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!