So I’ve moved central. I’ve been in SE1 a couple of months now, living in Bermond-on-sea and, though I’m a Londoner born ‘n’ bred (Penge -SE20-…yes it’s a place not a swear word), I’ve never lived so close to father Thames and the famous old things.
I’m right near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, my heart still skips a beat every time I walk past that place. The things that have gone down within those (by 21st century standards diminutive looking) walls. I often think about Queen Liz (the original), my ginger idol; Walter Raleigh and other prisoners; the centuries of secrets and lies and the decisions taken to preserve or destroy human lives. After all of this drama there’s me, hovering around the walls because the tour’s too expensive, trying to digest a prawn mayo sarnie that won’t stop repeating on me. The other thing that I’ve noticed is the daily encounter I have with my fellow citizens who are rough sleeping and begging. I grew up expecting to see people begging in the tourist hot spots when I ‘go up town’. Now that I live in town I am noticing these people properly again for the first time. (More …)