#SailingSaturday

As the name suggests, today is #SailingSaturday where our class took a boat trip from the Westminster Pier to Greenwich. Along the way we were guided by the crewmen of our ship, the Millennium Dawn. This journey down the Tames provided new information about London and some spectacular photo opportunities!

The London Eye generates approximately £2.5 million per year! 

 Although the London Shard may look incomplete, this is the intentional design of the building. It is meant to look like a broken piece of glass, this is where the name "Shard" came from.

It is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea.

 When London Bridge was built it was originally the only bridge crossing over the Thames. Over 50 designs were submitted to be considered for the winning design. The build of the bridge took 8 years to build with 432 construction workers. Before 1977 the bridge was brown until it was painted red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The bridge featured in publicity for the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London and commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. 

Fun Fact: A London bus driver once had to jump between the two raising ‘bascules’ when his number 78 bus was caught on the bridge as it rose.