An Ancient Tradtion

Snapshot answer
It’s a bale of straw dangling from London’s Millennium Bridge, part of an ancient tradition to warn river traffic that repair work is going on. The 900-year-old City Bridge Foundation, the charity responsible for looking after London’s river crossings, explained on X (formerly Twitter) that the longstanding practice was demanded by Port of London Thames Byelaws, adding, “we’re not making this up, honest”. And they’re not. Clause 36.2 requires that during maintenance work, the person responsible must suspend “by day a bundle of straw large enough to be conspicuous and by night a white light”
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