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London Bombings

2005-07-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

It is with great sadness thaat following the news that London has won the race to host the 2012 Olympics. Sick terrorists have commited such a disguting act.

There have been at least three confirmed explosions in London Underground trains and stations and a further one onboard a bus in London, United Kingdom today. The first reports were of an explosion at 08:49 BST (UTC+1) on the Metropolitan line between Liverpool Street Station and Aldgate East. Explosions also occured on a train between King's Cross and Russell Square and another at Edgware Road. The explosions are currently being reported, and described by Prime Minister Tony Blair, as being terrorist attacks. Traces of explosives have been found at two of the sites according to the BBC.

Scotland Yard has confirmed one explosion onboard a double decker red london bus travelling south outside the British Medical Association on Tavistock Square.

Pundits are speculating the attack has been co-ordinated by al-Qaeda. Dr. Shane Brighton, an intelligence expert at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence, claims that, "If what we are looking at is a simultaneous bombing — and it does look like that — it would very certainly fit the classic al Qaeda methodology."

Casualties
In a special press conference, DAC Brian Paddick of the Metropolitan Police confirmed 33 fatalities, 45 critical/serious injuries and approximately 300 minor injuries.

At 8.51am a bomb exploded on an Underground train 100 yards into the tunnel from Liverpool Lime Street. Seven are known to be dead.

At 8.56am a bomb detonated on a train between King's Cross and Russell Square. Twenty-one are dead.

At 9.17am a bomb exploded on a train outside Edgware Road Station. Another train hit debris from the blast, and a third train is involved. Five are known to be dead.

At 9.47am a No. 30 bus (Hackney - Marble Arch) blew up at the junction between Tavistock Square and Woburn Place. Fatalities unknown.

No people remain trapped underground.

Hotlines
The British Transport Police has set up a telephone number for those concerned about a friend or relative. The telephone number is +44 (0) 20 8358 0101.

The Metropolitan Police also have a general hotline number set up; this is 020 7766 6020 (UK), or +44 20 7766 6020 (international).

The United States State Department has also set up a telephone hotline for US citizens with relatives or friends in the area. This number is +1 888 407 4747 (toll free in the United States).

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has set up an Emergency Hotline on 1800 002 214 and a website to be used if people are unable to directly contact their family or friends in the UK.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has also set up a tollfree emergency hotline on 1800 242 548 for those in Ireland seeking news of friends and relatives in London.

The BBC has just shown a new hotline number: 0870 1566 344

Please don't call these numbers or visit these websites if you do not have a genuine enquiry, as they are extremely congested. This will give priority to concerned family and friends.

Reports
The first reports that came in were from London's Liverpool Street station talking of an explosion on the Metropolitan Underground line and the station being evacuated. Later a BBC and a Wikinews reporter spoke of a bus being destroyed by a bomb blast in Tavistock Square outside the British Medical Association offices. At first, police would only confirm two people were dead but have since confirmed 33 fatalities. TfL reports the bus was a number 30 from Hackney to Marble Arch.

At approximately 10:50 BST reports were made that there was an additional, as yet unidentified explosion along Houndsditch, near Liverpool Street Station. Police were also warning pedestrians at Russell Square that a series of controlled explosions would be made shortly.

BBC News 24 has reported additional unspecified incidents at Brighton, Luton, and Swindon. These stations have been closed and there has been no official confirmation of the nature of the incidents, if any actually occurred.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair told London Live that there have been "events" at Edgware Road, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square, Aldgate East and Moorgate.

At 11:30 BST (UTC+1) St. Mary’s Hospital released a statement that they have admitted 4 critical, 8 severe and several minor injures. Injuries are limb damage, cuts, burns, head injuries and chest problems.

According to the Associated Press, a senior Israeli official said Scotland Yard told Israel minutes before the explosions that it had received warnings of possible terror attacks. Sky News says this has been denied by Scotland Yard. Sir Ian during his interview with Sky confirmed the absence of any specific intelligence.

German news magazine Der Spiegel (as well as unconfirmed information from CIA) has reported that a letter from an organization calling itself "Secret organization - Al Qaeda in Europe" has appeared, claiming responsibility for the bombings. See our related story for more details.

A police spokeswoman has confirmed two deaths at Aldgate station. Television and radio reports are now saying there have been four separate incidents with up to 150 casualties, speculating that the blasts may be related to terrorist activity.

The Associated Press is reporting that a US law enforcement official has put the toll at 40 killed.

Emergency Services press conference at around 15:15 BST (UTC+1) confirms at least 33 fatalities, not including those resulting from the incident on the number 30 bus.

[edit]
Effects of the incidents and responses from the emergency services
Emergency services are also attending to King's Cross and Liverpool Street Station.

The entire tube network and all buses within zone 1 have been suspended and many buses are now being used to ferry the 'walking wounded' to the hospitals. The underground will be closed for an indefinite period of time, but according to Fox News Channel United States, the closure will last at least for all of today.

All emergency services are responding en masse to a "major incident" and are responding only to life-threatening emergency calls. Patients are being turned away at hospitals to free room for casualties.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the Army was dispatched to seal off the Israeli Embassy as Israel's Finance Minister is present for a conference. The army have reportedly been involved with rescues at Covent Garden. Police have denied this report (originally made on Sky news).

The police have cordoned off roads around Upper Woburn Place following an explosion on a bus in the vicinity. Traffic is at a standstill in many places in the capital. Defra's security branch are reporting that police are advising everyone in London not to use any public transport and the Cabinet Office are advising staff to remain in offices until further notice. A further email sent to all staff by Defra's permanent secretary indicates that Charing Cross and Waterloo mainline railway stations have been closed down for police searches, and that other stations could close for similar reasons later today.

As at 09.30 BST, Kings Cross Thameslink was experiencing delays and overcrowding but no serious difficulties.

Businesses have been hit by the uncertainty of the events – the FTSE had fallen almost 3.5% by 11.47UTC ([1]), but started to recover a little by early afternoon. The value of the pound has dipped, and the London crude oil price has dropped. International markets are also suffering, with falls in share indexes felt as far as South Africa. See our related story for more details.

According to Fox News Channel United States, all London schools are in lockdown and students are being kept in schools.

The Authorities are asking people in London to stay where they are, indoors if possible. Take inside any bins or bags of rubbish they have left out for collection, providing they check their contents first. Arrangements are also being made for when schools finish as schools have been asked to keep pupils safe inside until the usual school closing time.

London
London

Swiss Re Tower - The Gherkin - 30 St Mary Axe

2005-06-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

30 St Mary Axe is a building in the City of London, London, United Kingdom, popularly known as the "Gherkin". The site of the building was, until 1992, the location of the Baltic Exchange building. On April 10, 1992 the IRA detonated a bomb close to the Exchange, almost completely destroying it and severely damaging buildings close by.

To find out more about The Gherkin and London - click here

Following the detonation of the IRA bomb, English Heritage and the Corporation of London insisted that any redevelopment on the site must restore the building's facade onto St Mary Axe and the highly decorated Exchange Hall (formerly the trading floor of the exchange). The Baltic Exchange was unable to meet the financial requirements of such a development and the site was sold to Trafalgar House in 1995. Most of the remaining structures on the site were then carefully dismantled whilst the interior of Exchange Hall and the facade were preserved and sealed from the elements. Later assessment by English Heritage determined that the damage was far more severe than had previously been thought, and they dropped their insistence on restoration, a decision that led to much controversy.

Trafalgar House originally submitted plans for a 1,200 ft (370 m) tower building with a public viewing platform at exactly 1,000 feet (305 m) and more than 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of office space. However this version of the plan was notable mainly for its highly unorthodox floorplan, which somewhat resembled a slice of gherkin (at least in the minds of sub-editors at The Guardian newspaper, who coined the term). Although this plan was abandoned the nickname has stuck. As well as its popular name of 'the Gherkin', it has also apparently been called 'the Erotic Gherkin' (the original Guardian coinage), 'the Crystal Phallus' and 'the Towering Innuendo'

On August 23, 2000, the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, granted planning permission to build a much larger building on the site. The new building was completed in 2004, opening on April 28, and was designed by the architects Foster and Partners . Its unusual cone-like shape is designed so that wind will pass easily around the building. The primary occupant of the building is Swiss Re reinsurers which leads to the building's other common name, the Swiss Re Tower. 30 St Mary Axe won the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best new building by a RIBA architect in 2004. It was the first time that the prize jury were unanimous in their decision.

The building uses several methods to make it more environmentally sound than a typical skyscraper. It uses 50% of the power of a comparable tower. This is achieved through a natural ventilation system which uses thermal effects to drive air circulation through the outer sheath of the tower, which is in effect giant double glazing. Double glazing in houses is limited in thickness to avoid convection of heat; in the Swiss Re tower, this effect is exploited. This cools in the summer, and can be regulated to warm in the winter through passive solar heating. Sunlight is reflected down through the tower, making the working environment more pleasing, and keeping lighting costs down.

Despite its overall curved glass shape, all the panes of glass are flat, with the sole exception of one - the lens-shaped cap at the very top.

To find out more about The Gherkin and London - click here

London Eye

2005-06-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

The London Eye, sometimes called the Millennium Wheel, is the largest observation wheel in the world, and has been since its opening at the end of 1999. It stands 135 metres (443 feet) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in Lambeth, London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. It is adjacent to London's County Hall, and stands opposite the offices of the Ministry of Defence situated in Westminster which it overlooks to the west.

To find out more about the London Eye - click here

Designed by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, the wheel carries 32 sealed, air conditioned, passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. It rotates at a rate of 0.26 metres per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) so that a complete revolution takes about 30 minutes to complete. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is so slow that passengers can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped on occasion to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to alight safely. Structurally the Eye resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and was depicted as such in a poster advertising a charity cycle race.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the river Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on pontoons. Once the wheel was complete it was raised into its upright position by cranes. The wheel was initially lifted at a rate of about 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, where it stayed for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift.

The Eye was opened by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on December 31, 1999, although it was not actually opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening, the Eye, operated by Tussauds Group but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction. Recently, The London Eye was voted the world's best tourist attraction in a poll commissioned by the snack company Pringles.

The Eye enjoyed a warmer reception from the British public upon its opening than London's other significant Millennium project, the Dome, although the delay in opening had caused some press scepticism. By July 2002 around 8.5 million people had 'flown' the eye. It originally had planning permission only for five years, but at that time Lambeth Council agreed plans to make the attraction permanent.

Although the Eye is currently listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest observation wheel in the world, it is unlikely to keep that title for long. Plans have been announced to build a 170 m wheel on the Las Vegas Strip and a 200 m wheel in Shanghai. (By comparison, the original 1893 Ferris wheel was 75 m high).

To find out more about the London Eye - click here

Opening times 2005

February - April:
9.30am - 8.00pm daily

May, June and September:
9.30am - 9.00pm daily

July and August:
9.30am - 10.00pm daily

October - December:
9.30am - 8.00pm daily

Exceptions:

Annual maintenance: (6 January - 9 February inclusive) Closed
Christmas Day Closed

How to find the London Eye

The Eye is approximately five minutes walking distance from Waterloo tube (follow signs for the South Bank) and Westminster tube station (exit one, follow signs for Westminster pier).

The Eye is five minutes from Waterloo station. Take exit six for the South Bank and follow the signs.
The Eye is 15 minutes from Charing Cross station, which is accessed via Hungerford pedestrian bridge.

Buses to the London Eye include the 211, 24 and 11. We are on most London sightseeing bus tours and on the new RV1 route that connects the London Eye to the Tate Modern and Covent Garden.

To find out more about the London Eye - click here

Big Ben

2005-06-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Big Ben is one of London's best-known landmarks, and looks most spectacular at night when the clock faces are illuminated. You even know when parliament is in session, because a light shines above the clock face.

The four dials of the clock are 23 feet square, the minute hand is 14 feet long and the figures are 2 feet high. Minutely regulated with a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum, Big Ben is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped.

The name Big Ben actually refers not to the clock-tower itself , but to the thirteen ton bell hung within. The bell was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall.

To find out more about Big Ben - click here

This bell came originally from the old Palace of Westminster, it was given to the Dean of St. Paul's by William III. Before returning to Westminster to hang in its present home, it was refashioned in Whitechapel in 1858. The BBC first broadcast the chimes on the 31st December 1923 - there is a microphone in the turret connected to Broadcasting House.

During the second world war in 1941, an incendiary bomb destroyed the Commons chamber of the Houses of Parliament, but the clock tower remained intact and Big Ben continued to keep time and strike away the hours, its unique sound was broadcast to the nation and around the world, a welcome reassurance of hope to all who heard it.

There are even cells within the clock tower where Members of Parliament can be imprisoned for a breach of parliamentary privilege, though this is rare; the last recorded case was in 1880.

Big Ben is a focus of New Year celebrations in the UK, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the 'official' start of the year. Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the start of two minutes silence.

Big Ben" is the most commonly used name for the Clock Tower, which is itself also known as St. Stephen's Tower. That name may have come from St. Stephen's Hall, the western wing of the Palace of Westminster, which is the entrance used by visitors wishing to view the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament, and British subjects wishing to lobby their MPs.

The tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design of a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of October 16, 1834. The tower is designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and is 96.3 m (316 ft) high.

The tower consists of brickwork with stone cladding, that is 61 metres (200 ft) high; the remainder of the tower's height is accounted for by a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15 by 15 metre (49 by 49 ft) raft, which is is made of 3 metre (9 ft) thick concrete, extending for 7 metres (23 ft) below ground level. The tower has an estimated weight of 8,667,588 kg. The four clock faces are 55 metres (180 ft) above ground.

To find out more about Big Ben - click here

Due to ground conditions present since construction, the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 220 mm. It also oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west, due to thermal effects

The clock in the tower was once the biggest in the world. One of the specifications of the clock was that it has to strike the first blow for each hour with an accuracy of one second. The mechanism of the clock was completed in 1854, but the tower was not yet ready by then.

The name Big Ben was first applied to a 16 ton hour bell, cast in 1856. Again, the tower was not finished yet, and the bell was mounted in the New Palace Yard. The bell cracked, and its metal was used to recast the 13,800 kg bell in use today. Along with four quarter bells, it was mounted in the tower in 1858.

The clock and the bells become fully operational on September 7, 1859. Yet, less than a month later, the hour bell developed a crack after being struck by the same hammer that broke the first hour bell. Then, for two years, the bell was substituted by the largest of the quarter bells. The hour bell was rotated so that the hammer omits the crack, and the bell became operational again in 1862.

The mechanism of the clock and of the chimes was overhauled several times since then.

The clock is famous for its reliability. This is due to its designer, the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, later Lord Grimthorpe. As the clock mechanism, created to Denison's specification by clockmaker Edward John Dent, was completed before the tower itself was finished, Denison had time to experiment with the clock. Instead of using the deadbeat escapement and remontoire as originally designed, Denison invented the double three legged gravity escapement. This escapement provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism. Together with an enclosed, wind-proof box sunk beneath the clockroom, the Great Clock's pendulum is well isolated from external factors like snow, ice and pigeons on the clock hands, and keeps remarkably accurate time.

The idiom of putting a penny on, with the meaning of slowing down, sprung from the method of fine-tuning the clock's pendulum by adding or subtracting penny-coins. Even to this day, only old pennies, phased out of British currency during the 1971 decimalisation, are used.

Despite heaving bombing, it ran accurately throughout The Blitz. It slowed down on New Year's Eve 1962 due to heavy snow, causing it to chime in the new year 10 minutes late.

The clock had its first and only major breakdown in 1976. The chiming mechanism broke due to metal fatigue on August 5, 1976, and was reactivated again on May 9. During this time BBC Radio Four had to make do with the pips.

It stopped 30 April 1997, the day before the general election, and again three weeks later.

On Friday, May 27, 2005 the clock stopped ticking for 90 minutes from 10:07pm, possibly due to hot weather (temperatures in London had reached an unseasonal 31.8°C/90°F). It resumed keeping time, but stalled again at 10:20 p.m. and remained still for about 90 minutes before starting up again.

To find out more about Big Ben - click here

Madame Tussauds - Wax Works

2005-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Madame Tussards Wax Works - London

Madame Tussauds is the most famous wax museum in London, with branches in Amsterdam, Hong Kong (Victoria Peak), Las Vegas, Copenhagen and New York City. It was setup by Marie Tussaud who was a wax sculptor.

To find out more about London - buy our book of the month

Madame Tussaud (1761-1850), born Marie Grosholtz worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie Jean du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a lot of people. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.

Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in 1778. Other famous persons she modelled at that time include Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she made wax death masks of prominent victims. When Curtius died in 1794, he left his collection of waxworks to Marie. In 1802, she went to London. As a result of the Franco-English war, she was unable to return to France, so with her collection she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland. She established her first permanent exhibition on Baker Street in 1835 (on the "Baker Street Bazaar").

One of the main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of Horrors. This part of the exhibition included some victims of the French Revolution and also newly created figures of murders and other criminals. The name was given by a contributor to Punch in 1845.

Other famous people were added to the exhibition, including Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott. Some of the sculptures done by Tussaud herself still exist. In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum.

The museum moved to its current location on Marylebone Road in 1884. In 1925, a fire destroyed many of the figures, but fortunately the moulds survived, allowing the historical waxworks to be remade.

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become a major tourist attraction in London, incorporating the London Planetarium in its west wing. It has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hong Kong (Victoria Peak), Las Vegas, and New York City. Today wax figures of the Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. Known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe), they are owned by a leisure company called The Tussauds Group.

Madame Tussauds is a well-known London landmark situated on Marylebone Road, just one minute's walk from Baker Street underground station. You can't miss the famous green dome!

To find out more about London - buy our book of the month

Buckingham Palace

2005-06-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. It evolved from a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is The Queen's official residence. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace are opened to visitors on a regular basis.

The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection - paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.

Visits to Buckingham Palace can be combined with visits to The Queen's Gallery, which reopened in May 2002. The nearby Royal Mews is open from 5 March to 31 October 2005.

To find out more about Buckingham Palace - click here

Changing the Guard is one of the oldest and most familiar ceremonies associated with Buckingham Palace.

The proper name of the ceremony known as 'Changing the Guard' is actually Guard Mounting. In this process a New Guard exchanges duty with the Old Guard, drawn from one of the regiments of Foot Guards.

The handover is accompanied by a Guards band. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from the shows and even familiar pop songs.

Since 1660, Household Troops have guarded the Sovereign and the Royal Palaces. Until 1689, the Sovereign lived mainly at the Palace of Whitehall and was guarded there by Household Cavalry.

They still mount guard at Horse Guards Arch today, although occasionally units such as The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, take over to enable the Household Cavalry to carry out their operational commitments.

In 1689, the court moved to St James's Palace, which was guarded by the Foot Guards. When Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837, the Queen's Guard remained at St James's Palace, with a detachment guarding Buckingham Palace, as it still does today.

When The Queen is in residence, there are four sentries at the front of the building; when she is away there are two.

The Queen's Guard usually consists of Foot Guards in full-dress uniform of red tunics and bearskins; if they have operational commitments, other infantry units such as the Brigade of Gurkhas take part instead.

Units from Commonwealth realms occasionally take turn in Guard Mounting. In May 1998, Canadian soldiers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry mounted Guard at Buckingham Palace for the first time since the Coronation in 1953.

In March 2001 The Royal Gibraltar Regiment took part in the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, alongside the Scots Guards. It was the first time the Royal Gibraltar Regiment had carried out guard duty at the Palace.

Watching the ceremony:

Buckingham Palace - Guard Mounting takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at 11.30 am, and lasts about 45 minutes. There is no Guard Mounting in very wet weather. During the autumn and winter, Guard Mounting takes place on alternate dates, but it is held daily during spring and summer.

June 2005 daily
July 2005 daily
August 2005 odd dates

Windsor Castle - Guard Mounting takes place at 11.00 am. During the autumn and winter, Guard Mounting takes place on alternate dates, but it is held daily (except
Sundays) during spring and summer.
June 2005 daily (not Sundays)
July 2005 daily (not Sundays)
August 2005 even dates (not Sundays)

Horse Guards Arch - the Changing of the Guard takes place daily at 11 am (10 am on Sundays) and lasts about half an hour; it is normally held on Horse Guards Parade by the arch of Horse Guards Building.

Tower of London - a Royal Guard mounts on Tower Green every day at 11.30 am. It consists of one officer, five non-commissioned officers and fifteen men.

The opening of the palace state rooms to the public was a huge change to tradition in the 1990s. The money raised in entry fees was originally used towards the rebuilding of Windsor Castle after the fire that destroyed many of its state rooms. Contrary to popular belief, the palace is not the private property of the Queen; Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace and their art collections belong to the nation.

To find out more about Buckingham Palace - click here

Tower Bridge

2005-06-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

To start with my favourite place in London, Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge has stood over the River Thames in London since 1894 and is one of the finest, most recognisable bridges in the World.

At the Tower Bridge Exhibition you can enjoy breath-taking views from the high-level Walkways and learn about the history of the Bridge and how it was built.

You can then visit the Victorian Engine Rooms, home to the original steam engines that used to power the Bridge.

Tower Bridge Walkways have specially designed windows, giving visitors a unique opportunity to take photos of the views without them being obscured by glass.

About Tower Bridge

Construction of the bridge started in 1886 and took 8 years, employing 5 major contractors and 432 construction workers. Two massive piers containing over 70,000 tons of concrete were sunk into the river bed to support the construction. Over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways. This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland Stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a more pleasing appearance.

To find out more about Tower Bridge - click here

How to get to Tower Bridge

By bus use numbers 15, 25, 40, 42, 47, 78,100, D1, P11, RV1.

By train use London Bridge, Fenchurch Street or Tower Gateway DLR stations.

By tube use Tower Hill on the District and Circle lines or London Bridge on the Northern and Jubilee lines. Please be aware that Tower Hill Tube station will be closed for the following dates. Please use London Bridge undergroud station instead. 25th - 28th March (Easter Weekend), 23rd/24th April, 28th/30th May, 4th/5th June, 11th/12th June, 16th/17th July, 10th/11th Sept.

Touring London - The most beautiful city in the world

2005-06-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hi

I am a Londoner, each day I am going to take you on a tour of this beautiful city and share with you photos and information about different landmarks and places to visit in London.

Including places of the beaten track that are not part of the normal tourist route, I will also give you an insight into life for a normal Londoner.

Thank you for joining me I look forward to speaking with you each day.

Warmest regards
Eric