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The A1 in London is an A road in North London. It runs from the London Wall to Bignall's Corner, where it crosses the M25 motorway and becomes the A1(M) motorway, continuing to Edinburgh. The London section passes through four London boroughs: the City of London, Islington, Haringey and Barnet. Whilst the route of the A1 outside London closely follows the historic route of the Great North Road, the London section for the most part does not.
The current route of the London section of the A1 road was mainly designated as such in 1927. It comprises a number of historic streets in central London and the former suburbs of Islington, Holloway and Highgate and long stretches of purpose-built new roads in the outer London borough of London Borough of Barnet, built to divert traffic away from the congested suburbs of Finchley and High Barnet.
The London section of the A1 is one of London's most important roads. It links North London to the M1 motorway and the A1(M) motorway, and consequently serves as Central London's primary road transport artery to the Midlands, Northern England and Scotland. It also connects a number of major areas within London, and sections of it serve as the High Street for many of the now-joined villages that make up north London. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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George Shillibeer (11 August 1797–21 August 1866) was an English coachbuilder and operator of the first omnibus service in London from 1829.
Shillibeer was born in St Marylebone, London, the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Shillibeer. Christened in St Marys Church, St Marylebone on 22 October 1797, Shillibeer worked for the coach company Hatchetts in Long Acre, the coach-building district of the capital. In the 1820s he was offered work in Paris, France where he was commissioned to build some unusually large horse-drawn coaches of "novel design". The aim was to design a coach capable of transporting a whole group of people, perhaps two dozen, at a time.
Shillibeer's design worked, and was very stable. It was introduced into the streets of Paris in 1827 and Shillibeer concluded that operating similar vehicles in London, but for the fare-paying public with multiple stops, would be a paying enterprise, so he returned to his native city. His first London "Omnibus" began service on 4 July 1829 on a route between Paddington (The Yorkshire Stingo) and "Bank" (Bank of England) via the "New Road" (now Marylebone Rd), Somers Town and City Rd. Four services were provided in each direction daily. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that Sir Jacob Epstein's statute Day on the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway caused controversy when it was unveiled due to the length of the penis on one of the figures? Epstein later reduced the length.
- ...that an estimated half a million mice live on the Underground system, and can often be seen running around the tracks?
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Image 1Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 2Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 3The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 4Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 5Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 6Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 7A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 8The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 9The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 10Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 12Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 14London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 15Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 16Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 17Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 19London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 20Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 21The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 23Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 26Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 27View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 28The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 30The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 32Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 33TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 3555 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 36Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 37Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 38Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 41Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 43Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 44"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 45Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 46Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 47London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 48The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 49Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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