| Architecture |
| Q. | what is the length of london bridge? |
| A. | Modern London Bridge is 283m in length. |
| Q. | When will demolition work begin for the Shard of Glass development? |
| A. | Primary work has already started on the Southwark Towers building at London Bridge station (32 London Bridge Street). The actual demolition will start in December 2007 and will take 6 month to complete. The Shard of Glass will be complete by 2012. |
| Area info and history |
| Q. | Can you suggest somewhere suitable for our firm to hold our Christmas party? |
| A. | Certainly. There are lots of places locally. Takes a look at the business listing on this website and look out for the Venue Hire icon. Some places to try are the Fashion and Textile Museum on Bermondsey Street, Delfinos on Bermondsey Street, Southwark Playhouse on Tooley Street and the Shunt Lounge on Joiner Street. |
| Q. | During a family visit today we passed, between London Bridge Station and Hay's Galleria a small alley whose name I cannot recall but is along the lines of "Mary XXXX Cause", sorry to be so vague. Can you advise me what it is and the history? ps great day out for the family. |
| A. | Hi Trevor,
Do you mean Maggie Blake's Cause?
Maggie Blake's Cause is an alleyway connecting Shad Thames with the riverfront. Named after a local community activist it represents a significant victory - public access to the riverside in front of a section of Butler's Wharf.
The main Butlers Wharf building was built between 1871-73. It is the largest and most densely packed group of Victorian warehouses left in London. With the development of mechanical handling and containerization it fell into disuse with the last ship berthing in 1972. During the early 1970s it briefly hosted a number of studios. Both David Hockney and Andrew Logan, had their studios in the area but Butlers Wharf was becoming derelict. In 1981, Sir Terence Conran, with his architectural practice Conran Roche and various business partners made a bid for mixed use redevelopment which won approval from the LDDC. This included moving the Boilerhouse Project at the Victoria & Albert Museum to a new the Design Museum at Shad Thames. The Conran group focused on the waterfront, developing six buildings: the Butlers Wharf Building (with significant restaurant space, expensive apartments and some other office and commercial use) , and the renamed Cardamom, Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Coriander warehouses. Back from the river, other architects and developers converted derelict space and Victorian warehouses into and commercial complexes. With the property downturn in the early 1990s there was a gap in development - but by mid-decade a further wave of development took place.
Maggie Blake, along with other activists wanted to ensure that local people and the general public could walk freely along the south bank of the Thames. The developers wanted to restrict such movement - in particular so that the space could be exploited for commercial purposes (largely eating).
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| Q. | Exact location of potters fields park |
| A. | Potters Fields Park is set inbetween Tower Bridge and City Hall on the south of the Thames. It is approx a 5-10 minute walk from London Bridge station. Postcode SE1 2AA. |
| Q. | Hello. On the corner of Horeslydown Lane and Shad Thames there is a flight of steps leading down to the beach under Tower bridge, I visited there recently and forgot to take note of the street sign that was in the passagway leading down: Do you happen to know the name of this passageway? It does not seem to appear on modern maps. Thank you for your time and help with this matter. |
| A. | Hi Patricia - the name on the wall is Horeslydown Old Stairs. Hope that helps. |
| Q. | Hi i am coming to stay at the novotel tower bridge over this weekend and want to watch leeds in the fa cup football match on tv on sunday midday want to know if anywhere local to watchthe match please thaks for help sean |
| A. | Hi Sean - the Novotel is on the north side of the Thames on the edge of the City of London. A number of the pubs in the City area are closed at the weekend. If you head over Tower Bridge you will come across the River Bar (020 7407 0968) on the left hand side, they often show live matches. Failing that try N1 Bar London Bridge www.n1bar.com (020 7407 6420), opposite the entrance to London Bridge tube station on Duke Street Hill, they show most matches. Another one could be the Dickens Inn in St Katherine Dock to the east of Tower Hill 020 7488 2208 www.dickensinn.co.uk |
| Q. | What is the origin of the name potters field please |
| A. | The name has two distinct origins. The area now called Potters Fields Park was once the site of a pottery than manufactured Engligh Delft ware - the fragments of the blue and white pottery have been found at the site. In addition, 'Potters fields' were also traditionally cemeteries for unknown or poor people and the park was once indeed a graveyard. |
| Q. | what times towerbridge close & open when big cruise or shipe come and want to cross this bridge |
| A. | The bridge opens around 1000 times per year, 2-3 times per day. To find out exact times on your day of visiting you can call the Bridge Lift hotline: Tel. 020 7940 3984. |
| Events and activities |
| Q. | CAN YOU PLEASE TELL IF THERE IS A BEER AND OYSTER WEEK THIS YEAR IF WHEN |
| A. | I'm afraid this was cancelled due to a lack of financial backing. |
| Q. | what times towerbridge close & open when big cruise or shipe come and want to cross this bridge |
| A. | Hi Jay - the bridge opens at different times depending on what ships are passing under it. To find out the latest opening times you can ring Tower Bridge's bridge lift hotline: tel. 020 7940 9384.
Hope that helps. |
| Q. | Is there a restaurant function room at tower Bridge which is on the upper span and looks down on the river.School type reunion ? |
| A. | Dear Peter - there is function space for hire in both the east and west walkways of Tower Bridge. Caterers have to be hired as there is no restaurant but the staff at Tower Bridge can reccommend some good ones. There is also a lounge in the North Tower for smaller groups and the Bridge Master's Dining Room for formal dining. For more information call +44 (0)20 7407 9222. |
| General info |
| Q. | Where is the Christmas Pyramid which is supposed to be in Potters Field Park this week |
| A. | Dear Lou - the Christmas Pyramid is in the north east corner of the Park next to Tower Bridge and the Blossom Square Amano cafe. |
| Getting to London Bridge |
| Q. | how much is the cruise fare from london bridge to westminster abbey? |
| A. | If you follow this link -
http://www.thamesclippers.com/fares/
- you can get a Day Roamer for £8. This is on the basis of travelling to Waterloo, which is a short walk to Westminster Abbey |
| Q. | What's the best way to London Bridge from London City Airport? |
| A. | You can take the DLR straight from the airport to Tower Gateway station. Walk across Tower Bridge or catch the RV1 bus to get to London Bridge. |
| Hotels |
| Q. | I would like to stay in a hotel with a good gym around London Bridge. Any suggestions? |
| A. | The Hilton Tower Bridge has a small but state of the art gym, while the London Bridge Hotel provide membership to the local Fitness First gym just around the corner. |