In a recent IM chat I had with Beth from Alabama I realised that a lot of you think that I live in London. So I just wanted to help set the record straight and give you all a better idea of where the heck I am in relation to a map of England. This way if ever you see a map of England you’ll be able to point at the right spot and say “I know someone who lives right there.”
First off, I do not live in London. It might be a great city and all that, but I don’t live there, never have lived there and never want to live there. I don’t mind big cities, but mega big cities that sprawl on and on just make me feel a little penned in. London feels in many ways just like New York City or Paris, though of course they all have their own characteristics and charm.
I live on a small peninsula of land that just out into the Irish Sea between England and Wales. The peninsula is called Wirral and on one side (it’s only 12 miles wide at the widest part) overlooks the busy port city of Liverpool and the River Mersey, and on the other side it looks over the River Dee, the rolling hills of North Wales and the often snow capped Snowdonia mountain range. Within 15 minutes of my house I can be in the city (Liverpool) or in Wales.
According to multimap London is 205.8 miles away from where I live and it will take me nearly four hours to get there if I left now (3:50pm).
From the map (on the right) you can see where Wirral is in relation to London, and while I appreciate 200 miles isn’t a long distance for an American, it’s a bloody long way for a Brit. Especially when you’re faced with having to drive on Britian’s three busiest motorways (interstate highways), the M6, M1 and M25.
I was actually born in Essex, a county (similar to a state) just north east of London. As a kid my friends and I would jump on the commuter rail to London and go shopping and goofing around in the ever cool markets of Camden Town and South Kensington High Street and Kings Road. I was in London for three of the IRA’s worst bomb attacks, most notably the one where they exploded two bombs within 2 hours of each other in Hyde Park and Regents Park killing eight soldiers on ceremonial duty and several horses.
On another occasion I was enjoying a Sunday afternoon tea (that sounds so English!) with a girlfriend and her family in their garden in London when we were all silenced by a deep boom sound. Moments later we saw a huge plume of smoke emanating from the docklands area of the city. This was before the days of 24 hour news networks, but the cricket game on the TV that we were paying passing interest in was soon interrupted by a news-flash that a huge bomb had exploded in the city. It later transpired that this was the biggest bomb to explode in Britain since the second world war.
Liverpool doesn’t attract anywhere near the same kind of attention from terrorists, though this wasn’t a factor in my choosing to move ‘up north.’ In all honesty the bombings never crossed my mind and have never made me alter my behaviour in any way. Though while working in a gallery in Liverpool we had occasion to call the police because of a briefcase that was left in the gallery. Taking no chances the police evacuated a large part of the city then carried out what they called a controlled explosion on the briefcase using clever remote controlled robots.
Unfortunately as controlled as the explosion was it blew most of the galleries work to pieces! What made it worse was that a little while later the gallery was called by a man who wondered if he had by chance left his briefcase behind. He said it was “No big deal” if it had been stolen as it really only had his packed lunch inside it!
So I hope that clears up the confusion that some of you seem to have with regards to where I live. I know that it’s not really a big deal but I always think it is mildly amusing that most Americans seem to assume that I am from London, why I have no idea. But now you’re all clued up.
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About the Wirral
Google interactive map of the UK
IRA bomb London parks
IRA bomb London docklands
History of London bombs
London’s explosive history
The Discreet Charm of the Terrorist Cause (Interesting article)
If you found this page useful, consider linking to it. Simply copy and paste the code below into your website/blog. It will look like this: WHERE AM I?
Wrote the following comment on November 29th, 2005 at 7:20 am #
Not surprising. Your average American doesn’t have a clue about geography outside of their own tri-state area. I doubt that most Americans are aware of any cities other than London in England. Most think of Britain and England as synonymous.
Although I’ve never been to Wirral, I have visited Liverpool, Lancaster, Manchester and York.
And London, of course…
Wrote the following comment on November 29th, 2005 at 7:45 am #
Well you know, if any of you Xanga folk should find your way to my neck of the woods be sure and let me know. I make a great tour guide. And in a British racing green open top sports car no less! :-)
Wrote the following comment on November 29th, 2005 at 1:07 pm #
how far are you from iceland? no reason to ask that, really. i just love iceland.
Wrote the following comment on November 29th, 2005 at 2:32 pm #
hmm. i’m your typical ignorant american and thought you lived in london. this clears it up!
Wrote the following comment on November 29th, 2005 at 2:53 pm #
Where’s England? I thought you were from Portland! Based on your ninja direction-giving skills, that is.My sister is Worcester right now, by the way. She’s been sick as a dog since Saturday, and she said her only excursion-type activities so far have been looking out on the cathedral there, which is right across the street or something. She must have had some of the famed British coffee or something ;-).
Wrote the following comment on November 30th, 2005 at 3:45 am #
How far am I from Iceland? 1002 miles (1613 km) (871 nautical miles). Initial heading from Liverpool to Reykjavik: northwest (325.3 degrees).And to clarify, The Beach bar that I do the pictures and website for is not a strip club. It’s just your average club. And no, I am not a secret stripper! :-)
Wrote the following comment on November 30th, 2005 at 7:01 am #
One of my friends used to tell me that life is simple, we’re the ones who make it complicated. I agree with him about half of the time. Only one day left in No vember!