Tower Bridge and The Monument

• London’s defining landmark, Tower Bridge, has brought the world of Hannah Griggs – a real-life cook at Tower Bridge in 1910 with a passion for gardening – online to families, history buffs and Londoners for the very first time
• An online iteration of Tower Bridge’s 'Making The Bridge Sing' exhibition, which opened in January in the historic Victorian Engine Rooms
• Online audiences can listen to the imagined sounds of Hannah’s work, and watch an extract of 'Time Bascule’, a digital art film from award-winning sound artist, inventor and film maker Di Mainstone, commissioned as the main focus for the exhibition 
• Families can download fun activity packs to bring learning to life
• Experience the exhibition here: https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/whats-on/at-home/making-the-bridge-sing

London’s defining landmark, Tower Bridge, has brought the fantastical world of Hannah Griggs, a real-life cook at Tower Bridge in the 1910s, online to families, history lovers and Londoners for the very first time.

An online iteration of Tower Bridge’s 'Making The Bridge Sing' exhibition unveiled in January in the historic Victorian Engine Rooms, online visitors can explore Hannah’s life as a cook in the famous towers and also as a keen gardener. Real elements of Hannah’s life are revealed alongside a specially composed musical narrative, which imagines dreamlike sights and sounds that she experienced while working at the Bridge to help her plants grow.

The idea for the exhibition began when one of the present day Tower Bridge team overheard a conversation between visitors on the Bridge: Susan Belcher was telling her friends the tale of her grandmother Hannah Griggs, and how she became the Cook-in-Service to the Bridge Master between 1911-1915. Within days the Bridge’s Exhibition Manager was in touch and Susan shared Hannah Griggs’ story, and her life at Tower Bridge.

Her story can now be experienced in the following ways:

Listen to the sounds of Hannah’s world

Making The Bridge Sing imagines the soothing and ethereal sounds of Hannah’s world, accompanied by images of nature growing around the Bridge. Viewers can click to listen to the birds chirping, the waves of the River Thames flowing below, the bees buzzing around Hannah's plants, and the outside bustle as she goes about her work at the Bridge.

Watch an extract of ‘Time Bascule’ 

'Time Bascule’, a film created by sound artist, inventor and filmmaker Di Mainstone and the focus for the exhibition, imagines Hannah to be experimenting with music - creating magical sounds by ‘playing' different parts of the Bridge with unusual, invented instruments to help her plants grow. In a remarkable twist, it features some of Hannah’s London descendants. 

Online fans can also watch behind the scenes footage of the making of 'Time Bascule', along with Di's concept sketches for the digital art piece. 

Di Mainstone has previously developed instruments to create music from the Brooklyn Bridge, Clifton Suspension Bridge and most recently Sunderland’s new Northern Spire Bridge. The New York Times has featured her as one of the “new generation visionaries” of the international digital arts scene. 

Free activities to try at home

Families wanting to bring Hannah’s world to life at home can get creative with three free downloadable activity packs: 

• Make Music:Experiment with musical instruments made from objects around the home
• Nurture Nature: Create origami flowers and try to grow new food from kitchen scraps
• Animate This:Turn Tower Bridge into a unique animation using found natural treasures

Designed to celebrate Tower Bridge’s 125th anniversary, the Time Bascule film and accompanying Making The Bridge Sing exhibition are part of an eclectic programme of arts, installations and intimate events to establish Tower Bridge as a must-see London cultural venue.

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Media contacts: 

For further information, images or interview requests please contact:

Kallaway PR

E: towerbridge@kallaway.com 

T: +44 786 779 4989

Notes to Editors:

Tower Bridge (http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/)

 #InsideTowerBridge

• Tower Bridge was the creation of architect Sir Horace Jones and civil engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry. It took eight years to complete and was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra)
• Tower Bridgeopening hours will vary on reopening. Please check the website for the latest updates.
• Their Community ticket invites residents of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and the City to visit for £1 only.
• Admission prices for Tower Bridge:
  • Adults: £10.60
  • Children aged 5-15: £5.30
  • Concessions: £7.90
  • Family tickets from £18.00
  • Under 5s free

• The nearest underground stations are London Bridge or Tower Hill
• Visit the Glass Floor up on the high-level Walkways, which gives visitors a unique perspective of London 42 metres above the Thames. “Look up on London” – a mirror installed over the West Walkway’s Glass Floor offers visitors a dizzying experience of the city. Guests are able to tread on the glass floor panels whilst traffic passes beneath their feet. It can withstand the weight equivalent to one elephant or two London Black Cabs.
• Tower Bridge is recognised as London’s defining landmark and is a proud supporter of the City Bridge Trust, generating over £6m a year, which goes towards helping charitable causes across London.
• Tower Bridge is one of only 20 UK attractions to receive the Visit England Gold Attractions Accolade in both 2018 and 2019. The accolade recognises quality visitor experiences on offer and is awarded to attractions that go the extra mile to provide a high quality day out.
• The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally successful UK. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
• The City Corporation, which owns and manages Tower Bridge, is the fourth largest funder of heritage and cultural activities in the UK and invests over £100m every year. The City Corporation is also developing Culture Mile between Farringdon and Moorgate – a multi-million-pound investment which will create a new cultural and creative destination for London over the next 10 to 15 years.

 About Di Mainstone

• Artist and researcher, Di Mainstone creates body-centric sculptures, designed to initiate movement and storytelling.  Inspired by technology, many of the wearable artefacts release sound when handled, and are designed to create new environments, silhouettes and functionality to tell a story.
• Di’s creations havebeen performed across the globe, most notably at The V&A, The Barbican, The National Portrait Gallery, Eyebeam NYC and the Swedish National Touring Theatre. Each happening is unique, revealing openings for audience and performer encounters. Di’s work can also be seen in films, which she writes and directs
• The New York Times has featured Di Mainstone as one of the ‘new generation visionaries’ of the international digital arts scene.  A global ambassador for audio brand Sennheiser, Di Mainstone is artist in residence at Queen Mary University London where she collaborates with researchers from the Centre for Digital Music and Media Arts & Technology group, to develop new musical instruments that are inspired by the body, transforming physical movement into sound via digital technology.  Di has invented the term ‘Movician’ to describe the player of these instruments – a hybrid artist who explores and composes sound through movement.
• Di’s work can also be seen in films, which she writes and directs.  Her studio is found up a windy stairway, amidst the reclaimed tube trains that roost on top of Shoreditch’s Village Underground, where her sculptural adornments are brought to life with dancers musicians and scientists.

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