The view from the top floor of the Gherkin towards the Tower, Tower Bridge and the Armadillo (the Mayor's building). The huge building on this side of the river is the insurance broker Marsh.
The Gherkin - otherwise known as the Swiss Re building or 30 St Mary Axe, stands where my office used to be before the IRA blew up the Baltic Exchange with a bomb in 1992 (in the mistaken belief that it was the Stock Exchange). The bomb caused £800 million worth of damage, £200 million more than the total damage caused by the 10,000 explosions that had occurred during the Troubles in Northern Ireland up to that point. Thomas Miller had already moved some years before, but it was still a salutary experience as we hadn't moved very far, and when we were finally allowed back in I found broken glass on the chair in my office in Holland House.
Baltic Exchange Chambers - 14-20 St Mary Axe - in 1980
