25 millionth

I was up high in a pod last night helping the London Eye to celebrate and publicise the imminent (even more so now that the weather has turned) arrival of their 25 millionth passenger. The milestone is to be marked by the launch of an online photography competition, from which the entries will later be used to form a giant digital mosaic.

When the Eye was first lifted up out of the Thames it was predicted that it might just achieve 2m visitors a year, but has in fact managed to pull in over 3m in each of its seven years of operation. Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris it's one of those 'temporary' examples of best practice engineering that very quickly establishes itself as an irreplaceable urban icon. It's also another of those soaring structures that is arguably at its most startling when you stand directly underneath it, bend your neck back slowly and commence gawping along an upward gradient.

We were joined by some members of my blogroll, including such eminent local bloggers as London Daily Photo and Diamond Geezer (And now OntoLondon.)