A Lego-loving couple has spent four weeks working 14 hours a day to create a 21-foot-long replica of the Old London Bridge in their own sitting room.
Every year, Mike Addis, 63, and Catherine Weightman, 58, build a massive Lego creation around the year-end holidays. And their 27th project was completed using 400,000 Lego bricks.
The couple took four weeks to make the model after starting mid-November last year and finished in mid-December.
They have re-created the Old London Bridge of 1400, one of several bridges which spanned the Thames at Southwark, including 78 houses, 500 mini-figures, a castle, and a chapel. It also includes guards patrolling the pay toll of the bridge and bakers and residents.
The model will stay up until Jan. 6, when it’s traditionally taken down.
The model was inspired by the medieval Frost Fayres, which were held when the Thames froze over from the 16th century.
Their London Bridge model measures 21 feet long and is three feet high. However, it only includes three-quarters of the bridge’s entire span, as the full size wouldn’t fit in the house.
Economics teacher Mike said: “It’s probably our most impractical model because it’s right through the center of the room. It splits the room in two—there’s a foot gap at one end to get around to the other side of the living room.
“We had a party recently with people on one side of the bridge and some on the other. Most people are in awe because it’s so big.
“We have the settees on one side but the heaters are on the other side. We have separate Lego for the children to play with.”
The couple even visited an existing wooden model of the bridge in St. Magnus The Martyr Church, London, as part of their research to build the Lego replica.
The couple previously built a huge polar bear and model of Ely Cathedral; they recycle the bricks each time, carefully placing them into color and size categories when deconstructing.
Mike said: “Everything is individually made, each house is very different. Some days we were working 14 hours to get it done.
“You have to be patient. Some of it is quite tricky. To make the curved arches, we had to build them with half bricks.”
The couple’s love for Lego was spurred from childhood but reinvigorated when a family friend visited with their child and they fetched their Lego from the attic for him to play with.
“We realized how much we loved Lego,” Mike said. “We do it with friends sometimes—a pal came over one weekend to help us.”
