Category Archives: London

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The cold was knuckle-biting in London today

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The cold today felt intense. It was underfoot. It was in the wind between buildings. It found its way down through collars, and into gloveless, aching hands doomed to hold packages that kept them from finding the shelter of pockets.

Perhaps by Canadian standards it was not that cold, but it still felt bitter to those of us used to the milder damp that fogs in over much of southern England at this time of year.

What did this cold look like? It looked like the hunched shoulders of the skinny young workman out for his lunchbreak without his jacket. It looked like the tight wrapped, long coat of the high-heeled office worker hurrying towards warmth. It looked like the one-armed, self-hugs of the smokers tucked into the corners of grey buildings. It looked like the taut, cold profiles of those pedalling through the freezing air on their delivery bikes.

What did it sound like? It sounded like the laughter and shouts of children running in the playgrounds, running to burn off the cold. It sounded like the seagulls calling and circling in the wind high above the buildings. It sounded like the empty spaces outside the bars, normally crowded with drinkers. It sounded like the gush of a door as people pushed through into the warmth beyond.

It is so fortunate to be able to head indoors, out of the cold wind. I hope that any on the streets tonight will be able to find some shelter and warmth.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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The helpers and the help-myselfers in the shops

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There is such art, and so much skill, in the running of an excellent shop – one that attracts many, and offers cheerful service and affordable, worthwhile products.

Today I wandered down to Covent Garden in London. Covent Garden itself, and the streets around it, were like a flower garden of shops, all bright and beautiful and swarming with public. I joined the swarm for as long as my energy lasted, just looking, and wondering, and occasionally buying.

I was about a third of my way through my wander when I saw a brazen shoplifter in action, so brazen that I convinced myself he was part of the staff. He was well-dressed and middle-aged, and it was only when I saw him walk up the stairs and leave the building with his backpack stuffed with unpaid for goods, that I realised that he did not work there. I could only presume that the theft had been done with the co-operation of the member of staff who was standing as close to him as I was, and under the blind eye of the disinterested security guard on the door.

When I went back to the shop later in the afternoon I saw that the security guard was gone, and I heard that a member of staff was absent from the floor below where the incident had happened. I didn’t want to think about how many runs they’d managed that day.

As I walked away I wondered what kind of rent the excellent shop was having to pay in order to offer its goods to London … and I wondered how London would feel without such excellent shops.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Nightwalk by the Thames at high tide

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I often walk beside the Thames, sometimes in the dark and sometimes by day. I love the movement on the river, and along its edges, especially when the bridges and their reflections add extra colour to the palette.

Last week I happened to be beside the Thames after a period of persistent rain. The water reached high up the walkway, slapping against its edges. It was easy to feel the river’s power and its threat, and to understand why the busiest lifeboat station in the country is Tower which opened in 2002, and is moored close to Waterloo Bridge.

Here are a few little facts I’ve picked up about the station. There is more on this RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) website.

  • This September Tower was the first lifeboat station to reach 10,000 launches.
  • The crews have to launch within 90 seconds of receiving a request from the Coastguard. For coastal stations that time is ten minutes.
  • It is manned 24/7 for 365 days of the year.
  • Around 50% of its rescues involve accidents or sudden ill-health on board other boats.
  • There are three other lifeboat stations on the Thames – Teddington, Chiswick and Gravesend.

I hope that the Thames Barrier will keep major flooding near the bottom of the list of risks facing these crews.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023