Good trivia question: What connects the Lutine Bell to Queen Victoria?

Answer: a gun that sits on the North Terrace of Windsor Castle, pointing towards Eton College, the old school of Princes William and Harry. 

A nearby plaque records it was part of the armament of HMS Lutine, lost off the coast of Holland on Oct 9 1799. The wreck was later handed over by the Dutch government  to Lloyds, where the treasure it had been carrying was insured. The gun and the ship’s bell – along with some of the gold - were salvaged many decades later. The bell now hangs from the rostrum at Lloyds of London and is still rung: once for bad news, twice for good. Presumably Lloyds didn’t need the gun, which was rather the worse for wear after almost a century underwater. So it was presented to Queen Victoria and to this day decorates Windsor Castle’s North Terrace, once described as “the noblest walk in Europe”.

Winter Lights – Canary Wharf

Spectacular, fascinating, beautiful, amazing, intriguing......The installations at this year’s Winter Lights event at London's Canary Wharf are all these, and more. The thirty internationally-sourced  sculptures and structures use different forms of light technology to produce their dazzling effects, often created by the actions of the spectators. The installations are scattered around the Canary Wharf complex, but there is a map to help find them. (Above: Ovo, which you can enter, and be surrounded by light and soundscapes.) Wrap up warm and prepare to be amazed!

Be turned into an artwork with projected light at the Digital Skin Live Interactive Station.

Fun on a wall  at Cabot Square with Luma Paint Light Graffiti. But how does it work?

There are five Angels of Freedom to help you get in touch with your celestial side.

The lights and music of On Your Wavelength are controlled by an EEG headset.

The exquisite Transforming from Stardust sculptures by Lorna Carmen McNeill look as if they've come from fairyland.

Liter of Light was co-created by children from George Green School on the Isle of Dogs, using discarded plastic bottles.

Water Wall transforms a screen of mist into an ever-changing canvas for bright projections.

Westferry Circus becomes a magical garden with Bloom's thousand globes of light.

The illuminated stripes of Horizontal Interference quiver in the breeze.

Stand before the scanner in Passage and you will be transformed into a 3D pixel picture that then fragments - a representation of the data trail we leave wherever we go.

In Cathedral of Light, twelve columns react to visitors' movements. Pulses of light are sent up through the columns, generating more light energy as people congregate.

See all 30 installations and print up a map at http://canarywharf.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/canary-wharf-arts-events-winter-lights-2017-leaflets.pdf

Winter Lights runs 4pm - 9pm until Friday, January 27.