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Poet Sought to 'Celebrate' London Bridges

Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Poet Sought to 'Celebrate' London Bridges

Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

A poet is being sought to "celebrate" five of London's bridges as a charity hires a poet-in-residence for the first time in its 900-year history, the BCC reported.

The City Bridge Foundation said the job involves writing about the capital's major Thames crossings, their history and the role they play in the life of Londoners today.

The selected poet will be paid £10,000 for the year-long role, the BCC said.

The foundation said the job was "the only one of its kind anywhere.”

The City Bridge Foundation maintains five of the bridges leading into the City of London, which are Tower, London, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars bridges.

"For hundreds of years, our bridges have been central to the story of London during its happiest and its darkest moments, yet tributes to them in verse are surprisingly scarce," said foundation chairman Giles Shilson.

"Our new poet will celebrate the bridges' long history, their relationship with the city and the river and the vital role they play in the day-to-day life of modern Londoners."

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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)

A lettercard penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship, days before it sank, has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction.

In the note, written to the seller's great-uncle on April 10, 1912, first-class passenger Archibald Gracie wrote of the ill-fated steamship: “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her.”

The letter was sold to a private collector from the United States on Saturday, according to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England. The hammer price far exceeded the initial estimate price of 60,000 pounds.

The letter is believed to be the sole example in existence from Gracie from onboard the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg, killing about 1,500 people on its maiden voyage.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as an “exceptional museum grade piece.”

Gracie, who jumped from the ship and managed to scramble onto an overturned collapsible boat, was rescued by other passengers onboard a lifeboat and was taken to the R.M.S. Carpathia. He went on to write “The Truth about the Titanic,” an account of his experiences, when he returned to New York City.

Gracie boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned first-class cabin C51. His book is seen as one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the night the ship sank, Aldridge said.

Gracie did not fully recover from the hypothermia he suffered, and died of complications from diabetes in late 1912.