October is a fantastic month in London… As the summer turns into autumn, the great city’s colours dramatically change from green to copper and red and London welcomes a new guest: Fog! October is also when British schools break up for a half-term holiday and many London attractions – Natural History Museum, the Tower of London, London Bridge - put on special family-friendly events.
My 9 year-old niece visited us for half-term and we decided to spend her last day in Tower Hill, almost a ‘time travel machine’ with its concentration of medieval, Tudor, Victorian, 20th century and futuristic samples of London. We started with the Tower of London’s amazing exhibition of over 8,000 ceramic poppies. Planted in the dry moat around the Tower, these poppies commemorate the death of each soldier from the UK, Australia and the Commonwealth killed during World War I.
When we arrived, hundreds of tourists were already there. The spectacular display, visible from all around the Tower, was baffling and was a powerful evocation of World War I’s toll on the army.
The crowd was so thick that we did not stay for too long. After a few photos, we quickly moved to the Victorian Tower Bridge. We started with the North Tower that showed an animated video where spectators were invited to experience the story of the Bridge as part of an audience with Queen Victoria, Sir John Wolfe-Barry, the designer of Tower Bridge, and his architect Sir Horace Jones. Short and funny, the animation appealed to both adults and children and explained why the construction of a new bridge was a dire necessity for Londoners. The South Tower offered a bespoke video which depicted the construction of the bridge. Then we walked to the Bridge’s high-level West Walkway, enjoying a spectacular panoramic view of London… much better and less crowed than the Millenium Eye! We ended our visit with the Engine Rooms. The atmosphere there took us back to the Victorian era and its taste for science, progress and technological improvement, an era when steam was everything ; we even experienced a virtual bridge lift!
We came out at dusk ; the fog had already ‘swallowed’ the Shard. A typical October evening in London!
On our way back, we stopped in Monument Street to climb the 311 steps of the colossal doric column built to commemorate the 1666 Great Fire of London and the rebuilding of the City. The view from the top was worth the climb: totally breathtaking… and not just because of the climb ! Funnily enough, when coming down, we were offered a certificate confirming that we had climbed the 311 steps of the Monument… We did not count but I reckon that our muscles understood! The trip ended in the nearest pub where we discussed our afternoon full of sensations, emotions and discoveries in the great city!
Tower Bridge: http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TBE/EN/
The Great Fire of London: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ft63q
Written by Florence Tilkens. Florence is Social Media and Marketing Manager at FOCUS.
For more information please visit www.focus-info.org
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