White Horse Bridge on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The White Horse Bridge is a footbridge that crosses the tracks at
In May 2005, the naming decision took place in the form of an online poll hosted by BBC Five Live in conjunction with the
The White Horse Bridge is a footbridge that crosses the tracks at Wembley Stadium railway station
Wembley Stadium railway station is a Network Rail station in Wembley, Greater London, on the Chiltern Main Line. It is the nearest station to Wembley Stadium, and is located a quarter of a mile (400 m) south west of the sports venue.
History
...
leading up to Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
in Wembley Park
Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross.
The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broade ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It was designed by Steve Chilton for architects Marks Barfield
Marks Barfield Architects is a London-based architectural firm founded by husband and wife David Marks and Julia Barfield. Their work has included the London Eye, the treetop walkway in Kew Gardens, the i360 observation tower in Brighton, Engl ...
and engineered by Halcrow. It replaced an old concrete footbridge which was probably built for the British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibi ...
. The project also included the construction of a public square.
The bridge's name was chosen in May 2005 after a BBC Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...
poll. It is named after a grey (though appearing white in old black and white photographs and films) Metropolitan Police horse, named 'Billy', that was used to restore order after the huge numbers of spectators (estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000) who turned up to witness the 1923 FA Cup Final
The 1923 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United F.C., West Ham United on 28 April 1923 at the original Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece ...
spilled onto the pitch before kick off.
That game, the first to be held at the old Wembley Stadium, was won by Bolton Wanderers, beating West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
2–0.
Unlike the old footbridge, the new structure was designed to cope with up to 12,000 people an hour, the estimated number of users during match days. The bridge and square opened in 2008. They now give easy access from the Chiltern Line
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
It is one of tw ...
to London Designer Outlet.
Naming
In May 2005, the naming decision took place in the form of an online poll hosted by BBC Five Live in conjunction with the London Development Agency
The London Development Agency (LDA) was from July 2000 until 2012 the regional development agency for the London region in England. A functional body of the Greater London Authority, its purpose was to drive sustainable economic growth within ...
(who were building the bridge and who had conceived the idea of a public poll) and won from a shortlist of '' Live Aid'' (in memory of the 1985 concert held at the stadium), '' Sir Alf Ramsey'' (being England's 1966 World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
-winning manager), ''Sir Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World C ...
'' and ''Sir Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he became the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final when England recorded a 4–2 victory over West Germany at Wembley St ...
'' (two of Sir Alf's team).
The LDA received over 670,000 nominations from all over the world. The name with the most nominations, however, mainly coming from Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, was ''Dietmar Hamann
Dietmar Johann Wolfgang "Didi" Hamann (; born 27 August 1973) is a German professional football coach, former player and media personality.
Throughout his career, he has played for Bayern Munich, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester City ...
'', who scored the last goal at the old Wembley Stadium. This was a qualification game in October 2000 for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
, with a German 1–0 win against England. The LDA decided to name the bridge ''White Horse Bridge'' instead.
See also
*List of bridges in London
List of bridges in London lists the major bridges within Greater London or within the influence of London. Most of these are river crossings, and the best-known are those across the River Thames. Several bridges on other rivers have given thei ...
References
Pedestrian bridges in London History of the Metropolitan Police Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Brent Bridges completed in 2006 Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena {{UK-bridge-struct-stub