I was recently lucky enough to get a chance to go up the London BT Tower, I thought some people here might be interested and I hope nobody minds a lot of pics, it's not often you get a chance to visit.
The Ministry of Public Building and Works managed the design and the construction phase of the tower which was originally called 'Post Office Tower'. Built between June 1961 and July 1965 the tower initially topped out at 176 meters although the top mast has since been erected giving the final height of 191 meters.
Photo on display in the tower taken from the crane during construction.
The tower was opened on the 8th October 1965 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Although the primary function of the tower was for relaying microwave communications signals around the country the tower became famous a year later when none other than Butlins started to operate the revolving restaurant near the top, over 150m above street level.
By 31st October 1971 over 4.5 million people had visited the 'Top of The Tower' restaurant and viewing galleries. Unfortunately, on that day, at 4:30 in the morning a bomb that had been cleverly hidden in the false ceiling in the gents toilets exploded. A bomb threat had been phoned in and a search carried out, but nothing had been found. This wouldn't have been unusual in a building that had roughly 100 bomb threats in only five years. Various news reports suggest responsibility for the bombing was that of the IRA, and given the climate at the time, this doesn't seem unreasonable, the official word at the tower though was that nobody ever claimed responsibility and indeed the person or persons responsible were never caught.
Photos on display showing bomb damage.
The repair work took nearly two years and although the restaurant did open again afterwards the decision was taken to close the restaurant to the public when the lease expired in 1980. The tower is now no longer open to the public.
Here are some pics I took of various bits of London.
Centre Point and Strata
Southbank from The Shard, Guys Hospital and Tate modern to Kings Reach Tower.
Park Crescent
Tavistock Square
The London Eye
The city is a little bit far away, however the two main clusters of towers, in the square mile and out in Docklands line up nicely.
New Cavendish Street and Weymouth Street
Leaving in the (fast) 1400 feet per minute elevator.
Cheers.
The Ministry of Public Building and Works managed the design and the construction phase of the tower which was originally called 'Post Office Tower'. Built between June 1961 and July 1965 the tower initially topped out at 176 meters although the top mast has since been erected giving the final height of 191 meters.
Photo on display in the tower taken from the crane during construction.
The tower was opened on the 8th October 1965 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Although the primary function of the tower was for relaying microwave communications signals around the country the tower became famous a year later when none other than Butlins started to operate the revolving restaurant near the top, over 150m above street level.
By 31st October 1971 over 4.5 million people had visited the 'Top of The Tower' restaurant and viewing galleries. Unfortunately, on that day, at 4:30 in the morning a bomb that had been cleverly hidden in the false ceiling in the gents toilets exploded. A bomb threat had been phoned in and a search carried out, but nothing had been found. This wouldn't have been unusual in a building that had roughly 100 bomb threats in only five years. Various news reports suggest responsibility for the bombing was that of the IRA, and given the climate at the time, this doesn't seem unreasonable, the official word at the tower though was that nobody ever claimed responsibility and indeed the person or persons responsible were never caught.
Photos on display showing bomb damage.
The repair work took nearly two years and although the restaurant did open again afterwards the decision was taken to close the restaurant to the public when the lease expired in 1980. The tower is now no longer open to the public.
Here are some pics I took of various bits of London.
Centre Point and Strata
Southbank from The Shard, Guys Hospital and Tate modern to Kings Reach Tower.
Park Crescent
Tavistock Square
The London Eye
The city is a little bit far away, however the two main clusters of towers, in the square mile and out in Docklands line up nicely.
New Cavendish Street and Weymouth Street
Leaving in the (fast) 1400 feet per minute elevator.
Cheers.
