07.10.05
The London bombings
Thank you to all of you who sent messages of concern and sympathy after the terrible bomb blasts of last Thursday. Thankfully, I am safe, as are all my friends, colleagues and loved ones. The city is already resuming the rhythm of normal life, although I think it will be some time before the transport system is back at full capacity.
Thursday started as a day like any other. I was a bit late leaving the house and got to my local Tube stop, on the Northern Line, a bit before 9am (I start work at 9.30am). A notice board informed me that the line was out of action between Morden and Stockwell due to a power failure and I would have to walk to Stockwell. Nothing unusual there – my only irritation was that I’d left my comfy shoes at home and would have to walk the kilometre or so in heels.
The scene at Stockwell station was chaotic. They weren’t letting people into the station, which I thought was because of over-crowding, and there were hordes of people trying to cram onto buses out the front. A rumour went around that the entire Tube network was out of action because a power cut had caused some explosions. Moments later, I was able to confirm this with a colleague who was already in the office and had access to the internet. I tried to call my boyfriend for the first time but I couldn’t get through; this didn’t worry me since I thought he was likely to still be on the Tube.
I didn’t like my chances of getting on a bus so I started walking to Vauxhall. I decided to take an overground train to Clapham Junction where I could get a train to Kensington Olympia. I normally get the Tube but I knew that some colleagues got the overground train and that it wasn’t far from my office. It struck me that the fact that I had to go to such extremes was definitely out of the ordinary; it had taken me an hour and a half to move very little distance from my home. Still, the information I had – from both the official announcements and my calls to the office – gave me no reason to suspect anything disastrous. London has a very good transport network when it works but it doesn’t take much for it to grind to a halt.
I was on the platform at Clapham Junction when an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “This is a very serious announcement. Due to certain events that have occurred in London this morning, we strongly advise you to avoid travelling into the capital today if at all possible.” It was pretty clear to me what was meant by “certain events”.
I rang my boyfriend again but still couldn’t get through. I rang his office and spoke to one of his colleagues. He still hadn’t arrived at work, which was slightly worrying because he had left the house a good half an hour before I had, but all I could do was leave a message.
Now I had to decide what I would do. I rang the office to consult with my boss but he’d gone out for a meeting. I knew that they were relying on me to be there because I’ve been acting news editor for the past few weeks and it was a crucial time of the week with lots to do. On the other hand, I wasn’t exactly prepared to get blown up for the cause!
At that point the train pulled in. They only come every half an hour and I had to make a split decision. I was nine-tenths of the way to work … I worked in West London not Central London … and they had suspended the bus service so getting home would be a problem anyway … I jumped on the train.
I finally made it to work at about 11am. All my colleagues were safely accounted for but I still hadn’t heard from the one person who really mattered to me. Now that I no longer had the logistical challenge of getting to work, I started to panic. I called his office again but I was too choked to speak much. It was 11.20am, he had left the house three hours previously, and he still wasn’t there. I was dimly aware that the mobile networks in Central London were being used for emergency services but it didn’t really register. All I knew was that I couldn’t contact him. He works right near Bank station and, while I hadn’t heard anything about a bomb there, I knew that it was a likely target.
Finally, he called. He had been shunted from Tube to bus to bus and then had to walk the final few miles on foot. I started crying with relief and while I managed to compose myself eventually, I felt really drained for the rest of the day. I had spent all my emotional energy and now I just felt physically exhausted. Like everyone, I found it really hard to work, especially with anxiety of the homeward journey hanging over us.
Getting back on the Tube the next day felt really weird. It was less crowded than usual and the atmosphere was quite tense. It’s obviously going to be a while for everything to return to normal. Of course, we don’t even know for sure that it’s all over yet – especially now that they have determined that the bombs were detonated rather than exploded by suicide bombers.
My story is relatively inane. I was nowhere near the blasts and no one I know was hurt. But my experience one I share with thousands others. Reading the newspapers over the past few days has helped me to realise how bad it really was and how much worse it could have been for me personally. My heart goes out to all those people who were so much more directly affected than I was.
It’s so horrible and evil and I find it quite hard to fathom. Yes, there are political and historical reasons behind it and I understand that but it doesn’t change the fact that these people are murderers and I can never condone that.
