Shad Thames cobbles

Does anyone have any info about the removal of the cobbles under Tower Bridge at Shad Thames?

I don't, but I'd hazard a guess they are replacing them with flatter cobbles like they've done over by the Golden Hinde to make it more accessible for wheelchairs/buggies etc.

It's probably to connect to the new lift from Shad Thames up to Tower Bridge at Portland Wharf, which will provide a step-free route from Potters Fields Park up to bridge level.

Clink Street has lost so much character. They should have found another solution, or at least only changed some of the width of it.

This is my concern about Shad Thames. Like so many other riverside areas it is an historic part of London, and whether we love them or hate them, often used by film crews. Access to the new lift at Tower Bridge for people with reduced mobility was provided by concrete slabs either side of the cobbles, so digging up the entire area does seem extreme.

I'm all for preservation of heritage, but I think I remember that area was tarmac about 30 years ago - the cobbles are newish.

The cobbles were under the tarmac, Auntie Pat. They were old.

Thanks to the great big Thames Water hole in Queen Elizabeth Street, I now know there are cobbles under the tarmac there too. Would probably be the most effective traffic-calming method out there for all the rat-runners.

beetroot wrote:

The cobbles were under the tarmac, Auntie Pat. They were old.

ah yes, that would make sense

beetroot wrote:

The cobbles were under the tarmac, Auntie Pat. They were old.

How old are/were they exactly? I would have taken one home. I have a piece of old Victorian water pipe, Probably not worth anything, but I like the act that it's old.