Orientation Table - The Queen's Walk, Southwark, London, UK
N 51° 30.493 W 000° 06.750
30U E 700374 N 5710296
This orientation is located on the south side of the River Thames outside The London Television Centre. It is up against the railings next to the riverside.
Waymark Code: WMGCGM
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/14/2013
Views: 5
The view is across the river and
indicates Charing Cross Station, to the west, through Electra House, immediately
opposite, to the OXO Tower in the east. The view is etched into a stainless
steel table with the etching highlighted with black paint.
The table is sponsored by BT (formerly
British Telecom) with the text on the table telling us:
South Bank
The view from this
point shows a number of buildings which have featured in the development of
telecommunications in London, the country as a whole and around the
world.
Britain's first telephone exchange
was opened bya private company in the City of London in 1879 and the network
grew rapidly before the First World War. In 1912 the private and municipal
telephone companies were taken over by the Government. The General Post Office
then managed and developed the network until 1984 when it was returned to
private ownership as British Telecom (now BT) and competition was seen again
after 72 years.
Faraday Building (1890-1939) was for
many years one of the most important international telephone exchanges, linking
Britain with the rest of the world and also enabling many other countries to
communicate via London as was often the only way.
Telephone House (1900) on the
Embankment was the Headquarters of the National Telephone Company before
nationalisation and is used this day as a BT office.
Further west along the Embankment is
Electra House (1933) once Britain's main international telegraph office, again
with a proud history of keeping the world in touch.
Dominating the skyline is the BT
Tower (1965), the principal nerve centre in Britain's long distance telephone
network and the main switching centre for British
television."