A road bridge in east London currently has a couple of bales of hay hanging from it - because of an ancient law.

Not really a folk tradition but enshrined in law. There’s not a weird laws/bylaws community so this seemed like the most appropriate place.

  • @NatakuNox
    8•2 months ago

    Whenever the height between the river and the bridge’s arches is reduced, as it is at Canning Town, then a rule requires a bale of hay to be hung from a bridge as a warning to mariners. According to the Port of London Thames Byelaws, Clause 36.2, a bale of straw has to be placed under London’s river bridges “when the headroom of an arch or span of a bridge is reduced from its usual limits”.

      • @NatakuNox
        -1•2 months ago

        Maybe something more practical like a light now that we have the technology.