Tag: design

The Tower Bridge - London - UK

UK: Visting Tower Bridge – North & South Towers – East & West Walkways! (1.8.2026)

Of course, the bridge was never designed to be a tourist attraction per se – but it certainly is today – replete with a glass-floor on each of the two towers. Climbing the 209-steps-up essentially culminates in the traversing of the two towers – “North” and the “South” which are 213-feet above the water of the River Thames. Along the side of the Walls are arranged historical write-ups about this or that fact. For instance, a “bail of hay” has to hung beneath the arms of the bridge when these arms are not in operation and/or receiving repair.

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The Wyles Family at London Bridge!

UK: The “Engine Room” of London’s Tower Bridge! (1.8.2026)

We visited Tower Bridge on Friday July 31st, 2026. Oddly, none of us had visited this iconic site before. The Engine Room is around a hundred foot or so from the bridge proper (we actually visited the bridge proper – before we approached the Engine Room) – and features the original turbines that lifted the bridge up and down. Although the engineers that built the bridge received ridiculously good wages – the everyday workers who kept the bridge functioning safely on a daily basis received nothing like as good pay. Still, the engine is said to be similar to those found in ships like the Titanic.

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Soviet Binoculars & Soviet Hat

UK: Finding a Pair of Genuine CCCP Binoculars in a Local Charity Shop! (25.7.2026)

There were shops in major cities in the USSR reserved for visitors – that were designed to exhibit the best quality goods the Soviet Union had to offer. What is interesting that nowhere on this product is a price mentioned – not even on the Certificate – which makes wonder whether this device was “gifted” rather than sold. Although it is said that Soviet citizens could not afford to shop at the special tourist shops – due to the prices charged (these prices were still relatively cheap for foreign visitors – my great uncle flew from one-side of the USSR to the other for £5) this really did not matter, as Soviet citizens would receive these goods either “free” (provided by the State) or at a fraction of the price charged to rich foreigners. You can see how Western propaganda used every opportunity to “lie” about the Soviet Union and give the impression of inequality or oppression. My great uncle – a former Coldstream Guardsman – used to practice photography as a hobby, and he would regularly fly to the USSR to purchase cameras – as Soviet cameras possessed the best lenses (perfected during the Space Race). Photography in the 1950s and 1960s was a completely different beast to the contemporary equivalent.

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Market Overton - 17th Century Window!

Market Overton: 17th Century Window! (6.11.2025)

What is now the dining area – where I set-up my study space – was probably once part of the garden. Therefore, the window itself was once considered the height of building technology. In those days, draughts from blowing winds were a major issue. The frame of this window is firmly embedded in the wall-structure so that no wind can penetrate. The cement and plaster hold it robustly in place – whilst its relatively small surface area allows for strength and stability. As glass was not as strong then as it is now – the panes of glass used were far-smaller – with each held in-place by its own frame. Furthermore, and a feature I like, is the central pane that possesses a stout hinging and opening and shutting mechanism. Even today – this design still retains much of its original strength – whilst being now inside the house means it is now better preserved.

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DPRK - Best Healthcare System in the World!

DPRK: Ultra-Modern [Socialist] Pyongyang General Hospital Nears Completion! (25.9.2025)

Expressing his pleasure of greeting the day when the one of the cherished desires is to be realized in the long run, he said with pride that the foundations of country’s public health will experience fundamental change if modern hospitals rise up in over 200 cities and counties across the country in the future and Pyongyang General Hospital will be splendidly recorded in the history of the new era of the country’s construction as a monumental entity symbolic of the first year of the healthcare revolution led by our Party and the first substantial starting point of the public health rejuvenation.

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Weng Youyou, who lost her left leg and arm in a car accident in 2020, is seen in this stylized photo with her "cyberpunk" prosthetic leg on. (Photo provided to China Daily)

China: Flesh Embraces Steel in New Age of Prosthetics Aesthetics! (17.9.2025)

This is because the disabled suffer the greatest extent of discrimination – and many sympathetic able-bodied know that if they step out of line with their able-bodied colleagues – then doors are shut. Indeed, one comment was left at the foot of my article stating that “It is the fault of the disabled. All their extra needs are a burden to the average worker. Why should the average worker make any extra allowances for disabled individuals when they contribute nothing to the system, and are a drain on society? As the disabled produce little (or no) material gain and/or surplus profit through their labour – why should (the workers) share what little they have with them?” And this comment derived not from the right – but from the left! Today, I see comments like this on virtually ALL right-wing and far-right forums – with the left remaining quiet on the subject – whilst simultaneously doing nothing about it! This is the debilitating world of stifled intellectualism we live in in the West. Compare this with the giant strides being made in Socialist China!

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