London Guided Walks » Episode 146: Jumping Tower Bridge

Episode 146: Jumping Tower Bridge

Step back in time with the London History Podcast as we revisit one of the city’s most daring and heartwarming moments. On a cold, smoggy evening in December 1952, bus driver Albert Gunter faced the unthinkable when Tower Bridge began to rise beneath him. With 40 passengers on board, Gunter made a split-second decision that would make him a local hero and capture the imagination of Londoners everywhere.

Host: Hazel Baker

Hazel is an active Londoner, a keen theatre-goer and qualified CIGA London tour guide.

She has won awards for tour guiding and is proud to be involved with some great organisations. She is a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and am an honorary member of The Leaders Council.

Channel 4: The Orient Express: A Golden Era of Travel (Episode 1). Channel 5’s Walking Wartime Britain(Episode 3) and Yesterday Channel’s The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Het Rampjaar 1672, Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland and Arte.fr Invitation au Voyage, À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément. Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: Secrets of the London Underground (Series 3, Episode 2) and Secrets of the London Underground (Series 4, Episode 10). NPO (Netherlands): Het Rampjaar 1672 – Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland. Arte France: Invitation au Voyage – À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément

The Night a London Bus Jumped Tower Bridge (1952)

Host Hazel Baker and guest Carl Stanley recount the 30 December 1952 incident when bus driver Albert Gunter, crossing Tower Bridge in poor winter visibility with lingering Great Smog conditions, found the bascules beginning to rise despite a green light and no warning bell. Unable to stop or reverse, Gunter accelerated a seven-ton Regent Mark III double-decker on the Shoreditch–Dulwich route and successfully jumped the opening gap with around 40 passengers aboard, with reports of minor injuries but everyone surviving and the bus sustaining little damage. The episode shares press and passenger accounts, notes an official inquiry in which the Corporation of London accepted fault and blamed an inexperienced watchman, and describes rewards to Gunter from London Transport and the Corporation, plus later tributes including a passenger inviting him to her wedding.