London Aquarium

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the London Eye. It opened in March 1997 as the London Aquarium and hosts about one million visitors each year. It is the largest aquarium in London.

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames, near the London Eye.
Credit: User unknown/public domain

In April 2008, the aquarium was purchased by Merlin Entertainments for an undisclosed sum. The facility was closed for a £5 million refurbishment, which was completed in April 2009. The additions included a new underwater tunnel, Shark Walk, a revamped Pacific Ocean tank, and a complete rerouting of the exhibit, all of which were carried out under the supervision of architects Kay Elliott. The attraction officially became a Sea Life Centre when it reopened in April 2009.

In May 2011, the aquarium opened a new penguin exhibit, with 10 gentoo penguins transferred from Edinburgh Zoo.

The aquarium includes two classrooms themed around the conservation campaigns which the zoo supports, which host up to 40,000 school children each year and are open to the public when not in use by the education programme. It is involved in several breeding programs including the Cuban crocodile, seahorses, butterfly goodeids, and jellyfish, and works with many conservation organisations.

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

The Underground Map Whitehall, SW1A Added: 8 Dec 2020 00:24 GMT	Othello takes a bow On 1 November 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was presented for the first time, at The Palace of Whitehall. The palace was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698. Seven years to the day, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Tempest was also presented for the first time, and also at the Palace of Whitehall. Reply
Bruce McTavish Lambeth North Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT	Kennington Road Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design. Reply

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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William Shakespeare TUM image id: 1509551019 Licence:	The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo. A noted venue for many a traveller awaiting their train or ending their evening. Credit: Virtual Tourist TUM image id: 1605093975 Licence:	Overflow of the Thames at Lambeth Stairs on Tuesday 29 January 1850. Lambeth Stairs was near to Lambeth Palace. Poor river wall maintenance meant that the area was flooded whenever there was an unusually high tide. Credit: Illustrated London News TUM image id: 1623706174 Licence:	Trafalgar Square was a former station on the Bakerloo Line before it combined with Strand station on the Northern Line to become the new Charing Cross underground station. Credit: The Underground Map TUM image id: 1624972963 Licence:	Strand stretches along the River Thames between Trafalgar Square and Aldwych Credit: The Underground Map TUM image id: 1625131830 Licence:
1893 programme cover - Canterbury Theatre Credit: London Borough of Lambeth TUM image id: 1513437589 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Waterloo Bridge on an 1810 map. TUM image id: 1556885410 Licence:	Hungerford Stairs circa 1828 Hungerford Stairs led down to the water, where landings could be made. The formation of floating piers at the quay facilitated the arrival and departure of numerous steam boats that left during the summer months every quarter of an hour, for the City, Westminster, and Vauxhall, and at other times for Greenwich and Woolwich. When Hungerford Market was sold to the South Eastern Railway, the railway company demolished the stairs, building Charing Cross railway station over the top of the site. TUM image id: 1557403389 Licence:	Buses outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, early twentieth century Credit: Stockholm Transport Museum TUM image id: 1557142527 Licence:	Westminster Abbey with a procession of Knights of the Bath (1749) Credit: Canaletto TUM image id: 1557315488 Licence:
London Hippodrome in 2017 Credit: Ethan Doyle White TUM image id: 1528649183 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Trafalgar Square (1905) The steeplejack firm of W. Larkins Co Ltd. are at work cleaning Nelson’s Column for the first time since it was erected in 1843. The firm had been founded by Willliam Larkins in 1897 and he is pictured at the top next to Lord Nelson. TUM image id: 1663086959 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The Strand frontage of Northumberland House (1752) The Percy Lion is atop the central façade and the statue of Charles I at right survives to this day The pedestrianised area in the foreground became the site of Trafalgar Square - back then it was the Royal Mews Credit: Giovanni Canaletto TUM image id: 1605613806 Licence:	The Adelphi Building on Savoy Place, looking north from Victoria Embankment Gardens (2018) Credit: Wiki Commons/Acabashi TUM image id: 1668084438 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The original, Brunel-built Hungerford Bridge. TUM image id: 1544479084 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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William Shakespeare
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The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo. A noted venue for many a traveller awaiting their train or ending their evening.
Credit: Virtual Tourist
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1893 programme cover - Canterbury Theatre
Credit: London Borough of Lambeth
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Hungerford Stairs circa 1828 Hungerford Stairs led down to the water, where landings could be made. The formation of floating piers at the quay facilitated the arrival and departure of numerous steam boats that left during the summer months every quarter of an hour, for the City, Westminster, and Vauxhall, and at other times for Greenwich and Woolwich. When Hungerford Market was sold to the South Eastern Railway, the railway company demolished the stairs, building Charing Cross railway station over the top of the site.
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The Adelphi Building on Savoy Place, looking north from Victoria Embankment Gardens (2018)
Credit: Wiki Commons/Acabashi
Licence: CC BY 2.0

The original, Brunel-built Hungerford Bridge.
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Blackout in London, Crescent Moon and Street Lamp, The Adelphi (1939)
Credit: Bill Brandt
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Newspaper seller on Horse Guards Avenue (1937) A reminder that newspapers invented ’clickbait’. From the archive of amateur London photographer, John Turner
Credit: John Turner/Museum of London
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Deep beneath the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station, Leake Street, once a dismal, tunnel for vehicular traffic now enjoys a new lease of life as an ever changing, unofficial art gallery.
Credit: Instagram/@njcoxx
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Building the District Line and Joseph Bazalgette’s Embankment sewer near Waterloo Bridge (1867) Bazalgette’s Memorial is on the right here today.
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