London Mnemonics: How To Remember London Stuff

M@
By M@ Last edited 18 months ago
London Mnemonics: How To Remember London Stuff
Johnny Mnemonic: sadly forgotten by the Academy Awards.

London is a confusing city. We need every bit of help we can get to find our way around. To that end, we've compiled a list of useful reminders, or mnemonics.  

How to remember the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue

An old favourite, the mnemonic 'Little Apples Grow Quickly, Please' recalls the Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud, Queen's and the Palace Theatres, in order from west to east. The Queen's Theatre has since changed its name to the Sondheim Theatre, so we have to adjust the mnemonic to 'Little Apples Grow Speedily, Please'.

How to remember the streets of Soho

Image by M@

With its grid-like streets and infinite bounty of cafes and bars, Soho can get a little bewildering. Here's a classic mnemonic for remembering the order of the streets to the eastern end: Good For Dirty Women. It corresponds to Greek Street, Frith Street, Dean Street and Wardour Street. If you want to add Berwick Street and Poland Street, we'd instead suggest Great Friends Doctor Who & Billie Piper. It has little connection to Soho, but should be memorable to Whovians.

How to remember the Zone 1 stations on the Central line

A similar exercise could be tried with any of the lines, but here's a handy way of remembering the stops on the red line between Notting Hill Gate and Liverpool Street:

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That's Notting Hill, Queensway, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Chancery Lane, St Paul's, Bank and Liverpool Street.

How to remember the services on the M25

There are only four service stations on the orbital motorway, so it shouldn't be too hard to remember them. Just in case, you might enquire 'Can Little Chef Serve Me Tea?', to remember (south-east running clockwise) Clacket Lane, Cobham, South Mimms and Thurrock. (Note, none of them have a Little Chef, so the answer is 'no'.)

How to remember the bridges over the Thames

Image by M@

Even seasoned Londoners sometimes get the order of the bridges mixed up. There a 33 spans over the Thames in London, which would make for an unwieldy mnemonic. Instead, let's focus on the central area. Use one of the following (depending on your political persuasion) to remember the bridges:

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Voting 'Leave' Will Guarantee We Bring More Stability & Leverage Trade

The mnemonics recall Vauxhall, Lambeth, Westminster, Golden Jubilee, Waterloo, Blackfriars, Millennium, Southwark, London and Tower bridges. Note: we've only included ones you can walk across. If the Garden Bridge gets built, we can amend the mnemonics by adding 'Generally' after 'We'.

How to remember the stops on the Waterloo & City line

You're Woefully Bemused if you need help with that one.

Invent your own mnemonics in the comments below.

Last Updated 14 September 2022