A Thank You from London

Yesterday London had cause to give thanks for the extraordinary valour and excellent training of its emergency services. Today Londoners go on stoically, determined never to give in to terrorism.

I have lived in and around London since the summer of 1986. I remember the terrible Kings Cross fire of 1987. I remember how my West Country-based family feared that I might be caught up in it. Kings Cross was a no-go area at night for a young woman in her twenties back then. How times change. The Kings Cross area is radically different. Safety on the Underground has been transformed too.

As Ireland buries Martin McGuinness, I cannot help but remember his IRA days like many others. I travelled to and from work as normal throughout the years of IRA terror. I heard the Docklands bomb go off in 1996. I was safe some three kilometres away.

I lived in Ealing when the IRA exploded a bomb in a pub there in 2001. It was alarming to consider how close it went off to my home. The pub was near the spot where I regularly crossed the main road with my younger son in his pushchair.

Recently I walked along beach past the Grand Hotel, scene of the Brighton bombing, with my elder son and his Irish girlfriend. Just last Sunday I enjoyed London’s St Patrick’s Day Parade in London. The children were adorable.

I have been evacuated from incidents twice in recent times. As a Londoner, I am conscious that not every incident finds its way into the papers and onto TV. As a member of the public I do not know if the incidents are rehearsals, false alarms, hoaxes or incidents of genuine concern.

The first incident was apparently caused by a traffic accident on Lambeth Bridge in Westminster. On the second occasion, a police officer stopped me and other members of the general public from walking along Marylebone High Street. I could see a large lorry stopped in the outside lane. Chillingly, it was the day of the women’s protest march in Trafalgar Square.

I do not know the outcome of the incident. I remember the eyes of the police officer as he assertively ushered people away. He believed that there was genuine danger. Yet he stood in harm’s way, just as PC Keith Palmer did yesterday and lost his life.

Today I send my condolences to those who have lost loved ones or have been injured in Westminster.

I give thanks to London’s wonderful, well-trained and brave emergency and security services who keep us safe.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Luck o' the Irish. London's St Patrick Day Parade took place in sunshine and blue skies. Thousands turned out to line the streets four days ahead of the official day of 17th March. There was a sea of green everywhere. You could join in whether you were Irish or not. The more the merrier as far as the Irish are concerned.

Two leprechauns at the London's St Patrick Day Parade

St Patrick
St Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. The Feast of St Patrick has both religious and cultural significance. Its official date coincides with the day the saint died. Patrick was a Christian missionary and bishop in the 5th Century. According to legend he used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish Pagans.

St Patrick at the start of the London parade

Large crowds
If Dublin was a little quiet on Sunday, it must have been because a fair number of the Irish started the celebrations in London. A bit like the Tour de France starts outside France maybe? As one of the parade commentators said, St Patrick's Day party starts early and continues into Easter.

Great Spirit of Inclusion

There was a wide age range. A baby fast asleep in his pram, but dressed for the occasion in the colours of the Irish flag. A grandmother walked behind her young granddaughter as she showed off her Irish dance skills.

A special needs group appeared walking and in wheelchairs among the throng. There were also people in wheelchairs within other groups. 

Participants made a special effort to come across and talk to the young girl in a wheelchair nearby me with her parents and sister.

Various protest groups also walked within the parade to promote their cause. There was even a group handing out leaflets for the British to vote to stay in the EU with the Irish.

Dublin Women seeking equal pay

The main part of the day was for merriment. There were music, dancing and green costumes galore. 

There were some great marching bands from Ireland, the UK and the USA. The very smart Texan marching band were brilliant. 

Coppell High School Marching Band from Texas in London

Their accompanying American majorettes put on a great display twirling their large green flags.

Texan Majorettes in the St Patrick's Day Parade

And of course there were flutes, pipes, drums and fiddles and bagpipes too.

Irish bagpipe marching band in St Patrick's Day Parade

It was great to see so many young Irish dancers included in the parade both on floats and in the parade.












Ooh! I musn't forget to mention the rugby float announcing the St Patrick's Day match...

Irish Rugby Float in London's St Patrick's Day Parade

The fire brigade and the police were represented in the parade too. The South London Irish Club even brought along an old fire engine from West Sussex.

The fire engine was one of a wide range of vehicles in the parade - from articulated trucks to roller skates. There were scooters, bikes, a mobile home, an old panda car and a JCB.

Roller skating behind an old police car 

JCB in London's St Patrick Day Parade

South American culture was represented too with dancers in very colourful costumes. The Irish welcome all.

Bolivian Dancers in St Patrick's Day Parade

South American dancers on London street

At the end of the parade the festivities continued in Trafalgar Square.

The queue at the bar in Trafalgar Square after the parade