London Just Carried On
Ten years ago today, I published a post on my old blog entitled Carry On London, as a reflection after the bombings earlier in the day.
I make no apologies for repeating it today.
Tuesday, I went to the funeral of a friend. Alex died young at 48. Life is cruel. But even the funeral was not a sad affair! Alex wouldn’t have wanted it so and stated it probably many times before she died!
Wednesday, I was in Trafalgar Square, when my fair and beloved city, London, was announced as the winner of the 2012 Olympic Games. Life can be so sweet.
But then we have the bombings of today!
Thousands of times, I’ve travelled through the tunnels under London. Many times, I’ve done the stretch between Kings Cross and Russell Square, where most of the casualties occurred. Occassionally, I’ve used the two parts of the Circle Line, where the other two bombs went off.
Am I bitter? Angry? Sad? Vindictive?
Not sure!
Sad yes! As why would anybody want to do such a thing! How would I feel if one of my sons did that? I would know I had failed. How would I feel if one of my sons had got caught in the blasts. I don’t know! But thankfully they didn’t.
So it has to be sadness at the moment. Vindictiveness only follows the old eye for an eye maxim, which means that we all go blind!
But perhaps, the greatest thing we can do is just carry on, remembering those that died and vowing to be more vigilant so that it won’t happen again.
Fay would have done that. She worked for my father and during the Second World War, the shy girl from North London, worked as a conductor on the buses. One day, the bus she should have been on, was hit directly by a German bomb. Everybody died! She just remembered the tragedy, I suspect she cried long and hard, and then she carried on.
A few crackpots, who take the good name of Islam in vain, should never be able to bring London to its knees, when the evil Hitler and the Luftwaffe failed.
A last point for Bush and all those who think that the death penalty is a deterrent in these sort of cases. I’ll ignore the fact that the London atrocities may well have been suicide bombers, which are usually pretty difficult to execute. But as I am someone who has no belief in any religious being at all, I do believe that we should do all we can to preserve reasonable life here, as there is nothing more to come. So if we ever execute anybody, then we are losing our own humanity and descending below their level.
Carry on London.
A lot has happened to me since that fateful day of the 7th July, 2005.
My wife of nearly forty years and our youngest son, both died of cancer. I then had a stroke, which left me unable to drive. So I’ve moved back to London and almost ironically, I now live close to the route of the number 30 bus, one of which was destroyed with the loss of thirteen lives in the bombings.
But London has looked after me, as only one of the world’s great cities can.
And London has carried on, just as Fay believed you should.
Should London Take A Leaf Out Of Syriza’s Rule Book?
Tomorrow and Thursday in London, the Underground is on strike.
The strike is to try and get a greater increase in salary to work the new Night Tube, when it opens in September.
If I was Boris, I’d call a referendum with this question.
Do the residents and visitors to London want a night Underground service on Friday and Saturday?
I certainly do! But then the Unions want to rerun the 2015 General Election, where the electorate didn’t like the Labour Party.
Obviously, if it’s a No! vote, then the Mayor and Transport for London would drop the idea of the Night Tube.
Crossrail Station Index
My post on Custom House station got me asking the question – In how many Crossrail stations, will there be a central island platform with two platform faces or a shared area possibly with platform edge doors serving both lines, rather than two separate platforms with the tracks together in the middle?
Crossrail is effectively a two-track railway and only a few stations have more than two platforms that will be used by Crossrail trains.
This is an index of all Crossrail stations, with links to their page on the Crossrail web site and Wikipedia.
Note that at present not all stations, have their own page on the Crossrail web site.
Abbey Wood Station – An existing station with two new Crossrail platforms. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Acton Main Line – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Bond Street – A new two-platform station with possibly a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Brentwood – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Burnham – An existing two-platform station with an island platform. Crossrail Wikipedia
Canary Wharf – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Chadwell Heath – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Custom House – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Ealing Broadway Station – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Crossrail Wikipedia
Farringdon – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Forest Gate – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Gidea Park – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Goodmayes – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Hanwell – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Harold Wood – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Hayes and Harlington – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Crossrail Wikipedia
Ilford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Iver – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Langley – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
Liverpool Street – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Maidenhead – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Manor Park – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Maryland – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Old Oak Common – A new station to be designed and built after Crossrail is completed. Wikipedia
Paddington – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Reading – A large existing station, which has been future-proofed to act as a terminal for Crossrail. Wikipedia
Romford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Seven Kings – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Shenfield – An existing station with three separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Slough – A large existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
Southall – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Wikipedia
Stratford – A large existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and subway transfer. Wikipedia
Taplow – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
Tottenham Court Road – A new two-platform station with possibly a shared area between them. Crossrail Wikipedia
Twyford – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer. Wikipedia
West Drayton – An existing station with two/three separate Crossrail platforms and bridge/subway transfer. Crossrail Wikipedia
West Ealing – An existing station with two separate Crossrail platforms and bridge transfer, that will be rebuilt. Wikipedia
Whitechapel – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
Woolwich – A new two-platform station with a shared area between them. – Crossrail Wikipedia
The Greek Finance Minister Had The Crash Helmet
What made me laugh yesterday was a picture of the now-resigned Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, riding away from the problems on his motocycle.
He was wearing a crash helmet and his bimbo-on-the-back had to make do without!
A Greek metaphor on the lines of I’m alright, Jack!
I think the video is on this page in the Guardian.
The Mail says the lady is his wife!
The Anonymous Widower 