Just down the road from the Houses of Parliament is the 1960s tower block, the Millbank Tower. Famous for its uncompromising brutal aesthetic in an area dominated by classical stone buildings and for hosting the Labour Party for a few years, the top floors are now a bar and events venue.

Thanks to a tip off from The Londonist, I became aware that the top floor venue is allowing the general public up for tours and to admire the skyline over the next few weeks.

Although not quite as high up as the London Eye, it has the advantage of being stationary, so rather than a fleeting glimpse of the view from the top of the London Eye, you can get an hour at the top of a tower block – and hence a more relaxed appreciation of the view.

There are two main ticket types – the “lite” model which costs £11.50 and a deluxe for £18.50 which includes souvenir book and guide, which was tempting, but also a “guided tour by one of our award winning comedians“, which to be honest, sounds like my idea of hell.

I took the lite option. As it happens, overhearing one of the “comedians” as I wandered round suggested that they are quite serious and not at all comic, so maybe not as bad as the idea sounded.

The venue itself is quite spartan, almost municipal in design, but then again if you fill it up with champagne quaffing media luvvies the decor is hardly an issue and the view is what appeals to most people.

The tower also has the advantage of being a solitary building with little high rise around it, so the depth of the vista is more impressive than some of the City towers which are clustered together.

Irritatingly, my camera is in dire need of cleaning, so along with slightly dirty windows, the photos I took today are not at their best.

Having said all that – this is very much a visual experience, so here are a few of my favourite photos – and the whole lot are over at my usual Flickr account.

I might go back as it happens – after I get the camera guts cleaned – to catch the view just as the sun sets, as from my experience in other tall buildings, the twilight hour is when London looks its best when seen from above – as you get all the lights coming on while there is enough daylight left to see the structure of the buildings. The best of both worlds.

You can book tickets to visit the top via the Altitude 360 website

Another small map to add to my collection – this time a reprint of a map by John Norden for Queen Elizabeth.

Published originally in Speculum Britanniae in 1593 are considered to be the best representations known of the English metropolis under the Tudors. My copy was taken from “Old and New London” a series of illustrated topographical studies which were first published c.1883.

Interesting points to note:

The spelling of “Wes(t)minster” in the map itself.

The “way to St Giles” – although by then it had already adopted the suffix of “in the fields” by the time the map was made. Today, a church is still there, next to the CenterPoint tower.

Charing Cross on what is today the site of Trafalgar Square.

The area marked “Scotlande”, which was land ceded to Scotland for the use by the Ambassador and Royal Family prior to King James taking the English Throne. It later was the site of Scotland Yard.

The Great Hall at Whitehall, which is still standing as part of the Palace of Westminster.

Topical for today’s politicians might be Thieving Lane, so called, for that criminals were led that Way to the Gatehouse by Tuthil Street. Through the gatehouse, and in the very large version you can just make out the hangman’s gibbet in the new Palace yard, the criminal’s terminal destination.

Medium Sized Version (1024 x 698)

Very Big Version (2565 x 1749)

If you had been in Westminster today, you might have seen a group of distinctive looking people striding purposefully down Whitehall to Downing Street.

Today, on the 5th November, is the day that political blogger, the Old Holborn takes a casual wander down Whitehall in the guise of V, from the film to present a Carson Rose to the police at the gates of 10 Downing Street.

Once the group got to the gates, the lead V leant over to present the rose, but the police were noticeably uncomfortable and didn’t want to play along. After a few attempts, V carefully placed the rose on the barrier as a gift, pointing out that he had paid his taxes on it.

As the group processed down Whitehall to a pub, some speculated about the future fate of that rose and wondered aloud if it was about to be dealt with as a potential bomb.

I had to leave them at the pub, although they went onto Parliament later to seek entry as a member of the public is entitled to do. I popped back to Downing Street, but the rose had already been removed.

I also arrived late, so missed them congregating at the pub. Opps!

Some photos at my usual haunt on Flickr.

Towards the northern end of Regent Street is the University of Westminster, and squirreled away inside that building lies a spot of significant cinematic history. For on the first floor is “the old cinema”, and it was here that the first ever motion picture was shown in the UK.

The space, which is still usable as a cinema could be about to be restored to its original glory, thanks to a million pound donation from a Saudi billionaire.

A bit of history – the building was originally the site of the Regent Street Polytechnic, which had a display of Victorian ephemera, and the Great Hall within actually had a flooded canal installed with an iron diving bell, model boats and scientific wheels.

The Great Hall, formally known as Marlborough Hall was later converted into a cinema, and it was here that the UK’s first ever demonstration of the moving picture was held, on 20th February 1896 by Felicien Trewey, a French music hall entertainer, engaged by the Lumiere brothers.

In 1910, the front of the building was reconstructed by George A Mitchell with a façe by Frank Verity. In 1927, the Marlborough Hall was redecorated, the circle extended and the proscenium created. It became a full-time cinema, except during the latter part of the war when it had live use. In 1974 it closed as a cinema to become a live theatre called the Regent, which lasted until 1979.

It was a slideshow on the BBC website this morning that made me aware of the restoration plans, and I have also found some powerpoint slides that expand on the aims of the restoration project.

I have been in the cinema, as a society that remembers the precursor of the motion picture, the Magic Lantern Society had held talks in the hall in the past, and will be returning for a series of talks this winter.

All the talks are on Thursday evenings and start at 7pm, with doors open from 6pm and are free of charge.

• Phantasmagoria-mania (12th Nov, 2009)
  • An exploration through the playbills and other ephemera of the bizarre ghost-show entertainment known as the phantasmagoria as witnessed in London and the provinces at the turn of the 18th century.
• Lavater – The Shadow of History (26th Nov, 2009)
  • The noted physiognomist Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) returns for one night only to reclaim his place at the centre of European culture, armed with magic lantern, silhouette apparatus and a curious tale of photographic experimentation in his Zürich cellar.
• Grappling with Ghosts: Staging ghost effects in the modern theatre (10th Dec 2009)
  • Hours in dark theatres, expensive quotes from Pilkington’s glass, ill tempered Opera singers in Hamburg and perhaps the world’s first ghost doves. This talk explores the fascinating tale of how the original impractical Dircksian Phantasmagoria of the 1850‘s came into its in the 1860‘s and how, even with huge advancement in stage engineering and lighting, is still spookily difficult to stage.
• Visualising the Marvellous: G. A. Smith and his film ‘Santa Claus’ (1898) (28th Jan, 2010)
  • G. A. Smith (1864-1959) was one of the great early film pioneers. A stage mesmerist and an associate of the Society for Psychical Research, his six ‘spooky’ films of 1898 represent his fascination with the ‘other side’ and his close association with late Victorian paranormal culture.
• Geared to the Stars – Victorian Astronomy through the Magic Lantern (11th Feb, 2010)
  • Lectures on astronomy were a common form of popular entertainment in the nineteenth century. With an original Victorian magic lantern projector and delicate, hand painted glass slides from the 1840′s, Mark Butterworth recreates one of these illustrated lectures. Using complex and intricate mechanical ‘rackwork’ slides to illustrate astronomical concepts, it gives an introduction to mid-19th century astronomy.
• From Anorthoscope to Zoopraxiscope – an A-Z of Victorian animated cartoons (25th Feb, 2010)
  • Moving image 19th-century ‘toys’ – philosophical instruments for the drawing room, intended to promote intellectual discussion and provide amusement for adults as least as much as for children – come to life with this illustrated talk.

In my perambulations around London for the annual Open House events, I found myself in between planned venues so decided to wander around to Whitehall to see what was available san-queues to occupy a spare hour.

I was already in Victoria and walked past the tall if less than impressive Westminster Town Hall tower block and noticed the tell-tale green banners of the Open House event.

Odd I thought to myself, that building wasn’t in the guide book – and a quick flick through confirmed this. Nonetheless, it seemed sensible to cross the road and see what they were up to, and a small sign outside the building offered enlightenment.

On Saturday, as part of Open House, the borough’s collection of silver plate would be on display on the 18th floor, along with fine views over London.

Hmm, silver plate always attracts me and…. wait, what?

18th floor you say – with views over London you say?

As my two favourite things are descending as deep under London as possible, and ascending as high above it as possible, this was too good an opportunity to miss.

A very informal entry as you just signed in and then were told to take the lift up to the 18th floor without any escorts or security to stop a person wandering off. At the top, around a corner and through a heavy duty safe door (although the glass window next to it made it seem a bit redundant) and into a smallish room packed full of ceremonial maces, silver plate and an awful lot of tobacco boxes.

Now to go round the corner and into what is evidently a meeting and presentation room with the aforementioned “fine views over London”. The windows could do with a bit of a clean and as usual, the air was bit hazy in the heat so photos are not perfect, but it is indeed a heck of a view.

Buckingham Palace is laid out to one side, although you mainly see the huge arena like space in front of it. The London Eye dominates the view to the other side and a vast array of barren roofs are available to peer down on.

Not the most impressive interior, being very evidently a functional office, but considering it wasn’t in the guide book (was added at the very last minute) and hence wasn’t on my itinerary, I am quite chuffed to have managed to get a visit inside – so that I could look at what is going on outside.

More photos over at Flickr.