"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote in message
...

When you do the tourist thing at the bridge, they tell you that all
ships are entitled to have the bridge opened for them. The bridge
authorities used to keep lookouts for miles down the river in case
something approaching was likely to want the bridge opened.

I worked in an office next to Tower Bridge from 1989 to 1998 and just across
the St. Katherine Docks from 1998 to 2001. It's been many years since there
was a regular lookout on the bridge (the chap on the downstream side in the
office is a waxwork dummy!). The only staff that are usually around, apart
from the ticket office staff, are the bridge lift staff who appear when a
lift is imminent (and booked in!). Prior to the website, the lifting
schedule always used to be posted in the window of the bridgemaster's
office, on the south approach to the bridge - which I used to periodically
scan for interesting visitors to the Pool of London.