It wasn't just the Queen Elizabeth Tower that was being maintained; some work was being done on other parts of the palace. Just below me to the right you can see one of the berths that allow boats to dock. How often they do these days, I have no idea but it would have been a popular form of transport a couple of hundred years ago. (There are more substantial piers and jetties behind me on the other side of the road, just behind the statue of Boudicca that we saw in the previous shot.)

And, of course, we finally come face-to-face with the legendary Thames River. Off in the distance, you can see the next bridge which I believe is Lambeth Bridge. Westminster Bridge is behind me and not visible in this shot.