The last day before lockdown I went into London to meet my writing buddy. London looked brilliant in the sunshine, but it was very cold.
We met at Embankment tube station intending to go into Embankment Gardens and have an outdoor lunch together at the cafe, but the cafe was closed. We set off over Hungerford Bridge to the south bank side of the River Thames and walked up to Southwark where we bought a take-out lunch and then looked for somewhere to stop and eat. Eventually we ended up at Hay’s Galleria near London Bridge. This is an indoor mini shopping centre overlooking the river. Here we found seats. It was the ideal place to sit away from the wind to eat, chat and then write. We do what is called free writing, timed sessions with prompts. We start with a minute writing about one word. We did three of those with prompts inspired by our surroundings – machine, star, shackles. We moved onto a two five minutes sessions and an eight minute one. After that we were getting cold, so we called it day with the writing.
To get warm we walked all the way to Lambeth Bridge and over onto the north side, and back along the river bank to Embankment tube station. Here we went our separate ways trying to keep positive about the four week lockdown, and looking forward to a meet-up in December.
As I walked back over Hungerford Bridge to the station I began to feel sad. This was the last day anyone would be able to eat out, go for a drink or mix with anyone outside their own household (apart from one other, but it has to be outside). Some places like Pret are staying open for take-aways, but all non essential shops were due to close. Apparently, Oxford Street was very busy with last minute shoppers, but generally London felt quiet where I was. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend – the strangest feeling.
My London+ 