Started by Aaron way back in the year yonks (how apt, books on London) and finished then it seems those 11 years ago!!
Surely people on here read books, or am I on the wrong thread? Oh well, here's my 2019 pennyworth...................
Reading Brian Johnstone's book on his many (condensed of course!) travels on the Down Your Way radio programme (1946 to 1992 - with Johnstone for 15 of those years) and in the London chapter he mentions the day in 1952 a bus jumped the gap on Tower Bridge! There are varying reports of this (especially regarding injuries), but it seems the traffic lights were not changed to red as the two sections started to raise with the bus on it.
The driver, one Albert Gunter, now well across the north section of the bridge had a quick decision to make and opted for putting his foot down to jump the now 3-foot gap. Fortunately, the south side was slower in raising than the north, which Albert's bus was on and this gave it the height advantage to land safely on the other side AND upright!
This IS heart-warming, and I quote from one report:-
"However for me the most heart-warming story is how after seven months of being incapable of travelling on public transport alone due to the incident, a Miss May Walshaw finally conquered her fears by taking the same route with the same driver across the same bridge. And two weeks later she was married with Albert Gunter as her best man!"
Ain't that sweet! Oh, and by the way, Albert became a local hero and was not only awarded £10 from London Transport and £35 from the City of London he was also given a day off work, and later was chosen to judge a driving competition at an event called 'Better Roadmanship' on the Serpentine Road in Hyde Park on July 25th 1953.
Oh look, I've turned it into a page thread