please empty your brain below

Now that you have the four points of the compass under your belt, were next? The highest,deepest, widest,longest?

Well done, DG. A most enjoyable quest to read about.

Was the village of West Horndon ever a part of Greater London? There was a time when it's station appeared on London Connections maps as inside zone 6 (although, given how much of z5/6 Central Line runs beyond the Essex boundary that might be a dead lead..)

Thanks for that report DG.

It reminds me of one of my bugbears actually; although probably unneccessary on roads such as this one, why is London's boundary not signed (except borough signs, plus usually Red Route No Stopping)? I went down the A2 at the weekend and it always strikes me that this must be the only city / county that doesn't sign itself and welcome arrivals.

Fabulous stuff. loved it.

you know what though? really wish your page had a "Dummies guide to London" (or at least a link to one).

i.e a map & description that explains how 'London' has morphed into 'Greater London' over time, and what Boroughs & local Councils it's made up of and is/are defined. because my poor little mind gets confused sometimes... :-)

dg writes: Does this help a bit?

Fantastic, I loved this. I remember when all of other London looked like this, pre. 1963.

"Was the village of West Horndon ever a part of Greater London"

Nico, no, never.

(I know this area a bit: I went to school at the very end of Upminster and had to do the odd cross-country run along a bit of Fen Lane - but even I have never been to North Ockendon village. The wife of former US Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich grew up in these here fens - on Dennises Lane, in fact).

As DG says, the boundary between Thurrock and Brentwood changed around there, but Havering never reached West Horndon. And I'm fairly sure that the station was never in Zone 6 either, so I guess the map you have must be a error-laden rarity...

I thought they gerrymandered that bit out so that all of London falls within the M25 - like the salient that approached the outskirts of Potters Bar but was pulled back?

dg - I read your stuff most days but your are always well ahead of me, as a Midlands exiled Essex girl, on detail but at last I can correct you. It is the Mardyke pure and simple - no river, stream, ditch or other second part to the name. When I was a child 60 years ago the only rivers I knew were the Thames and the Mardyke and neither looked like the babbling brooks in my Janet and John books - I was confused.

Sorry I'm late. But I had to measure the distance of that May Tree (bush) from Charing Cross. It's a shade over 20 miles, I reckon (using a ruler on the screen). So, is that hawthorn blossoming at the furthest point from the Centre of London anywhere along the whole London boundary then? What a nice way of marking it if it is.

HoR, you're right.

Conversely, it is possible to travel from the Charles I statue to the Greater London/Surrey boundary in little over 10 miles (as the crow flies), which is conveniently marked by Worcester Park railway station.

Bing Maps is quite handy when seeking distance-related factoids like that.

Probably more scenic than the westernmost point of London, which is probably somewhere near Heathrow Airport.










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