Love lock ❤️

Belfast's Lagan weir "Bridge of Love"

Paris, Rome, and Dublin have all famously done it.

So Belfast has also been quietly acquiring its own bridge of love.
'Love locks' - padlocks attached to fencing, have been accumulating on a footbridge over the river Lagan, in the heart of the city since summer of 2013

It started with around 30 locks adorning the bridge beside the Lagan Lookout as declarations of love. This over time has become hundreds as it became a huge hit with the locals and especially tourists wanting to leave a "forever" message of their journey.

Some just have names, some professionally engraved, others messages of love and dates painted on.

"Gesture"
The Pont des Arts in Paris is the best known location for these padlocks but the craze has spread across the globe.

It is thought the idea was sparked by a book by Italian novelist Federico Moccia. He wrote about a couple who placed a bicycle lock around a lamppost and threw their key into the Tiber river. The gesture was meant to symbolise the couple eternally locking their hearts together.
One couple arriving to place a lock on the bridge in Belfast for the first time said it was "a nice reminder" every time they would have to walk past it.

The mayor of Rome, in 2007, introduced a 50 euros (£43) fine for attaching padlocks to the Ponte Milvio bridge.
In 2012, Rome city council removed thousands of 'love locks' with bolt-cutters from the bridge, arguing that they were damaging its ancient structure.

Dublin City Council removed locks from the Ha'penny Bridge in the city centre for similar reasons.

So far Belfast's locks are still there however the lagan weir bridge recently had work done to it and due to closure it remains to be seen if they are still there.......I will keep you's posted!