25 November 2009
Sir Terry Wogan, Freeman of the City of London, raises Tower
Bridge
Sir Terry Wogan will raise Tower Bridge and receive the Freedom
of the City of London next month to celebrate five decades in
broadcasting, and to mark his final week as the presenter of his
hugely successful breakfast show, Wake Up to Wogan, on BBC Radio
2.
Sir Terry has been invited by the City of London Corporation,
which owns Tower Bridge, to raise the two 1,100-tonne bascules on
Monday 14 December at 11.15am to allow a vessel to pass underneath
the Bridge and along the river.
While he is operating the machinery, Sir Terry will make a
series of announcements over the Bridge’s tannoy system to warn
road traffic, pedestrians and technical staff about its imminent
closure and reopening.
After the bridge lift, he and his guests will be driven to
Mansion House in the ‘Square Mile’ to attend his Freedom of the
City of London ceremony at 12.00pm. He will be joined by Lord Mayor
Nick Anstee and Stuart Fraser, City of London Policy Chairman, who
both nominated him for his Freedom, and members of his family and
BBC colleagues.
The ceremony, which will be presided over by Christopher
Bilsland, Chamberlain of London, will begin with an oath of
allegiance (to HM The Queen and the Lord Mayor, read aloud by Sir
Terry) and end by him being greeted as a ‘Citizen of London’ and
the presentation of a framed copy of his Freedom certificate. After
the ceremony, the Lord Mayor and the Chamberlain will host a
private lunch at Mansion House for Sir Terry and his guests.
Speaking before his Freedom ceremony, Sir Terry Wogan said:
"For years, I've been hoping to drive a herd of sheep over
London Bridge. Or failing that, swinging from the Tower on a silken
rope.”
Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor of the City of London, said:
“I am delighted to nominate Sir Terry for the Freedom of the
City of London to help celebrate his outstanding work, whether it’s
entertaining millions of people on ‘Wake Up to Wogan’ or raising
millions of pounds for ‘Children in Need’. I am sure that
pedestrians and car drivers on Tower Bridge will be pleasantly
surprised to hear his dulcet tones over the tannoy when he stops
the traffic… but I don’t hold out much hope for his sheep herding
plans.”
One of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in
existence today, the Freedom of the City of London is believed to
have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade.
Today, people are nominated for, or apply for, the Freedom, because
it offers them a link to the historic City of London and one of its
ancient traditions. Many of the traditional privileges associated
with the Freedom, including driving sheep over London Bridge and
being drunk and disorderly in the City without fear of arrest, no
longer exist.
Miore about Freedom of the City
Ends
Notes for editors
About the City of London Corporation:
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation.
It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in
international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.
Press enquiries
Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer, City of London
Corporation
Tel: 020 7332 1452 / Mobile: 07795 333 060
Email:
andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk