So why am I writing all this stuff anyway?

Stats are one thing, but I'm far more interested in the human side.

Having looked up a load of numbers, I conducted my own, small and distinctly unscientific stab at research. I wanted to play a quick game with a few friends and work colleagues, asking a couple of questions about the city I was born in, to get an idea of the impression people have of London, to go alongside the factual, numbers-based stuff.

If I say the word London, what word or words instantly come into your head?

And, what would you say is the most famous thing about London?

In answer to the first question, those living and or working here offered up cosmopolitan, polluted, crowded, lively, noisy, the river, the most culturally diverse city in Britain, Soho, mental, dirty and inaccessible. In an interesting conflict of perspectives I also got beautiful on a summer’s day and grey, both are true, depending on the time of year and your own mood.

Those from elsewhere in the UK gave me multi-cultural, busy, crowded, fast, polluted, Westminster, diverse and also the fact that it’s a pain in the arse to get around late at night given that the tube shuts down before most clubs and bars chuck out. Amusingly, cockney wankers was also thrown in for good measure, glad to see London/Manchester relations are alive and well.

Regarding what is most famous about this city, those living here suggested the Tube, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London bus, taxis, Oxford Street, Tower Bridge, people scattered on the steps of St. Paul's, tourists clogging up the streets, men in pinstriped suits, Emo kids, the Queen’s guards wearing their gigantic bear skins, the Thames, London’s profile around the world and the amount of famous old buildings here.

Outsiders first thought of, Buckingham Palace (a few times in fact), Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Wembley Stadium, the West End, the monarchy, it’s music scene, the Olympics and the Tower of London. One contribution from Australia did wonder, with a touch of gloating perhaps, “Why didn’t I think of gorgeous blondes in swim suits?”

These answers do, as was partly the intention, give us an interesting, perception verses reality contrast. Seeking the help of an online dictionary, I checked out the definitions of both:

Perception is, recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory, or, if you prefer, the neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected. In a nutshell, insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving: no shit Sherlock.

The definition of reality is, the state of things as they are or appear to be, rather than as one might wish them to be.

Point being, the common perception of London offered up by those I asked who live and or work here leans towards the negative, we’ve all spent hours sweating on the tube or found the traffic infuriating but, the tube is only packed at certain times of the day, some of those inconvenienced during a tube strike might decide to walk part of the way to work and, were the weather to be nice, realise that London maybe isn’t quite so bad after all. Let’s face it, is being late for work or a meeting really that bad in the grand scheme of things anyway?

People from elsewhere weren’t falling over themselves to focus on the negatives, although the themes of dirty, busy and difficulty getting around were still there, more people highlighted the multi-cultural side of the city though.

In terms of the iconic side, those who live here were more likely to think of groups of people, city workers, tourists, scene kids, where those from elsewhere only thought of buildings. Both those from London and elsewhere instantly thought of the most popular tourist attractions, the postcard images. Granted this is a big part of what London is, the venue plan for the
2012 Olympics was put together partly with showing off London’s estetic strength to a world-wide TV audience. But for every Buckingham Palace there’s a quirky gallery, as attractive Oxford Street or Harrods might be, so too are the intriguing markets which are slightly off the beaten track. A football fan will instantly think of Wembley or that shiny new place Arsenal play in, but Griffin Park (Brentford, complete with it’s pub on each corner of the ground) and Brisbane Road (Leyton Orient) although undeniably a little rough around the edges, has character too and are far less expensive to visit.

The inspiration for this book has come from an underlying interest to try and get more out of London, something which has been lerking in the back of my mind for a while. This was provoked into me actually writing a few ramblings after reading a fantastic book called ‘Pies and Prejudice’, written by one time NME journalist, current Radio 2 presenter, general media type and, crucially, bloke from the North
Stuart Maconie. He spent sometime traveling around “the North”, looking at what makes it the place that it is, the people who live there, what makes them who they are, the history of the region and, why it’s better than the South.

I read that book while on the tube, and found myself wondering if my fellow commuters would have a similar pride for London as clearly came across in Maconie’s writing about the North, how many of them would even be that aware of what was above them? This isn’t however planned to be a London equivalent, or answer back, tempting though that was on the occasions when the boot was aimed in our direction. I would in style, prefer to lean more towards my other inspiration, the
Robert Elms show on Radio London.

The BBC website describes it as “a celebration of every aspect of this tumultuous city”. The programme “revel’s in the numerous stories and characters, memories and aspirations which make this such an extraordinary place to live and work in”.

Arguably the reply to my two questions about London which summed things up the best was the one which didn’t actually answer the questions at all. Better still, it came from a Scot. Having first offered up Wembley for both (based on Celtic’s impending visit in a preseason tournament), I got, “London is far too varied and has so much to see and do that it’s really hard to think of just one thing.”

And that ultimately is the point. Although a lot of people I asked came up with similar impressions and icons, depending on their own personal tastes they would have something slightly different as a perception, be it the music scene, historical places of interest, shopping options, theatre venues or sports teams and or stadiums.

It’s difficult to say exactly where I plan to take this book, which is the attraction of writing it since, as was pointed out from North of the border, there’s so much on offer. Having a plan to rigidly stick to would be missing opportunities.

As the Robert Elms Show web page says, “we never hide the fact that London can be a difficult, expensive, noisy, dirty, sprawling mess. But we never forget that we love it,” or do we? That is, do we “never forget”? Or do we even love it in the first place? And if we don’t, why not? It is after all our home.