What makes London London?

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Hey guys. This is one for my fellow Brits, what in London are you most proud of?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

My favourite thing about London is that I live 100 miles away

 

[AlterEgo]

The Tube.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Definitely agree with that. And red buses. And RP accents like mine what the Americans call posh, (although sadly they’re disappearing in favour of cockney).

 

[Bayum]

Wandering down Oxford Street and asking 10+ people how to get to somewhere and being met with a guise of 'I don't speak English, sorry' in at least 6 different languages.

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, the tube is brilliant.

I quite enjoy travelling through London. There are some nice little pubs to lose some time in on the way.

I particularly enjoy walking up the grand station approach at St Pancras specifically to catch a train to the North as it was intended for.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

That’s sounds lovely, @yorksrob

 

[RichmondCommu]

As a Londoner of almost 30 years (I wasn't born down here) I think its the mix of people from different regions / nations and how the vast majority of us get along almost all of the time. Also flying into Heathrow on an early morning flight (especially in winter) and seeing the whole metropolitan area all lit up and ready for another day. Like many others I also love the Tube. I also love the Euston Road with all of its bustle and the two magnificent stations (St Pancras and King Cross). And of course one last thing; the river Thames.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I’m not proud of the state of the Thames, but if it was clean I would be!

 

[Lrd]

It has to be the main terminal stations as they get you out of there fairly quickly

 

[RichmondCommu]

I’m not proud of the state of the Thames, but if it was clean I would be!

Compared to many other major capitals it's looking a lot better than it was. What would you do to improve it?

 

[GusB]

I've only ever had the chance to visit London on two occasions over the years. The first was to visit some student friends who lived in East London (Whitechapel area, I think). On that occasion, I remember how vibrant the place felt with so many different cultures and languages. It was then that I had my first experience of the Underground - I recall being mildly amused when people became annoyed having missed their train, only to have another one come along in a few minutes time. It was a bit of a culture shock for me, I suppose. The second occasion was work-related and as I was taxied in from Luton Airport I was struck by the sheer size of the place. I'm used to seeing urban sprawl with places like Glasgow, but it's on a completely different scale.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I’m proud of Heathrow! And our railways, I mean have you seen America’s?

 

[cjp]

The green lungs of the Royal Parks and Hampstead Heath and all the other open spaces in which to escape

 

[507021]

I like a lot of things about London, but if I had to choose a favourite I'd say The Tube.

 

[AlterEgo]

I’m proud of Heathrow! And our railways, I mean have you seen America’s?

Heathrow isn’t even in London!

 

[Mag_seven]

Heathrow isn’t even in London!

Err yes it is - it lies within the London Borough of Hillingdon.

 

[AlterEgo]

Err yes it is - it lies within the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Tell that to the ASA.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.te...throw-and-gatwick-not-actually-in-london/amp/

 

[Mag_seven]

But all that counts surely is the administrative borough its in not the post code? Interesting debate on this subject in this video:

 

[Domh245]

Tell that to the ASA.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.te...throw-and-gatwick-not-actually-in-london/amp/

I wonder what they think about London Oxford and London Ashford airports then!

 

[Ianno87]

Definitely London's inherent multiculturalism wins it for me. Although Gentrification is slowly changing this is many areas now.

And the fact that no matter how long you've been there, you can never quite know the entire city - it's full of hidden gems for those in the know.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Waterloo Sunset

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

it’s London’s main airport. Barely any airports in capital cities are actually in those cities!

 

[Groningen]

I remember London the most from the x-rated postcards in the phoneboxes. But now i do not know whether it is also in other cities in England.

 

[otomous]

I’m not proud of the state of the Thames, but if it was clean I would be!

It is clean, plenty of marine life thriving in it. It has recovered from the days when industry poured everything into it. What you may think of as dirt is largely stirred up sediment.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I remember London the most from the x-rated postcards in the phoneboxes. But now i do not know whether it is also in other cities in England.

It would be petty to mention the reputation of your own capital in that context, so I won't...

I imagine on these forums the Underground will be the main thing- for me it's the whole transport system simply for the way it manages to cope pretty well with loadings well in excess of what it was designed for. The rest of the country looks on with envy!

Either that, or all the nice squattable luxury broom cupboards owned by offshore billionaires, while the serfs struggle in unsafe and poorly-managed tower blocks... [/sarcasm]

 

[43021HST]

This thread is a flag for the moaning country bumpkins/ northerners of the forum, to make the usual predictable comments. Often those sorts of people have been to London only occasionally, either on a school trip back in 1976, or to a few football matches. All they remember is being barged into a few times on the tube or paying twice the amount they'd normally do for a pint, so suddenly that makes the entire place a massive crap hole.

I've lived up north (Chester precisely) and during that time all I did was miss London.

My favourite aspects about London are the following:
The culture and the people, speaking very generally, Londoners on the surface can appear ruder than say Mancunians, but if you get past that and manage to get speaking to a Londoner, they seem to notice a lot less if you're an outsider. I think there's also a very distinct London sense of humour, much in the same way that Liverpool has it's own brand. (I'm aware I'm talking very generally about 8.8 million people, but I do believe in a certain regional hive mind.)

I also like the variety of people and the room for self expression that you get. Only in London could somewhere like Camden exist, for all you hear about Camden/Shoreditch hipsters, this seems to be one of those catch all terms made up by the media, merely to describe a gathering of variety of people who merely don't seem to fit in elsewhere in the country.
In Camden I've seen goths wearing the sort of clothing, you'd get bottled for if you wore in somewhere like Liverpool, drag queens, trans people, 1970s punks, Rockabilly pinup girls, 1920s dandys, people in Victorian and turn of the century gear, etc. I doubt you could get that kind of variety of self expression in that kind of intensity elsewhere in the country, perhaps with the exception of Brighton.

The architecture of the place, the distinctive yellow brick Victorian buildings, gives the place a slightly different feel to any of the other cities in the country.

The London Underground - any rail enthusiasts who are a cut above the usual loco hauled wibble merchants, would surely appreciate the operation of this fascinating network, the LU has always been ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the country in regards to serious technological improvements (such as automation, mass electrification, sliding doors etc), but at the same time still retain a strong sense of tradition.

 

[Hornet]

The lack of Londoners. Many moved out of the slums and pre-fabs in the 50's and 60's, to live in peripheral towns. Most of my family jumped at the opportunity. I would say that the Transport system is good, (especially the night bus system), but I hate crowds and big cities, so I rarely head into London when I go back home.

 

[AlterEgo]

This thread is a flag for the moaning country bumpkins/ northerners of the forum, to make the usual predictable comments. Often those sorts of people have been to London only occasionally, either on a school trip back in 1976, or to a few football matches. All they remember is being barged into a few times on the tube or paying twice the amount they'd normally do for a pint, so suddenly that makes the entire place a massive crap hole.

I've lived up north (Chester precisely) and during that time all I did was miss London.

My favourite aspects about London are the following:
The culture and the people, speaking very generally, Londoners on the surface can appear ruder than say Mancunians, but if you get past that and manage to get speaking to a Londoner, they seem to notice a lot less if you're an outsider. I think there's also a very distinct London sense of humour, much in the same way that Liverpool has it's own brand. (I'm aware I'm talking very generally about 8.8 million people, but I do believe in a certain regional hive mind.)

I also like the variety of people and the room for self expression that you get. Only in London could somewhere like Camden exist, for all you hear about Camden/Shoreditch hipsters, this seems to be one of those catch all terms made up by the media, merely to describe a gathering of variety of people who merely don't seem to fit in elsewhere in the country.
In Camden I've seen goths wearing the sort of clothing, you'd get bottled for if you wore in somewhere like Liverpool, drag queens, trans people, 1970s punks, Rockabilly pinup girls, 1920s dandys, people in Victorian and turn of the century gear, etc. I doubt you could get that kind of variety of self expression in that kind of intensity elsewhere in the country, perhaps with the exception of Brighton.

The architecture of the place, the distinctive yellow brick Victorian buildings, gives the place a slightly different feel to any of the other cities in the country.

The London Underground - any rail enthusiasts who are a cut above the usual loco hauled wibble merchants, would surely appreciate the operation of this fascinating network, the LU has always been ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the country in regards to serious technological improvements (such as automation, mass electrification, sliding doors etc), but at the same time still retain a strong sense of tradition.

That’s a pretty good summary of what makes London great.

London has its obvious flaws of course, but they can be endearing, in the same way that all the best and most relatable heroes are deeply flawed.

 

[Steveman]

This thread is a flag for the moaning country bumpkins/ northerners of the forum, to make the usual predictable comments. Often those sorts of people have been to London only occasionally, either on a school trip back in 1976, or to a few football matches. All they remember is being barged into a few times on the tube or paying twice the amount they'd normally do for a pint, so suddenly that makes the entire place a massive crap hole.

I would say the exact opposite that this thread is for insular moaning unfriendly Londoners who think that everybody north of Watford is an ignorant bigoted fool.
I was born in South London and when I moved up to Staffordshire it was like a blessed relief to live amongst ordinary people who said please and thank-you and knew what a queue was.
I will travel to London only if it's absolutely essential, it's just a hole.
The best thing about London is how fast the train travels to get out.