Over the weekend I visited the One World Trade Centre, New York, the building also known as the Freedom Tower, constructed on the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood.

I visited this place many times before the atrocities of September 11^th, 2001 when nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, and have visited many times since. I have therefore taken a keen interest in how the building recovery has taken shape.

The results are at once spectacular and moving. The new tower is truly beautiful and the area where the original towers stood, now converted to square shaped memorial pools, is a fitting tribute to the victims. The water is said to represent not only the regeneration of life but also the tears of humanity for what happened over 14 years ago.

To read the names inscribed on the memorial, particularly the names of the policemen and firemen along with the numbers of their fire trucks, is heart-rending. Over 400 police and fire officers gave their lives trying to save others and that is perhaps the saddest part of the tragedy.

Glancing up at the magnificent tower gleaming in the Autumn sunlight I realised that the impressive structure is not only a fine work of modern engineering and a moving memorial to all those lost lives but a testament to the courage and resilience of this great city.