The news the next day "Barge worker injured by a straw bale falling from a bridge."
Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
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Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#12Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#13British people love old stuff like Americans love cars and guns.
I think most of Europe is like that.
It is true that British people do make more of their identity about it, and they tend to ignore _really_ old stuff (i.e. most of the quirky stuff is Victorian, not _that_ old).
(disclaimer, am British)
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#14It is worth stating (because the word bylaw is not always understood) that a bylaw (by- is the Scandinavian word for "city", "town" or "village" depending on which modern Scandinavian language you use as your source) is basically a local law. It is not universal. It exists in a single place, and although they can be similar in many locations, they are strictly only applicable in the specific municipality that has them on the "books". They are usually boring things like "dogs must not foul in the streets" and "cyclists may not ride on the pavement (sidewalk in US usage)"... but some are really weird.
I guess the US does use bylaw, but it seems to always be rules and regulations that companies make. This is very much an actual law that will see you fined and potentially in court if you break them.
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#15British people love old stuff like Americans love cars and guns.
I wouldn't say British people themselves really care (I don't).
It's just London especially has been around for so long that this sort of stuff just accumulates. The charity that exists purely to help look after just the Thames crossings in London that was doing this is itself almost 1000 years old for example. There is lots of old stuff - it's just part of life, not something that people go out of their way to give a shit about.
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#16One of the linked articles is also pretty esoteric. The bale is hung because the bridge is being cleaned, as part of the cleaning project discarded chewing gum will be removed, a process objected to by an artist who paints tiny pictures on the gum [1]
1. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/05/artist-ben-w...
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#17It is worth stating (because the word bylaw is not always understood) that a bylaw (by- is the Scandinavian word for "city", "town" or "village" depending on which modern Scandinavian language you use as your source) is basically a local law. It is not universal. It exists in a single place, and although they can be similar in many locations, they are strictly only applicable in the specific municipality that has the…
> I guess the US does use bylaw, but it seems to always be rules and regulations that companies make.
In the USA we call local laws “ordinances”. In US English, “by-law” relates to a set of rules associated with a contractually-created body, like a homeowners association.
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#18British people love old stuff like Americans love cars and guns.
The city adjacent to me has a law that all heads of households must have a firearm. In response to the gun law, the next city over created a law everyone need to have a rake for leaves. Unlike the straw bale laws, we don’t take it seriously. It’s also illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp. In another city it’s illegal to eat fried chicken with anything but your hands.
I wish we had the back stories on more of these. Who was it who tied a giraffe to a telephone pole? What disaster ensued, such that "there oughtta be a law!"?
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#19British people love old stuff like Americans love cars and guns.
I don't know if you've ever been to London, Rome or Kyoto, but Americans actually fucking love old stuff
They should visit our thousand (nearly) year old door: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/history/explore-our-histor...
I'm a Brit and didn't realise until recently that England is one of the world's oldest countries (927 AD).
Re: Millennium Bridge workers hang straw bales after ancient bylaw triggered
#20Here's the charity responsible for this bridge and several others in London: https://www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/about/history Founded in 1122, which is quite something!