{{infobox London place| |Place= Tooting |Borough= Wandsworth |Traditional= Surrey |Constituency= |PostTown= LONDON |PostCode= SW17 |DiallingCode= 020 |GridReference= TQ275715 |GLA= Merton_and_Wandsworth }} '''Tooting''' is a suburb in the London_Borough_of_Wandsworth in south London. It is 5 miles (8.1 km) south south-west of Charing_Cross. ==History== Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times, and its name means "the dwelling of the sons of Totas". The Romans built Stane_Street from London (Londinium) to Chichester (Regnum), which passed through Tooting. Tooting High Street is built on this road. The following timeline sets out some crucial moments in the town's history: *'''666 AD''' - Tooting and Streatham (then Toting-cum-Stretham) given to the Abbey of Chertsey. *'''900 AD''' - Suene (Sweyn), believed to be a Viking, given the Land by Edward_the_Confessor. *'''933 AD''' - King Athelstan_of_England gave lands including Totinge (Tooting) to the family of Chertsey Minster. *'''1086 AD''' - Tooting Bec and Tooting Graveney appear on the Domesday survey as two distinct areas, Upper and Lower Tooting. *'''1703 AD''' - Citizen Daniel_Defoe was a Tooting Presbyterian Minister in hiding. *'''1954 ''' - St_George's_Hospital begins to relocate to Tooting from Hyde Park Corner, taking over the old Grove Fever and Fountain Hospitals. *'''2003''' - Redevelopment of St George's Hospital buildings is complete making it one of the formost hospitals in Europe. ==Cultural references== The BBC Comedy series ''Citizen_Smith'' was set in Tooting and popularised the cry "Freedom for Tooting!". Star of the series Wolfie Smith (played by Robert Lindsay) was a beret-hatted Communist "leftie" type, founder of fictional revolutionary political organisation, the Tooting Popular Front. In 2005, a 28-km diameter crater on Mars was named after Tooting http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/mars/marscrat.html http://www.higp.hawaii.edu/~pmm/planetary.html. A geologic map of Tooting Crater is under preparation, and will be published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the United States. British TV police drama 'The_Bill' is frequently filmed in and around Tooting. Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi_Thom found fame after she Webcast 21 performances from her basement flat in Tooting between February and March 2006. Her track 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)' reached No1 in the UK_charts on 2 June 2006. Tooting Bec appears in the book The_Meaning_of_Liff, defined as the situation in which a driver sounds his or her horn at a Car in front, only to discover that the car in front is parked. ==Politics== The Member of Parliament for Tooting is Sadiq_Khan, first elected at the 2005 General Election to represent the parliamentary constituency of Tooting. Councillors for Tooting Ward (May 2006) are Susan Richards (Conservative), Alex Jacob (Conservative) and Dr Nick Bowes (Labour). ==Open spaces== The large open area of Tooting_Bec common lies at the northern end of Tooting. The common includes Tooting_Bec_Lido, the largest open air pool in Europe, which is 90 metres long. ==Sport== Tooting shares a football club with nearby Mitcham: Tooting_&_Mitcham_United_F.C.. Snooker legend Jimmy White comes from Tooting and sometimes plays snooker in the Mayfair snooker hall. Darren Bent who plays football for Charlton Atheltic comes from Tooting. One of London's few greyhound racing tracks is found in Tooting. ==Transport== Tooting is positioned on the Northern_Line — with stations at the top and the bottom of the hill that slopes down the High Street, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway. ===Nearest places=== * Balham * Mitcham * Wimbledon * Morden * Streatham * Furzedown ===Nearest tube stations=== ''(North to South on Northern Line)'' * Balham_tube_station * Tooting_Bec_tube_station * Tooting_Broadway_tube_station * Colliers_Wood_tube_station * South_Wimbledon_tube_station ===Nearest railway stations=== * Tooting_railway_station * Balham_railway_station * Wandsworth_Common_railway_station * Haydons_Road_railway_station ==External links== *Tooting Web Site *Tooting Library *TootingLife — Tooting Town Partnership site *Indian Curries for Tooting Category:Districts_of_London Category:Wandsworth Fr:Tooting