London Albert Bridge / Cadogan Pier (#0194)

This confounded me – a bunch of boats tied up to a pier running along the north tower of the bridge? Something I’d never seen before.

The web page for the Cadogan Pier, particularly the history section, makes it all more understandable. The first Cadogan Pier was built in 1841 as a prop for selling houses in Chelsea; that pier was rebuilt in 1875 to accommodate the construction of the then-private Albert Bridge. So, it’s not what it seems – a city building a bridge and accommodating a private pier for storing boats. Instead, it was two private companies (an existing pier and plans for a private bridge) finding a way to accommodate each other.

In fact, if you look closely at this picture, you’ll see the Cadogan pier is not connected to the Albert Bridge. The aerial satellite view makes their separateness even clearer.

Source: www.cadoganpier.com/about

(Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)