The Madness of London's (Failed!) Eiffel Tower

Video Description

In the 1890s, London came incredibly close to having its very own Eiffel Tower- a structure even taller than the Shard! Known as Watkin’s Tower or Watkin’s Folly, this ambitious project was the brainchild of railway magnate Sir Edward Watkin. Set to soar 1,175 feet above Wembley Park, this unfinished landmark was meant to crown a new pleasure park just 12 minutes by train from Baker Street. In this video, we explore the fascinating history of this forgotten landmark, the eccentric designs submitted to a competition (including ones featuring spiral walkways, steam trains, and even parachutes!) and why the tower never came to be... 📚 View the original design catalogue here: https://archive.org/details/descriptiveillus00lynd/page/n3/mode/2up 🔔 Subscribe for more London history: https://www.youtube.com/@Robslondon *** Chapters 00:00 The Eiffel Tower's Forgotten Rival 01:02 Who was Sir Edward Watkin? 02:20 A Vision for Wembley Park 04:54 A Crazy Contest: Designs for the Wembley Tower 11:21 The Winner- & Building Begins 12:54 A Very British Setback 13:53 Why the Scheme Fell Apart 15:02 Echoes of Watkin's Dream 16:10 Outro *** #LondonHistory #WatkinsTower #VictorianLondon #LostLondon #Wembley #EiffelTower #UKHistory *** Links for this video Wembley Stadium https://www.wembleystadium.com/ Battersea Power Station Lift 109 https://lift109.co.uk *** My other links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/cabmirror Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert_lordan/?hl=en-gb Thanks again for watching, friends. Stay well, and please be sure to stay tuned! *** Credits Images & other footage: Maps: National Library of Scotland Comic Telegraph Head: The London Illustrated News, 1951 Forth Railway Bridge footage: Radu Daniel (MRD), via pexels.com Old Wembley Stadium: Merv Payne, Creative Commons * Sound Effects: Dorset Seaside Town (Carlvus) Hammering Construction: Soundscape_Leuphana (free sound.org) Dynamite explosion in the mountain (Felix.blume) * Music: English Country Garden (Aaron Kenny) Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Analogue Cabin (Noir Et Blanc Vie) Danse Morialta by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200026 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Fine Dining (TrackTribe) ***