England, Part 4: Bearing the Weight of Love

I thought Seoul was special, with the 'love locks' adorning just about every surface of N Seoul Tower in South Korea. 

It wasn't long until this belief was quickly shattered and replaced with the realization that there have been 'special' love padlocks found in multiple cities around the world since the 1990's. There is even an entire website dedicated to documenting the locations of love lock clusters for lovestruck tourists: Make Love Locks

Some cities have banned the practice of placing love locks on structures, citing them to be "vandalism and litter". In 2014 the mass of padlocks along the Pont des Arts in France caused a section of metal fencing on the pedestrian bridge to collapse. The locks tumbled down into the River Seine below, now at rest with the keys couples had tossed into the water to claim their never-ending love. 

Love is strong, certainly much stronger than iron.

This incident resulted in the city of Paris removing the metal railing and replacing it with plexiglass in 2015, along with prohibiting the placing of love locks.

As for Manchester, you can find hundreds of locks secured to the bridge of Oxford Road. 

The city council at one point had mentioned a desire to remove "unappealing" rusted locks from the bridge and replace them with brighter, more colorful and higher-quality locks. Personally, I adore the worn look of the locks. It almost feels as if you have stepped back in time, reading secret love messages of couples from decades past. Most of the locks on the bridge are not as old as they appear however - the elements have done quite a number on them, and as with other major cities hosting love locks, the padlocks are removed every few years. 

And although the padlocks can pose dangers and cost cities a significant chunk of money to remove them and maintain the structures the locks are affixed to, tourists (and locals) continue to engage in the practice. Thankfully, many cities have realized that this trend isn't going anywhere, and have begun to create spaces designed for the practice, making it safer and more environmentally friendly for everyone.