4 ms·
Some years ago, I was looking for London hotels on some booking site, and noticed that they were listed as being so-and-so many km (with .1 or even .01 precisio
by Pinus 2y ago
Some years ago, I was looking for London hotels on some booking site, and noticed that they were listed as being so-and-so many km (with .1 or even .01 precision) from London, which seemed amusing given that they were all in London. So I fired up QGIS and drew a circle (in some suitable projection!) with the indicated radius around each hotel, and found that they intersected on Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square.
- Quarrel 2y agoAs the parent indicated, this stuff is surprisingly standardised in London. Distance is measured from Charing Cross. The Cross is near Nelson's Column, but I would be surprised if the column was actually the central point. As others have pointed out, this leads to some weirdness, as lots assume that the City (old London & older Roman London) would be the obvious place to measure things from.
- fredoralive 2y agoThe original Charing Cross was at the south of the square, where the statue of Charles I is now. (The cross at the railways station nearby is a Victorian folly).
- anyonecancode 2y agoIn a similar vein, for New York City the official highway distance to the city is measured from Columbus Circle [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Circle
- andrewaylett 2y agoIn Edinburgh, it's the old post office building at the end of Princes Street. Which is also where the A1, A7, and A8 meet.