Millennium Bridge crossing the Thames between the City of London and South Bank. PICTURE: Toa Heftiba/Unsplash (image cropped).
Millennium Bridge
LondonLife – Millennium Bridge by night…
Looking across the Thames toward South Bank and the Tate Modern. PICTURE: JJ Jordan/Unsplash
LondonLife – Sunset on Millennium Bridge…
LondonLife – ‘Floating Dreams’ on the Thames
Part of the Totally Thames festival, South Korean artist Ik-Joong Kang’s eye-catching installation, Floating Dreams, acts a memorial to the millions of people who were displaced and divided during the Korean War (1950-53) as well as symbolising the hopes that North and South Korea will once again be unified. The three-storey high installation, which sits on the river alongside Millennium Bridge, is constructed from 500 drawings created by the generation, now aged in their 80s and 90s, who had fled North Korea for South Korea during the war. Their images have been transferred on pieces of a traditional Korean rice paper known as Hanji and then compiled into the cube. The illuminated installation can be seen throughout the festival which runs until 30th September. For more on what’s happening throughout Totally Thames, see http://totallythames.org.
10 iconic London film locations…7. The London Eye is saved by the Fantastic Four…
The London Eye features in the background of numerous recent films – everything from 2002’s 28 Days Later to 2004’s Thunderbirds and 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
But the structure, which was built in 1999 and is currently known formally as the Coca-Cola London Eye, has a bigger role in another 2007 film – Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in which the film’s heroes must prevent it toppling into the Thames and a gaping hole that opens up in the river.
Thankfully, in the 2007 film, The Thing (played by Michael Chiklis), Mr Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) and the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba) manage to do so, using their unique powers to save all the people being thrown around inside the Eye’s many pods.
Of course, as an iconic symbol of the city today, the London Eye has also been recreated in several animated films – from Flushed Away to Cars – and is even recreated, tongue-in-cheek, in wood for A Knight’s Tale.
There’s also quite a few films and TV shows which have featured scenes filmed inside the Eye’s pods, including Wimbledon in which one of them plays host to a punch-up.
The area of South Bank around where the Eye is located is a popular spot for films. The OXO Brasserie in the OXO Tower, for example, features in Thor: The Dark World, Millennium Bridge, linking South Bank to St Paul’s Cathedral, can be seen as part of the (imaginary) city on Xander in the film Guardians of the Galaxy and Jubilee Gardens, next to the Eye, was used as a landing pad in Thunderbirds for the T2.
LondonLife – The Big Chill 2…
Says the photographer, Ben Bibriesca: “Instead of spending another lazy weekend in, my flatmate and I decided to plan a trip to the Tate Modern. Unfortunately due to the snow, all our friends dropped out. We decided to still go but spent more time outdoors taking photos in the snow then at the actual museum. This shot was taken right before we crossed the bridge to get to our destination. I just loved the way everything was snow covered and white.” For more of Ben’s work, see www.flickr.com/photos/benbibriesca/.
Taken an interesting photograph of somewhere in London? We’re always looking for interesting images of the city so if you’ve got one you reckon captures a snippet of life in London, please contact us at exploringlondon@gmail.com or via Flickr at www.flickr.com/groups/exploringlondon/.
Where is it? #41….
The latest in the series in which we ask you to identify where in London this picture was taken and what it’s of. If you think you can identify this picture (and try and be as precise as possible), leave a comment below. We’ll reveal the answer early next week. Good luck!
Yes, you guessed it, these are indeed the 3.7 metre high statues which sit above the south transept of St Paul’s Cathedral. The statues include those of St Andrew and St Thomas, both of which are attributed to Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630-1700) and Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721). We had originally said they were the work of Francis Bird (1667-1731), who also completed the famous panel depicting the Conversion of St Paul on the cathedral’s west front and the original version of the statue of Queen Anne outside the main entrance (more on that another time), but while he was responsible for other statues on the cathedral, turns out he wasn’t for these two. The image was taken from the viewing deck of One New Change on Cheapside.
Olympics Special – London bridges aglow…
Seven of London’s bridges are being lit up at night until 10th September in an initiative called “Dazzle”. Being run under the Mayor of London Presents program, it celebrates the 50 evenings of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Here’s just a sample of what you can see…
The most iconic of London’s bridges, Tower Bridge has been a focal point for Olympic celebrations. One of the great structures of Victorian London, it was opened in 1894 and at the time was largest bascule bridge ever built (for more on Tower Bridge, see our earlier post here).
The most recent version of London Bridge, this links Borough High Street in Southwark (you can see Southwark Cathedral in the background) and King William Street in the City and was built in the late 1960s/early 1970s and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973. There have been bridges in this vicinity since as far back as Roman times (for more on the history of London Bridge, see our earlier post here).
The current Southwark Bridge – which links the City of London with the heart of Southwark – dates from 1921 and replaced an earlier bridge designed by John Rennie.
Initially plaqued by the wobbles, the steel suspension walk bridge known as Millennium Bridge is the newest of the bridges that cross the Thames in central London, linking St Paul’s Cathedral on the north bank with the Tate Modern on the south (the looming bulk of which is pictured here). First opened in July 2000, it was closed after concerns over its movement and then reopened to the public in 2002.
Other bridges taking part in Dazzle but not shown here include the Golden Jubilee footbridges, Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge.
For more on the program, see www.molpresents.com/dazzle.
PICTURES: All images courtesy of the City of London Corporation.
Olympics Special – The Olympic Torch Relay, part II…
We take a break from our regular series this week to bring you some images from the second half of the Olympic Torch Relay as it made it’s way around London toward tonight’s Opening Ceremony…
Day 67 (24th July): Tennis player Oliver Golding holds the Olympic Flame in between the Olympic Rings at Kew Gardens, London.
London Underground employee John Light carries the Olympic Flame onto an underground train at Wimbledon Station.
Day 68 (25th July): Former World Cup winning footballer Gordon Banks carries the Olympic Flame down Wembley Way, at Wembley Stadium.
Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, pose with young entrepreneur Jay Kamiraz and Paralympian Scott Moorhouse as they kiss together Olympic torches in Tottenham.
Day 69 (26th July): Disaster mapping charity volunteer Wai-Ming Lee passes the Olympic Flame to mountain rescue team leader John Hulse in front of Buckingham Palace in the presence of Prince William, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Wheelchair basketballer Ade Adepitan carries the Olympic Flame on Millennium Bridge.
Student Ifeyinwa Egesi holds the Olympic Flame inside the Globe Theatre.
For more on the Torch Relay, see www.london2012.com/torch-relay/
ALL PICTURES: LOCOG.
Around London – Story of London Festival; a new filmlovers’ walk; ‘pocket histories’ of London; and, Your 2012…
• The third Story of London Festival kicked off at the start of the month with a programme of events aimed at celebrating the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Festival of Britain. This year’s festival is being coordinated by the Museum of London in partnership with the Southbank Centre. It also involves five London borough museums – that of Brent, Dagenham, Haringey, Redbridge and Wandsworth – which are hosting free displays and events around the theme of how they celebrated in 1951. The festival runs until the end of the month, so there’s still plenty of time to get involved. Among the highlights still to come is the Floral Bicycle Parade around the Southbank Centre on 28th August (‘decorating stations’ will be set up at the centre prior to the parade). For a full listing of what’s happening, see www.london.gov.uk/priorities/art-culture/storyoflondon.
• The City of London has released a new filmlovers’ walking tour of London which takes in locations featured in films and TV shows. Lights, camera, action starts on Millennium Bridge (destroyed in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and takes in 23 other locations including St Paul’s Cathedral (The Madness of King George and Great Expectations), Bank Junction (28 Days Later, National Treasure II), St Bart’s Hospital (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), Moorgate (Ocean’s 13 and The Bourne Ultimatum) and Tower Bridge (Brannigan, The Mummy Returns, Thunderbirds, Tomb Raider, Sherlock Holmes) before finishing at Postman’s Park (Closer). The walk has been mapped out by the City’s film team which works with location managers and film directors when they’re working in the Square Mile. The leaflet can be picked up free-of-charge from the City of London Information Centre (opposite St Paul’s) or downloaded here.
• Interested in a snapshot of what London was like during a particular historical era? The Museum of London has launched a series of 16 “pocket histories”, each of which, in up to 1,000 words, tackles a particular aspect of the city’s history based around five objects or images. The subjects covered range from a look at the River Thames in prehistory to life in medieval London, from an examination of the history of Jack the Ripper and the East End, to a detailed look at the London’s plagues. While designed for a general audience, the histories are expected to be particularly useful to school students. They can be looked at online or downloaded as a PDF. Further subjects are expected to be added in the future. See www.museumoflondon.org.uk/pockethistories. The museum has also launched Picturebank, a collection of images which can be accessed online and viewed, printed or copied for educational use.
• On Now: Your 2012. The Museum of London Docklands is hosting a free exhibition featuring images capturing the construction work at the Olympic site in East London and the impact on the surrounding boroughs and the environment as well as archival images which show the history of the site. The free exhibition runs until 5th February. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands/.
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