Bulletin

London as a leading global city is now on course to have an unprecedented population exceeding 8.6 million that was last recorded in 1939. Reams of fascinating and unusual data exists showcasing demographic trends. We have taken a look at our favourite map courtesy of mappinglondon.co.uk. Another couple to check out are The World in Tweets and House Prices- A London Catogram.

Football Tribes of London

This map attempts to reconcile parts of London through the local population allegiances to different clubs within the city. According to the map Watford FC who after an excellent start to the season are looking to cement their Premier League status, compete for allegiances in the London borough of Hillingdon with Chelsea FC whose woeful start to the season has seen them descend to 16th place. A decade ago Chelsea supporters may have been confined to a small pocket Kensington & Chelsea however due to the clubs success in recent years they have been able to galvanise support from vast swathes of Outer West London boroughs.

Arsenal compete for territory with their fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Since moving from Woolwich in 1913 Arsenals heartland has been in Camden, Islington & Barnet (Barnet FCs support only accounts for a small proportion of the borough), whereas Tottenham occupy vast swathes of Hackney & Haringey. Enfield is a divided borough contested between the two teams.

West Ham United support covers the majority of the London’s East End particularly in Newham where their current stadium is located as well as across Tower Hamlets, Barking, Redbridge & Havering. Their long anticipated move to the 60,000 capacity Olympic Stadium from Upton Park next year will no doubt see their support intensify.

I finally got to try out the famous Bombay cafe that everyone has been raving about and I have to say I can totally see why – it is delicious.

I went with a group of friends and the waitress advised us on how to choose our dishes (lots of smaller plates to share) so that we could all each get a real flavour of their food. None of us spoke whilst eating, which for us meant that the food was too good to stop and discuss. The flavours are so unique yet you really get the classic eastern tastes that are lacking so much from a lot if Indian restaurants.

The decor of the restaurant itself was stunning, I felt like I had just stepped into a living room in India. It's simple yet it almost feels homely and we felt ourselves relaxing into the atmosphere. Amazingly it managed to make us forget that we were in East London and blocked out the noise and sights from outside.

We booked a table (thankfully) and would suggest doing so as the queue was snaking out into the street when we left.

We are saddened by recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Kenya & Lebanon. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those affected. As Londoners we pride ourselves on our diversity, liberalism and freedom of expression. These are universal values that we share with our Parisian counterparts and these are the values that perpetrators of last Fridays attack seek to obviate. In the face of such attacks we must unwaveringly continue to uphold these values.