Area Guide: Cheshunt

Cheshunt and the adjoining town of Waltham Cross are situated in the Lee Valley Park, west of the River Lea in the Borough of Broxbourne, which boasts the lowest council tax in Hertfordshire. Cheshunt town centre is 500 yards from A10, 1 mile from J25 M25

Domesday book sites ‘Cestrehunt’ as a Roman junction en route from London to York, joining Ermine Street and the road between Verulamium, St. Albans east through Cuffley Ridgeway joining Churchgate Road towards Chelmsford.
North of Cheshunt and south of Broxbourne is Turnford and Wormley. Wormley is an unusual village as it still retains the long rectangular shape of a Saxon village. It is traversed by two major roads, a railway and a canal. At the extreme western end of the village is a grassy track through woodland which is all that is left of the Roman route; Ermine Street.

West Cheshunt, across the A10 has conservation areas protecting its historic parts including local buildings as well as Dewhurst Charity School. The area in Tudor times was a playground to Queen Elizabeth I, and has homed descendants and ancestors of Oliver Cromwell, who himself bought Cheshunt Park.

The area includes older villages such as; Bury Green, Churchgate, Hammondstreet, and Flamsteadend. Up to roughly 1930 Flamstead End was a separate village home to Nurseries and greenhouses. After World War 2 the area


became home to a vast number of Italian immigrants, who have since dispersed but increased the areas population immensely. It is in an idealic location surrounded by quiet rolling countryside with walks through the woods or Cheshunt Park.

Goffs Oak is situated north west of Cheshunt Parish Coucil and 19 miles by road from the City of London, named after the family of Gough’s who even to this day live at Goffs House and Sir Theodore Godfrey a baron to William the Conqueror who planted a large oak tree here in 1066. The village is centered around the war memorial and is an area of unspoilt scenery of woodlands, commons and secluded lanes where in some places reaches over three hundred feet above sea level.

In the 1930’s Cheshunt had a higher percentage of its area under glass, due to horticultural nurseries in the world. There was a long continuance of Broxbourne being a place of agriculture; the entire Lee Valley region had a high concentration of nurseries. The ‘Victorian Period Homes’ were designed to house the workers in the late 1800’s. However due to competition from warmer countries and technological moderations to farming, the nurseries have all been replaced by residential accommodation.

The popular residential area of Thomas Rochford Way is situated on a nineteenth century agricultural nursery, passing through generations in the Rochford family. Mr Joseph Rochford erected his first greenhouse in 1872 and developed into the largest firm of its kind in the whole country

Cheshunt Area Guide: Central

Central Chehunt Residence Guide

THE GRANGE ESTATE is a popular residential area, situated in Central Cheshunt between The Great Cambridge Road and Turners Hill. The area benefits from its short distance to amenities including, Cheshunt Town Centre, Football Club, Library, Fire Services, Ambulances, Police Station, Grundy Park Leisure Centre, and is within short walking distance to Cheshunt main line station, and Theobald Grove providing fast services to London (Liverpool Street).

The area was built in the late 1950’s early 1960s and was used as a through road to avoid the Old Pond traffic, however to ensure that the roads are used only for access from residents, guests, deliveries and emergency vehicles, gates were installed and are only opened for emergency vehicles.

Roads Include: Elgin Road, Tyfield Close, Littlebrook Gardens, Albury Grove Road, Brinley Close, Guinevere Gardens, Hartland Road, Harrison Walk, Hillside Crescent, Hillside Avenue, Gaywood Avenue, Manston Close, Albury Walk, Woodcote Close.

RUSSELLS RIDE, This area is conveniently situated in central Cheshunt, access is via Turner Hill or Windmill Lane. The benefits of this include ample on street parking, Russell’s Ride Allotment Space, various communal grass areas a short distance to Cheshunt mainline train station and local amenities.

Roads Include: Russells Ride, Downfield Road, Home Close, Darcy Close, Burbage Close, Southmead Crescent, Marsh Croft Drive, Shalcross Drive, Steward Close, Griton Close, Acton Close, The Briars, Shortmead Drive, Green Close, Betula Terrace, Garland Close.


THE WINDMILL ESTATE is mainly popular for its large room sizes and central location, with easy access via Windmill Lane or Turners Hill to amenities including Cheshunt mainline station with fast lines to London Liverpool Street., Grundy Park Leisure Centre, Youth Sailing Training and Canoeing Centre, Cheshunt High Street and Turners Hill, recycling point, police, fire and ambulance stations. Building began in the 1960’s, and through traffic is limited by speed bumps down Roundmoor Drive.

Roads Include: Roundmoor Drive, Oakdene, Greenall Close, Clifton Close. Palmers Way, Landmead, Long Moor, Winton Drive, Bellamy Road, Bullwell Crescent, Forest Road, Penton Drive, Gibbs Close.

MOXOM AVENUE & SURROUNDING AREAS provide ample on street parking, and various access points to the large Moxom Avenue Open Space. It was built in the 1990’s and was previously the site for the old Cheshunt Boys Secondary School, now a mixed school on College Road.

Roads Include: Moxom Avenue, Fosters Close, Norwood Road, Roberts Close.


Local Primary Schools: Burleigh, Downfield, Millbrook, Dewhurst.

LondonSecretLife: Q-Whitehall

London's Secret Life: Q-Whitehall

It is not surprising to hear of London’s Secret Underground city, with over 2,000 years of history having been burnt down many times (first recorded in AD61 when Queen Boadicea burnt the Roman Sympathetic Settlement down), rebuilt, redeveloped, restructured for defenses and then bombed again in WWII.

It is known that there is a secret entrance to 10 Downing Street, from a cabinet office at 70 Whitehall. This runs along the indoor Cockpit passage built by King Henry VIII to get to his indoor tennis courts in his grand, but split, Palace of Whitehall, without being disturbed by the public. This secret tunnel, like many others in the area are still being used today within Whitehall, maintaining that necessary power of secrecy and knowledge the government seeks over the media.

Victorian London’s engineers purpose built tunnels for the utilities we still need to maintain today, like water, gas and electricity to cause minimum disruption to life above. Unused tram, tube and railway lines leave tunnels between stations, the Post Office Tunnels were created independent of the underground (with smaller tunnels and trains) but the Royal Mail declared it closed in 2003 and rumours of these unused tunnels spark conspiracy quite naturally.

There are many myths circulating about London’s Underground Citadel, secret tunnels and passageways. some of which I am unsure, (such as the Buckingham Palace secret Tube Line) and others I know for fact to be true. Q-Whitehall has some truths and what may have been designed for escape purposes is now used for easy access to government buildings every day by members of Westminster as well as civil servants and their staff. What remains is locked in the National Archives under the Official Secrecy Act.

sourced from multi map.

Q-Whitehall

An unofficial term, probably originating due to the idea of Q in the James Bond novels, meetings and negotiating in secret, is the name of a hybrid deep level communications network and facilities. During WWII communications in London were weak and air raids with the risk of invasion were real, and so Military Westminster under Churchill went underground.

A network of tunnels in between Trafalgar Square, (access via the Tube Station), down Whitehall to King Charles Street were extended to provide protected access to the Cabinet War Rooms, the Treasury, Marsham Street Rotundas and other ‘bomb target’ government buildings, possibly Buckingham Palace. It would also follow suit to have extended to provide access to the atomic proof bunker, PINDAR, built underneath Whitehall as a crisis management and communications centre.

This underground city was confirmed when The Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public, having been kept secret, in 1984 (although we still only really see a small proportion), and the documents about buildings such as 39 Furnival Street were released.

The area was further developed in the 1950’s with fear of the Cold War, however, the file for the substantial upgrade work is locked away in the National Archives as Top Secret until April 2026. There is even talk of further extension within the last couple of years, and due to the ‘defensive’ purposes will remain secret for 75 years.

Only recently were answers behind the mysterious building of 39 Furnival Street released to the public, a redbrick built building, large black unmarked doors with an industrial air shaft outside in a row of offices and legal companies in High Holburn. For decades the house had been kept hidden under the Official Secrets Act, having put its original purpose as an air raid shelter aside when using it as a back up Government Base during WWII became the plan.

A shaft well over 100ft long is behind its front doors and it is the entrance to The Kingsway Tunnels, the Kingsway Exchange but what intrigues the conspiracist is that after the war it was taken over by ‘Inter Services Research Bureau’ a front for an MI6 research and development work (security down the road has always been tight).

Trams in London were abandoned for buses in 1952, the street tracks were removed, the subways remained. It has two main tunnels with 4 off shooting ones with names like South Street, Second Avenue, and Tea Bar Alley. Parts of this tram tunnels were used to ease congestion between The Strand and Waterloo Bridge and renamed The Strand Bypass, the bar/restaurant Buddha Bar currently occupies a section of the southern tunnel.Furnival Road, and the grand Prudential Building nearby were linked entrances to the secret tunnels of London, inaccessible to everyday public. Click Here for Map of Tunnels.

Another back up government base was on the lower level of the North Rotunda on Marsham Street, Westminster as it was a bomb centre citadel with 12 concrete roofs to withstand the impact of explosions. Access from one of the three rotundas into the WWII deep level shelter for 8,000 people was instead kept secret from the public, connected to Q-Whitehall and used by the government. The tunnels offer deep level protection to vital communication equipment.

The three rotundas are still hidden at the buildings base, the Department of Environment and likely to be connected to the other government buildings in the underworld labyrinth of tunnels in the area. The Ordnance Survey map actually has a row of houses along that street coloured in, only aiding the conspiracist in wondering what lies beneath them as they walk the streets of central London.

These tunnels are a genuine part of Westminster Government, connecting the buildings with its own society (over 400 rooms and I am told from a good source) access to the local drinking spot. It is also quite likely that there is an entrance at Whitehall tube station (or another local one) providing members indoor access. The once ‘escape routes’ once necessary in war have become embedded within Westminster government and are used daily for ease of access. The décor and layout can only be well suited to the MP’s taste, the expenses scandal last year said it all.

I do not have any claims over the old Royal Mail underground railway being used for Royal getaways, and by the sound of things at Q-Whitehall there is a city below ground that seems far more secure than any public station or airport.

London's Northern Line History and Unused Stations

London Undergrounds have a history of their own and offer a hidden, secret, mystical London. London has many abandoned lines, stations (ghost stations) and platforms that were not incorporated within actual development for various reasons, mainly being postponed because of war and lack of demand. This article explores The Northern Line (the black line on a tube map).

On the Northern Line journey you can actually see some abandoned platforms, with their original posters and blood red glazed tiling. The northern line was named in 1937 and it is ironic that it serves 16 of the 29 Underground Tube Stations in South London. It may also be worth noting that Finchley Central was home station to tube map designer Harry Beck and the southbound platform features a plaque.

King William Street station was the terminal station for the Northern Line (then called City & South London Railway) the world’s first electric underground railway. The station is still present under the vaults of the recently built Regent House, and the old tunnels leading to it can be seen from Northern Line trains from Borough Station today.

The station is located close to Bank Station next to the entrance to Monument Station. Upon opening its distance from Stockwell Station and the lines power, as well as its relatively steep incline meant that trains often failed unaided on fist attempts to reach the popular station. Therefore a new tunnel was built, forming the modern Bank Branch of the Northern Line (unused tunnels running directly above some of the platforms). The station itself closed in 1900 used as an air raid shelter in WW2, the tunnels bricked up for fear of flooding.

Angel station was rebuilt in 1991, as the tunnels were too narrow. New tunnels and platforms (110m long) were necessary, thus the old ones abandoned. The station has the longest escalator being 60m long. The lift shaft down to unused platforms is behind a close door on the cross platform interchange. Between Angel and Old Street, City Road station was built, just north of Old Street, but closed in 1922 when the line expanded and its isolated island platform demolished to make way for the new lines. The over ground of this station is now converted on Moreland Street.

Both Charring Cross and Euston Stations, along with the more famous Kings Cross are still used, however, there are many platforms, sections and tunnels that aren’t. It is often on the commute that you will notice passageways not accessible through to grills, locks etc. These are in fact evidence of the past and disused sections of the Underground.

Euston Station was originally two stations, for each of the railway companies the northern line emerged from. When the Northern Line was originally constructed platforms underground were accessed by stairwells and shafts, abandoned when escalators became common. It has many unused platforms and tunnels from the old routes to Kings Cross, some a result of closures in 1914 and some in 1967, such as an old entrance 100 yards from the current place. When the Victoria Line was opened, the Northern Line platforms were moved. On the northbound Northern Line platforms, those large wall holes are not ventilation they are in fact the original entrances and exit to the platforms, where the tiny locked doorway, along with those at the ends of the platform provide access to abandoned tunnels of the past.

The Northern Line congestion in the 1930’s began the development of a parallel line to Charring Cross to be used as an express route. WW2 disrupted plans and the tunnels were used by the public (though at first discouraged) as air raid shelters and post war found alternative uses (often military storage) which meant the line was never completed.

On the line between Kentish Town and Camden Town is the unused (with the exception of workmen) station of South Kentish Town or Castle Road. The over ground entrance is on the corner between Castle Road and Kentish Town Road (a Cash Converters). Although the station opened along with the others in 1907, its close proximity to both Kentish Town and Camden meant it wasn’t heavily used, so in a Lots Road power station strike in 1924 it closed and never re-opened.

During the blitz in WW2 it was converted into two-storey an air-raid shelter, the platform being removed and the lift shaft blocked. The line is back in use, but the station not. The tube speeds through the unused platform, but it can still be seen from both directions on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line. The layout is apparently like that of Kentish Town and features in john Benjamin prose South Kentish Town.

Camden Town station is crucial for the northern lines layout to work, sitting on the X of its tracks branching off both North and South. The Northern line has two branches to the North (Edgware and High Barnet) and two central branches (via Bank or Charring Cross), it was after all the merger of two competing railway company’s at the turn of the 2oth century. The station has many unused platforms of its own, further underground, used as air raid shelters during WW2.

A platform at Goodge Street station has a sign warning of a Deep Shaft, evidence of the deep underground tunnels built for Air Raid shelters during the war. There were further entrance buildings introduced for this purpose opposite the current station on Chenies Street, and one near Heals on Tottenham Court Road. WW2 recently and purpose built tunnels (London Deep Level Shelters) for this purpose as well as using the abandoned underground at stations like South Kentish Town.

Here is the short documentary by Jay Foreman about the unfinished line between Mill Hill East and Edgware tube stations. Mill Hill East Station was part of a plan, a line to run from Finsbury Park through Highgate up to Edgware one part of three of the Northern Heights Plan. Highgate station itself uses its deeper platforms, with the higher level platforms and lines built for the planned extension unused and overgrown.



The Jubilee Line took whatever platforms available Finsbury Park Station had left and the plan was abandoned. The plans for this line left unused railway paths that are now popular walks (Parkland Walk), narrow and green through North London. Some of the line was bought by British Rail and is part of the over ground network into and out of London. The expansion included the following stations:

* Finsbury Park
* Stroud Green
* Crouch End (Scenes involving Crouch End Tube Station was deleted from 2004 film Shaun of The Dead)
* Highgate
* Cranleigh Gardens (at the junction between Muswell Hill Road and Cranleigh Gardens, now residential and a school)
* Muswell Hill
* Alexandra Palace

WW2 further disrupted these plans, and even after the war plans were put forward to extend the Northern line further than Edgware going as far as Bushey Heath as one of the three parts of the initial Northern Heights plan in 1901, no extensions were made past Mill Hill East.

On the Edgware Branch between Hampstead and Golder’s Green is the ghost station of North End (also known as Bull and Bush, which the local pub adopted). It was abandoned before the end of construction in 1906 as residents feared it would be under used and the surface station would have imposed into the surrounding conserved area (located on the corner of North End and Wildwood Terrace). However the platform and tunnels were built and it is used as an emergency exit on the Line, unfinished platforms are still evident in the stairwells into tunnels as well as being used by London Transport to experiment, the whole station still being visible to the eager eye of the passenger. Hampstead Tube Station is London’s deepest station, 58.5m below ground level. Bull and Bush had it have been completed would have been deeper, approximately 67.3m below surface level.

Bull and Bush station concludes the Northern Lines interesting history and legends of ghosts, doomed passenger trains, claims fake houses with blacked out windows and of a basement in an office in the city provides access into this labyrinth of abandoned stations, platforms and tunnels.

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Kings Cross St Pancras History.

Guide to London: Kings Cross St Pancras Station

The two once competing stations of Kings Cross and St Pancras have combined, yet still separate in functions, and remain central to London’s access to the east coast, midlands, Scotland, London’s Underground lines, and more recently Paris or Lille via Eurostar. Links to the London 2012 Olympic site will also run from Kings Cross, which is logical to every Londoner.

The Kings Cross station was the first of the two to open in 1852 (the station building where platforms 1-8 are) and was designed by architect Lewis Cubbitt, on the site of a small fever and smallpox hospital, to provide access to the UK’s east coast and midlands during the big industrial revolution.

Located close to Euston Station, and The British Library, it sits next to St Pancras station, which replaced Waterloo in International trains to Paris in 2007. Kings Cross has been influential in the expansion of London city, not only on the MonopolyBoard. Its recent transformation had taken years and a lot of hard work, and included connecting both stations for ease of access for the commuter. Kings Cross tube station is served by more tube lines than any other station in London.

St Pancras Station, designed by William Barlow was a Midland Station built in the 1860’s specifically competing to outdo Kings Cross, hence the buildings extravagance. The Barlow Train Shed arch is still impressive to the visitor today and at one time it was the largest enclosed building in the world. Midlands Railway ran to both Euston and Kings Cross but wanted headquarters of their own, so commissioned St Pancras Station. The name comes from the area (although seems slightly redundant today), St Pancras’ medieval Parish dating back to the 4th century, the remains of St Pancras Church with the original alter still there.

St Pancras’s Grade I listed building is made up of red brick became the Midland Great Hotel and was completed in 1877, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott but closed in 1935 to make way for the railway offices and became known as Pancras Chambers (abandoned when BR privatized our railways). It will again become a luxury hotel. The line from St Pancras was built over Regents Canal (hence why passengers climb up stairs to the platform) whereas Kings Cross line was built underneath it.

The close location to Kings Cross station connected the stations physically for the purpose of the London commuter, although the addition and reopening of the Kings Cross Thameslink line on Pentonville Road meant that the trains coming into St Pancras were fewer. Eurostar was a welcome addition and the size of the space as well as central location made it ideal, the redevelopment meant the Thameslink became incorporated. The restoration of the roof was ornate in replicating the original design only with glass which was not only due to British heritage but also Eurotunnel guidelines.

The Kings Cross area in the borough of Camden had gained a reputation as a seedy area of London. The St Giles area of Kings Cross was the setting in Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, as it was one of the poorest areas at the time. However, recent developments beginning in the 1990’s and further plans suggest how much of a reformation it has had.

The redevelopment of the area included, visual arts, London’s Canal Museum (opened by HRH in 1992) and the two mainline stations Kings Cross and restoring and modernizing St Pancras.
The refurbishment of St Pancras commemorates Sir John Betjeman with a statue and a pub. This is because of his connection to the place, in the 1960’s, following the demolition of Euston Station in 1966 plans were also put forward to combine the two stations as just Kings Cross destroying St Pancras. These were strongly refuted by the public with Betjeman running a large campaign. In 1967, under pressure the building was granted Listed Building status Grade I. The Eurostar train, platforms, restaurant, shops and the longest champagne bar in Europe, sit under the impressive single spanning steel rods of Barlow’s Victorian roof where glass sheets replace the old ruined roof allowing the light to poor in, quite an entrance to London for our international commuters.




Today the station is best known for the fictional Platform 9¾’s from J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter. During the film series, the station scenes take place within the main station, with platforms 4 & 5 renumbered 9 & 10. Any exterior shots use St Pancras station due to its Victorian Gothic architecture being more suitable than Kings Cross.

However, the history is far deeper and more interesting than that of the likes of fictional Roland Rat living below in the station sewers. It is rumored that Queen of East Anglia Boadicea is buried under one of the platforms on the site of her final battle; myths of her ghost haunt the station, although there is no actual evidence that suggests this. The battle left her army defeated to Roman general Caius Suetonius Paulinus’s army, when she is believed to have killed herself in AD61.

Kings Cross in its rural history was an area known as Battlefields, the valley where the Battle is believed to have taken place. It wasn’t until the 1750’s that link roads were set up into London City that the area became densely populated, renamed when a huge statue commemorating King George IV who reigned between 1820 and 1830 was erected in 1836 (demolished in 1845) on the cross roads of what is now Euston Road, York Way, Grays Inn Road and Pentonville Road.

The Importance of a Website for a Company in London

According to the Office of Communications each person in the UK spnds more than seven hours cumulatiely every day watching television, listening to the radio, making calls and web browsing, meaning there is enough of a market to justify spending time promoting the website. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) nearly 15 million households in Great Britain (61%) had internet access in 2007, an increase of 7% per one million households from the year before.

Your website should give customers a better understanding of the services offered. Web site promotion is vital for website success. It should also provide a basis for expanding into selling or providing either services online attracting a large audience to obtain high profile, well paying advertising clients.

Research has established that a business has about 7 seconds toa cupture a visitors interest when they first visit the website. Therefore it needs to look fantastic, be functional and easy to navigate. businesses are likely to loose 70% of potential customers by not including all posible contact details. Must also remember that people browse websites they do not read them, so keep wording at a minimum, especially homepage where there should be about one paragraph. Further detail can be hidden within the website.

The appearance of your web site is one of the most important aspects of your success. Your service will literally be judged by the appearance of your web site. Poor web design is one of the leading causes of small business failure. There are literally thousands of home-based Internet businesses struggling to make a living online. Most, make very little or no money and end up closing their site in defeat. Consistency is especially important with web sites so that the person knows that they are still in the same site.

Measuring the success of the Site.
• No. of visitors & analyzing how customers interact with the site, which is how they typically behave when they are there.
• What are the most valuable sources of links to your site?

London Tenants Guide

Tenants Rights

• Your landlord must give at least 24 hours notice if they want access (except in an emergency).
  
• Landlords are generally responsible for the maintenance and major repairs to a property.
  The landlord by law, must make sure that all the gas appliances provided are maintained in good order and that a Gas Safety (used to be corgi)-registered plumber carries out a safety check each year. Keep a record of the safety checks.
• 
  The landlord must maintain all electrical installations (ie fixed wiring) and any electrical appliances they provide (ie cookers, kettles) and make sure they are safe to use. If your landlord supplies new appliances, he or she should also provide any accompanying instruction booklets.

• The landlord must make sure any furniture and furnishings they provide meet the fire resistance regulations.
• 
  The occupier is responsible for maintaining appliances which they own, or are entitled to take with them at the end of the letting.
• 
  The 2004 Housing Act requires there to be an adequate means of escape, depending on the size of the property, there may have to be smoke alarms and fire extinguishing equipment.

Your council's Environmental Health Officer will be able to give you more details about your landlord's obligations and can force your landlord to provide adequate fire precautions.

Tenants Responsibilities

• The Rent. If you are having difficulty paying rent you should get advice quickly. This is available from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

• You must pay other bills as agreed with the let. This includes electricity, gas, water, telephone, council tax and a TV licence.

• It is expected that you will respect neighbours - so no making excess noise, putting rubbish in the wrong place or obstructing common areas

• Tell your landlord if you are going away for longer than 14 days - because this will affect his/her insurance policy

• Keep the property secure at all times - so lock it when you go out and don't give keys to anyone else

• Tell your landlord when things need fixing to avoid bigger problems later, reporting the need for any repairs. Consult the landlord about any proposals to make alterations to the property.

• Do basic maintenance - e.g. change light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries

Links A London Tenant May Find Useful

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London Skyline

London’s Modern Skyline

London’s skyline was historically dominated by the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, where buildings even up to the 1960’s were not to exceed that height. London’s skyline compromised of church tops (now almost completing engulfed), Cathedrals, the Tower of London, Power Stations, Westminster Palace and Regal residences. The last 20-30 years have shown an attitude where developers are told to aim for the sky, beginning with Center Point in 1966, followed by the Natwest Tower in 1980.

Canary Wharf is a familiar skyline for any Londoner. The Red light flashing on the point of One Canada Square, completed in 1991, and is the centre piece of Canary Wharf in the Isle of Dogs. It stands proud alongside 25 & 8 Canada Square, 25 & 40 Bank Street, 10 Upper Bank Street and 1 Churchill Square. North Quay and Canary Riverside South will be new additions currently under construction to the Docklands area.

Until the mid 1960’s canary wharf was a busy cargo warehouse at the centre of West India Docks which closed in 1980. East India Docks and St Katherine’s Docks had already been closed from the technological advancements by The Port of London Authority in 1968.

In 1982 under London’s Docklands Development Corporation the area became an enterprise zone, attracting commerce and creating the Dockland’s Light Railway Network (jubilee station part of the expansion in 1993) aided by City Airport opening in 1987. The area is still being developed.

The IRA’s bombing of the Dockland’s and South Quay lead to further redevelopment of London’s current skyline. The two tall residential buildings of 1 Millharbour otherwise known as Pan Peninsula were constructed on the site of derelict office buildings involved in an explosion in 1996.

The City of London’s skyline is engulfed by skyscrapers such as Tower 42 (Natwest Building), recently completed (2009) Broadgate Tower, Shakespeare Tower and 99 Bishopsgate amongst others.

London’s architectural masterpiece The Gherkin, otherwise known as 30 St Mary’s Axe, is an influential and powerful addition to London City’s skyline. Lord Norman Foster (and his firm Foster and Partners) created this office block for financial insurance giants Swiss Re in the heart of the city, highlighting the evolution in London architecture within the last couple of decades.

London watched during the three years as the spiral of The Gherkin rose up into the city skyline 180m tall, can be easily distinguished from the other skyscrapers. Built on the previous site the Baltic Exchange which was near an IRA explosion in April 1992 it did not pose any threat to certain viewpoints of St Paul’s and was in need of redevelopment. Plans for Millenium Tower were rejected as it was too tall, but in 2003 the Gherkin was given the go ahead.

Environmentally friendly in its approach maximizing daylight, The Gherkin has gaps in the floor creating six shafts providing natural ventilation for the whole building. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in March 2004 and succeeds in utilizing London’s small amount of space, reflecting it at all angles, neatly disappearing in the shadow of other buildings until you are right underneath it.

London Eye added a modern landmark over Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben, the Old City Hall (now London Aquarium and other businesses) and Guy Tower and hospital. On a walk from Cheapside, Southwark along the Thames the wheel peers around the Oxo Tower (once part of the power station for post office, bought as a cold store by Oxo then rebuilt Art Deco in the late 1920’s) once you have passed the Tate Modern (former Bankside power station)and Globe theatre.


Walking from the City along The Thames is a highly recommended walk (with the potential of local buses should it become too tiring or start raining). Not only does it offer the potential of seeing London’s present skyline but also the historic one.

This year (2010) will see the completion of 22 Marsh Wall otherwise known as The Landmark. In 2009 the go ahead was given to ‘The Shard of Glass’ or ‘Shard London Bridge’ to be completed by 2010. Upon completion this will be the largest building in London, making up of 71 floors and 66 storeys.

Other Blogosphere articles that you may find useful:
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LondonLife: Guide to London: Monument

The Monument, full name - The Monument to The Great Fire of London, was once the world’s tallest freestanding column, in the heart of London’s City, EC3. Standing tall, and at a slight angle, on the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, at the north end of London Bridge. It commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666, the destruction of medieval wood built London (as well as thousands of rats who had plagued the city before) and the change and hope of London being rebuilt.

The column is 61.57 meters high, the exact distance between its location and the actual site in Pudding Lane where the fire began. The height makes a fantastic destination to get a panoramic view of London City (especially on a clear day). The top is reached by climbing the 311 steps of the narrow (especially at the top) stairwell. The cage, now mesh added at the top is to prevent people killing themselves by jumping off back in the mid 19th century.

It dates back to 1671 and was completed in 1677 by King Charles II’s Surveyor General Sir Christopher Wren, helped by his colleague Dr Robert Hooke. They originally planned it for dual use; Heritage and Scientific, conducting various experiment on gravity at the top and at the room at the bottom. However, traffic noise and vibrations disrupted this and soon after was designated sole use as being historic.

The Doric column is built of Portland Stone and the copper drum and gilded copper urn with flames coming out represent the Great Fire give the London landmark its height. The subscriptions (mostly in Latin) on the bottom describe the actions taken by King Charles II after the fire, how the monument was built, and one stating how the fire started as well as how it was extinguished (generally blaming the Roman Catholics and so was chiseled out in 1831).

During the £4.5million refurbishments, when Monument closed for 18 months (June 2007 to February 2009) a 360 degree panoramic camera was installed, another part of London’s Big Brother society. This refurbishment was so well done, preserving London’s living history. The damage to the iron railings around the base are a legacy from the raids of the Second World War.