h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Does anyone accept the Editors' T-shirt Challenge to write an Entry on London landmark, the BT Tower?

Is there a time limit on these? I'd like to have a pop at this (I work a couple of minutes from it!) but have volunteered for Dudley Moore too.

LOL there's no time limit, go for it!

Wow, that was quick - haven't even had time to put it on the front page properly!

I'm very late for work so just happened to be hanging around.

Noticed you've started one on Chris Morris as well...fantastic stuff!

I started that then forgot about it for a while, but a recent viewing of The Day Today got the bookmarks resurrected. Coning soon and all that.

Roymondo - there's some very interesting stuff in Tony Benn's diaries about the GPO Tower - he opened it as Postmaster General of course - particularly when he went back many years later (after Thatcher had sold off BT) and found he was banned from entering the building. The BT fat cats had effectively turned it and its famous revolving restaurant into a private club. I have a copy of the diaries if you're interested in me paraphrasing the story - alternatively you'll find them in most libraries (Biographies section)

Blimey, I wouldn't have thought of checking Tony Benn. I'll see if I can find the diaries round here. Do you know which volume he mentions it in?

October 1965 - official opening,
early 1966 - Queen's official visit. (I'll post the dates when I have the book to hand)

Sadly, I can't find his more recent attempt to access the building - it wasn't in the index. I would guess it's in the Free At Last volume, but I would need to do some detective work to find the date. I'll see what I can do - it's a story worth telling...

Icy

I vaguely remember having researched the revolving restaurant on the Post Office Tower when I was writing my entry on the TV Tower in Prague...

Hang on a mo, let me see, er... A1111249.



Ah yes, here's the footnote: The Post Office Tower, as it was then known, closed its observation gallery to tourists following an IRA bomb in 1971. It also had a restaurant near the top that revolved, giving the diner a constantly-changing panorama over London - but that closed in 1981 when the lease ran out.

As I remember it, I think Billy Butlin owned the concession to run the restaurant.

I've just been reading about the corporat lighting at the top and looking at the Butlin's restaurant menu: http://www.butlinsmemories.com/id693.htm

I bet the matchbook's somewhat collectable!

This is really quite fascinating.

Cor!

'ere, listen, wait a minute... this is all in bleedin' French!

(I can bet that conversation was had a few times...)

Two diary entries (paraphrased):

Friday 8th October, 1965: Official opening. Guests included Benn (Postmaster General), his wife Caroline, Clement Attlee (The oldest and most senior PM-G), Charles Hill, Lord Normanbrook & Sir Billy Butlin.

Tuesday 17th May 1966: Queen's visit. After a tour she took tea with Butlin in the revolving restaurant. Benn says: "She was obviously not interested in the technical aspects but I think enjoyed seeing London from such a height. I suggested that there ought to be a state banquet in which all the guests went by the top table every 20 minutes."

Still looking for the other Benn story. I might have read it in the paper or seen it on TV, and only imagined it was in the diaries, I suppose.

You might find these interesting:
The Independent (London) August 14, 2001, Tuesday "TOWER POWER"
The Independent (London) November 16, 1994, Wednesday "It's lonely up there at the top"

I can't post them here for copyright reasons, but drop me an e-mail and I'll send them (address upside down at the foot of my PS) ...

The Benn/tower story was featured in the BBC2 programme 'One Foot in the Past', Tuesday 19th May 1998.

Also, don't forget the iconic scene in the Goodies episode "Kitten Kong".

Icy

Kitten Kong, being the most important thing about the Post Office Tower, will be in the first paragraph.

I was looking out the office window at the Tower this afternoon. When you know a bit about something you see it a whole new light. Later I wandered 'round during a fag break, looked up, felt dizzy, went back to work.

Do you know the Tower Tavern? I think it's been done up a bit since I first found it about ten years ago, and I've not been back for at least five, but it used to have a brilliantly shabby unreconstructed sixties feel to it.

I've probably walked past it but don't know it. I'll have a sniff around - grotty pubs are a welcome change 'round that area!

'sactly. I can't remember the street, but - hang on...

It's here:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=529134&y=181906&z=1&sv=529134,181906&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

Corner of Clipstone Street and Cavendish Street.

Aha! I've definitely walked past it but haven't noticed it (which is unusual for me!)