"London - city of secrets" a London Travel Page by KennetRose

Alas, I can no longer claim to be the only VT London page without a picture of Big Ben. But I was so pleased with the way this picture - taken from the new Hungerford footbridge - came out that it was worth the sacrifice, don't you agree?

Technical details for those interested - the picture was taken with a Minolta Dynax 5 (known as "the Toy") mounted on a tripod, Fuji Velvia film, 30 seconds at f5.6. It was 7.15pm, the weather was clear with some light cloud blowing in on a brisk (ie bloody freezing!) north-westerly breeze.

I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe
[William Blake]

Earth hath not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty
[William Wordsworth]

A man who is tired of London is tired of life
[Samuel Johnson]

Sooner or later I had to confront the task of creating a London page. It is an awesome task. I lived in Notting Hill for ten years from 1984 to 1994, and they were wonderful years. In 1984, Notting Hill was a regeneration area, a throbbing, multiracial, multicultural melting pot. Ten years later, when I moved to Bristol, it was the cool place to live. In 2001 when I wanted to come back, I found I couldn't afford to even think about it.

London is BIG. I mean, mind-bogglingly, sprawlingly, all-consumingly big. From Uxbridge in the west to Upminster in the east is 65km. The Central Line trip from West Ruislip to Epping is the longest unbroken ride on any metropolitan railway in the world. You can live a lifetime in London and not know more than a fraction of it. So, I make no apology if this page is biased towards West London, because that's where I lived. I know comparatively little of London south of the Thames, except for passing through, nor of anything much east of the Aldgate Pump.

London is not the United Kingdom, nor is it even England. It is a World City in every possible sense of the term (if the term makes sense at all). It is the place to which British people aspire. When I first moved there, my chest swelled with pride because I was crossing the actual Portobello Road when I walked home from work.

London is infinitely subtle. It wears its showiest jewels openly, but keeps many more treasures well hidden. It is not a city to see, it is a city to absorb over a long period.

London is expensive. But with a little bit of guile and know-how, it can be tamed.

Others have written many times about the sights and I won't waste my time and yours with repeating all that. All I can do is to open a book of blank pages, and let London creep into them over time.