Wot No Shard!
I didn’t actually get a view of the dreaded Shard from Crystal Palace, as I suspect the trees were in the way. But you can see a long way.
Wot No Shard!
Are those white columns to the right on the horizon the Dartford Crossing? if not, what are they? Enlarge the picture and I think you can see the bridge deck.
A Missed Picture!
I waited by the Angel Building for a New Bus for London to trundle up the hill to the stop, so that I could photograph one with Lauderdale Tower and The Shard in the background.
Lauderdale Tower and The Shard
But one didn’t come!
Jessica was on the bus-stop opposite!
Jessica At The Bus Stop
She must have the most displayed midriff in history.
The Shard Gets Everywhere
I’m getting less and less happy with the Shard, as every picture you take, has London’s most ugly building in the background. Here’s a few pictures.
-
- The Shard From A Bus In MIle End
I shall be adding to this gallery. Note that I can even see the Shard from the end of my road.
The only good thing about the Shard is that it’s better than what was there before.
Is The Shard Value?
The Shard is charging £24.95 to go to the top. The Emirates Cable-Car is different and it costs just £3.20 to actually get somewhere. The London Eye is very coy about tickets and I think it costs £15, with the ability to pay extra for fast-track. You get fast-track for nothing on the cable-car if you use your Oyster card.
It strikes me that the choice is a no-brainer. Go on the cable-car, if cost is important to you.
One important point, is that all three projects have been realised by the MACE Group.
London Bridge Bus Station Opens on Monday
Over the last few months, getting a bus at London Bridge and especially the 141 that gets me home, has been difficult to say the least. But not as of Monday, when the new bus station on the forecourt opens.
As you can see from the pictures, it will be a great improvement on what is there now and what was there before the Shard put its enormous feet all over the place.
This is the bus spider map that shows the routes from London Bridge. It is a bit out of date at the moment and let’s hope that it links to the new map on Monday. I hope to that the temporary stop shown in the picture has been replaced by a permanent one.
By the way, there is no sign up to say that the new bus station opens on Monday, but a member of staff with the right helpful, intelligent and cheery attitude, who gave me the information. People like him, are one of Transport for London’s big strengths and they’re always there to help. The same can’t always be said for most bus and metro companies outside of the capital.
Climbing The Shard
It would appear that a group of intrepid climbers have climbed the Shard by London Bridge station. Read the story here in the Belfast Telegraph.
People and especially students have always been doing this.
At Liverpool in the 1960s, I was in a year with Alvin John Slasser, who was usually known as Sean.
One night he climbed the crane of the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool, which was being built at the time. I suspect that the Shard was taller, although the crane was several metres taller than the cathedral and Sean did claim to have gone right out to the driver’s cabin.
Sadly, Sean is no longer with us. In the first year of the course he died in a freak climbing accident in I think North Wales.
If there is something tall there, someone will climb it!
It must have affected me greatly, as when C named our second son, he had a middle-name of Shaun. She got the spelling wrong.
The Anonymous Widower 