Rooftop view of the Strand, City of Westminster, looking east. A major thoroughfare, the Strand runs east to west from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar. A major thoroughfare, the Strand runs east to west from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar. Named from the Old English 'strond', meaning the edge of a river, as before modern embankments and land reclamation it ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. On the right, the forecourt of Charing Cross Station and Hotel. A very busy scene with pedestrians and traffic, including many black cabs on the station forecourt. The railway terminus opened in 1864 after the construction of Hungerford Bridge which carried trains from Waterloo across the Thames. The hotel was built in 1863-4 in French Renaissance style by Edmund Middleton Barry, son of Sir Charles Barry. It suffered bomb damage in World War II and was reconstructed in 1953 by F. J. Wills and Son. It is Grade II listed, number 1236707. Barry also designed the station forecourt and designed the replica of the original Charing Cross, the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross, carved by the firm of Thomas Earp in Portland stone on an Aberdeen granite plinth. Octagonal, with a spire and cross and in fourteenth-century style, it is Grade II* listed, number 1236708. The original Eleanor Cross was one of twelve memorial crosses erected by Edward I of England in memory of his first wife Eleanor of Castille. On the corner with Villiers Street, numbers 32-38 Strand, modern office blocks with shops, were built on a site previously damaged by World War II bombing. These building have since been redeveloped. Just visible on the left is number 448 Strand which, along with 449, is part of a triangular island block of shops and offices between the Strand, Adelaide Street and William IV Street (formerly King William Street). Built in 1830-32 as part of the West Strand Improvements, planned by architect John Nash and executed by William Herbert. The circular corner pavilions, known as "pepper pots" have three storeys and an attic with a balustrade, and cast-iron balconies around the first floor. Number 448 is occupied by Barclays Bank, previously by The West Strand Telegraph Company. The block is Grade II* listed, number 1237040.