Putney Bridge

Putney Bridge is a bridge crossing of the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. The bridge has medieval parish churches at each end: St. Mary's Church, Putney is located on the south and All Saints Church, Fulham on the north bank. Putney Bridge is the only bridge in Britain to have a church at both ends .

The current format is three lanes southbound (including one bus lane) and one lane (including cycle lane/bus stop) northbound. Putney High Street, a main approach, is the main axis of a very commercial district centre.

Position

The north side of the bridge is 120m WSW of Putney Bridge tube station, which is in the park-sandwiched Hurlingham neighbourhood of Fulham. Parkland to the west includes the gardens of Fulham Palace, historic home of the Bishops of London. On the south side of the bridge are St. Mary's Church and a rounded glass-prowed ship-shaped 21st century building, Putney Wharf Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Putney.

Putney

Coordinates: 51°27′54″N 0°13′16″W / 51.4649°N 0.2211°W / 51.4649; -0.2211

Putney (/ˈpʌtni/) is a district in south-west London, England in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is centred 5.1 miles (8.2 km) south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

History

Putney is an ancient parish which covered 9.11 square kilometres (3.52 sq mi) and was until 1889 in the Brixton hundred of the county of Surrey. Its area has been reduced by the loss of Roehampton to the south-west, an offshoot hamlet that conserved more of its own clustered historic core. In 1855 the parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works and was grouped into the Wandsworth District. In 1889 the area was removed from Surrey and became part of the County of London. The Wandsworth District became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth in 1900. Since 1965 Putney has formed part of the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London.

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles without closing the way underneath such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. There are many different designs that each serve a particular purpose and apply to different situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it.

Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the origin of the word bridge to an Old English word brycg, of the same meaning. The word can be traced directly back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēw-. The word for the card game of the same name has a different origin.

History

The first bridges made by humans were probably spans of cut wooden logs or planks and eventually stones, using a simple support and crossbeam arrangement. Some early Americans used trees or bamboo poles to cross small caverns or wells to get from one place to another. A common form of lashing sticks, logs, and deciduous branches together involved the use of long reeds or other harvested fibers woven together to form a connective rope capable of binding and holding together the materials used in early bridges.

London

London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km²) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms Greater London, a region of England governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two English counties: the small district of the City of London and the county of Greater London. The latter constitutes the vast majority of London, though historically it was split between Middlesex (a now abolished county), Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

15 Minutes

15 Minutes is a 2001 American action thriller film starring Robert De Niro and Edward Burns. Its story revolves around a homicide detective and a fire marshal who team up to stop a pair of Eastern European murderers who are videotaping their crimes in order to become rich and famous. The film also stars Melina Kanakaredes and Kelsey Grammer. The title is a reference to the Andy Warhol quotation, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

Plot

The film begins with Emil Slovak (Karel Roden) and Oleg Razgul (Oleg Taktarov) arriving in America. They were former criminals and after getting out of prison have come to the U.S. to claim their part of a bank heist in Russia (or somewhere in Czech Republic). Within minutes of arriving, Oleg steals a video camera. They go to the run down apartment of their old partner and demand their share. He doesn't have it so Emil stabs him and his wife to death, as Oleg tapes it with the camera. The couple's friend, Czech immigrant Daphne Handlova (Vera Farmiga), covertly witnesses the murders from the bathroom, but she escapes before they can get her too. To hide the crime, Emil burns down the apartment.