Image via YouTube
If you want to stand on just a slice of England, perhaps consider taking a trip to New York.
Granted, the size of the area may be underwhelming. However, the story more than makes up for it all, essentially there is literally Bristol land lurking along the East River.
Internet journeyman Tom Scott posted the following video to YouTube, getting a great deal of love as well from Reddit faithful.
The video is entitled, "There's a Bit of England in New York, Literally." We will let Scott explain why:
As Scott states, Americans leaving England during World War II needed items to weigh down their ships, so they gathered massive amounts of rubble and errant destruction, much of which would later be used to build and grow out New York City.
The New York Times' Michael Pollack, in a 2009 question-and-answer article, explained in more detail the impetus behind the basin and its namesake:
"It came from the blitz and the heroism of the British people. During World War II, the Luftwaffe savagely bombed the city of Bristol, England, a major port for American supply ships. After the supplies were unloaded, the American ships had no British goods to replace them on the return trip, and needed ballast for stability. So they loaded up rubble from Bristol's bombed-out buildings. Back in New York, the ships dumped the ballast from 23rd to 34th Street as landfill for what would become the East River Drive, now Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive."
According to Pollack, a plaque was placed to commemorate the sacrifice as well as the new land now known as Bristol Basin in 1942. A second ceremony was held in 1974, featuring Cary Grant, whose family "endured the blitz there (Bristol, England)."
An image of the plaque can be found on Flickr, and it reads in part:
"Beneath this East River drive of the city of New York lie stones, bricks and rubble from the bombed City of Bristol in England…Brought here in ballast from overseas. These fragments that once were homes shall testify while men love freedom to the resolution and fortitude of the people of Britan. They saw their homes struck down without warning….It was not their homes but their valor that kept them free…"
And to our delight, we learn that New York is host to land that continues to serve as homage to the courage, fortitude and character of a great city. If you can't get out to England, perhaps stop by Bristol Basin and pay respect.
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