Morning. I just woke up after my first night at Clyde Road, sleeping on an air bed in the living room. It wasn’t a bad sleep, so it’s not as bad as it seems.I’m leaving soon to go to East Croydon and get the 10:17 train to Charing Cross, and then the Bakerloo Line to Paddington. Should be fun, seeing as I’ve got a suitcase, a rucksack and a shoulder bag to carry! Once I get on the train to Newport though, it’s plain sailing from there on.
I’ve now moved all my stuff to Clyde Road, Croydon. It’s bigger than the one I had at Aprile’s in Hornchurch, and it’ll be my home in London until I’ve qualified as a solicitor.At the present time, the whole flat has to be done up by Steve, but it will look great when it’s all finished. Some of the features to look forward to will include a 42 inch TV on the wall above the fireplace in the living room, a brand new kitchen and bathroom, and my room will be painted green. Lovely jubbly.
For those of you not in the know, Steve’s flat is two-tiered, with the living room, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor, and the bedrooms on the second floor. It’s two tram stops away from East Croydon train station, which will take less than 5 minutes to reach, and I have to say, seeing as it’s the first time I’ve been to Croydon, I like what I’ve seen so far.
I’ve been doing a bit of research this afternoon on the daily commutes to the four main places I go to: Paddington, Royal Oak, Romford and Brixton.
Paddington
I can either get the overland train from East Croydon to Charing Cross and then the Bakerloo Line direct to Paddington (45 minutes), or go to Victoria and get the 36 or 436 bus to Paddington (50 mins).
Romford
I can get the overland train from East Croydon to London Bridge, and then either get the Northern Line to Bank and change for the Central to Stratford, or get the Jubilee Line to Stratford, and then an overland train to Romford (1 hour 13 mins via Jubilee, or 1 hour 8 mins via Northern and Central).
Royal Oak
Overland train from East Croydon to Victoria, and then the 36 bus to Royal Oak (58 mins).
Brixton
East Croydon to Victoria, and then the Victoria Line to Brixton (39 mins), or from East Croydon to Herne Hill, and then overland to Brixton (35 mins).
Of course, if I’m working at the Law Centre in Croydon on Park Lane, it’s about 10 mins altogether! ;o)
It only took a matter of two hours to upsticks from Hornchurch to Croydon, together with all my worldly possessions (well, those in London anyway). I’m in Steve’s flat right now, unable to connect to his wireless network for some strange reason, so am using the datacard. Pah.
I don’t really have anything exciting to impart, except that I’ve had a quick look around Croydon, and it seems to have a fairly decent shopping centre. My training contract will be based in Croydon, and I reckon it’s only about 15 minutes walk to the law centre, which will be lovely in terms of commuting to work.
Steve has to do a lot on his flat, and I’m only here for one night, as I’m going to Wales for three weeks tomorrow. Can’t wait. The flat will look great when it’s finished – will be a home from home for me.
I need a nap – so sleepy…
With regard to recent terrorist attacks in London, I wanted to say a few things.
Most of you will be aware that on 7 July 2005, there were bomb explosions between Aldgate East and Liverpool Street on the Hammersmith & Circle line, between King’s Cross St Pancras and Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line, and at Edgware Road, on the Hammersmith & Circle line, as well as the bus bomb in Tavistock Square.
These explosions killed 56 people. My heart goes out to their families and friends. I simply cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a loved one to such an unimaginable act of violence.
At the time of the bombs, I was actually making my way to the Leonard Cheshire centre at Royal Oak, where we have an office. Royal Oak is actually only 2 stops further west from Edgware Road. I would have actually had to pass through those three tube stations to get to Royal Oak, coming from Hornchurch on the District Line to the east. Just before we got to Bromley-by-Bow, the train I was on stopped for about 20 minutes, and it wasn’t clear what was happening. Eventually, we arrived at Bromley-by-Bow, where everyone was instructed to get off the train. In fact, there was another train on the track at the platform as well, and everyone had to file out of the train through one set of doors.
I left the tube station and looked for a bus. There were buses running to Stratford, so I got on one intending to get the Central or Jubilee line to work. However, when I got to Stratford tube station, it was closed. By then I knew more or less what had happened, and I then decided to try and get to RAD’s West Ham centre. I was advised that it was within walking distance and that my colleagues Wendy and Sumita were there, so I walked there.
The plan was that I would get a train from Paddington to Newport at 18:15 that day. However, it was virtually impossible to get to Paddington because the entire London Underground Network had been shut down, including buses in Zone 1. So I ended up accepting a lift from Wendy in the car back to Aprile’s house in Hornchurch. The next morning, however, I woke up early, checked the TfL website, saw that the District and Bakerloo Lines were operating normally, so I left the house and got the tube to Paddington, and caught the 09:15 train home.
There were more bomb alerts yesterday, and I was at Leonard Cheshire (Royal Oak) with Laura and Andy. We were completely confused by news reports suggesting that the whole LU had been shut down again, and we were effectively being chucked out of Leonard Cheshire as they wanted to close the centre early, regardless of whether the LU was operating or not. Luckily, the Central Line was operating a normal service, as was the District Line, so I managed to get back to Hornchurch.
I’m working at home today, and have BBC News 24 on the TV, with reports of a shooting in Stockwell and police raids in Harrow Road and West Kilburn. When will it end?
What I don’t understand is; terrorists kill people to gather sympathy for their cause. They don’t seem to realise that rather than sympathy, they’re just hated. They don’t achieve anything, apart from martydom. Why bother? Surely nothing is worth a person’s life?