lion guardian

when Stephenson completed the second crossing of the Menai Straits, this time the Britannia bridge built with a tubular bridge design carrying the London Holyhead railway, four lion sculptures were placed to guard the entrances, two at the South end and two at the North end. This is one of the North end lions.

Their presence inspired the composition of a famously rather bad poem in welsh:

pedwar llew tew
heb ddim blew
dau ochor yma
dau ochor drew

when translated it goes something like this:

four fat lions
without no hair
two this side
two the other side