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London keeps moving

Yesterday I walked from Liverpool Street to Westminster for the Federal Policy Committee meeting. The meeting was less interesting than the journey. The vicinity of Liverpool Street was packed with walkers, many of whom obviously did not normally do much walking, as they were not very good at it. I chose a route via quiet back streets and gardens along the river, which was also the shortest route. On reaching the Palace of Westminster I found the security guys had been busy (again): now the road in front is closed to vehicle traffic by massive barriers. I walked through marvelling at how quiet it was - just the footsteps of dozens of pedestrians. It cannot have been this quiet on a workday afternoon since before the internal combustion engine. Good riddance to cars, say I.
Claims that the RMT union can bring London to a standstill are tosh. There are buses and bikes. Failing these, it is not hard to walk across Central London from one mainline station to another. I routinely walk from Victoria to Paddington, or to Euston or to Liverpool Street, and vice versa. No special equipment required - just comfortable shoes, and time.

Comments

Anonymous said…
One of the things I love about living in central London is discovering the side streets and shortcuts. It's amazing how quiet some streets can be just a block back from Oxford Street, for example.

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