The City of Greater London

London is the Capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It is home to the UK parliament and actually consists of three distinct parts. There are two separate cities in London – The City of London and The City of Westminster and then there are the thirty two Boroughs of London, including Westminster which is larger than the City of Westminster itself and includes Marylebone, Paddington and the City of Westminster. All of these elements were combined in 1965 to create Greater London which, as an entity, forms the top level administration for the area which cover 607 square miles

The Boroughs were all originally small villages on the outskirts of London or Westminster but as London expanded, especially during the Victorian era, it swallowed up the villages as it grew. This process was greatly hastened by the advent of industrialisation and the coming of the railway, which saw an enormous increase in house building as the population rapidly grew.

Population of Greater London
In 1801 the population of London and the surrounding villages was just over 1 million people. Greater London currently has a population of over 7.5 million people. In 1940 this figure was much higher at 8.2 million but the population then declined to 6.7 million by 1968 but since then has gradually increased to todays figure and is expected to rise to 8.15 million by 2016. The causes of this population fluctuation are complex but the financial success of the City of London, immigration and a move from the countryside to the town have all played a part in the increase. The earlier decrease was the result, in part, of better transport from the South East towns, which allowed people to live outside the Greater London area and to commute to work.

Economy
The major proportion of the Greater London economy is the Service Sector. This includes banking and finance, tourism and leisure and education. London is a major European tourist destination with millions of visitors every year.

Attractions
The city of London and The City of Westminster boast many of the iconic tourist attractions of the UK and include: Buckingham Palace, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Madam Tussuads, the Tower of London, the traditional London Red Bus, a range of museums including the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum, and many others. There are many famous art galleries, including the Tate Gallery, the Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery. London has many theatres and music venues, there are parks in all parts of the Greater London area, including Hyde Park, St James Park, Greenwich Park, Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park, and many green squares in the heart of Londan, All of which help to create a green space environment in what could have been a very urban setting. The sheer number of attractions available in London would be difficuult to list but these are some of the more popular and well known ones: Buckingham Palace & changing of the guards, The Tower of London & the Crown Jewels, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, Madam Tusuads, The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, The Science Museum, The Royal Albert Hall, The South Bank Concert Halls, The Serpentine, The British Museum, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Trafalgar Square & Nelson’s Column, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Covent Garden, Marble Arch

History
London has been a major settlement on the River Thames for over two thousand years and was founded by the Romans who called the city Londinium. It was roughly the same size as today’s Hyde Park. Its population at its highest point was around 60,000. After the Romans left, the city fell into decay and was largely abandoned before being refounded by the Kingdom of Essex in the 6th century as a trading port and expanded further under the control of the Mercian kings in 730 when they conquored Essex. Despite attacks by the vikings, London survived and by the 10th century had become an important commercial centre of the Anglo Saxon kings of England but not their capital. William the Conquer created the Tower of London in 1067 to keep the city under control. The city of Westminster was the seat of Royal power and the capital city was traditionally Winchester, although other towns at various times were also the Capital. London was not the capital of England until the 1300’s.

The Boroughs of London
City of London, City of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Lambeth. Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Islington, Camden, Brent, Ealing, Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton, Croydon, Bromley, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest, Haringey, Enfield, Barnet, Harrow, Hillingdon.

Transport
Driving in central London is not a good idea. As well as thousands of local motorists using the roads, the ancient capital was not designed to take motor traffic and there are many small roads and traffic conjesting problems. Also, unless you are familiar with the layout of London, it is very easy to get caught in a one way traffic system and get totally lost. However, it isn’t necessary to travel by car in London. London has a very comprehensive transport system which handles millions of domestic commuters and overseas travellers every day. Despite negative press stories, overall, the transport systems run effectively and gernerally very well. Central London is a relatively small area and once you are familiar with the general layout, it is sometimes very enjoyable to walk from one destination to another. However, there is a very extensive and efficient underground service that provides good transport to most London tourist destinations and between the central parts of London and the outer London Boroughs

Main Line Stations
Various large stations are situated around central London and serve a transport hubs for destinations in all directions. These major stations are the terminii for train lines serving all parts of the UK. The main stations are: Kings Cross (north and east of England and Scotland), St Pancras (East midlands and north east England and also terminus for the Euro Star service to Paris), Liverpool Street (eastern England & Stanstead airport), Paddington (south west England & Heathrow airport), Cannon Street (south and south east London), Blackfriars (Thames Link services from North Central), Fenchurch Street (east London & south Essex), London Bridge (Kent and the south east of England), Charing Cross (south and south east), Waterloo (south and south west London & England), Victoria (south london and southern England), Euston (central and north west England), Marylebone (west central and north west England).

Underground Lines
The underground service links all of the main Train stations and many of them provide transport out into the outer London Boroughs. Although it is called an underground service, some of the trains run above ground for much of their routes when they leave Central London. Each of the services is identified on the undergound map by a specific colour, making it easy to see routes and to find the appropriate platform in the stations. Some stations are rather a challenge for first time visitors but the route colours help to guide you to the correct platform. The twelve undergound lines are: Victoria Line (light blue), Bakerloo Line (brown), Piccadilly Line (dark blue), Northern Line (black), Circle Line (yellow), District Line (green), Metropolitan Line (magenta), Central Line (red), Hammersmith & City Line (pink), Jubilee Line (silver), Waterloo & City Line (turquoise)

Airports
London is served by several large international airports as well as an airport situated in the City of London itself. The main airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton & Stanstead) are all situated some distance outside of London itself but are all connected via good rail and road links. The London airpots are: Heathrow Airport, Stanstead Airport, Gatwick Airport, London City Airport, Luton Airport.

Where to stay when you visit London
As you would expect from a large city and major tourist destination, London has a very large number of hotels and bed and breakfast establishments to suite all budgets. You can find cheap Hostel accommodation in some of the University campuses during non-term time for very little cost or cheap bed and breakfast accommodation in the outer London Boroughs. The facilities are somewhat basic but certainly adequate. If you can afford more, there are cheap bed and breakfast and cheap hotels that .range from the inexpensive to five star city centre hotels which provide luxury accommodation. Self catering is an option and there are many serviced apartments available for weekly or monthly rental. Many of these can be found in the Docklands area.

London Postal Districts
You may notice on the London street signs, that there are letters and numbers on the right corner. These letters and numbers indicate the postal area of the metropolis and predate the Postal Codes now used in many countries. They were originally applied in 1850 to assist the postal delivery in the capital and over time they have become synonomous with a particular district of London. They operate on the principal of the compass points so N12 is the north area 12 district, WC1 is the West Central district one and so on. But be warned that there are no “North East” or “South” districts. The district codes are useful to the London visitor to find out where they are or where they wish to go. Taxi drivers and many London residents can give you directions for a postal area even if they don’t recognise one of the smaller London area names. If you are using them to navigate around London they can be very useful. The district groups are: North (N), North West (NW), East (E), East Central (EC), South East (SE), South West (SW), West (W) and West Central (WC).

London Postal Districts
East London
E1 Aldgate, Stepney, Mile End, Whitechapel
E2 Bethnal Green, Shorditch
E3 Bow, Bromley-by-Bow, Old Ford
E4 Chingford, Highams Park
E5 Clapton
E6 East Ham, Beckton
E7 Forest Gate, Upton Park
E8 Hackney, Dalston
E9 Homerton, South Hackney
E10 Leyton
E11 Leytonstone, Wanstead
E12 Manor Park
E13 Plaistow
E14 Poplar, Isle of Dogs, Millwall
E15 Stratford, West Ham
E16 Victoria Docks, Canningtown, North Woolwich
E17 Walthamstow
E18 Woodford

East Central
EC1 Clerkenwell, Finsbury, Barbican
EC2 Moorgate, Liverpool Street
EC3 Monument, Akdgate, Fenchurch Street, Tower Hill
EC4 Fleet Street, Temple, Blackfriars, St. Paul's

North London
N1 Islington, Barnsbury, Canonbury
N2 East Finchly, Eastern part of Hampstead Garden Suburb
N3 Finchley Central, Finchley Church End
N4 Finsbury Park, Manor House
N5 Highbury
N6 Highgate
N7 Holloway, Lower Holloway (see also N19)
N8 Hornsey, Crouch End
N9 Lower Edmunton
N10 Muswell Hill
N11 New Southgate, Freirn Barnet
N12 North Finchley, Woodside Park
N13 Palmers Green
N14 Southgate
N15 South Tottenham, Seven Sisters
N16 Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill
N17 Tottenham
N18 Upper edmonton
N19 Upper Holloway, Archway, Tufnell Park
N20 Whetstone, Totteridge
N21 Winchmore Hill
N22 Wood Green, Alexandra Palace

North West London
NW1 Camden Town, Regent's Park, North Marylebone
NW2 Cricklewood, Dollis Hill, Neasden
NW3 Hampstead, Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage
NW4 Hendon, Brent Cross
NW5 Kentish Town
NW6 Kilburn, Queens Park, South & West Hampstead, Brondesbury Park
NW7 Mill Hill
NW8 St John's Wood
NW9 West Hendon, The Hyde, KIngdbury, Colindale
NW10 Willesden, Harlesden, Kensal Green
NW11 Golders Green, western part of Hamstead Garden Suburb

South East London
SE1 Waterloo, Bermondsey, South Bank, The Borough, North Lambeth
SE2 Abbey Wood, Thamesmead South
SE3 Blackheath, Kidbrooke, Westcombe Park
SE4 Brockley, Crofton PArk, Honor Oak Park
SE5 Camberwell
SE6 Catford, Bellingham, Hither GReen
SE7 Charlton
SE8 Deptford
SE9 Eltham, Mottingham
SE10 GReenwich
SE11 Kennington, Lambeth
SE12 Lee, Grove PArk
SE13 Lewisham, Hither Green
SE14 New Cross, New Cross Gate
SE15 Peckham, Nunhead
SE16 ROtherhithe, South Bermondsey, Surrey Docks
SE17 Walworth, Elephant & Castle
SE18 Woolwich, PLumstead
SE19 Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace, Norwood New Town
SE20 Anerley, Penge
SE21 Dulwich, West Dulwich
SE22 East Dulwich
SE23 Forest Hill
SE24 Herne Hill
SE25 South Norwood
SE26 Sydenham
SE27 West Norwood, Tulse Hill
SE28 Thamesmead

South West London
, part of Brompton SW1 Westminster, Belgravia, Pimlico, Victoria
SW2 Brixton, central & southern Brixton, Streatham Hill
SW3 Chelsea, Brompton
SW4 CLapham
SW5 Earl's Court
SW6 Fulham, Parson's Green
SW7 Knightsbridge, South Kensington, part of Brompton
SW8 Nine Elms, South Lambeth, Vauxhall
SW9 Stockwell, northern Brixton
SW10 West Brompton, World's End
SW11 Battersaea, Clapham JUnction
SW12 Balham
SW13 Barnes, Castelnau
SW14 Mortlake, East Sheen
SW15 Putney, Roehampton
SW16 Streatham, Norbury
SW17 Tooting
SW18 Wandsworth, Earlsfield
SW19 Wimbledon, Merton, Collier's Wood
SW20 West Wimbledon, Raynes PArk, Cottenham, South Wimbledon

West London
W1 The West End, Mayfair, Soho, Marylebone
W2 Paddington, Bayswater, Hyde Park
W3 Acton
W4 Chiswick
W5 Ealing
W6 Hammersmith
W7 Hanwell
W8 Kensington, central Kensington
W9 Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue, Maida Hill
W10 North Kensington, Ladbrooke Grove
W11 Notting Hill, Holland Park
W12 Shepherd's Bush
W13 West Ealing
W14 West Kensington

West Central London
WC1 Bloomsbury, Gray's Inn
WC2 Holborn, Strand, Covent Garden

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