You've Probably Never Seen The BT Tower Like This Before

[archivist]

I still call it the Post Office Tower, because Tony Benn, a former Postmaster General, liked to remind people that it wasn't included in the privatisation, so technically it's still ours, and BT are squatters 😂

[j]

Looks like a cup on the edge of a table and its just as anxiety-inducing

[johnburn]

Fun fact. There is a 1960s British marionette show called Space Patrol that has a tower that looks exactly like the BT tower. The interesting part is that the BT tower wasn't finished being built when Space Patrol was filmed.

[jonrivers]

Its weirder underground. Its built on giant inflated bags of air to cope with subsidence and the poor soil in london

[civilwildman]

This woman is a wellspring of knowledge. We must cherish her and - if possible or necessary- protect her.

[UNO]

Fun Fact: Knights used to carry a knife called the misericord which was also known as the ‘Mercy dagger’ it was thin enough to be able to stab through chainmail to kill the enemy because slashing, stabbing or even hitting with a blunt weapon was ineffective but it was mainly used against knights or other highly armoured people and not the average soldier

[waitsjunkie]

When I lived in London it was the Gherkin that I had no idea about. For all I knew it just stopped at the level of the nearby building roofs and hovered like a giant special effect for Doctor Who. It spoiled the fun somewhat when I finally saw the base. 😅

[jschreiber]

The tall stalk around which exchange equipment and office space is hung, is supported by a “collar” at the bottom. It has a super fast elevator in the stalk to whisk VIP corp clients and the top brass to the fancy revolving restaurant. It’s a shame it had to be closed to the public because of what happened, but vetted corp VIPs from client companies and transatlantic partners being courted were hosted by BT execs at the revolving restaurant, decades after it was closed to the public.

[justmutantjed]

TBH, I'm more impressed by that. How the heck did they engineer the bottom of that tower to stay up like that?

[sandwich]

Got that "glass placed precariously on the corner of a table" energy

[squidundertheinfluence]

Probably some poor repair job after the Kitten Kong incident of 1971.

[paulcoyle]

I went up to the top many years ago when it was still allowed. Magnificent view.

[JamesKing-elry]

I remember back in the 70's when the restaurant was still open, the whole thing revolved every 23 minutes. It was always busy.

[perhapsahedgehog]

I remember there is a castle somewhere in Poland that had a tower which halfway turnes from a square into circe, 'cause the designers changed their minds. The transition looked really funny

[keithreynolds]

GPO Tower to me too. I have a set of first day cover postage stamps issued to celebrate the tower's opening.

[klewis]

I've been in many meetings in the basement of BT Tower, and on several occasions, to launch events at the rotating restaurant at the top.

[lunchpin]

One time my train home from king's cross was delayed by 2 hours so I walked all the way there. It was so underwhelming

[PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

Oh, that’s a very strange bottom for a tall cylinder building!

[JayneCooney-kuvm]

My uncle helped for the satellites in the top he was on blue Peter and he got blue Peter badge

[bookshopsandwildflowers]

My mum worked there. They had cool beanbags and I was allowed to jump on them. It was all very exciting.