PIN The Mandela Way Tank

“Stompie`s Adventures

London is a city full of unique sights, sounds and curiosities and what is more curious than a tank in the street (at least in the middle of peace-time? This tank, a soviet T34 tank to be more precise is affectionately nicknamed “Stompie”, and it is the witness of an amusing history. “Stompie” is also a street art venue, because it`s repainted regularly by local artists.

History

The tank has originally been brought to London for the filming of the movie, Richard III. This was placed in an empty lot in 1995 after it was purchased by local businessman named Russell Gray.
The businessman wanted to build on the empty lot, but his proposal was shut down by the city council. So he decided to buy the tank and placed it in the empty lot with the cannon pointed in the direction of the Southwark Council’s planning offices.
The city council gave its approval to put the war machine here thinking Russell Gray had meant to install a “septic tank.”
It is probably the most extravagant joke made at the expense of the local council. Today it's surrounded by scrub and weeds and repainted regularly by the street art, artists with often a political message.

TripTide Thoughts

This is located in Southwark, a regular tourist venue, you can visit a lot of things here and it's a very interesting borough.

How to get there

Take the Bus to Bricklayer's Arms and take a brisk 4 minutes walk.

Owner

sebastian soler

Hi I am Sebastian - a french student on an internship in London for TripTide. I love music, movies and history - and London. My Home Town is Nice in France. ...