A bale of straw serves as a warning on a Thames river bridge
Jul 1, 2024 14:30:49 GMT
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Post by librarylady on Jul 1, 2024 14:30:49 GMT
If you head to Barnes railway bridge in southwest London at the moment, you’ll see a bale of straw hanging from the middle arch — because an ancient law requires it.
The rule requires a bale of straw to be hung from a bridge as a warning to mariners whenever the height between the river and the bridge’s arches is reduced, as it is at Barnes at the moment. According to the Port of London Thames Byelaws, Clause 36.2, a bale of straw has to be placed under London bridges “when the headroom of an arch or span of a bridge is reduced from its usual limits”.
At night, the bale of straw is harder to see, so some warning lights are switched on as well.
Quite why a bale of straw is needed has long since been lost to time. The most common guess is that it would bash the head of any waterman who passed under a bridge with restricted height and warn them.
However, that’s only an oft-repeated guess and could well be wrong.
The law, whatever its origins, still exists, and at the moment, scaffolding is hanging off the side of Barnes railway bridge, reducing the height beneath the arch, so someone had to buy a bale of straw and hang it from the bridge.
At night, the bale of straw is harder to see, so some warning lights are switched on as well.
Quite why a bale of straw is needed has long since been lost to time. The most common guess is that it would bash the head of any waterman who passed under a bridge with restricted height and warn them.
However, that’s only an oft-repeated guess and could well be wrong.
The law, whatever its origins, still exists, and at the moment, scaffolding is hanging off the side of Barnes railway bridge, reducing the height beneath the arch, so someone had to buy a bale of straw and hang it from the bridge.
