please empty your brain below

I'm in bed on hols, so whilst I could do the maths please could you tell me the width of a 0.1 line of latitude. Thanks
6371*2pi/3600 ~ 11km
I'm fairly sure our dome in Melbourne is the one in The La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library.
https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/our-magnificent-spaces

But not built until 1913, so the Methodist Dome was biggest when built.
Some splendid pictures, and writing which seems to indicate that you are enjoying this selection of hits and near misses almost as much as your readers. I will certainly put the Central Hall tour, and St Margaret's, on my wish-list for an upcoming visit.
Technically a line of latitude has no width.

The effective width depends on the accuracy assumed.

You asked about one decimal place (i.e. everywhere closer to 51.5° than 51.4° or 51.6°) and I agree with Alan - that's a strip about 11km in width.

But my smartphone measures to four decimal places (i.e. everywhere closer to 51.5000° than 51.4999° or 51.5001°), and that's a strip just 11m across.

Effectively I'm writing a series of posts about places of interest within a strip of London 31 miles long and 11 metres wide. It's amazing how many there are.
Thanks everyone, appreciated. It makes it easier to visualise DG's journey as him meandering along a virtual highway rather than teetering on a tightrope.
Width of a 0.1 degree of latitude: I think you will need a cosine in there somewhere. The width of the 0.1 degree strip around the equator will be about (6000km times 2pi over 60 squared), but at the pole it will be roughly zero.

Up where we are near 60N (cos 60 = 0.5) it will be about 5km, no?

dg writes: No.
Some iconic buildings today!

Only been in the Methodist Hall once, for an HMRC tax update seminar for employees! Suffice to say, the building stuck in the mind far longer than the contents of the presentation...
If that is right, DG has just hit four tourist hotspots lined up on the same 5m strip within about a mile. That said, Westminster is a target rich environment.
Lines of longitude get further apart closer to the equator. But lines of latitude are always the same distance apart.

Technically, because the earth is slightly flattened at the poles, lines of latitude are 111.7 km apart at the poles and 110.6 km at the equator. But essentially they're always 111 km apart, no cosines required.
That 111km follows from the original definition of the metre as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the pole to the equator.
I hope you all realise this 'latitude/longtitude' conversation is sliding into a veritable nerd fest.
Ignoring the maffs (which I find is always best to do!) this is a fascinating feature and has given me some more places to visit.
Everyone should be a tourist in their own city at least once in their lifetime!
The tiniest of corrections: St Margaret's isn't a parish church anymore. An Act of Parliament gave the geographical parish to its neighbours and put the church (back again) under the governance of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, so it's technically part of the Abbery precints. The actual area around Parliament Square (including the Palace of Westminster and the Abbey) is geographically in the parish of St Matthew's, Westminster on Great Peter Steet. Westminster Abbey website (under 'A History of ST Margaret's) will confirm this.
Did the babygrows come in adult sizes? Some people seem to need such garments in order to hold their nappies on. (No fingers pointing, of course)
Is the security check for St Margaret's a recent thing? I'm sure I've just wandered in before.

dg writes: So have I. But in peak tourist season the only access is via the Westminster Abbey queue.

The main hall at Central Hall is quite something with a (rare nowadays) full congregation, and did anyone else used to go there for model railway exhibitions?
Yes, I remember going to the annual model railway exhibitions at Central Hall! Must have been about 60 years ago.
"a portico so outlandish", or some might say downright ugly. Do any other London buildings feature similar podgy pillars?
Well that will teach me to attempt spherical geometry first thing on a Saturday morning! Mea culpa. Of course, the lines of longitude get closer together at the poles, but the line of latitude don't.

Doric columns can look rather heavy - compare the temples at Paestum. Crowding so many together with uneven spacing does not help. For something similar in London, the basement of Carlton House Terrace has a line of squat Doric columns. The Euston Arch had some that were also rather chunky, if a bit taller. The portico of St Matthew's, Brixton does it better.
Those Model Railway exhibitions were the highlight of our Easter holidays in the late 60's early 70's.
That 'outlandish portico' is by John Simpson Architects and is just awful, despite their happiness that the 'project [has] received a number of awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects award, 2003, The Royal Fine Arts Commission Building of the Year award, 2003 and the Best Modern Classical building, 2004 from the Georgian Group'.

http://www.johnsimpsonarchitects.com/pa/Buckingham-Palace.html










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