Making the Bridge Sing
To celebrate 125 years of Tower Bridge, artist Di Mainstone was commissioned to create a film exploring a make-believe world caught between dream and reality.
To celebrate 125 years of Tower Bridge, artist Di Mainstone was commissioned to create a film exploring a make-believe world caught between dream and reality.
Hannah Griggs was a cook here in the 1910s, and she was also a keen gardener. In the film, Di Mainstone imagines Hannah to be experimenting with music. She creates the sounds of the Bridge to help her plants grow. It seems to be working.
The idea for the film began when one of the Tower Bridge team overheard a conversation on the Bridge one day. 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. Within days the Bridge’s Exhibition Manager was in touch and Susan shared Hannah Griggs’ story, and how she lived after spending several years in the workhouse that eventually became St Olave’s Hospital.
Today Hannah Griggs, along with other former workers, is commemorated with a plaque on the pavement of the Bridge.
Artist Di Mainstone has invented a phantastical world, where Tower Bridge sings and nature takes over. She has created instruments to ‘play’ the bridge and recorded their magical sounds.
1. Storyboard sketch showing piano hammers.
2. Concept sketch of Hannah using a large bow to play the Bridge.
3. Drawing for an imaginary music box making music from the rivets.
In Di Mainstone’s film, Hannah Griggs creates magical sounds by playing different parts of the bridge with unusual, invented instruments.
The London Marathon race route will travel over Tower Bridge on Sunday 21 April. Please note, the Bridge and surrounding roads will be busy, but the attraction will be open to the public all day.