Mapa mundi, Piccadilly Circus

In the circular underground concourse of Piccadilly tube station (serving the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines), I came across this lovely period piece; a map of the world showing the time as the planet spins. Looking at the borders, this is a post-war work, fascinating for cartographers, geographers and political historians. In the photograph below, I've just focused on Europe - from the Atlantic to the Urals (and yes, there's Chelyabinsk!). Click to enlarge image. "Gdansk" is also "Danzig", though "Wrocław" is just that. Germany is represented by just Hamburg, Berlin and Munich (no Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Dresden, Leipzig or Stuttgart). But then just look at Russia! Places that were no more than glorified Gulags - Syktyvkar, Vologda or Ukhta - getting namechecks, while Glasgow or Manchester don't. Says something about filling blank spaces on maps, it also says something about the Soviet sympathies abounding in post-war Britain.

Remember "L" is for "Labour", "L" is for "Lice".