- Wheel of Birmingham
The Wheel of Birmingham, also known as the Birmingham Wheel and informally as the Birmingham Eye, refers to two convert|60|m|ft|0 tall
Ferris wheel installations atCentenary Square inBirmingham ,England . The first opened onNovember 6 2003 , [Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/features/2003/11/birmingham_wheel.shtml|title=Brum's Big Wheel|publisher=BBC|date=2003-11-05|accessdate=2008-09-06] and its replacement opened onOctober 21 2004 . [Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/features/2004/10/birmingham_wheel.shtml|title=Brum's Big Wheel is back!|publisher=BBC|year=2004 |month=October|accessdate=2008-09-06]Both were designed and built by the
Ronald Bussink company, Ferris wheel and observation tower ride specialists, and operated byWorld Tourist Attractions , a company set up specially to run the Birmingham Wheel, and which has gone on to provide a variety of wheels to cities around the UK and beyond.The first wheel, the
Roue de Paris , came from a three year position inParis initially for a three month visit. When the ride opened for a press day, the operators had forgotten to switch off the original commentary, which pointed out the sights of Paris in French.The following year, WTA rebuilt the Roue De Paris wheel in
Manchester , while providing a brand new wheel on the same site in Birmingham. Again, it was owned by World Tourist Attractions Ltd. but had commentary by96.4 BRMB DJ,Phil Upton . Like all subsequent World Tourist Attractions wheels, this one consisted of sealed carriages with air conditioning and heating, and a premium "VIP" car.The two temporary wheels in Birmingham were initially viewed as the precursor to a plan to install a permanent wheel in the city. Plans showed a "tracked" wheel from the Swiss firm
Intamin . A "tracked" wheel involves the wheel itself remaining motionless, and the cars travelling along a track mounted on the perimeter of the structure (a wheel of this design can be seen atLaQua inTokyo ). The future of this plan in uncertain.fact|date=September 2008Contrary to popular preconception, the current wheel operating
Manchester , while operated by World Tourist Attractions, is not the second Birmingham Wheel. OnSeptember 5 2006 , the second wheel closed due to the purchase of the wheel by anAustralia n company. The wheel has been dismantled and transported to Australia. [Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5317602.stm |title=Two hours' notice as wheel closes |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-09-05 |accessdate=2008-07-28]Since operating the Wheel of Birmingham, World Tourist Attractions has purchased and operated several wheels, mostly of similar designs to the second wheel, but in various sizes. In the UK, WTA wheels have opened in
Manchester ,York ,Belfast , andHyde Park in London. Summer 2008 sees the company opening wheels inGreenwich andWindsor (a different wheel to the one that opened there in 2006).References
External links
* [http://www.worldtouristattractions.co.uk/ World Tourist Attractions Ltd - Birmingham Wheel website]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=30927&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=11616 Images of the Roue de Paris when in Birmingham]
* [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=47262&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=11616 Images of the second wheel including construction pictures]
* [http://www.star-one.org.uk/default.asp?postid=18 Image of the second wheel near end of dismantling and comment]
* [http://giantrides.com/ Ronald Bussink Professional Rides - designer of both Birmingham Wheels]
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