We visited Tower Bridge on Friday July 31st, 2026 (we saw a giant sun-dial before this). Oddly, none of us had visited this iconic site before. The Engine Room is around a hundred foot or so from the bridge proper (we actually visited the bridge proper – before we approached the Engine Room) – and features the original turbines that lifted the bridge up and down. Although the engineers that built the bridge received ridiculously good wages – the everyday workers who kept the bridge functioning safely on a daily basis received nothing like as good pay. Still, the engine is said to be similar to those found in ships like the Titanic.
Stokers had to shovel coal into furnaces all day long. It is interesting to see what was once an industrial Britain – which is now a technological Britain. Machines, where they still exist, are now rather streamlined, ultra-efficient and sleek, compared to their rather clunky predecessors. When boats or ships lying relatively “high” in the water approached the central arch of the bridge – at a given signal – both arms of the bridge would be mechanically “raised” by the turbines featured in this post! As this is the end of the official tour – there is an expensive gift-shop at the end – although prices appear to have veen “lowered” for a time.
After walking up and down the hundreds of steps associated with Tower Bridge proper – we had to walk down the road to the nearby “Engine Room” – but immediately adjacent to this road is the famous Tower of London – which we managed to catch in the following set of photographs:
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 