New London

**New London**, located on Morning Island, is the administrative capital of the British Paradise Islands.

## Location

New London is situated on a broad rolling plain below the Avon Range, sandwiched between Governor's Harbour and Prince Albert, both larger, busier, and more commercialised municipalities, making the Avon area the most densely-populated, most-developed and most expensive region in the territory. The hillside tends to block most of the prevailing east-southeast winds, leaving the capital often hot and airless. A change in elevation of about 22 metres occurs between Windsor Street and Hole Road; and the one-way streets of Mall East and Mall West are the only ones leading straight up and down (respectively), in the shallowest place of the hillside.

All the major streets are named for British royal houses.

New London is actually a borough in the larger municipal entity of Avon Township. Here are located the governor's palace, Territorial Parliament, territorial ministry offices, and various embassies.

File: 1.55.1x. NewLondon, map.pdf

## History and character

When first delineated from the adjacent city of Governor's Harbour in 1938, New London was intended to be only a governmental capital and not a substantial residential and commercial centre. However numerous members of Territorial Parliament, as well as others in government service and related fields, settled upon the pleasant, clean and airy hillside; and New London Borough Primary School, for students in forms 0-2, was opened in 1969.

Historically most residents of turn-of-the-century New London settled here due to assignments during the 1939-1945 War; so the city maintains a staunchly patriotic, regimented, almost militaristic aura, evident in formal facades of buildings, radial streets emanating from circuses, and a stately long mall of gardens, fountains and statuary extending down from Florida House, the governor's palace, to the waterfront of Paradise Sound. Though many houses are spacious and elegant, especially when compared to most in the territory, they stand relatively close together and close to the pavement, lending a crowded feeling to a city of only 2,500.

## Amenities

The lido along the southern shore of Paradise Sound is a popular destination for tourists and locals.

Between York Street and lower Norman Street a small arcade caters to business, tourist and local clientele. New London is known for cosy, quaint pubs and eateries where members of Territorial Parliament can associate with visitors and constituents.

St John's Oratory is located at the bottom of Norman Street, at the corner of the thoroughfare Hole Road, one of the few dual-lane carriageways in the territory. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in the territory. Christ The King Cathedral is the Anglican seat for the territorial diocese.

The Royal Paradise Memorial Garden, where Sir Harvey Headley, numerous military figures, and others of note are interred, rolls over a sunny hillside on the slopes above Park Lane.

The Ellipse, the meeting hall and formal offices of the territorial House of Peers, is located on Plantegenet Street. Cook House, on the Mall, is the meeting venue for the territorial House of Delegates.

At Castle Circus, a comfortable, castellated country house was improved in the 1950s specifically to accommodate the queen or her family in the event of royal visits. It is known as West Windsor Castle, mainly because the neighbourhood is that of western Windsor Street. The Prince and Princess of Wales stay here during their 1992 visit to the territory.

Florida House, an elegant Regency-styled manor house, was built in the early 1960s for the governor-general. It gets its name from the lavish floral gardens to both sides and uphill. The house has an unimpeded view, past a few shrubs and fountains of The Mall, to the blue waters of the Sound. Tours of the grounds and house are given during a few days each week for the benefit of tourists.

Several busy bus routes wend through the hilly roads of the borough, including these connecting the West Windsor neighbourhood with the eastern end of the Goolagong Street shopping district of Governor's Harbour.

## Disambiguation

New London, British Paradise Islands, is often mistaken for being somewhere else, as (apparently) the name seems too familiar to not be more widely known beyond Connecticut, USA. In the novel *East of the Sun*, the yacht Starchase, having left the Paradise Islands, lays over at Acapulco, Mexico, but Paul Cavaliere and the crew are deported the following morning under suspicion of intending to transport drugs. Having seen their passports, the immigration official contends, 'How did you come from New London, Jamaica, without going through Panama?' Enangered, Paul replies, 'There *is* no New London Jamaica!' This confrontation sets up the conditions under which Paul's cousin Jonathan shall meet them for his first visit to Paradise.

## Appearances in stories

Sir Jonathan Cavaliere, Lord Paradise, encourages his son (and heir) Lord Jonathan's interest in political and policymaking affairs; throughout Lord Jonathan's 6th-form year (1996-1997; concurrent with the Gwendolyn Dahl story arc) the borough frequently appears as a secondary setting.

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