The view from the Tower

The first three photos were taken on the river front by the Tower of London.

The first shows Guys Hospital on the right and the slipform concrete service core of The Shard rising above London Bridge Station in the centre. HMS Belfast is in the foreground.



Ken's former residence - City Hall, the GLA headquarters. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while the present mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it as "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion".



Tower Bridge - say no more.



Trinity Square gardens near the Tower of London contains memorials to the Merchant Seamen who died in both world wars and the Falkland Islands War. In the distance is the church of All Hallows by the Tower.

The Saxon Abbey of Barking founded the church of All Hallows by the Tower in 675 AD. An arch from the original Saxon church remains. Beneath the arch is a Roman pavement, discovered in 1926, evidence of city life on this site for the best part of two thousand years. Following their execution on Tower Hill, numerous beheaded bodies were brought into the church including those of Thomas More, Bishop John Fisher and Archbishop Laud. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was baptised in the church and educated in the schoolroom (now the Parish Room). In 1666 the Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane, a few hundred yards from the church, and All Hallows survived through the efforts of Admiral Penn, William Penn's father. John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the USA, was married in All Hallows in 1797. In 1940 the church was bombed and only the tower and the walls remained, but the late Queen Mother laid a new foundation stone in 1948 and attended the re-dedication service some nine years later.The Vicar at the time was "Tubby" Clayton, founder of Toc H. The movement's lamp of maintenance still burns in the Lady Chapel and the founder's effigy and body rest in the church. (reference : http://www.ahbtt.org.uk/history/)



Former Port of London Authority Building, Trinity Square Gardens, Tower Hill. It was built between 1915 and 1922 and was the in the Beaux Arts style to the design of Sir Edward Cooper. It was badly damaged in the war when the rotunda was destroyed. It is grade II listed (see http://10trinitysquare.com/documents/10TrinitySQ%20-%20Historic%20Buildings%20Architects%20Report.pdf