Many people move to London each year to take up new jobs and popular posts in the city are either that of a nanny or a housekeeper. It’s a good way to get to know new people, extend already existing experience in the chosen career and to live in a fun and vibrant city. Taking a post through an agency such as http://supacare.co.uk/housekeepers/ is an exciting prospect and is the perfect way to start a new life.
For anyone who is planning a move to the capital in the future, here are a few fun facts and pieces of trivia about the destination named by the Romans as Londinium.
What’s in a name
London has had many names over the centuries; some can be evidenced and others are mythical. Whilst the Romans are credited with giving the city the name of Londinium which would eventually become London, some experts believe that it could have another name in earlier times. The name Plowonida is one suggestion; a pre-Celtic name which means wide river and is a reference to the River Thames running through the area. When the Celts started a settlement it could be that the name became Lowonidonjon or Londinion either from the name of a chieftain or the word for ‘wild’. It was then the Romans turn to change the name when they arrived in 43AD and this eventually become London.
The famous Boroughs
The Boroughs we know and love are fairly recent arrivals to London. In 1965, a total of 32 Boroughs were born; some from existing, already popular places and some new additions. Previous Boroughs such as Pancras and Finsbury ceased to exist and now only live on through street names and underground stations.
The original names of the Boroughs are fascinating; Croyden means ‘valley of the crocuses’, Enfield is the Anglo Saxon name for a lamb and Bromley was named as it was originally a ‘woodland place where broom grows’.
Houses of Parliament
One of the most iconic landmarks of London, the Houses of Parliament is not the official name for this towering location. It’s actually called the Palace of Westminster and is in fact the largest palace in England.
With 8 bars, 6 restaurants, 1000 rooms and even a hair salon and rifle-shooting range, it’s a place where more than politics are discussed. There’s a rather unusual and macabre old law in place that it’s illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster but it is a place of final rest for a number of famous playwrights and poets who are buried there.
Famous visitors and residents
London has had thousands of celebrities who have either visited the city or lived there over the centuries but some notable names are Jimi Hendrix who lived at a property which is now to become a museum, the composer Handel who lived (centuries apart) two doors away from Hendrix and even the Beatles who made their mark in history by performing their last gig there. They took to the rooftop of Apple Corps at 3 Saville Row to amaze their fans. The building is now a clothing store.
