Tower Bridge and The Monument

• People who experience vertigo have the opportunity to face their fears at the most famous bridge in the world in a one-off event
• Tower Bridge Exhibition is hosting Gestalt Psychotherapist, Professor Emilyn Claid, who will lead one hour sessions comprising of mindful movement and exercises to help people face their fear of heights
• Sessions will explore sensations of fear around the body with the end goal of walking across the glass floor on Tower Bridge’s high level Walkways 42 metres above the Thames
• Sessions are free to attend to those that purchase general admission tickets. Spaces are limited, to guarantee a place in the mindfulness sessions – email towerbridge@kallaway.com
• Saturday 5 December from 10:00 – 16:00

Almost 60% of Britons are afraid of heights [1] and with over half a million visitors to Tower Bridge Exhibition each year, a significant number of people could be missing out on the spectacular panoramic views on offer. On 5 December, the team at the most famous bridge in the world will be working together with Gestalt Psychotherapist, Professor Emilyn Claid, to help those with a fear of heights take their first steps on the glass floor, 42 metres above the Thames.

Professor Claid, who is also a movement specialist at Roehampton University, will be leading sessions that will comprise of initial discussion of issues with walking on the glass floor followed by simple supportive and safe movement tasks that including breathing, grounding and centering with a focus on the relationship between looking, body and ground. Participants will then spend some time learning how to use the floor as an ally, rather than a foe and how this practice supports us while crossing the bridge. The objectives of the session are to help people learn how to manage body based sensations that arise without allowing fear to take over. People able to face their fear and step on the glass floor will be rewarded with an “I made it” keepsake.

Professor Emilyn Claid said:“I’m intrigued to be working with Tower Bridge in such a unique event. The high level Walkways provide an safe space where we can expose ourselves to the imagined fear of falling and at the same time practice ways to support ourselves in that process, so that we can be with, and enjoy, the experience.”

The glass floor across each Walkway comprises of six panels, each weighing 530 kilograms, supported by a carbon steel framework weighing approximately 1,000 kilograms, designed to withstand the weight equivalent of one elephant and two London Black Cabs. The Walkways original steel lattice structure has been preserved under the glass. 

Tower Bridge Exhibition tells the history of the Bridge through animations and displays, across its towers, high-level panoramic Walkways and the atmospheric Victorian Engine Rooms. For further information, visit www.towerbridge.org.uk.

[1] YouGov study on common fears in Britain

Tower Bridge (http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/)

• Tower Bridge was the creation of architect Sir Horace Jones and civil engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry. It took eight years to complete and was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra)

• Tower Bridge Exhibition opening hours:

o   Summer Opening Hours: April - September 10:00 - 17:30 (last admission)
o   Winter Opening Hours: October - March 09:30 - 17:00 (last admission)

• Admission prices for Tower Bridge Exhibition:
• Adults: £9
• Children aged 5-15: £3.90
• Groups of 10 or more: from £3.40 for children and £7.65 for adults
• Concessions: £6.30
• Family tickets from £18
• Under 5s free

• The nearest underground stations are London Bridge or Tower Hill

• The experience visiting the high-level Walkways has now been bolstered with the addition of the new glass floor, which gives visitors a unique perspective of London 42 metres above the Thames. Guests are able to tread on the glass floor whilst traffic passes beneath their feet – the glass floor panels can withstand the weight equivalent to one elephant or two London Black Cabs.

• The popular Great Bridges of the World exhibition has been refreshed, now featuring 40 of the world’s most revered bridges, each of which represents a breathtaking feat of engineering.

• Tower Bridge are supported by The City of London Corporation – a uniquely diverse organisation, in that it not only promotes and supports the City and provides it with a full range of services, but provides wider services for London and for the nation as a whole. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk.