Alice Rennie

Two girls are brainstorming with postcards in the bar of an arts centre and cinema.  Both have long hair and are on-trend.  I interrupt as they move the cards around the table and discuss.  They look suspicious.  They are drinking pints.  One gives me an answer but is evidently assessing my level of insanity.  The other remains silent.  I ask how the second part is spelled.

'It's actually after my ancestor', she says.  She seems to be warming to my cause.  'He designed London Bridge'.  I am impressed.  'Not the one that burned down', she clarifies.  'The one that's still there now'.

I ask what they are doing.  'She's doing a project', my middle name says vaguely.  'I'm helping her'.

I say thank you and wish them good work.  They get back to it.

(John Rennie the Elder, 1761-1821, was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals and docks.  He came up with the technique of the low, wide, elliptical arch.  In London alone he is responsible for Waterloo Bridge, Old Vauxhall Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge meaning that Londoners owe him a debt of gratitude for cross-river pathways.  John Rennie the Younger, 1794-1874, completed the designs for London Bridge after his father's death.)