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Now a bridge is threatened at Kew

Two days ago The Sunday Times revealed plans for a new Thames bridge in central London. Today The Times has a report about work on a possible bridge linking Kew Gardens and Syon House.

This must be resisted. The joy of walking along the towpath at Kew is that the left (‘north’) bank is little changed.

The riverbank at Syon is very special. The natural creeks of the tide meadow were known to Lady Jane Grey who embarked here and Cromwell’s prisoner Charles I who was allowed to land here by barge from Hampton Court to visit his children.

It is not a bridge that is needed but a return to the earlier levels of river traffic.

There is already an historic link between the Kew towpath and Syon. This is at Isleworth where there have been several attempts to revive the daily ferry service. This would be a much more exciting experience for visitors than a modern bridge.

The river is in danger of having too much clutter.

Pages 55 to 57.

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Boris threatens Waterloo view

Boris Johnson’s plan for a new bridge across the Thames in central London is bad news.

English Heritage and SE1 residents will certainly oppose it.

According to today’s Sunday Times, the Mayor of London is suggesting a bridge lined with shops linking the South Bank with the Embankment. It would be midway between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge.

The north end would have twin 35-storey towers filled with luxury flats.

It could be All Fools Day rather than the May Day weekend.

This scheme will not be popular with lawyers in The Temple. Only yesterday Judge Simon Brown was writing in The Times about the setting of its historic garden.

This plan takes no account of the much admired view of the City of London from Waterloo Bridge or the view up the wide expanse of King’s Reach from Blackfriars Bridge.

There is only one place for an Old London Bridge style bridge with shops and houses and that is London Bridge itself. But that might spoil Boris’s view from City Hall.