It is the old and the new London, a London that has a heart and a character. It's easy to talk about, to visit, to walk through, to enjoy, to spend time in. The people are diverse, styles are numerous, history is everywhere. There are arches, cobbled streets, new buildings, cafes, restaurants, pubs, courtyards, street views, river views, birds-eye views, run-down warehouses, shopping centres, a bus station, train stations, the river bus, dog-and-duck tours, theatres, horror stories, Shakespeare. This is the area Dickens wrote about. And so did Chaucer and Johnson and Marlowe. There are people living, working, visiting; thousands of tourists each day, even more thousands of commuters. They walk past Cross Bones graveyard, the only unconsecrated graveyard in the country - a plot of ground that was set aside four hundred years ago to bury 'single women' - a euphemism for prostitutes. They were called 'Winchester Geese' because they were licensed by the Bishop of Winchester. Perhaps, some of them were buried with dignity.

London Bridge was known for its brothels and theatres, as well as bull and bear baiting, activities not permitted across the river in the City itself. It's the bridge that was sold to the Americans, the one in the film, Mary Poppins, and the one that desperately needs to be redesigned for the 21st Century. It's a fine place to be and a great place to be entertained. June 11 in news