BT Tower to open for first time in 29 years The BT Tower will open to the public next month for the first time in almost thirty years as part of an architecture festival. The West End landmark will be the star of the Open House weekend, when buildings across the capital open their doors to visitors for free. The 19 September open day is billed by BT as "absolutely a …
I spend a lot of time on anti-scam sites, telling people, among other things, that there's no such thing as an email address lottery..
Subject: Your email has won 1,000.000 GBP and a trip up the PO Tower.
All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through
computer draws system and extracted from over 10,000,000 companies and personal
e-mails. So your email is your online automatic ticket that qualified you for
this draw.
Blah blah taxes blah blah Western Union blah blah.
Why remove it from OS maps? If a prominent building is not shown on an OS map, but is clearly there, then it must have some role that is important to the State, so this just grabs attention.
I remember reading somewhere about a farm that didn't officially exist - one of the barns was a lift to an underground bunker.
A lot of the countries bunkers are actually built underneath a cute cottage. If you want to see one for real, the old Scottish Office bunker in Fife is open to the public (under the name "Scotland's Secret Bunker"). The funny thing about these is that over time the cottages were surrounded in barbed wire fences, had sangar fortifications built around them. Even the cottages had metal shutters over the windows. Of course the most obvious thing would be the hundreds of cars parked outside, or the buses running in to the sites around shift change time.
A lot of the sites that aren't marked on OS actually have some buildings marked there, but don't have the whole site. It is not necessarily as obvious as it first seems.
It was never there, you were never here, and I am not here telling you this.
Though the origins of the name ORDNANCE Survey may give it away why these things are not shown.
RAF Menwith Hill - the huge golfballs for example.
If it really bothers you do what many walkers have done and annotate your map.
Ah... here's my lift.... Kzerrrt...
It says details will be made available online of the email address to enter the ballot, however, the details are also in the guid, whick although they are attempting to charge £3.50 to download, is hosted on a public URL here:-
http://www.open-city.org.uk/shop/downloadfiles/OpenHouseLondon2010.pdf
Now that Phorm is running out of steam (and money) this could be a good opportunity for some of the staff facing the disappearance of their company , to make a bob or two.
Will Kent Ertugrul, or someone from BT, stalk you up the tower, peering over your shoulder to check out what you are looking at, then give you a bunch of carefully selected tourist guides to attractions he sees you looking at?
Will he then follow you down the tower and around the rest of London, pointing out things to go and places to do?
If you complain, will he then say he was actually protecting you from muggers, that he doesn't know who you are?
Would the nice man from BT then try to stop you commenting on the whole episode to your mates in the pub afterwards?
Active (Secret)
Inactive (Secret just in case)
Old (Nobody cares)
Historic (Ok, lets have a think about it)
Most sites go through this for farily obvious reasons. Views/restaurants aside looking at old comms kit is a fairly limited market and takes some thought to make interesting for many, however I have been to the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and its really really good, wife and kid were not bored as there was a lot to play with.
There as something on TV about the tower with chris Barrie recently, most of the kit was still in place, quite fascinating looking at all the hardware required to do its job.
Demonstrating just how retarded government security could be, this ugly monster appears as a wide open oblong on a several maps I have of London.
Like many of it's taller brethren, the BT Tower is not too good for much given that it's archaic microwave dishes and horns have been replaced by fibre-optic cable and satellite links. It's historic building rating about sums up it's utility other than for outside broadcasts, etc.
Given that it is, technically, a publicly funded building it should be wide open so tourists can use it in a shorter version of the CNN Tower in Toronto, Canada - except it really sways when it gets windy (olace a bottle of drinking water on a flat surface to see how much).
My local Nuclear Power Station is, technically, a publicly funded building, but I dont see EDF Energy opening it up for the great unwashed to have a wander round. I, for one, am frankly in far more awe of Nuclear Fission then a tall building and would rather look round the reactor.
There are plenty of things around the world that don't appear on maps... like the Nevada Testting Facility at Groom Lake, USA. It clearly exists, but isnt on any maps. Or, the facility at Aldermaston.
Remember, this was in the day before Street View, when a lot of terrorist planning was done by maps. There is a lot of risk in physically having to go to the place to carry out a "reccy", take photos. Someone might recognise you.
Come down south to Frankfurt and you can stand on the top of the 200m maintower for less than €10 (I really can't remember exactly, but it's well worth it).
They also have the "festival of the skyscrapers" or something like that every year where you can go up 30 or so large buildings, as far as I remember for free.
Nice that BT is making the attempt but should do better.
A much better view though is Emley Moor TV mast in Yorkshire, they must open this to the public.
The one with the acrophobia tablets in the inside left pocket
Definitely worth going up if you get a chance - views are great, and for anyone with a technical bias (so everyone on here), there's something oddly cool about the visit.
BT used to give certificates out to people a few years ago when they visited (found mine a few days ago, had completely forgotten about they gave them out) - wonder if they'll be doing the same with these visits?
Wonder whether that French geezer who climbs tall buildings with bare hands has had a go at the POT? Somehow I don't think it's scalable, unless you've got a set of Captain Marvels sucker pads.
Maybe we could have a competition for a good cause. Sell tickets to the general public to see how far Gordon Brown and Tony Bliar can be thrown from the top. All proceeds to a needy cause.
Was as a schoolboy. My late father worked for the GPO in London, and there were several open days for staff and their families before the official opening. I was about 12 yrs old at the time, but still remember it well!
In addition to the rotating floor there was an (open!) observation gallery and we also got to see behind the scenes in the technical areas - huge 1960's cabinets of kit as per SciFi films!!
I shall be entering the draw, but don't expect to see as much this time round.
William (sad face - memories of Dad)
Its well worth a trip up there. I have been a guest of BT Corporate Hospitality and eaten in the restaurant, which was very nice as well. The revolving floor is only disconcerting if you look inwards to the "core" which is not moving. Then you can feel a bit sea sick. Looking outwards is excellent fun. Ihave to add that the revolving mechanism broke down part way through and had to be restarted though...
I saw the film "Tallinn in Darkness" on Moviedrome where the mob plan the heist in the restaurant at the top of the radio tower built for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. So when I got the chance to go I went there and had a vodka or two, magic. Not sure it is still open but worth a visit even if you don't get a branding ;-)
...in at least the "Land of Nod" episode of Rufus Hound vehicle HOUNDED, and also of course DOCTOR WHO, a lot. I think "The War Machines" story - ah yes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Machines
"The TARDIS lands in London, near the Post Office Tower. The Doctor is unsettled by a sensation of a strange energy nearby. Visiting the newly completed Tower, the Doctor and Dodo meet Professor Brett, the creator of WOTAN (Will Operating Thought ANalogue), an advanced problem-solving computer that thinks for itself. In four days' time, on C-Day, WOTAN will be linked to other major computers to take them over, including those of the White House, Cape Kennedy and the Royal Navy." Let's hope that "Compter Day" goes well... "Using its hypnotic control, WOTAN enlists a workforce to construct 12 War Machines around London." Ah.
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