On the first of January, every church bell will ring in Britain at midday, to herald in the new century. They appear to be somewhat better organised than ourselves. For the past six years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been focused on the event, funding projects throughout the country, expecting to spend around £2 billion. By January 1999, the commission had awarded grants to 187 capital projects on more than 3,000 sites, ranging from village greens and community halls to major flagship projects such as the new national stadiums in Scotland and Wales, the International Centre for Life in Newcastle and the new Tate Gallery in London. The commission has also allocated £200 million for a scheme to provide individual bursaries.
The most well-known monument is, of course the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, home of the Prime Meridian, longitude zero. The dome will house 14 themed zones, arranged around a circular performance arena with shows several times daily. From a trip inside the human body to an aerial maze full of interactive exhibits, visitors will get a taste of the next 1,000 years. Already one million tickets have been sold and it is expected that 12 million people will visit the Dome during the year.
The other major monument in London is London Eye, the world's largest observation wheel, which was recently raised 450 feet beside the Thames near Big Ben and Westminster Bridge. It will offer spectacular views from its 32 enclosed capsules and will take 30 minutes to revolve. The Thames is undergoing a revival as part of the celebrations and will be a focal point for the New Year celebrations. A six-mile stretch will be illuminated from Tower Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge and 2,000 pyrotechnic candles will be set off, creating a 60-metre-high "river of fire". The evening will end with the greatest firework display London has ever seen. A new bridge is being built, a suspension footbridge, and will link St Paul's Cathedral to the New Tate Gallery of Modern Art.
London is not the only place to benefit from the Millennium Commission - major monuments, galleries, museums, gardens, exhibitions and landmark projects will take place during the year, including the International Centre for Life in Newcastle, with imaginative exhibits devoted to DNA, brain science and a feature called "Life of the Edge", a specially commissioned film which makes people feel they are bungee jumping, skateboarding and surfboarding . . . The motion simulator seats move with the action on screen.
Meanwhile the Earth Centre, on two disused South Yorkshire collieries between Sheffield and Doncaster, will be an immense gallery with a subterranean feel, with images presenting a story of a planet in flux. Nature Works will explore land and freshwater habitats, and the Japanese-influenced Rokkaku's Trail will explore the sense of sound and touch. Near St Austell in Cornwall, a disused china-clay pit is being transformed into an indoor rain forest, desert and other landscapes housed in vast glasshouses. You will be able to walk on the grass and eat the fruit from the trees. There are more magnificent glasshouses in Wales, where the National Botanic Garden is taking shape at the lost gardens of Middleton Hall, and should be complete by mid-2000. The centrepiece is a great glasshouse designed by Sir Norman Foster, 110 metres by 60 metres wide, the world's largest single-span greenhouse, which will house a complete representation of Mediterranean flora in a spectacular landscape, surrounded by plant displays, lakes and woodlands.
In Scotland, meanwhile, Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, next to the Palace of Holyrood House (the site of the new Scottish Parliament) will trace the evolution of our planet from Big Bang. In the Trossachs, the Glen of a Million Trees replanting project, located on the Glen Finglas estate, will produce the largest broad-leaved wood in Britain.
As the year grows old, the renovations and revolutions will continue. In Bath, the city's beloved spa, dating from Roman times and closed now for decades, will open again. In nearby Bristol the city's waterfront will have been revitalised with stunning architecture and high-tech attractions.
Moving north, Manchester artist L. S. Lowry will be remembered at The Lowry in Salford, a waterside theatre and art gallery complex that will house the world's largest collection of his paintings. One of the most ambitious projects is the target to open 3,500 miles of the National Cycle Network by mid-summer. During the year there will be many festivals around Britain and one not to miss will be the Mystery Plays, a recreation of the medieval open-air religious theatricals taking place in York from June 22nd to Late July and in Chester from June 19th to late July.
The Britain Travel Centre expects more than 2.5 million people from Ireland to travel to see the sights. And there certainly won't be much competition at home for their attention. Anyone know where the "time in the slime" is now?
The Britain Travel Centre is at 18/19 College Green, Dublin 2, 01 6708000.
online logo here
www.visitbritain.com/millennium
www.dome2000.co.uk
www.LondonTown.com
www.centre-for-life.co.uk