Where is London?

saker75

This is a bit of a silly question, I admit it. But I'm always intrigued when passing mileage road signs as to what they mean? For example, a sign on the M40 stating London is 30 miles away - is that outer London? St. Paul's? Zone 8? I presume there is a specific place that it is based on. Any ideas?

Syman

i believe it used to be the Charing Cross area.

JP08

Briefly - Charing Cross

More here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/08/15/charingcross_feature.shtml

and here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross

Exemplar

As above - Charing X/ Trafalgar Square

EssexExile

Don't ask my satnav, it wouldn't have a clue where London is.

AdrianC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/08/15/charingcross_feature.shtml

jfdi

Post Office Trafalgar Square.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=trafalgar+square+post+office&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB620GB620&hl=en-GB&prmd=mniv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiak76UmKrNAhXHD8AKHQl0BiUQ_AUICSgD&biw=1024&bih=653&dpr=2#imgrc=kK-2ME4AbhAHjM%3A Which is just on The Strand.

Sooler

Google maps directions says "London" is 72ft from "Charing Cross"

zagubov

When I was a kid, when we used to visit London I found out his address mentioned Middlesex.

I always assumed that London must be in Middlesex (in those days the maps showed Liverpool and Manchester as being in Lancashire).

NBLondon

Well it is... part of it. Other parts of it are in Surrey, Kent, Essex, Herts.


Here's a follow-up thought... How far away do the "London X miles" start? If you join the M1 at Leeds and head south when's the first marker? Or if you leave Scotland on the A1 - when does it start marking London as opposed to "The South"?

Car_54

NBLondon wrote: »

Well it is... part of it. Other parts of it are in Surrey, Kent, Essex, Herts.

Middlesex ceased to exist as a county in 1965.

It was retained in postal addresses until the 1990s.