London England, a mile square

[hyldemoer]

I took my mother to dinner over the weekend and during the meal she mentioned that my father, while on a vacation to England, walked the perimeter of London in one evening.
After letting that sink in for a few seconds she added that London England is one mile square.

Search engines tell me yes, her statement could be interpreted as true by some people.
I'm curious what the average opinion of the London locals are to the subject.
We have a few on list, have we not?

[chrisoff]

Never been to London properly but I take it she meant the City Of London which I think is the financial district etc?

[Redwolf]

Never been to London properly but I take it she meant the City Of London which I think is the financial district etc?

That was my guess as well.

Redwolf

[fearfaoin]

I think it's similar to New York City,
which I believe is made up of five
distinct burroughs, though most
people think of the whole as NYC.

[Redwolf]

"The City of London" is, as chrisoff said, a district within London, and I believe it is about a mile square. The actual city known as London is considerably larger.

Redwolf

[Denny]

[BillChin]

The analogy that comes to mind is New Amsterdam (now New York City). The section south of Wall Street where the wall to protect the nascent city was, is probably less than a square mile.

[Wombat]

Over the years, the walled parts of London would have got bigger and bigger. The city of London wouldn't include the East or West end but both would have been within the walls in the middle ages I assume.

Australian city names tend to exhibit a three way ambiguity. First there is the central business district (CBD) which corresponds to the early city boundaries. In Melbourne this area is exactly a mile square by deliberate design, roughly the same in Sydney by accident. Then you have a slightly larger area that is governed at a local level by the city council. In Sydney and Melbourne, this includes a couple of inner suburbs as well as the CBD. Then you have greater Sydney or Melbourne which inlcudes all the suburbs and is constantly expanding, swallowing up what used to be independent towns and smaller cites. In England, things tend to be at least this complicated, although not in the same way.

[anniemcu]

So, you Londonites, anyone in or near South Ruislip? That's where I entered the world... hope to get back and visit it someday.

[avanutria]

Eight stops from me on the Central line, though probably closer by bus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London

The Square Mile is indeed the financial area of London. I work near the edge of it, although on the outside. I love this line from Wikipedia: "The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000 but a daily working population of 311,000." I think most of them come in on my train.

Walking historical areas of London is popular and there are many guidebooks and websites (http://www.londontourist.org/city.html) on the subject - your father probably did one based on the original city boundaries. Martin would know more, I bet.

A few weeks ago we did a walk that was supposed to follow the boundaries of the original Wall of the city but so much of it is gone (and so many of the guiding signs have been lost) that it was very difficult to stay on course.

Edited to add - I technically live in London, and there is a marker stone near my house stating that London (presumably the centre?) is 7 miles away. So it's gotten quite big.

[chrisoff]

The analogy that comes to mind is New Amsterdam (now New York City). The section south of Wall Street where the wall to protect the nascent city was, is probably less than a square mile.

Well that's one thing I've learned today, why Wall St is called Wall St.

[C age ing]

Just to take it a little further, there is a City of London and a City of Westminster all contained within the Greater London Council area. The City of London has a Lord Mayor, and London overall has a mere Mayor, although much a much more powerful post.
The reason the Romans chose Londinium to build a city was that it was the first bridgeable part of the River Thames and since then it took off despite being attacked many times, mainly by our current friends. Strangely, despite being Welsh, I can't help feeling fond of the old girl.

[Martin Milner]

http://www.londontourist.org/city.html

As people have said, The "City of London" is the financial centre, also called the Square Mile. London itself has grown steadily, with a few spurts brought on by railways and then the underground railways (aka the Tube), which enabled people to commute long distances quickly.

A walk around the Square Mile on a Saturday or Sunday feels slightly eerie, as there are so few people about.

Annie - I haven't been to Ruislip above once in my life, but I see the name every day as one branch of the westbound Piccadilly Line goes there, the other to Heathrow, so it's easy to get to. When you come back to discover your roots, make sure you get in touch so we can meet up!

[Innocent Bystander]

A few years ago, when somebody blew up something in the City, the Police "Shut down the City of London" and would not let cars park there. For months everyone entering it was searched. I can recall everyone - but everyone - doing a double take and realising, no, it's just the little bit in the middle.

There's a very nice Art Gallery called "The City Wall", but apart from that I think a walk around the perimeter of the City was less than interesting.

Oh - and if you work in the financial district you are "Something in the City". Even if you just work the till in Starbucks. Whereas if you run a prestigious corporation just down the road you are (shudder) nothing but a worker in Hackney.

[chrisoff]

Oh - and if you work in the financial district you are "Something in the City".

A twat in the city usually if you refer to yourself like that.