In article , Brimstone
wrote:

"Stephen Osborn" wrote in message
...

I live in the Borough of Lewisham but the boundary with Bromley is no
more than 200 yds away and there will be, of course, analagous places
close to Bexley but clearly in London.

If I cross the boundary into Bromley I do not see any material difference,
not immediately and not for many miles. In broad terms the centre of
Bromley and the center of Lewisham are very similar (and very similar to
many other 'town' centres, but that is a different topic).

London used to be a tiny area on the north bank of Thames and has
gradually
grown. It seems to me that where there is a continuous built up area
there
is one city (or Metropolitan Area if you want). By that standard, Bexley,
Bromley, Croydon etc are already part London and have been for many years.

People of the Black Country would seriously disagree with you as would the
people of Salford.

I think of everything inside the M25 as "London", no matter what protests
there may be, and I don't think people from South Shields to Blaydon would
object to being told they live in "Newcastle" and certainly "on the Tyne"
would be acceptable.

Michael Bell

--

"Michael Bell" wrote in message
...
In article , Brimstone
wrote:

"Stephen Osborn" wrote in message
...

I live in the Borough of Lewisham but the boundary with Bromley is no
more than 200 yds away and there will be, of course, analagous places
close to Bexley but clearly in London.

If I cross the boundary into Bromley I do not see any material
difference,
not immediately and not for many miles. In broad terms the centre of
Bromley and the center of Lewisham are very similar (and very similar
to
many other 'town' centres, but that is a different topic).

London used to be a tiny area on the north bank of Thames and has
gradually
grown. It seems to me that where there is a continuous built up area
there
is one city (or Metropolitan Area if you want). By that standard,
Bexley,
Bromley, Croydon etc are already part London and have been for many
years.

People of the Black Country would seriously disagree with you as would
the
people of Salford.

I think of everything inside the M25 as "London", no matter what protests
there may be, and I don't think people from South Shields to Blaydon would
object to being told they live in "Newcastle" and certainly "on the Tyne"
would be acceptable.


How about Gateshead?

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 16:43:54 +0000, Michael Bell
wrote:

I think of everything inside the M25 as "London", no matter what protests
there may be, and I don't think people from South Shields to Blaydon would
object to being told they live in "Newcastle" and certainly "on the Tyne"
would be acceptable.

Being an exiled Geordie I think people in Blaydon and South Shields most
definitely would object to being lumped into Newcastle. They really are
NOT part of Newcastle at all. They are all different places and are all
in different council areas. There are also loads of places and districts
between Newcastle and South Shields and Blaydon. You might as well say
Hexham is part of Tynemouth or Blyth is part of Sunderland.

I would imagine people in Blaydon could also object to being described
as being part of Gateshead - which they are for council / administrative
purposes.

I can recall people having a problem with the concept / reality of the
county of Tyne and Wear. A lot of people simply worked on Northumberland
being North of the Tyne and County Durham being south of the Tyne - as
was the case prior to the Met counties existing. I appreciate the old
distinction doesn't work as you head West of Newcastle.

I consider London to be represented by the old GLC / LCC area and the 32
Boroughs and the City. The M25 is not representative of London in my
view.

I appreciate my views about Newcastle and London "areas" are
inconsistent but they are different places with a different history and
culture and it is clear from a lot of the comments that it is these
things that define how people "recognise" an area and what county or
council area it is in.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 16:43:54 +0000, Michael Bell
wrote:

I don't think people from South Shields to Blaydon would
object to being told they live in "Newcastle" and certainly "on the Tyne"
would be acceptable.

Have you tried that with someone from Gateshead? (Or even better,
someone from Sunderland?)

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK