The Bridge of Sighs

Why was an Austin Seven hung under the Bridge of Sighs in St John's College Cambridge in 1963? This video tells the story of the legendary car prank, from someone who was actually there – my father! It also tells the story of Brian Burrows, opera singer, tenor, and a daily inspiration to me and all. I made this video for my dad's birthday on May 4th, 2017.

There are a lot of details I did not have time to go into in the video: My father has been a computer programmer and an English teacher, taking over after William Golding. As a child he was in the original performance of Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten, playing the lion. And that beard he had in Tom Jones at Drottningholm was totally real!

Credits

The following pieces of media have been used in this video in accordance with fair use (or they are Public Domain but I wanted to let you know where they were from anyway).

“ Johannespasjonen av Johann Sebastian Bach”, NRK Broadcast from 1989.

“Tom Jones”, Drottningholm, 1995.

“Secret St John's”, showing images of the Austin 7 under the Bridge of Sighs:

Another image of the car hanging from the bridge of sighs, from the Early Modern John wordpress:

“Polish kid in the ruins of Warsaw September 1939” by Julien Bryan (Public Domain):

“Injuries brought about during the bombing of London”, image provided by the US Government (Public Domain)

“Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College, Cambridge University, circa 1870” (Public Domain):

'Sorry No Potatoes' - a British housewife has limited choice for her vegetable purchasing, as potato stocks dry up due to tight rationing control over supply - December, 1941. Credit: Mary Evans/Grenville Collins Postcard Collection.

And there's an image from the original performance of Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten, in which my father played the lion. Not sure who took that one; the photo is a copy from Britten's house.

Video released July, 2017