Post-Valentine's Day

I have a new love!


It's VERY exciting!!


It's unrequited, of course :(








It's a bridge...

It's a thumping, fantastic, ornate Thames landmark of a bridge, the first suspension bridge over the Thames, and possibly the most beautiful bridge on the river.

It's Hammersmith Bridge.

OK, it's far from being amongst the most beautiful bridges in the world, but they don't make them like this anymore. The last time this bridge was rebuilt, they didn't spare attention to detail...

I love Hammersmith Bridge. For sure, it'll never be the most exciting of bedfellows, and I suspect any attempt to share a duvet with it would leave me exposed for the night, but that's not going to stop me from worshipping this bridge from afar, or even from being up close and personal with it. Or underneath it.

Why do I love it?

Well...
It's a stone's throw from the boat club, an unmistakable landmark, and a welcome sight at the end of a long outing. It's dependable. It's (touchwood) not going to go wrong. It's also pretty useful for when you need to get across the river and don't have a boat handy. And it's unashamedly, disgustingly ornate. Why it was felt necessary to paint it in that off-putting green colour, I have no idea...

It does make the gilding look particularly striking:

Mind you, I have heard the bridge described as "looking like a monsterous, overgrown Harrods bag..." That is possibly an unnecessarily unkind description of its charms, though in this case I'm prepared to admit that the observer may have had a point...

So, what do you think? Should I be worried? Or is falling in love with a bridge OK really??