An ancient law requires a bundle of straw to hang from the Millennium Bridge

Upholding an ancient law, a bundle of straw is to be hung from the Millennium Footbridge at times over the next few weeks as a warning to boats on the Thames.

Millenium Footbridge by Alberto Zanetti / Unsplash

It’s an ancient bylaw of uncertain heritage that if a bridge arch is open to river traffic, but with restricted headroom, then a bundle of straw should be hung from the bridge as a warning.

As it happens, as part of the three-week closure of the wobbly bridge for maintenance, there will be abeilers working underneath the arches at various times during the closure. As that reduced the gap between bridge and the river, they have to deploy the bundle of straw and hang it from the bridge.

So, look out for the oldest of bylaws enacted on central London’s newest river crossing from 16th October for about three weeks — but note, the straw is only deployed when the abseilers are on the bridge.

If, for some reason they carry out work at night, which does seem unlikely, then the bundle of straw is replaced with a light, but sadly, it’s an electric one instead of a burning bale of straw.