More from the hell that is London...

[Dayvo]

You should see me in leopard skin tights

Imagining you and Vern in kilts is bad enough!

 

[Drago]

Yet you claim to be Scottish.

He lives in Scotstoon, near Chinatown

 

[nickyboy]

And how humble and welcoming the locals are

Yes, I remember the humble welcome I got

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/welcome-to-london-you-ing-northerner.209323/

 

[swee'pea99]

Noisy, filthy and the air stinks.

Central London is noisy, like any city - or town for that matter. The vast majority of London is surprisingly clean. I have never smelt the air.

I spent the first 60 years of my life in London. I've never been mugged or attacked. I've enjoyed mixing with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. I've enjoyed the sports: cycling, running, swimming, rugby and walking. I've enjoyed the arts. I like the solitude of walking across Hampstead Heath in the early morning as the sun rises. I enjoyed the crowds shopping in Oxford Street. Mrs R and I have brought up two well adjusted sons who are comfortable with themselves and other cultures.

Apart from the getting up early nonsense (and substitute 'daughters' for 'sons') that pretty much tallies with my 56 years' experience of the place

I simply don't recognise the picture of London painted by others in this thread

Me neither.

I know I'm a lucky man but then so are many others.

Count me in.

Why are so many non-Londoners so keen to stick the boot in? I have never once heard a Londoner be rude about the countryside, or anywhere else for that matter. Apart from Basingstoke, obviously.

 

[Drago]

Personally, I don't like London, but fortunately no one is forcing me to live there.

I won't waste breath trashing the place - different strokes for different folks, and all that. If people love the place, fair play to them. I read the OP with genuine interest.

 

[nickyboy]

Why are so many non-Londoners so keen to stick the boot in? I have never once heard a Londoner be rude about the countryside, or anywhere else for that matter. Apart from Basingstoke, obviously.

You've got @Markymark on ignore like most of us then?

 

[Dirk]

I have never once heard a Londoner be rude about the countryside, or anywhere else for that matter.

I have.

 

[Drago]

Going back to the OP, that looks a target rich environment for OS benchmark bagging. Cut marks are liable to be found on many of those old buildings.

 

[AndyRM]

Yes - through my father (although my mother was from Yorkshire) and political views. BTW Vernon and I were from the same clan (and shared a tartan) - in fact we decided we were distantly related.

Clan PiesMcAbsinthe?

 

[slowmotion]

Clan PiesMcAbsinthe?

There's a photo of Vernon in a kilt somewhere hereabouts. It's worth seeking out.

 

[swee'pea99]

[QUOTE 4755933, member: 9609"]I nearly went to london for the first time last month, we had a couple of tickets for a show or something, I got cold feet at the last moment and bottled it, wife found someone else to take - think I would freak out with all the people, even in the OP pictures there's folk everywhere, and I guess its even busier in the centre bit?, I need to get me elbows out.[/QUOTE]
My missus's sis is a bit of a country-mouse, and when she visited she was visibly uncomfortable when we took her to a local street party. Nothing sinister or dodgy about it, quite the contrary: just people playing music and drinking in the sunshine and chatting amiably and kids running around having fun...it took us a while to clock that she was genuinely nervy, on edge. Just not used to that many people, that much activity, that much energy.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

"We apologise to viewers in the North - it must be awful for you". Victoria Wood hitting nail on head.

 

[Markymark]

[QUOTE 4756909, member: 9609"]it's one of my plans to explore London on a bike, there's a lot of things I would like to see,[/QUOTE]
If you can be bothered a summers ride pre 7am is a wonder.

 

[SteveF]

Riding around the square mile early on a Sunday morning is great...

 

[Markymark]

[QUOTE 4756930, member: 9609"]it would have to be at its busiest to get the full effect. there are place I can go here and do 20 mile and not see a car. I quite fancy a bit of RLJ full on messenger race bolloxs (only joking btw)[/QUOTE]
I love my busy cycle commute. Prefer it to my Essex, Cambs, Suffolk rides I occasionally do.