On Apr 28, 8:26*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009, John Rowland wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

Barcelona's was fine when i was there several years ago, but quite like
Rome, ie nothing exciting. The fact that the network also includes
funiculars and cable-cars is rather excellent, though!

Maybe we should campaign for some in London, up Gants Hill, maybe.

There was a semi-serious proposal for one in Chatham or something, wasn't
there?

Barcelona's has its middle stop at the summit of a mighty tower:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=barc...://bacn.me/37l

Perhaps the Post Office Tower could be pressed into service? The line
could run from Primrose Hill to the GPO, then across the river to the Eye..


Dunno about Chatham, but there was semi-serious talk of a cable car
linking Covent Garden with the South Bank - I've just goggled for it
and found this Indy article from 1995:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...y-1585424.html

It was mooted as a potential Millennium project. It would seem that
this idea lost out to the Hungerford footbridges, aka the Golden
Jubilee Bridges, which were a Millennium project (i.e. funded by the
Millennium Commission), and which provide a far superior route across
the Thames in comparison to the old footbridge on the downriver side
of the railway bridge.

I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I'm not sure these were always
destined to carry the "Golden Jubilee [Bridges]" moniker - however
construction was delayed in part because of concerns about foundations
hitting the Bakerloo line tunnels just under the river bed (were these
not also reinforced around this time?). Whether there was ever a
serious estimated completion date of late 1999 or 2000 I don't know,
but if so the whole thing certainly slipped substantially early on.

I would love for there to be a cable car between Covent Garden and the
South Bank, but being brutally honest I have to say the new Hungerford
bridges are rather more useful overall, and are also rather splendid
at that. They do quite a good job in opening up the South Bank to norf-
of-the-river central London, at least in comparison to their
uninviting and unexciting predecessor. And I rather suspect that the
Millennium Wheel has already taken up the slot for the theme-park ride
already, at least in this part of town.