A reflection on what should never have been...

Yesterday it was the anniversary of the London bombings - a year since the tragedy that killed 52 people, injured and disabled hundreds, and shocked and disalluded a nation, a country and a world. After all how could such a thing happen here, in this bustling lively town of 12 million hamoniously existing peoples, but yet it did.

I actually thought about it whilst on the tube in the morning, Friday, and wondered how many others thought the same, especially those on the Northern and Piccadilly lines, on which "it" happened. I almost felt like the tube was a little bit quieter than normal, but then again I am usually selfishly absorbed in my own little commuter bubble with my MP3 player and Metro paper disregarding the people around me.

At lunch there was 2 minutes silence, a memorial service was held at Regents Park, whilst flowers were layed and the bells of St Pauls cathedral tolled at the times of the bombings and memorial plaques were unveiled at Aldgate station, Edgware Road stations, at King's Cross Station, Russell Square, and at Tavistock Square (for those on the number 30 double-decker bus that day).

Today Mark and I will visit one of the memorials, which likely to be that a Russell Square because Russell Square was where we stayed on our first London visit in 2000 and it was actually from there that we actually took our very first tube ride.

Have a read of Heathers blog (link to the right) back in July 2005. It makes for somber reading, but it is a true account of someone who was a bystander caught up in the London bombings, who actually was in tube at the time and who had to exit through Kings Cross Station into the chaos of the day beyond. Heather is Sue Anders daughter, for those of you who work at Santos and she lives here in London with her partner Dave.