Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace, London - View from the parkAlexandra Palace was opened for the first time in 1873. It was known as 'The People's Palace'. It provided the Victorians with a great environment and recreation centre. The Victorians are well-known for building parks etcetera for recreation as they thought (quite rightly) that recreation was very important for working people. The Palace is situated in a park called Alexandra Park which covers 196 acres of land.

The Palace has never been very fortunate as it has burned down several times, the first time already 16 days after opening. The Palace was rebuild and opened again after two years. In July 1980 it burned down again, this time destroying about half of the Palace. Although big parts of the Palace have been rebuild, it looks to me some parts are still not completely finished.

The Palace has always housed museums, displays of painting and sculptures, exhibitions etcetera. A place (as mentioned before) for the people. Inside you will find an Ice Rink, a pub, children's playground and several other features.

As the Palace is build on top of a hill, you can get excellent views over London. I regret that although I took several pictures of these views, they never showed what you really see. I think a lot of this has to do with the smog you find all over London (although my capabilites of taking pictures might be part of the problem too :+) ).

Alexandra Palace, London - The BBC broadcasting towerIn 1935 the BBC rented out part of the Palace for transmitting their programs. It was the main transmitting centre until 1956. After that, it was only used for news broadcasts. As far as I know, it is not used by the BBC anymore. However, the antenna (used to broadcast the programs) is still there.

Just outside Alexandra Palace you will find a fun fair where you and your children can have a pleasant time. You wil find all kind of attractions here, varying from shooting galleries and a merry-go-round to the well-known octopus attraction. Prices for most of these attractions vary from 50p to a pound.

Please visit the website of Alexandra Palace for more information.