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Twenty five years ago today
Oct. 16th, 2012 11:08 amIt seems that today is the the twenty-fifth anniversary of the morning after the great storm of 1987.
I was living in Lewisham at the time and I remember that the night before, I had been to a concert at the Barbican. The easiest way home I knew from there was to walk down through the City to London Bridge station, crossing London Bridge on the way. It was pouring with rain at the time but I don't remember it being particularly windy. I got home, had a bath, and was in bed by midnight.
Next morning, October 16th, my alarm clock woke me at seven and I reached out to switch on the bedside radio, and nothing happened. I quickly discovered there was no power. The battery radio in the kitchen brought me the news of the storm, and my cooker was gas so I was able to boil water for tea and make toast.
I don't think the magnitude of what had happened had sunken in. I set off for work as normal. Near me was a small arcade of shops and one of these had been the Liberal party headquarters in the recent general election. I noticed that the sign on that shop had disappeared.
I got to the station and discovered there were no trains. Well, I'd walked into work when there were train strikes - it was only six miles - so I set off up the hill to New Cross.
It was still windy enough that an estate agent's For Sale notice was bouncing along the road, narrowly missing me. On the Old Kent Road, a tree had uprooted, pulling up a water pipe in the process and flooding the forecourt of a petrol station. I had to walk round this as the water seemed to be about a foot deep.
In Southwark, near the site of the old Marshalsea Prison, there is a small park, and I was surprised to see all the trees in the park were down. Even more surprising was a concrete street lamp that had snapped.
I was working in a building next to St. Paul's Cathedral and to get there I had to walk down Cheapside which was eerily quiet for nine o'clock on a weekday morning. Areas were cordoned off because of a danger of falling glass and masonry.
I was the first person to turn up in my entire department, despite it being about an hour past the official start time. There was power in the building. My office was OK, but the office next door, an internal door had slammed shut, shattering the glass in it.
People did dribble in during the day, but many had to stay home to effect repairs on their houses. And, by lunchtime Cheapside had returned somewhat to normal and I was able to buy a CD I had been looking for in a shop I used to frequent.
The were trains going home that evening and there was power back at my flat. I discovered I'd left the radio switched on in the bedroom.
I was living in Lewisham at the time and I remember that the night before, I had been to a concert at the Barbican. The easiest way home I knew from there was to walk down through the City to London Bridge station, crossing London Bridge on the way. It was pouring with rain at the time but I don't remember it being particularly windy. I got home, had a bath, and was in bed by midnight.
Next morning, October 16th, my alarm clock woke me at seven and I reached out to switch on the bedside radio, and nothing happened. I quickly discovered there was no power. The battery radio in the kitchen brought me the news of the storm, and my cooker was gas so I was able to boil water for tea and make toast.
I don't think the magnitude of what had happened had sunken in. I set off for work as normal. Near me was a small arcade of shops and one of these had been the Liberal party headquarters in the recent general election. I noticed that the sign on that shop had disappeared.
I got to the station and discovered there were no trains. Well, I'd walked into work when there were train strikes - it was only six miles - so I set off up the hill to New Cross.
It was still windy enough that an estate agent's For Sale notice was bouncing along the road, narrowly missing me. On the Old Kent Road, a tree had uprooted, pulling up a water pipe in the process and flooding the forecourt of a petrol station. I had to walk round this as the water seemed to be about a foot deep.
In Southwark, near the site of the old Marshalsea Prison, there is a small park, and I was surprised to see all the trees in the park were down. Even more surprising was a concrete street lamp that had snapped.
I was working in a building next to St. Paul's Cathedral and to get there I had to walk down Cheapside which was eerily quiet for nine o'clock on a weekday morning. Areas were cordoned off because of a danger of falling glass and masonry.
I was the first person to turn up in my entire department, despite it being about an hour past the official start time. There was power in the building. My office was OK, but the office next door, an internal door had slammed shut, shattering the glass in it.
People did dribble in during the day, but many had to stay home to effect repairs on their houses. And, by lunchtime Cheapside had returned somewhat to normal and I was able to buy a CD I had been looking for in a shop I used to frequent.
The were trains going home that evening and there was power back at my flat. I discovered I'd left the radio switched on in the bedroom.
