Sunday 9 December 2018

Sunday Snap - The Tower

We were doing a spot of Christmas shopping for last week's Sunday Snap. I asked which famous London department store window the Christmas pudding was in and the answer is

Fortnum and Masons

Filling up their shopping bags with the right answer were Anne, Kara and Soma.

This week we are looking at a tower that when it was built it was the tallest building in the UK. I've decided to feature this building as this week I've read it is up for sale. Having worked on this company's pension scheme for a number of years I can tell you they are in need of the cash!

The main structure of the tower is 177m high with the aerial rigging at the top bringing the height up to 191m. As you can see it is far taller than another building around it and this was it primary purpose. On the structure are microwave aerials which at the time helped to carry telecommunications traffic around the country. It replaced a previous tower that had been constructed in the 1940s on a building nearby. With building plans submitted for new and taller in buildings in London it was feared that the vital line of sight would be interrupted.

The building was officially opened in 1966. The height of the tower meant that there was space not just for offices but also public and tourist attractions such as viewing galleries and a souvenir shop. One of the most famous features was a rotating restaurant run by Butlins. Every 23 minutes the floor revolved along with the diners at their tables. It was so popular that in the first year the tower had just under one million visitors and the restaurant served over one million diners. This all changed in 1971 when a bomb exploded in the early hours of the morning. After that public access was curtailed. The restaurant completely closed in 1980 when the Butlins lease expired. Now public access is only granted for special events. This week's question is

What is the current name of the tower?

We were joined last week by Susan and a visit to Santa. Jo has found her photograph selected for a calendar. There's been a trip to Muir Woods for Soma. The Christmas tree is up at Anne's. There's been more Christmas goings on for Kara plus a trip to see Shrek the Musical. Sara has been taking care of her bougainvillea plant. Finally, Jesh has found more essentials in the world around her.

If you want to join in with this week's Sunday Snap then add your link to the linky below. Any theme is allowed. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Friday 14th December 2018 to join in. Grab my badge below for your blog post. Just make sure it is your photo and you hold the copyright for it.

Sunday Snap

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4 comments:

  1. This is the BT tower. Such an iconic building x

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  2. Great we were there a couple of weeks ago trying to identify towers.

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  3. The BT Tower, always wanted to go up it as my Aunt and Uncle used to work there

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  4. It's the BT Tower, thanks for hosting x

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