Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

ianvisits.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 158 posts

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#51

Post by guerrilla »

theshrike79 wrote: post #8
guerrilla wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case anyone else forgot what that means. > The "brown M&M clause" was a specific contract requirement by Van Halen that demanded all brown M&Ms be removed from a bowl of M&Ms provided backstage before their performances. This clause was not a frivolous demand but a way to test if the concert promoters had read the entire contract carefully. If brown M&Ms were found, it indicated that other important technical deta…

And an additional note: The Van Halen show wasn't a few dudes with guitars and a set of drums going around in a van. It was a massive display of pyrotechnics and staging - the requirements in the rider weren't there for fun, it was for actual safety.

Are you young? I would think that is common knowledge. No offense, genuinely curious. Sounds like I must be getting old.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#52

Post by woleium »

bombcar wrote: post #43
iainmerrick wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a bit bemused at that "lost to time", as immediately before that it says: The law requires a bale of straw to be hung from a bridge as a warning to mariners whenever the height between the river and the bridge’s arches is reduced, as it is at Charing Cross at the moment. That seems clear enough! OK, the reason why it specifically has to be a bale of straw isn't obvious, but apart from that it seems very reasonabl…

Why does everyone think it’s something to run into? At night it’s a light. It’s obviously a notification system. You visibly see the bale of straw before you get to the bridge and you know to slow down and stop and investigate what the clearance issue is.

Yes, a bale of hay used to be a warning of something to look out for on the road ahead

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#53

Post by IAmBroom »

CPLX wrote: post #39
guerrilla wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case anyone else forgot what that means. > The "brown M&M clause" was a specific contract requirement by Van Halen that demanded all brown M&Ms be removed from a bowl of M&Ms provided backstage before their performances. This clause was not a frivolous demand but a way to test if the concert promoters had read the entire contract carefully. If brown M&Ms were found, it indicated that other important technical deta…

You know I’ve seen this explanation a million times for decades and it’s always just a tiny bit wrong. It’s a small distinction, but actually if the band showed up and found all the brown M&Ms still there the plan would have already been a failure. The reason it was in the contract was to make sure the promoter had read the contract before signing it and understood what they were getting into. Band riders are almost…

It's both. Compliance statements don't prove that something will be complied with; they prove intent to do so. On-site test proves it was complied with.

Source: I am a systems engineer.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#54

Post by JimDabell »

radiorental wrote: post #24

Why a bail of straw? Reminds me of the forgotten reason why the onion was thrown into the varnish "Primo Levi was working in a varnish factory. He was a chemist, and he was fascinated by the fact that the varnish recipe included a raw onion. What could it be for? No one knew; it was just part of the recipe. So he investigated, and eventually discovered that they had started throwing the onion in years ago to test the…

Reminds me of grandma’s cooking secret:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grandmas-cooking-secret/

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#55

Post by Sharlin »

DocTomoe wrote: post #36
radiorental wrote: post #24

Why a bail of straw? Reminds me of the forgotten reason why the onion was thrown into the varnish "Primo Levi was working in a varnish factory. He was a chemist, and he was fascinated by the fact that the varnish recipe included a raw onion. What could it be for? No one knew; it was just part of the recipe. So he investigated, and eventually discovered that they had started throwing the onion in years ago to test the…

Often, these things are utilitarian, not mystical. So my educated guess: Back in the day, the main problem was river mariners getting hurt by bridge arches that were lower than expected, and the bale of straw was a 'soft buffer' - better to get your head hit by a swinging bale of straw than a rock-solid bridge.

More likely that a bale of hay was simply a conspicuous but lightweight thing that was easy to get your hands on back in the day.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#56

Post by davidw »

dghf wrote: post #37
maratc wrote: post #14

That's the British system working as designed. If there's a law, no matter how ancient, the British should comply. If a law needs to be changed, that's the Parliament's job. Even the British courts, in sharp contrast to many other places, "deliver the law as it is, and not as we wish it to be" -- see for example [0] or [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_v_Thornton [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_v…

In what places do courts ignore or modify law to deliver the result they prefer? (To be precise: where is that accepted practice, rather than aberrant behaviour by some judges?)

The Supreme Court in the United States has been playing a looooot of "Calvinball" recently. They've never been completely immune from it, but it has gotten a lot more nakedly political.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#57

Post by CJefferson »

radiorental wrote: post #40
DocTomoe wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Often, these things are utilitarian, not mystical. So my educated guess: Back in the day, the main problem was river mariners getting hurt by bridge arches that were lower than expected, and the bale of straw was a 'soft buffer' - better to get your head hit by a swinging bale of straw than a rock-solid bridge.

I was wondering about that but it would only work for the sailor standing in the right place on a boat sailing dead center of the river where there is typically two way traffic. This doesn't seem like a utilitarian solution, more of a signal with a symbolic intention?

The law explictly requires "large enough to be conspicuous and by night a white light", which suggests it's about visibility, particularly at night. That makes sense, there is a black metal bridge near where I live, and when it is cloudly I've noticed it's suprisingly difficult to see, even when you know where it is.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#58

Post by kelseyfrog »

johngladtj wrote: post #23
sandworm101 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sunset? So that after a few years people can do work on bridges without having to put up warnings? In a modern context, we wouldn't sunset a law saying that traffic lights be green and red, even though maybe in a few years we might want orange and pink. You dont mess around with safety warning standards.

We absolutely should sunset those laws. If they are needed they can be voted upon again by parliament, and will no doubt pass. In fact I would say not only should all laws have built in expiration dates, such expiration dates should be shorter the lower the percentage of votes in parliament it too to pass them! If you can only get a 51% majority in parliament to pass a law, that law should not exist beyond that elect…

I see you've never played Nomic. Laws that automatically self-destruct are a very clever way to create the conditions needed to win the game. You should try it some time.

Re: Ancient law requires a bale of straw to hang from Charing Cross rail bridge

#59

Post by kylehotchkiss »

leeoniya wrote: post #31

we have a bridge near where i live that can use such a warning crash barrier. you'd think they'd install one after 65 bridge strikes in the last few years. their solution was to build a a stronger bridge, rofl. i guess at this point it's a cherished tradition :D. there's probably a youtube mashup of all the phone-recorded strikes. https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2025/05/20/box-truck-hits...

Half the fun of renting a Penske truck is learning what that bridge height sign was designed for.
Post reply on HN