Great Wheel

In eighteen ninety-five, a massive steel structure began to dominate the skyline of West London, towering over the Earl's Court exhibition grounds. Standing at three hundred and eight feet tall, the Great Wheel was the largest of its kind in the world when it opened. It featured forty cars, each capable of carrying forty passengers, and offered a twenty-minute rotation that provided a view of London previously unavailable to the general public. Designed by the young engineer Walter Bassett, the wheel was a marvel of Victorian ambition, running on two fifty-horsepower electric motors and intended to bring the excitement of an American-style exhibition ride to the heart of the city.