You can now view the film, guide and interactive maps on the dedicated web page here.

Summer Term 2020

We started the project in the Spring Term 2020 where we delivered: an adult walk from Hammersmith Bridge to Putney Bridge (both designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette), a STEM session for a youth club about bridges and some education sessions at a primary school.

St. Andrews Youth Club – Bridging Session

We were delighted to work again with Jordana Smith and St. Andrews Youth Club during the February half term. A group of eleven young people visited Hammersmith Bridge for a creative photo session and we hope you agree with us that they did an amazing job! (please see below).

In the afternoon, we went to our classroom and the young people had the opportunity to learn more about bridges by having a go at building their own suspension bridge.

By the way, did you know Hammersmith Bridge was the first suspension bridge over the River Thames? It was designed by Bazalgette and opened in 1887. It is currently closed to all motor traffic after cracks were discovered in the bridge’s pedestals and is Grade II listed building.

After visiting Hammersmith Bridge and the creative photo session, we visited our classroom to learn more about bridges. St. Andrews’ young people used some bridge construction kits

to build their own suspension bridge in small groups. See below how much fun we all had!

Great fun was had by everyone and the young people from St. Andrew’s youth club left with big smiles on their faces, a greater understanding of their local area as it was shaped by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. It was a chance to be creative, take great pictures of Hammersmith Bridge and learn more about suspension bridges, which are not as easy to build as you might think!

School Sessions

Park Walk Primary

In the Spring Term, Park Walk Primary school year 6 picked Joseph Bazalgette’s life and work as their topic for the Children’s Parliament on the Environment. They researched his life by exploring archive photos and texts and considered the problem of pollution of the River Thames during Victorian times, compared with those of today.

We had a wonderful visit to the Institute of Civil Engineering where children perused the ‘Bazalgette’s Life’ special display and did a quiz, tried their hand at solving civil engineering problems with some hands on activities and admired his portrait on the grand staircase.’

Unfortunately we had to abandon the Children’s Parliament project due to school closures at the end of March so the children were unable to share their learning with other children. However they all enjoyed learning a lot about this amazing Victorian civil engineer!

Christ Church C of E Primary

We started working with Christ Church Primary School in Chelsea, before stopping due to the first national lockdown in 2020. We introduced the Yr. 5 class to Bazalgette’s work and went on a trip to the Chelsea Embankment where we saw Albert and Battersea bridges.

Bazalgette’s London Winter 2020 Update

It’s been a tricky year of course, we all know that but we have tried our hardest to stay focused and deliver our Bazalgette’s London project at schools and local community groups with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Some of the activities we’ve delivered over the second half of 2020 included:

Guided walks for Action on Disability during the summer.
School workshops with Christ Church C of E and St Cuthbert with St Matthias C of E Primaries during the Autumn term.

Guided Walks

During the summer holidays, we organized two guided walks for our friends from Action on Disability. Luckily, we have two of Bazalgette’s bridges in Hammersmith and Fulham: Hammersmith and Putney. Firstly, we went on walk to Hammersmith Bridge to see and learn more Hammersmith bridge.

After visiting Hammersmith Bridge, we invited the group to our classroom where they had the chance to build bridges with marshmallow and pasta, it was fun and sticky!

Later in the summer, we were contacted again by Action on Disability to go for a local walk, and this time we headed towards the other Bazalgette bridge in LBHF, Putney Bridge.

We then visited Bishop’s Park, we we enjoyed a nice view of Putney Bridge.

We finished the day with a visit to Fulham Palace beautiful grounds.

School Sessions

During the Autumn Term 2020 we were lucky enough to be able to work with two schools in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Students were introduced to Bazalgette’s work, visited the Chelsea Embankment and Battersea Bridge (another one designed by Sir Joseph), carried our practical activities and made some art.

Christ Church C of E School (Chelsea)

Thanks to the amazing Yr5 teacher Ms Davies and her charming class, we studied how Bazalgette’s work shaped London and Chelsea. We visited the Embankment, Albert Bridge (repaired by Bazalgette) and got to sketch a nice view of Battersea Bridge.

St Cuthbert with St Matthias C of E School (Earl’s Court)

We finished the year with school sessions at St Cuthbert school in Earl Court. Children enjoyed learning about the ‘Great Stink’ and how Bazalgette helped make London a cleaner city while saving thousands of lives.

All in all, we’ve had a good year engaging community and school groups with Bazalgette’s Heritage and hope to continue soon this year!

Bazalgette’s London Summer 2021 Update

After a difficult start to the year, due to being in lockdown, we got our Bazalgette project back on track with School sessions and Community walks with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

We manage to successfully work with two primary schools, Christchurch C of E and St Paul’s CE, and a few community groups (Abbey Centre, Westminster Adult Education, Hammersmith Community Gardens Association) all of which enjoyed visiting the Riverside and learning more about Bazalgette’s work.

School Sessions

Participating schools had the opportunity to learn about Sir Joseph Bazalgette, his work and how he changed London. We built bridges, visited the riverside and made maps and artwork. Most children were not familiar with Bazalgette’s legacy but by the end of the project gained a better understanding of how Bazalgette contributed to the health and wellbeing of Londoners during a challenging time (The Great Stink!) and how he was able to envisioned and execute plans to improve London’s infrastructure.

Community Walks

We enjoyed leading community walks along the River Thames and getting people to experience Bazalgette’s work including the Embankment, the bridges he designed (Hammersmith, Putney and Battersea) and his memorial at the Victoria Embankment.

We visited Putney Bridge and walked all the way to Battersea Bridge with a couple of groups.