London, Great Britain - Westminster Bridge & Clock Tower

• PostCard: London, Great Britain
  Printer:  Stengel & Co.
• Status: From London, Great Britain to Paris, France
• Cancellation: 4th Februry 1903 (Both Countries)

*** Discovery: Bought from Uncle Tou on 23rd May 2010 in Kuantan

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE

Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster, Middlesex bank, and Lambeth, Surrey bank in what is now Greater London, England.. Opened in 1862.

  

History

For over 600 years, the nearest bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. Proposals for a bridge at Westminster had been made as early as 1664. These were opposed by the Corporation of London and the watermen. Despite further opposition in 1722 and after a new timber bridge was built at Putney in 1729, the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge, designed by the Swiss architect Charles Labelye, was built between 1739-1750.

CLOCK TOWER

A Clock Tower was built at Westminster in 1288, with the fine-money of Ralph Hengham, Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

The face of the Great Clock of Westminster. The hour hand is 2.7 metres (9 ft) long and the minute hand is 4.3 metres (14 ft) long.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is often extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 150th annivesary in May 2009 (the clock itself first ticking on 31 May 1859),during which celebratory events took place.

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