The London Eye

Towering over you is the London Eye, the giant wheel on the Thames. It stands 135 metres tall, and one turn takes about half an hour. It exists because an architect couple lost a competition. David Marks and Julia Barfield entered the idea in a newspaper's search for a landmark to mark the new millennium. The judges decided there would be no winner at all. The couple didn't give up. They got planning permission on their own, and Marks even mortgaged his house to cover the early costs. The wheel was assembled lying flat out on the river, then hauled upright. The first attempt had to be abandoned when cables slipped. A month later, it finally stood straight. Look at how it's held up. The whole wheel, around sixteen hundred tonnes, hangs from one side only, on a leaning frame over the water. Its spokes are cables, just like a bicycle wheel. The Eye was only meant to stand for five years. Later it was given permission to stay for good. Count the capsules if you like. There are thirty-two, one for each London borough. But there is no number thirteen. Next stop: the Oxo Tower, about 1.1 kilometres or 15 minutes east along the river, past the Southbank Centre and under Waterloo Bridge.