London’s defining landmark, Tower Bridge, has announced it will be hosting free family activities in its Victorian engine rooms, to celebrate this year’s British Science Week.
Taking place on Saturday 8 March, the Bridge will be holding free drop-in sessions* between 10am – 4pm, where people can discover the Victorian steam engines, coal-fired boilers, and accumulators that once powered the mighty bascules of the Bridge and how they have evolved over time.
Visitors can expect a host of hands-on, science-based activities to try, in keeping with British Science Week’s ‘change and adapt’ theme. From learning how to generate power using the heat of your own hands and making your own electric power using hand crank generators, to assembling a 3D jigsaw puzzle to discover secrets of the Bridge and taking part in a family challenge to build the strongest model bridge using shapes, there are activities to suit everyone.
British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, taking place between 7-16 March 2025. Co-ordinated by the British Science Association, the awareness week is aimed at people of all ages, to raise awareness, spark enthusiasm and celebrate science, technology, engineering and maths with people from all walks of life.
Tower Bridge is a must-see for visitors to London, for its rich history to its incredible views from the Glass Floors in the High-level Walkways. Last year the iconic landmark celebrated its 130th anniversary. On completion, the Bridge was the largest and most sophisticated bascule bridge in existence.
Fun facts about Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms
More than 80 people were needed to maintain the original engines and raise the Bridge
When Tower Bridge was first built, it raised between 20-30 times a day. Today, it opens an average of 2-3
Tower Bridge’s stokers used to shovel over 20 tonnes of coal per week
The steam engines could raise the bascules in 60 seconds
In 1976, Tower Bridge switched from steam power to electricity. These original steam engines are the ones now on display in the Engine Rooms
Until the early 1980s, cats lived in and around the Engine Rooms
