Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
local council's ban on illuminated advertisements, the company cleverly incorporated
the letters into the windows of the main tower, and then illuminated them from
within. Now, thanks again to CSCB, the building contains an exhibition gallery on the
ground floor, plus flats for local residents and a series of retail-workshops for designers
on the first and second floors, and a swanky restaurant, bar and brasserie on the top
floor. To enjoy the view, however, you don't need to eat or drink here: you can simply
take the lift to the eighth-floor public viewing gallery .
Waterloo Station
Built in 1848, Waterloo Station is easily the capital's busiest train and tube station,
serving the city's southwestern suburbs and the southern Home Counties. Its two finest
features are easily missed: the station's ornate Edwardian-style facade is hidden behind
the railway bridge on Mepham Street, while the snake-like, curving roof of the former
Eurostar terminal, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw in 1993, is tucked away on the
west side of the station.
Without doubt Waterloo's most bizarre train terminus was the former London
Necropolis Station , whose early twentieth-century facade survives at 121 Westminster
Bridge Rd, to the south of the station. Opened in 1854 following one of London's
worst outbreaks of cholera, trains from this station took co ns and mourners to
Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey (at the time, the world's largest cemetery). Brookwood
Station even had separate platforms for Anglicans and Nonconformists and a licensed
bar - “Spirits served here”, the sign apparently read - but the whole operation was
closed down after bomb damage in World War II.
Heading west from the main station concourse, an overhead walkway heads off to
the South Bank, passing through the Stalinist-looking Shell Centre . O cially and
poetically entitled the Downstream Building, it was built in the 1950s - and was the
tallest building in London at the time - by oil giant Shell, which started life as a
Jewish East End business importing painted seashells in 1833. Shell have recently sold
the building on, and the main tower is set to be at the centre of a new high-rise
housing development, partly Qatari-funded and due for completion in 2019.
15
London Eye
Daily April-June 10am-9pm; July & Aug 10am-9.30pm; Sept-March 10am-8.30pm • From £17 online • T 0871 781 3000,
W londoneye.com • ! Waterloo or Westminster
Despite only gracing the skyline for a decade or so, the London Eye has secured its
place as one of the city's most famous landmarks. Standing an impressive 443ft high,
it's the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, weighing over 2000 tons, yet as simple and
delicate as a bicycle wheel. It's constantly in slow motion, which means a full-circle
“flight” in one of its 32 pods (one for each of the city's boroughs) should take around
thirty minutes - that may seem a long time, though in fact it passes incredibly
quickly. Not surprisingly, you can see right out to the very edge of the city - bring
some binoculars if you can - where the suburbs slip into the countryside, making the
wheel one of the few places (apart from the Shard or a plane) from which London
looks a manageable size. Book online (to save money) - on arrival, you'll still have to
queue to be loaded on unless you've paid extra for fast track - or you'll have to buy
your ticket from the box of ce at the eastern end of County Hall.
County Hall
W londoncountyhall.com
The colonnaded crescent of County Hall is the only truly monumental building on the
South Bank. Designed to house the London County Council, it was completed in 1933
 
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