#8567 - 09/20/03 08:38 AM
Big Ben
[Re: seer]
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Master Chronicler
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 3112
Loc: Northern California
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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. This bell came originally from the old Palace of Westminster, it was given to the Dean of St. Pauls by William III. Before returning to Westminster to hang in it's present home, it was refashioned in Whitechapel in 1858. A personal version of Big Ben is also available.
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#8568 - 09/20/03 09:00 AM
Victoria & Albert Museum
[Re: seer]
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Master Chronicler
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 3112
Loc: Northern California
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The Victoria and Albert Museum (The "V&A") is an extrordinary museum for learning about the cultures of the world, their art, and their people. Among my favorite regular exhibits is the comprehensive history of the Persian-area Astrolabe and the complete interior the Edgar J. Kaufmann office, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. My absolute joy, however, are rooms 46a and b, the Cast Courts.
Being here is the closest experience to Shelley's Ozymandias that one can have. When I vist London, I vist the V&A. When in these rooms, I can clearly imagine the poem slowly being told in a deep, sonorous tone:
Quote:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'
The V&A also houses the Great Bed of Ware, the most famous piece of English furniture in existence. Made during Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558 - 1603), it is both richly carved and exceptionally large, being over 3 meters in length and 2 meters in height. It is the subject of numerous tales and literary references. It is mentioned by name in Shakespeare's "The Twelfth Night" and by Byron in "Don Juan." In Canto VI, Stanza 12 of Don Juan, Byron writes:
Quote:
Most wise men with one moderate woman wed
Will scarcely find philosophy for more,
And all (except Mahomentans) forbear
To make the nuptial couch a 'Bed of Ware'
The Victoria and Albert Museum houses thousands of interesting objects such as these! (During one visit they had both a major Dale Chihuly installation in the courtyard visible in the Placemarked view, and an exhibition of early Japanese woodblock prints, several of women being embraced by octopi or squid.)
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#8571 - 01/11/04 06:17 PM
Re: Millennium Wheel
[Re: markUK]
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Master Guide
Registered: 04/20/03
Posts: 4459
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Mark-Royal, welcome to EV and this global community of common interests! Your post is a beauty, and you can find a similar view here along with the other great London sites in this thread. Keyhole is gradually adding more UK hi-res data. We are all grateful, but personal "overlays" of missing or lo-res interesting areas would be appreciated. Overlays can be an easy process. If you haven't already, check the pdf manual for your version of Earthviewer, or use the"search"utility at top of this page, search word "overlays", to get simple instructions.
Again, welcome to the bbs!
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#8572 - 02/26/04 10:45 AM
BBC Television Centre
[Re: seer]
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Master Chronicler
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 3112
Loc: Northern California
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The BBC Television Centre was built at Shepherds Bush in 1960. It is where many well-known works originated, including Monty Python, Are You Being Served?, Blackadder, and many others.  The building's designer was Graham Dawbarn. The [true according to the BBC] legend says that once selected, he went to a local pub, sat down, pulled out an old envelope and drew the triangular shape of the site on the back, then drew a question mark in the middle. How could he allow eight studios, production galleries, dressing rooms, camera workshops, recording areas and offices to support them? It must also allow trucks onto the site with the sets and areas for audiences and guests that was separate from the trucks. He looked at the envelope and in a flash of inspiration had the perfect design. The answer is in the Placemark. Click and find out.  Also, the North-South road passing BBC Television Centre is Wood Lane. Just to the south on Wood Lane is the A4020, the Uxbridge Road. You may remember a Monty Pythin sketch about climbing the north face of the Uxbridge Road.
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#8573 - 02/26/04 08:02 PM
Re: BBC Television Centre
[Re: seer]
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Master Guide
Registered: 04/20/03
Posts: 4459
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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?Fascinating building?. Another piece of interesting BBC architecture is the old " Broadcasting House" in central London:
It's shape was also defined by it's immediate environs, and quite inspired. Also in an old post.
Unfortunately the EV view is nowhere near the quality of the Television Center.
For info on renovation and expansion of Broadcasting House click here!
See our Seer's past post on this matter. His Aldwich location may be an office site.
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#8574 - 06/12/05 10:24 PM
Re: Big Ben
[Re: seer]
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Master Bard
Registered: 11/22/04
Posts: 1169
Loc: NorCAL
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Well now, we have one in our family! A Big Ben, that is! Infact he will be at OXY in the fall! Proud  n1f
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#8575 - 07/13/05 07:41 AM
Re: London, England
[Re: seer]
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Traveler
Registered: 07/13/05
Posts: 66
Loc: England
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Dont mean to be picky but actually its a capitAl city... or is capitOl an Americanism, if so then ignore my quirky British grammar!
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This is why GE was created... so we asses could travel from home!
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#8576 - 07/13/05 08:03 AM
Re: London, England
[Re: Bigfridge]
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Master Chronicler
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 3112
Loc: Northern California
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Fixed, thanks. My only excuse is that Americans have English as a second language. 
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#8577 - 12/30/05 05:37 PM
Re: Big Ben
[Re: seer]
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Traveler
Registered: 12/29/05
Posts: 12
Loc: california
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#8580 - 03/08/06 04:23 PM
Re: London, England
[Re: seer]
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Traveler
Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 49
Loc: London, England
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Just to let you know if a new site dedicated to London - http://digilondon.comAs the blurb says - London locations in Google Maps, Google Earth and Wikipedia.
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DigiLondon
The London visitor resource. London attractions, maps and history all in one place.
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#1239470 - 07/11/09 02:08 PM
Re: Big Ben
[Re: seer]
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Master Guide/Environmentalist
Registered: 09/08/06
Posts: 2568
Loc: Central London, UK
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Happy birthday Big Ben! Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 Big Ben rings in 150th birthday
A giant birthday message is to be projected on to Parliament's clock tower to mark 150 years since the first ringing of Big Ben.
The Great Bell struck its first hour on 11 July 1859 and a year of celebrations is taking place for the anniversary.
The message reading "Happy Birthday Big Ben, 150 years, 1859 - 2009," will be beamed on to the tower after sunset.
Other activities celebrating Big Ben have been organised by the Guy Fox History Project charity.
Over the next 12 months children and volunteers will explore the clock tower and research its history.
The clock tower at the Palace of Westminster was completed in 1859 and quickly became the most recognisable part of architect Charles Barry's building, which replaced the old Parliament after it burned down in 1834.
But the bell itself has at times had a troubled history.
The first bell cracked under testing two years before the tower was built and its replacement only lasted two months before it also cracked.
For the following four years Big Ben remained silent until repairs and modifications were made.
Since then, it has been damaged by such diverse elements as the weather, workmen and birds, but remains one of the most famous symbols of the UK.
Mike McCann, Keeper of the Great Clock, said: "After 150 years, Big Ben still holds a special place in the hearts of Londoners and the world as a magnificent example of engineering and building genius." Source: BBC
Edited by Groovy23 (07/11/09 04:44 PM)
Edit Reason: Added video links
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