Waterloo Bridge has one of my favourite views in London.
Anyone who likes The Kinks must know the song Waterloo Sunset and many Londoners cannot resist humming that tune when crossing over Waterloo Bridge on their way home from work, “Swarming like flies around Waterloo underground”.
It isn’t the most beautiful bridge to look at in itself but the view from the top is beautiful because of position on the bend in the river. You can see Parliament, the Shard, St. Paul’s and Canary Wharf.
Waterloo Bridge connects The Strand, Covent Garden and Aldwych in the north with Waterloo Station and the National Theatre in the south.
Some people refer to it as the Ladies’ Bridge because a lot of it was constructed by women during the war when most of the men were off fighting.
It was also the scene of a James Bond-like murder in 1978 when Bulgarian spy, Georgi Markov was stabbed by a poisoned umbrella.It was reported by the papers that someone was heard mumbling “sorry” and then dropped an umbrella and disappeared in a taxi.
At the south end of the bridge can be found the Imax cinema and the British Film Institute (the BFI), which I still call the National Film Theatre, and underneath the bridge on the south bank there is a second hand book stall which has been there for as long as I can remember. For many years young kids have used this area as a skateboard park to the extent that when the council wanted to close it down and pain over all the graffiti the option was discussed to turn it into an official skate park.
Also visible from Waterloo Bridge is the largest clock face in London. Not, as many people think, Big Ben, but that of the Shell Mex building. For more interesting videos about things along the river click here! ALONG THE RIVER
