_Suburbs._--Although the boundary of the county of London does not, to
outward appearance, enclose a city distinct from its suburbs, London
outside that boundary may be conveniently considered as suburban.
Large numbers of business men and others who must of necessity live in
proximity to the metropolis have their homes aloof from its centre. It
is estimated that upwards of a million daily enter and leave the City
alone as the commercial heart of London, and a great proportion of
these travel in and out by the suburban railways. In this aspect the
principal extension of London has been into the counties of Kent and
Surrey, to the pleasant hilly districts about Sydenham, Norwood and
Croydon, Chislehurst and Orpington, Caterham, Redhill and Reigate,
Epsom, Dorking and Leatherhead; and up the valley of the Thames
through Richmond to Kingston and Surbiton, Esher and Weybridge, and
the many townships on both the Surrey and the Middlesex shores of the
river. On the west and north the residential suburbs immediately
outside the county include Acton and Ealing, Willesden, Highgate,
Finchley and Hornsey; from the last two a densely populated district
extends north through Wood Green and Southgate to Barnet and Enfield;
while the "residential influence" of the metropolis far exceeds these
limits, and may be observed at Harrow and Pinner, Bushey and Boxmoor,
St Albans, Harpenden, Stevenage and many other places. To the
north-east the beauty of Epping Forest attracts numerous residents to
Woodford, Chingford and Loughton. The valley of the Lea is also
thickly populated, but chiefly by an industrial population working in
the numerous factories along this river. The Lea separates the county
of London from Essex, but the townships of West Ham and Stratford,
Barking and Ilford, Leyton and Walthamstow continue the metropolis in
this direction almost without a break. Their population is also
largely occupied in local manufacturing establishments; while numerous
towns on either bank of the lower Thames share in the industries of
the port of London.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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