Fodor's Exploring London [antikvár]

MY LONDON James Bishop worked on The Timesior 16 years before becoming editor of the Illustrated London News 'm 1970. He was Editor-in-Chief of the I.L.N, Group from 1987 until 1994, has written several books and is now freelancing. Married with two children, he lives in Hampstead, not far from where he was born in 1929, Janet Street-Porter trained as an architect, but moved into television in 1975. Having produced the B.A.F.T.A, winning "Network 7," she joined the B.B.C. in 1988, becoming Head of Youth and Entertainment features. By 1993 she was the Head of Independent Production for Entertainment. Now at the Mirror Group she is working on her latest challenge as Managing Director of LiveT.V., a new cable channel she launched in June 1995. by James Bishop Although I was born in London and have lived most of my life here, I still bump into something new every day, something I had not known before, or something that has happened while I wasn't looking. The river is the key to London's history, the one constant in a city that is forever changing—sometimes successfully, sometimes with disastrous results. What particularly delights me about London is that change does not totally obscure the past. It is still possible to see something of the city's origins. Bits of the Roman wall stand proud and uncovered among the tarmacked city streets, and in Leadenhall Market, which is built on the site of the great Roman basilica, you will find part of its foundation behind racks of suits in the basements of a men's clothes store. And around every corner you will find a sudden oasis of color and quiet. London is a green city, and where there is not room for a garden, then trees are encouraged to burst out of pavements, and flowers to bloom from boxes on apartment-dwellers' windowsills. It is this wonderful diversity that gives London its particular spice. It has more to offer than anyone can hope to absorb, but I believe that even a day's exploration will provide more pleasant surprises than can be found anywhere else. by Janet Street-Porter I was born and grew up in Fulham, then a working-class area excitingly close to the King's Road. In the 1960s I spent many a school lunchtime hanging out around the trendy boutiques, trying to look groovy rather than the gangling six-footer in school uniform I really was. King's Road is no longer my scene, but I do enjoy walking along many of the backstreets nearby, such as Royal Avenue with its perfect example of a Georgian square. Fulham has now become very middle class, although pockets of the old Fulham I knew still survive. Bishop's Park remains a wonderful place to walk by the river, and the streets around Hurlingham Park are unchanged and full of interesting houses—a mix of Victorian and Edwardian terraces, particularly along Hurlingham Road. Today I live on the edge of the City of London. During the week it is incredibly noisy, but at six o'clock in the evenings and on weekends it is amazingly tranquil. My favorite walk is from Clerkenwell, through the back of the Barbican (where you can still see remnants of London's Roman wall) and through the heart of the City past the Bank of England and the new Lloyd's Building to Tower Bridge. When you cross the bridge and sit down at Butler's Wharf for a drink, you can look back at your route and at the skyline of the City, one of Europe's historic gems.