Subject: How to recognise the stars

i have been interested in astronomy for some time. i have a fairly strong 
set of binoculars and i love to look at the stars. i recently aquired a 
telescope and have found looking at the stars very interesting. However, 
despite having numerous maps and a planisphere i have a lot of trouble 
locating stars and especially planets. i live in London and as you can 
imagin the light pollution is very bad. i recognise only one constalation 
and that is Ursa Major. i believe, in the sky it should be very clear but 
because of the light pollution you can hardly see it with the nacked eye. 
lastnight i saw a very bright unflickering body i looked at it through my 
binoculars and it was distinguishingly large and round. i thought it may 
have been a planet however it was near Ursa Major so i thought it may have 
been Polaris. I know that stars flicker and planets dont but i am still 
unsure. Please tell me how i can be sure about what i'm looking at.   

Re: How to recognise the stars