It's not every day this blog gets to celebrate an 1100th anniversary, this because not a great deal happened in the London area on verifiable dates in the 10th century. It's also not every day I get to use the Old English character Æ twenty-two times in a blogpost. King Æthelstan being crowned in Kingston, supposedly just round the back of Pret A Manger. (that's not Pret A Manager, sorry, that's Kingston Market Place) often credited as being the first King of England. He wasn't in 925 AD because England didn't yet exist, but it would two years later after Æthelstan brought together the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. But the proud country that now ties red crosses to lampposts has its origins on 4th September 925 when the Archbishop of Canterbury placed a crown atop Æthelstan's head, not a helmet as had been the case for all his predecessors. Edward the Elder, a ruler of Wessex who during his reign successfully took over Mercia, thereby gaining control of most of the land south of the Humber. Edward died in July 924, at which point the people of Wessex adopted his son Ælfweard as king whereas Mercia chose Æthelstan. But Ælfweard died just twelve days later (suspicious, what?), after which the people of Wessex moved to embrace Æthelstan too. (that's not a recent photo, sorry, it has Charles III coronation bunting on it) Æthelstan's coronation because it was on the boundary between the two kingdoms, technically in Wessex but within wading distance of Mercia across the Thames. It was also where his father Edward had been crowned 25 years earlier, setting a precedent that would eventually see seven Saxon Kings crowned in Kingston. Only Westminster Abbey has seen more coronations, because once that was built no monarch was ever going back to riverside Kingston again. Æthelstan was the first to decree that Kingston was a royal town, and this is why Kingston upon Thames is now one of London's three royal boroughs. wooden Saxon chapel alongside. There's no collaborating evidence that the sarsen stone was present, only that it was retrieved from the ruins of the chapel after it collapsed in 1730, and its royal heritage may simply be supposition by 18th century historians. (that's not a recent photo either, sorry, the stone's been scrubbed up since 2010) outside the town hall on the High Street, which is absolutely not where Æthelstan's coronation took place. It was moved here from the Garden of Rest in Church Street in 1936, a far more proximate location, although that was only temporary while building works on the Guildhall were completed. From 1850 to 1935 it had sat in the middle of the High Street, freshly positioned on its heptagonal base by patriotic Victorians looking to capitalise on Kingston's royal past. It had been moved here from an off-road site by the county assizes, prior to which it had been located beside the Elizabethan Market Hall and used as a mounting block, prior to which it had been in a more appropriate location outside All Saints' Church (roughly where the collapsed Saxon chapel had been). Never trust your eyes when it comes to historical locations. ♔ Edward the Elder - 8th June 900 Old English linguistic nuance. Meanwhile the coronation year appears as DCCCCXXV, whereas these days we'd probably plump for CMXXV rather than go all long-winded. I would show you that in a photograph but I don't have one, despite visiting the stone on several occasions, having seemingly never taken a single photo from the full-on Æthelstan angle. (this shot's focused on his half-brother Eadmund instead, sorry) kicking up sufficient fuss that the anniversary was imminent, or else the inexorable decay of London-based websites that used to comprehensively preview What's On in the suburbs. I only noticed when Ian Visits went to see a train. King Athelstan (not Æthelstan because presumably that was deemed too complex). The ceremony at Kingston station involved the historian Tom Holland, the local MP Sir Ed Davey and a group of Saxon reenactors from the Wychwood Warriors. Children from King Athelstan Primary School were also present, wearing cardboard crowns prominently featuring the SWR logo, which is a pretty good way to skive off lessons on only the third day of the new school year. Obviously there were iced cupcakes with an edible picture of the king on top because that's what Æthelstan would have wanted. Ian has all the photos of the event so do go and read that, especially if you prefer railways to history, and to be impressed by how a train company managed to hijack the anniversary and make it all about them on a site that wasn't where the coronation took place either. (that's just me zooming in on a previous photo, sorry) Wikipedia has you covered there, assuming your knowledge of Anglo Saxon hegemony isn't up to scratch. The country tottered somewhat after his death in 939 when the people of York plumped for Viking rule instead, but the defeat of Eric Bloodaxe under King Eadred in 954 brought the nation back together and there's been an England ever since. And it all kicked off in Kingston with the coronation of King Æthelstan 1100 years ago today, not where the Coronation Stone is and definitely not at the railway station.

I don't feel old now I've hit 60, but when I step out onto the street most people do seem to be a lot younger. It doesn't worry me, but I wondered if there was a way to quantify all this. population spreadsheet published by the Office for National Statistics to see how relatively old I really am. They publish it every summer so I'm using the latest data, specifically the "mid-2024" estimates of population. These give a precise estimate for the number of people at each age from 0 to 89, then conclude with an amalgamated 90+ column. So for example last summer there were 691,406 21 year-olds in England, 8230 47 year-olds in Leicestershire and 681 86 year-olds in Milton Keynes. median age in England was 40.2, i.e. half the population are younger and half are older. If you've passed the age of 40 you are already in the older half of the population. But the most common age in England wasn't 40, it was 33. There were 833,482 33 year-olds in England last summer, marginally ahead of the 34 year-olds and 36-olds, so if you fancy setting up a greetings card company that's where you should focus your efforts. England Age range   Youngest 10% 0-8 11-20%9-16 21-30%17-25 31-40%26-32 41-50%33-39 51-60%40-47 61-70%48-55 71-80%56-63 81-90%64-73 Oldest 10%74-100+ Children occupy the top two slots, i.e. 0-16 year-olds make up the youngest 20% of the country. Pensioners occupy the bottom two slots, near enough, i.e. those aged 64 and over make up the oldest 20% of the country. I'm in the group just above that along with rest of the 1960s baby boom (we're about three-quarters of the way along the English population pyramid). Approximately speaking each 10% band comprises eight years of births, extending somewhat at the oldest end. Here's the split for the population of London. Where are you in this one? London Age range   Youngest 10% 0-8 11-20%9-16 21-30%17-24 31-40%25-29 41-50%30-35 51-60%36-41 61-70%42-48 71-80%49-57 81-90%58-67 Oldest 10%68-100+ The big difference isn't amongst the youngest - London has as many 0-16 year-olds as the rest of England. The big difference is amongst young adults because the population suddenly bulges for those in their 20s and 30s. A full 40% of London's population are under 30 and half are under 35. The central groups here comprise only five or six different ages, not seven or eight. What's happening here is a lot of people moving to London in their 20s and 30s, either from the provinces or abroad, mainly for work, and a lot of people moving away later in life, either to realise property assets or to escape rising rents. We also have a lot of students and they skew things lower too. London really is a younger city than the rest of the country. Tower Hamlets Age range   Youngest 10% 0-9 11-20%10-18 21-30%19-23 31-40%24-26 41-50%27-30 51-60%31-34 61-70%35-39 71-80%40-46 81-90%47-57 Oldest 10%58-100+ The extraordinary thing here is the young adult bulge, which squeezes out both the younger and older ends of the population. Tower Hamlets actually has proportionally fewer children than the rest of the country, whatever you might have assumed about the offspring of a foreign-born population. It's also very very light on older people, indeed only 5% of the population are of pensionable age. No wonder our council has still money to spend - local demands for social care are way below average. But what I find really chastening is that at the relatively young age of 60 I find myself in the oldest 10% of the population in Tower Hamlets. I'm not imagining it, I really am quite old for the place where I live. Median age in Tower Hamlets: 31 Median age in London: 36 Median age in England: 40 Median age in Dorset: 52 Median age in North Norfolk: 56 As for the point at which you enter the oldest quarter of the population, this varies considerably according to where you live. In Tower Hamlets the "oldest quarter" borderline is 43, in London it's 53, in England it's 59, in Dorset it's 68 and in North Norfolk it's 70. If you want to feel relatively young, move to Cromer.  Tower  Hamlets  London  England  Dorset North  Norfolk   Youngest 10%       11-20%      21-30%      31-40%      41-50%      51-60%    56-61 61-70%   59-64  71-80%  56-63   81-90% 58-67    Oldest 10%58+     So there you go, at 60 I'm not especially old by national standards, and I shall cling to that thought for a few more years. But I am old for where I live and I shall have to get used to that. Maybe someone'll even offer me a seat on the tube this morning.

Luxmuralis and Peter Walker work their magic.