19th-century London of the Thames from the City of London westwards experienced a flurry of bridge-building during the 19th century, improving overland communication to South London. At the turn of the 19th century there were only three existing bridges in Central London: Westminster Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, and the ancient London Bridge. Beyond Westminster, the closest bridge was that of Battersea, three miles upstream from Westminster Bridge. All four were demolished and rebuilt over the course of the century (completed in 1862, 1869, 1831,and 1885 respectively). In addition, a slew of new bridges for road, pedestrian, and railway traffic were built: Southwark Bridge
Winter of 1962–63 in the United Kingdom fear that the Strait of Dover would freeze across. The upper reaches of the River Thames also froze over, though it did not freeze in Central London, partly due to the hot effluent from two thermal power stations, Battersea and Bankside; the removal of the old multi-arched London Bridge, which had obstructed the river’s free flow, and the addition of the river embankments, made the river less likely to freeze in London than in earlier times (see River Thames frost fairs). On 20 January, 283 workers had to be rescued by RAF helicopters from Fylingdales, where they had been snowbound