Panoramic Earth meets MySpace

Panoramic Earth has entered the MySpace community on http://www.myspace.com/panoramicearth . The whole of Panoramic Earth is currently undergoing a complete overhaul and it is hoped that the renewed site will be up and running shortly. Among one of the new things that we hope to be able to offer is the possibility for other MySpace users to use the tours for themselves.

St. James Park - London

This photo of the view from St. James Park in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

St. James Park is one of the Royal Parks in London and forms a triangle. At one end is Buckingham Palace and the park is bordered by The Mall, Horse Guards Parade (which passes Downing Street) and then Birdcage Walk. St. James Park is one of the smaller Royal Parks, covering only about 95 acres of land

A lake runs almost the full length down the centre. The lake is populated by a variety of fowl, including the geese you see here feeding off the grass. There are two islands in the lake (Duck Island and West Island, and a large fountain close to Duck Island at the eastern end. There is a lovely bridge which spans the lake in the middle linking the two sides of the park and offering great views back towards Westminster.

St James Park is mostly grassland with trees, although there are some flower plantings, especially towards the east end of the park, near to Horse Guards Parade. The Mall, which runs down one edge, links Buckingham Palace with Trafalgar Square, passing through Admiralty Arch. This road is closed to traffic on Sundays, bringing calm to the whole area and allowing this part of London space to breathe. Within the park is also a bandstand, and often live music, and a restaurant, close to where this picture was taken.

In the summer the park is generally full of people taking advantage of a space to relax and catch a bit of the sun. The eastern skyline is now dominated by the London Eye, whose pods rise above the top of Whitehall.

Like most of the Royal Parks, St. James Park owes it’s history to Henry VIII who brought the land for hunting. The area was marshy and often flooded by the Tyburn. Over the next 200 years various changes were made to the park, and the final shape that we have today settled into place. John Nash was one of the planners who worked on the layout of St. James Park.

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The nearest tube stations include St. James Park, Westminster and Charring Cross. Green Park Tube is also close by.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of St. James Park can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for resturant in St. James Park on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Southwark Bridge - London

This photo of the view of Southwark Bridge London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

Southwark Bridge spans the River Thames in London linking the City of London with Southwark. The next bridge downstream is London Bridge (often confused with Tower Bridge), while upstream is the Millennium Bridge (for pedestrians only) and then Balckfriars Bridge.

There are many important sites close to Southwark Bridge, especially along the southern bank of the Thames. Proceed upriver and you will quickly pass the Rose Theatre Exhibition, the Globe Theatre and then the Tate Modern. Travel in the other direction and you will find the Clink Prison Museum, Golden Hind replica boat and then Southwark Cathedral. St. Paul’s Cathedral is not too far away on the northern side of the river. It is easy to spend most of the day here, and some of the attractions are free with the London Pass.

The first bridge crossing the Thames at this point was not built until 1819. It was an iron bridge designed by John Rennie (who also designed the Serpentine Bridge in Hyde Park), and featured in Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit.

The current Southwark Bridge opened in 1921 and is now maintained by the Bridge House Estates, which is a charitable trust overseen by the Corporation of London. Southwark Bridge is often used as a coach park at the weekends, and it can be hard to find a place to look up or down the Thames given the number of coaches that can be parked here.

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The nearest tube stations include Mansion House, London Bridge and Cannon Street.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of Southwark Bridge can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for Southwark Bridge on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Serpentine Bridge - London

This photo of the view of the Serpentine Bridge London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

The Serpentine Bridge spans the Serpentine in Hyde Park at the north end of Exhibition Road. This road then becomes West Carriage Way, which continues north and separates Hyde Park from Kensington Gardens. From the Serpentine Bridge you get a great view down the Serpentine east, towards the West End of London.

The Serpentine is a man made lake covering some 40 acres, created by Queen Caroline in the 1730 by damning Westbourne Stream. Unlike other man made lakes of the period, the Serpentine was given a natural curve, a design that was quickly copied in most other grand gardens of the time. The Queen also took about 300 acres of Hyde Park and to make Kensington Gardens to go with Kensington Palace. Hyde Park was then separated from Kensington Gardens by a ha-ha.

Like the rest of the parkland, the lake here officially divides into two. The area towards the West End is the Serpentine (situated in Hyde Park), while the lake on the other side of the bridge is called Long Water and lies in Kensington Gardens. The Italian Gardens are at the far end of Long Water and there is also a statue of Peter Pan. The first wife of Percy Shelley, a famous 19C writer, drowned herself in the Serpentine in 1818. Percy later married Mary, who wrote Frankenstein.

The bridge itself is more recent and dates from around the 1820s by John Rennie when King George IV was renovating the park. Near to the bridge you will find the Serpentine Gallery, Diana Memorial Fountain and the Albert Memorial.

If you follow Exhibition Road south out of the park then you will be taken towards South Kensington and the Museum district where you will find the Victoria and Albert, Science and Natural History Museums (along with the Earth Galleries).

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The nearest tube station is Hyde Park Corner, while South Kensington is about 10 minutes away down Exhibition Road.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of the Serpentine Bridge can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for Serpentine Bridge in Hyde Park on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens

This photo of the view of the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

The Serpentine Gallery is surrounded by Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, just a short distance form the Serpentine. It looks nothing like a traditional gallery, being housed in a Grade II listed former tea pavilion that was built in 1934. In 1998 the Serpentine Gallery was refurbished with a £4 million grant.

The grounds at the entrance to the Serpentine Gallery house a permanent work dedicated to Princess Diana, former patron of the Serpentine Gallery. This piece was made by Ian Hamilton Finlay and Peter Coates.

In contrast to the classical surroundings, many of the exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery feature modern artists, and the list of those who have exhibited here is long and prestigious, including Henry Moore, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol, Man Ray, Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread to name a few.

Unlike many other galleries in London, the special temporary exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery remains free for all to visit. The gallery used to only be open during the summer months, but this may now have changed. Check the Serpentine Gallery website for current exhibition information and opening times.

Given the patronage of the late Princess Diana of the Serpentine Gallery, it is fitting that the Diana Memorial Fountain is just across the road from the gallery near to the Serpentine lake. Also near to the Serpentine Gallery are the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall, while Hyde Park Corner, and the Wellington Arch, are just a few minutes away.

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The nearest tube station is Hyde Park Corner, while South Kensington is about 10 minutes away down Exhibition Road and past the V&A and Science Museums.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of the Serpentine Gallery can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for Parliament Square on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Parliament Square - London

This photo of the view of Parliament Square in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

Parliament Square is, as the name suggests, just outside Parliament and the Palace of Westminster. The square is surrounded by official and imposing buildings including Westminster Abbey and St. Stephens Tower (containing the bell Big Ben). Also here is Protcullis House containing the offices for many of the MPs, completed in 2001.

Parliament Square has often been used as a platform for protest or publicity. Here the two collide as the banners, erected during the 2012 London Olympic bid promote the event, while along the ground are the posters and placards erected in support of Brian Haw and the peace protest against the War in Iraq. The latter are not welcome by the establishment and in May of 2006 the police removed most of it in a late night operation. Ironically, this action was overseen by a statue of Winston Churchill, defender of British freedoms, which is being photographed by the lady in the foreground.

Equally ironic is the proposal for a statue of Nelson Mandela, another champion of freedom, to be placed in the square. One can only speculate about his opinion of the State’s treatment of the current protest there. There is also a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Parliament Square.

The effectiveness of the Brian Haw protest (virtually unbroken since 2001) resulted in a new clause being introduced into the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005 banning all forms of public protest from the square without permission from the police. It is really difficult to imagine how this protest in Parliament Square constitutes a serious organised crime, but it is evident that people in power do not want him there.

Parliament Square has often been the destination for marches protesting or demonstrating in London for one thing or another. It was ‘reclaimed’ in May 2000 by the Reclaim the Streets protest group and turned into allotments. Other notable protests to focus on Parliament Square include those in opposition to the War in Iraq in 2003, and the Countryside Alliance in opposition to the ban on fox hunting.

Parliament Square became surrounded by traffic in 1926, and is now very busy almost all the time. During New Years Eve it is filled with people waiting for Big Ben to bring in the new year, and often now caught in the midst of firework displays from the London Eye and the Thames.

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The nearest tube stations include Westminster and St. James Park.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of Parliament Square can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for Parliament Square on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Oxford Street and Fruit Stall

This photo of the view of Oxford Street in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

Oxford Street has to be one of the most famous shopping areas in London. Sadly it is dominated by one high street store after another with little to differentiate it from other high streets except size. With some 300 shops lining nearly 2 miles from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch.

Oxford Circus is about half way along, forming an extremely busy junction with Oxford Street and Upper / Lower Regent Street. Near here you will find a few stores that have existed for more than a couple of years, including John Lewis, which has been on site since 1895, though the current building dates from 1960, the previous one being a victim of bombing in WWII. John Lewis store is unusual in that the principle beneficiaries of the generated profits are the workers, who are considered Partners.

Just behind John Lewis is Cavendish Square, a good place to relax if it is sunny. Further along Oxford Street you will find Selfridges, another world famous store, which opened in 1909. The highly profitable placement of the perfume section on the ground floor has been much copied by department stores around the world. It is hard to imagine that much of the rest of Oxford Street will remain in place for quite so long. The southern end of Baker Street joins Oxford Street next to Selfridges, linking the area to The Regents Park and Baker Street Tube.

The fruit stall you see in this picture is found at the junction of Oxford Street and New Bond Street (where you will find very expensive tailors, jewelers and the like). These little stores are a common site in London, providing fresh fruit at often lower prices than the supermarkets. Just north off Oxford Street from this point is the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square.

Oxford Street has existed since Roman times, linking London to Oxford. It used to be known as Tyburn Street after the River Tyburn which now runs underneath it. In the 18C it was notorious as the final route for prisoners on their way to the gallows at Tyburn (husbands been taken shopping along Oxford Street may feel the same way today!). The surrounding fileds were brought by the Earl of Oxford in 18C and developed into what has become the current shopping district.

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The tube stations that serve Oxford Street include Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus, Bond Street and Marble Arch.

The full panoramic image taken from the junction of New Bond Street and Oxford Street can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr. You can also find a marker for New Bond Street on Tagzania.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.