Tower Bridge in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in October 1971 Belfast
became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction,
Belfast receives around a quarter of a million visitors per year.[7] As a branch of a
national museum, Belfast is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, by admissions income and the museum's commercial activity.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over
the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name.Name[›] It
has become an iconic symbol of London.
The bridge consists of two towers which are tied together at the upper level by means
of two horizontal walkways which are designed to withstand the horizontal forces
exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers.
The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical
reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule
pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. Its present
colour dates from 1977 when it was painted red, white and blue for the Queen's Silver
Jubilee. Originally it was painted a chocolate brown colour.[1]
Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge, which is
actually the next bridge upstream.[2] A popular urban legend is that in 1968, Robert
McCulloch, the purchaser of the old London Bridge that was later shipped to Lake
Havasu City, Arizona, believed that he was in fact buying Tower Bridge. This was
denied by McCulloch himself and has been debunked by Ivan Luckin, the seller of the
bridge.[3]
The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the Circle and District
Lines, and the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway.