Location | England LB Tower Hamlets Poplar (E14) |
Elektron (Tower 1), Blackwall Way | |
Distance (N) from Greenwich | |
OS map details | OS Explorer: 162 |
OS grid ref | TQ 38778.80855 (538778,180855) |
WGS84 lat/long | 51.509588, -0.001625 |
Type | Wall (line) |
Marking date | 2007–08 |
Access | Unrestricted |
After WW2, the Export Dock at the East India Docks was filled in and the Brunswick Wharf Power Station built. It ceased generating in 1984 and apart from the Switch House, was demolished in 1988–9. In 2004, plans were submitted to redevelop the Switch House (planning application reference PA/04/00973). Of the three towers that now occupy the site, the western tower, Tower 1 is the tallest at 25 stories. The Line runs up the front of the building and down the other side. It is an extension of the earlier marking on the ground that runs up to the river. The Line however does not mark the Airy Meridian. It nominally marks the earlier Bradley Meridian, being in practice, located about two metres to its west. The Meridian Laser fired at night from the Royal Observatory just misses the building, the centre of the beam passing with just inches to spare. The amount of light spill onto the building depends on the amount of forward scattering of the beam, which is itself dependent on the prevailing atmospheric conditions.