that specifically depicts or mentions
a railway bridge. Upriver it gets much more difficult as the railway crossings
are generally in rural settings and there is little chance of getting a view
of one as background to something else. There are six railway bridges on the
river above Reading but I have yet to see one on a postcard.
There
are two road bridges in the centre of Oxford. Folly Bridge at the head of
the rowing course and also the headquarters of the famous Salter's Steamers
is much photographed but Osney Bridge in the old industrial and working class
area of the town is never depicted.
All
the oldest bridges on the Thames are above Oxford where there has been little
need to replace Medievel structures. The oldest bridge is at Radcot and I
have a card by Henry Taunt of Oxford, depicting this bridge. The bridge in
the photo is in fact now over a side stream as a new channel was dug but even
the 'new' bridge is a few centuries old. Taunt is one of my favourite card
publishers. He was a very talented and prolific photographer travelling in
a small flat bottomed barge cum houseboat cum dark room to produce his photographs
and guides of the river.
Finally
we come to Lechlade and the last bridge over the navigable Thames. This is
known as Halfpenny Bridge, reflecting the toll orginally charged. There are
of course further smaller bridges as the river dwindles to a stream and I
do have a card from a Cirencester publisher claiming to depict "the First
Bridge over the Thames". As there has always been some dispute over the
source of the Thames this may or may not be true.