My Fair Lady

John Rennie was commissioned by King William the Fourth of England in 1831 to design and build a new bridge across the River Thames.

It was to replace a medieval structure, perhaps the most visibly recognisable of those gracing the capital city with its shops and houses built across the spanning arches but also one steeped in folklore being the subject of the children's nursery rhyme decrying it's structural instability, as in "London Bridge is falling down".

The Medieval London Bridge

It was a striking monument to a nation whose Empire was in global ascendancy and the sing-song tribute continued for the new bridge, in its era a great engineering feat.

However as traffic increased not just in terms of volume but also weight into the next century London Bridge began to display a weakness and in particular began to sink into the alluvial clays of the Thames. As a major crossing point of strategic importance it was essential for it to be replaced by a modern bridge.

The Rennie Bridge across the Thames

In the 1960's plans were drawn up for a suitable candidate inevitably involving the demolition and clearance of the Rennie structure.

There would be a ready demand for the salvaged stonework and architectural features from the commercial sector and offers were also submitted by the general public for bits of London Bridge as a lasting memento. A schoolgirl sent in her pocket money and a group of offshore businessmen scraped together £100.

A local politician caused some amusement by advocating that a buyer be found for the whole thing and as much as possible preserve the historical context rather than risk dispersal of the constituent parts across the world.

When pressed for a suitable valuation the same individual provided a guesstimate of £1 million sterling.

To demonstrate the potential interest of London Bridge to a wider market a glossy brochure was produced and a tour of America, as the location of the most likely source of a buyer, was arranged.

There is a well known urban myth that the eventual purchaser, a Stateside millionnaire bid the full £1 million ($2.4 million US ) in July 1967 thinking that he was in fact acquiring the landmark Tower Bridge rather than the plainer nursery rhyme subject. This is based on a photograph of the buyer stood on London Bridge but looking intently at the iconic twin towers of the nearby lifting bridge.

All parties vehemently denied the story.

The 130,000 tons of dressed stonework was carefully dismantled ready for shipping out to the United States. There was no wastage with any splinters or shards of masonry being set in acrylic and sold off as souvenirs and mementos.

It was only after the sale to America that the public outcry in Britain gained momentum but on the prevailing economic climate the deal was seen as the best possible that could have been negotiated. Popular culture did rebel a bit and lyrics in ballads by Cilla Black and Bread lamented the loss of the iconic structure. There were fears that this was just the beginning of the selling off to the highest bidder of more of the historic buildings and ancient treasures of the nation.

There was further dismay with the knowledge that London Bridge was to be relocated not to a greensward or leafy riverbank but deep into the Arizona Desert to form a grand edifice to a new urban development at Lake Haversue.

It was to span a man-made canal and be the central attraction amongst restaurants and tasteful venues for entertainment and leisure.

The shipping, haulage and re-assembly was a major undertaking and it was not until October 1971 that the bridge was inaugurated under the attendance of The Lord Mayor of London and other civic dignataries.

Although authentic and sympathetic in the original stonework the structure was in fact underneath formed in brand new reinforced concrete.

The arrival of the bridge sparked a media frenzy and the lilting and gentle tune of the old nursey rhyme was revived with a freshness and enthusiasm amongst American children.

Now approaching the 50th anniversary of the sale of London Bridge it is as popular a landmark as ever.

In terms of tourists and visitors it ranks as the second most frequented in Arizona after, well, the natural feature of the Grand Canyon.