“This bridge has been closed for years,” he said. “I just want to see it reopened properly for traffic, so I don’t have to always walk across.”
Mr. Swaby, who is originally from Jamaica, said the heat advisory hadn’t changed his plans for the day, and he wouldn’t be altering his routine on Tuesday, which is expected to be several degrees warmer. The heat didn’t bother him, he said, but the lack of respite from it in London could be a cause for concern. In Jamaica, he would take a dip in the sea or a river.
“But here, there is nowhere to cool off,” he said. “It’s so limited, and it’s so packed, there’s just so much concrete in the city.”
Ali Heydari, 75, and Soleh Heydari, 58, were resting in the shade on the north side of the bridge, eating strawberries and sharing a large bottle of water. They said that England’s lack of preparation for the heat sometimes felt laughable.
The pair, who are originally from Iran but who have lived in London for decades, said the heat didn’t bother them while they were outside, but they were avoiding buses and the Tube, where the temperature could become unbearable. They preferred to walk, even if that meant taking their chances on the corroded Hammersmith Bridge.
Still, Mr. Heydari said he was frustrated with the local government for not doing more to address the issue of the bridge’s instability sooner.
“They just don’t want to spend money to fix anything,” Mr. Heydari said.
