Category Archives: London

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On a bus moving slowly through a busy London

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“Kids believe in Santa; adults believe in childhood.” Cate Kennedy, Dark Roots

I knew London would be busy, but I did not expect it to be as busy as shown to me by the 139 bus, on diversion around Trafalgar Square to Oxford Street. And I did not expect to see so many Santas.

Halfway through the journey, I was busy wondering if the bus would ever be able to make its way through the stream of shoppers on a pedestrian crossing, when I saw the junction to our left crowded in red. I looked again. They were Santas. As I reached for my camera the bus began to inch, and then to accelerate forward. The result was the blurred picture above, confirmation at least of what I thought I’d seen. I’ve no idea where these Santas were headed, or where they’d been.

At last the bus made it to Oxford Street and I jumped off. By this time I was late, and the pavements were packed. They were also very relaxed. Too relaxed. They were having a good time, meandering like slow rivers, ferrying family groups and their packages to and fro. I dodged and huffed, trying to make my way around and through the window shoppers, and out-and-abouters, as best I could, praying hard that I wouldn’t get run over by a flourescent pedicab. Somehow I didn’t. Even more miraculously, I arrived where I had to … and just in time.

On my way back I decided to cram on to the Underground. That was a squished experience, but it did take about one fifth of the time it had taken the bus to reach the same point. The downside was there were no Christmas lights, and there was no sign of any Santas.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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The Wellcome Collection in London

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We visited the Wellcome Collection cafe and shop on the recommendation of a friend, who knew we would be in the St Pancras area of London on a Thursday evening. It was a calming, wonderful surprise.

The cafe sits in the large, open ground floor of the building. It’s airy and bright, with fresh, delicious food and hot drinks being served from a counter along one side. We made our choices and then sat and ate in the peaceful space. It was full, but not crowded and the mood relaxed.

After our meal we walked around the shop, lingering in the large book section with its strong medical, environmental, health and well-being feel. The mix was interesting, and felt different to anywhere I had been before.

It was only on the way out that I noticed the gentleman above hanging suspended over the entrance hall. I have no idea what he was doing there.

(If you are in the St Pancras area I highly recommend a visit to the Wellcome Collection. It feels like the sort of space where there would always be something to explore. It is a short walk from Euston Square underground station)

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Car journey in slow motion beside the Thames

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It was bright and sunny and cold today as I drove through London. Thinking back over the drive, two pauses in particular have stayed with me. Both were at the ends of bridges. The first was at the pedestrian crossing, by the roundabout at the end of Lambeth Bridge.

A week earlier, on a freezing evening, I’d seen the roundabout and its occupant, a magnificent date palm, surrounded in cranes and flashing lights. A few days later the roundabout was still surrounded by barricades and lights, but in addition there’d been the sad sight of the palm on its side, ready to be taken away to who knew where. This afternoon those flashing lights and barricades had gone – so had the palm. The roundabout stood empty, with no sign of the breezy fronds that I often saw from a distance, flying beneath the Union Jack on the Houses of Parliament behind. The sight of that emptiness felt as though a friend had been taken away, with no time to say goodbye.

A slow crawl down the Embankment followed, with updates on the Covid enquiry for company. There were light clouds in the sky, and on the radio Boris Johnson was saying that at first sight the incoming Covid storm had looked nothing more than a cloud the size of a man’s hand.

As the traffic inched forward the news had moved on, stopping at the turmoil in Gaza. By Millennium Bridge we too halted, this time to allow a lengthy crocodile of young school children to cross at the lights. The red changed to green, and the green to red, and then back to green as we sat and waited for the smiling line to skip and dawdle its way over the road. As it did so, the cars and the bikes and the lorries watched. There was no hooting, no shouting, no revving of engines – all were as patient as angels, acknowledging and protecting the children of strangers, whose crocodile made the damage to their contemporaries in the Middle East scream more loudly still.

At last the school had crossed, and the traffic inched on through the winter greys of London.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023