Continuing with my series of images of london, here's a view North-West from Tower Bridge. Like the photo to the west, this was taken from the west walkway and has been processed through Photomatix.
The skyscrapers are, from left to right, Tower 42, the Willis building, Commercial Union Tower, 30 St. Mary Axe, the Heron Tower.
Tower 42 was formerly known as the Nat West Tower after the national Westminster Bank. 30 St. Mary Axe is more commonly called, The Gherkin.
The Gherkin sits on the site of the former Baltic Exchange which was damaged beyond economic repair by an IRA bomb in 1992. That one bomb caused £200 million more in damages that the sum total of the 10,000 or so previous IRA bombs set since 1969. Like the Oklahoma City bomb and the recent industrial accident in West, Texas, the explosive was made from fertilizer.
The interior, including the last exchange trading floor in the City of london was salvaged and has been stored in various parts of england as it has changed hands over the years. Currently it sits in containers in Tallinn in Estonia, awaiting the completion of a land deal to allow it's reconstruction. Although Tallinn sits on the Baltic Sea, the Baltic Exchange first appears in 1744 associated with the Virginia and Baltick Coffee House on nearby Threadneedle street. After the bombing the Baltic Exchange moved 4 doors down the street to No. 38.
The name ‘St. Mary Axe' appears to be a mash-up of the names of a church and a neighboring tavern. By bolting the name of the tavern onto the name of the church it probably helped distinguish that church dedicated to St. Mary from all the other churches dedicated to St. Mary.
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