Tower Bridge is the most famous bridge in London, but perhaps the Albert Bridge is the most beautiful and certainly the most delicate bridge. Named after Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, the best time to see this bridge is after dark when over 4000 lights illuminate it.
But its pastel colors play with the sunlight at any time, it is a bridge to be seen several times, with the sun, the moon, the rain and the clouds. The Albert Bridge connects Battersea to Chelsea and is a modification of a cable-stayed bridge that has been modified several times due to its instability. Initially, there was a toll to cross the bridge, but it was not very successful and after six years it became a bridge open to the public.
If the bridge has a delicate look it is no coincidence, this structure has always been delicate and shaky since its inauguration in 1873.
Things got worse with the advent of the car and heavy vehicles. Especially the SUVs driven by the wealthy inhabitants of Chelsea. Another problem was that the bridge was used by troops from Chelsea Barracks to cross the Thames, and hundreds of marching men were a danger to the bridge. For this reason you still see signs instructing the troops not to march on the bridge.
The problem of dogs on the Albert Bridge
Another thing that ruins the bridge is the urine of dogs taken for a walk from Chelsea to Battersea Park, in short, dog pee corrodes the wood of the structure.
In the 1950s, the bridge was due to be demolished, but vigorous campaigning by prominent supporters, including the poet John Betjeman, who was fighting at the time against the destruction of many historic buildings, stopped the demolition.
In 1973, pillars were placed to strengthen the bridge which remains the least used of London’s bridges. It was recently closed for restoration for a year and officially reopened in 2011 by two dogs from Battersea Dogs Home, aptly named Prince and Albert.