On 1 Jan, 16:39, MaxB wrote:
On 1 Jan, 14:54, Clive Page wrote:

It was good to see the tubes running late (and free, though I'd got a
1-day travelcard so it didn't save me anything) but we went in specially
to see the fireworks at midnight and were very disappointed....
... I think I saw somewhere that a different company was responsible for the
display this year. *Did others manage to get a better view or were you
also disappointed?

--
Clive Page

My master plan with wife and grandson was to alight at Waterloo East,
view fireworks from Westminster Bridge (to avoid smoke in southerly
wind) then go to Charing Cross (WE being closed) to go home. However,
apart from the drizzle, we found Westminster Bridge had been closed by
the police so we had to traipse round via Lambeth Bridge and then
struggle back towards Parliament Square. This wasted so much time that
midnight came just as we reached the extreme SW corner. Yes, I thought
the fireworks were pretty disappointing too - no bangs, no real form
or crescendo - and it was hard to see anything for a good part of the
time. Later saw them on TV and it looks like we didn't miss much
anyway. Certainly, to say you could see them wherever you could see
the Wheel was an exageration with all the low level boat stuff and use
of the Wheel seemed pretty limited too.

Yes, also, run by a French company who apparently did whizzy things in
Athens and in Paris in 2000. Maybe he had run out of ideas?

I won't go into the ordeal of getting home, with an hour queue to get
into CX and my last train long gone, and the 2 altenative trains,
super expensive taxi and car to complete the journey. Anyway, if I
feel like suggesting such a trip to my family again, I shall go and
lie down in a dark room until the feeling passes.

MaxB

Fireworks looked pretty impressive on TV to me. Much better than New
Years Eve was in London just a few years ago - see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2618337.stm with police advising
people to stay at home as there was nothing to see.

Rob