Big Ben seen from Albert Embankment through obelisks of the newly-completed Lambeth Bridge. The obelisks’ finals are the source of a much touted urban myth claiming they are pineapples placed on the bridge to honour 17th century gardener John Tradescant who grew the first pineapple in his Lambeth garden. However, Britain’s first pineapple is claimed by later royal gardener John Rose and he is depicted in paintings presenting it to King Charles II. The finials are in fact pine cones designed by architects Sir\u00a0Reginald Blomfield\u00a0and\u00a0G. Topham Forrest – the bridge opening on 19th July 1932. Photography by Edwards Illustrating Company. Ref: SP2130\/5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Big Ben seen from Albert Embankment through obelisks of the newly-completed Lambeth Bridge. The obelisks’ finals are the source of a much touted urban myth claiming they are pineapples placed on the bridge to honour 17th century gardener John Tradescant who grew the first pineapple in his Lambeth garden. However, Britain’s first pineapple is claimed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,14,41,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1926-1950","category-bridges","category-lambeth","category-photograph","category-street-furniture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n