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Doing London things you've never done

I've never been to Lords or the Oval to watch a cricket match. (I have been to the Oval on a non match day for a work conference - but building beer snakes was discouraged)
 
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A380 said:
I've never been to Lords or the Oval to watch a cricket match. (I have been to the Oval on a non match day fr a work conference - but building beer snakes was discouraged)
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Building beer snakes might be a thing of the past - almost 7 quid for a pint nowadays :beer::beer:
 
Spymaster said:
Yes, other than the cost I can’t see much to dislike unless you’re stuck in a pod with Bahnhof Strasse.

Generally speaking, I think tourists do quite well for attractions here, apart from some bonkers pricing, but that’s the same as Paris; and Venice and Switzerland make London look like an absolute bargain.
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Mate of mine was at med school with a gay guy who went on it on his own and there was a bloke and woman in the pod, they asked if he minded if they took some photos of her and she stripped off and started doing porn shots. All very odd and sadly wasted on him.
 
Just used the Elizabeth Line. It was horrendous and I was just travelling for one stop from Stratford to Whitechapel. The platform was half cordoned off and it was dangerously overcrowded. Not good for my nerves.
 
After many years of meaning to I finally visited the innards of Tower Bridge. It had always struck me as surprisingly cheap (£13) for a paid London attraction; but after seeing it I’d say the admission price is proportionate to the experience.

The information displays across the place are a bit provincial museum run by volunteers-like, including numerous cheesy cardboard cutouts of cats intended to entertain kids for all of the bloody 45 minutes it takes to navigate the place. Some of which in the direct line of light of the internal structure of the towers, spoiling the view.

We were also a bit pissed off to find out only after we’d completed the visit that there are extra rooms and exhibits available when you take the 200-step stairs up instead of the lift to the top of the tower. My OH wasn’t feeling so great and as all the attendant said was ‘you get to see more via the stairs’, I assumed they meant nice views of London through any windows encountered along the way so I didn’t bother. Turns out there’s a whole room dedicated to the diving teams among other early stages of construction we missed. The glass walk along the connecting walkways between the two towers and the exhibits along the way were well worth it though.

The engine rooms were interesting due to the remaining machinery, but the information and displays on site leave a lot of room for improvement. And yet more fucking cardboard cats plastered around the place.

Sadly the cavernous and impressive-looking counterweight chambers are not included. I believe they occasionally offer behind the scenes tours that include a peek of them. That sounds like a better option to visit.

Still alright for £13 though, and recommended.
 
T & P said:
After many years of meaning to I finally visited the innards of Tower Bridge. It had always struck me as surprisingly cheap (£13) for a paid London attraction; but after seeing it I’d say the admission price is proportionate to the experience.

The information displays across the place are a bit provincial museum run by volunteers-like, including numerous cheesy cardboard cutouts of cats intended to entertain kids for all of the bloody 45 minutes it takes to navigate the place. Some of which in the direct line of light of the internal structure of the towers, spoiling the view.

We were also a bit pissed off to find out only after we’d completed the visit that there are extra rooms and exhibits available when you take the 200-step stairs up instead of the lift to the top of the tower. My OH wasn’t feeling so great and as all the attendant said was ‘you get to see more via the stairs’, I assumed they meant nice views of London through any windows encountered along the way so I didn’t bother. Turns out there’s a whole room dedicated to the diving teams among other early stages of construction we missed. The glass walk along the connecting walkways between the two towers and the exhibits along the way were well worth it though.

The engine rooms were interesting due to the remaining machinery, but the information and displays on site leave a lot of room for improvement. And yet more fucking cardboard cats plastered around the place.

Sadly the cavernous and impressive-looking counterweight chambers are not included. I believe they occasionally offer behind the scenes tours that include a peek of them. That sounds like a better option to visit.

Still alright for £13 though, and recommended.
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I made a TV show on bridges many years ago (won an RTS award fans) and got to see the real engine room, hang out in the counterweight chambers (as the bridge opened) and even press THE button. It was genuinely amazing stuff. I don't know how much it has changed since 2007, but I remember thinking the tourist walk / exhibition was a bit duff. I guess it is ok if it's only £13 though. I think they were looking at making it more interesting. I am not sure if the glass floor thing existed back then, if it did I wasn't impressed enough to remember it.
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
I made a TV show on bridges many years ago (won an RTS award fans) and got to see the real engine room, hang out in the counterweight chambers (as the bridge opened) and even press THE button. It was genuinely amazing stuff. I don't know how much it has changed since 2007, but I remember thinking the tourist walk / exhibition was a bit duff. I guess it is ok if it's only £13 though. I think they were looking at making it more interesting. I am not sure if the glass floor thing existed back then, if it did I wasn't impressed enough to remember it.
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IIRC the glass floor sections were done during the major refurbishment around 2013. One of the video displays shows peeps the process involved.

I’m not a big fan of heights and thought I was going to freak out if I attempted to walk on it but I was okay. I would still have been very apprehensive about jumping as far as I could on the glass even though I knew it would be absolutely impossible for even the heaviest person who ever lived to break it.

As we entered the place we shared the lift with a wedding party, which were to be let out by the lift operator at a floor out of bounds for ordinary visitors. Didn’t know they have function room ms for hire there. I suspect not very large but a cool location for a smaller wedding do.
 
T & P said:
After many years of meaning to I finally visited the innards of Tower Bridge. It had always struck me as surprisingly cheap (£13) for a paid London attraction; but after seeing it I’d say the admission price is proportionate to the experience.

The information displays across the place are a bit provincial museum run by volunteers-like, including numerous cheesy cardboard cutouts of cats intended to entertain kids for all of the bloody 45 minutes it takes to navigate the place. Some of which in the direct line of light of the internal structure of the towers, spoiling the view.

We were also a bit pissed off to find out only after we’d completed the visit that there are extra rooms and exhibits available when you take the 200-step stairs up instead of the lift to the top of the tower. My OH wasn’t feeling so great and as all the attendant said was ‘you get to see more via the stairs’, I assumed they meant nice views of London through any windows encountered along the way so I didn’t bother. Turns out there’s a whole room dedicated to the diving teams among other early stages of construction we missed. The glass walk along the connecting walkways between the two towers and the exhibits along the way were well worth it though.

The engine rooms were interesting due to the remaining machinery, but the information and displays on site leave a lot of room for improvement. And yet more fucking cardboard cats plastered around the place.

Sadly the cavernous and impressive-looking counterweight chambers are not included. I believe they occasionally offer behind the scenes tours that include a peek of them. That sounds like a better option to visit.

Still alright for £13 though, and recommended.
Click to expand...

My brother had a job as the lift attendant and operator at Tower Bridge many years ago.

I've never visited the "innards" myself.
 
When I worked in Regent Street I barely visited any site unless I was showing an out of town friend around. Since I started taking students to London I've visited all the major sites. I've yet to go on board HMS Belfast though.

I was once escorting some Argentinian students to the Tower. Their group leader wanted to see Tower Bridge, and insisted I escorted them there and back.
 
T & P said:
After many years of meaning to I finally visited the innards of Tower Bridge. It had always struck me as surprisingly cheap (£13) for a paid London attraction; but after seeing it I’d say the admission price is proportionate to the experience.

The information displays across the place are a bit provincial museum run by volunteers-like, including numerous cheesy cardboard cutouts of cats intended to entertain kids for all of the bloody 45 minutes it takes to navigate the place. Some of which in the direct line of light of the internal structure of the towers, spoiling the view.

We were also a bit pissed off to find out only after we’d completed the visit that there are extra rooms and exhibits available when you take the 200-step stairs up instead of the lift to the top of the tower. My OH wasn’t feeling so great and as all the attendant said was ‘you get to see more via the stairs’, I assumed they meant nice views of London through any windows encountered along the way so I didn’t bother. Turns out there’s a whole room dedicated to the diving teams among other early stages of construction we missed. The glass walk along the connecting walkways between the two towers and the exhibits along the way were well worth it though.

The engine rooms were interesting due to the remaining machinery, but the information and displays on site leave a lot of room for improvement. And yet more fucking cardboard cats plastered around the place.

Sadly the cavernous and impressive-looking counterweight chambers are not included. I believe they occasionally offer behind the scenes tours that include a peek of them. That sounds like a better option to visit.

Still alright for £13 though, and recommended.
Click to expand...


Did this a couple of years ago with BB2 who I was amazed to discover found it interesting. And £13 seemed like a decent deal. Unlike where we went next, that Tower, fuck me, couldn't take any of it in due the shagging I'd just had at the turnstiles.
 
I remember going to the tower bridge experience in the late eighties or early 90s and it being expensive and not very good, at least that was the view my parents had of it.
 
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