Storm Ciara and more trains

At Kings Cross

Yesterday in London was another dramatic weather day, under the impact of Storm Ciara, that affected the whole of Britain with gale force winds, high seas and floods. The usual Air Canada flight from Ottawa to London Heathrow was cancelled, although a British Airways flight came in from New York having made the crossing in record time, riding on the jetstream, about two hours faster than normal. I'd have preferred not to take that flight because of the 50-knot gusts at the destination. A ferry ship crossing the North Sea to Hull, had to abandon its attempt to dock in the winds and return to wait out the storm in the North Sea for eight hours. We shudder to think of the conditions on board that vessel. Trees fell across roads and railway tracks countrywide, rivers overflowed their banks and driving through the deep puddles between Teddington and Putney was a new experience for our daughter, a relatively new driver.

There wasn't room for me in her car; she was taking her dad and sons to Putney so that Chris could finally visit the site of the Putney Debates of 1647, with his grandsons, at St. Mary's Church, as he has wanted to do for some time. The birthplace of British Democracy! There's an exhibition about those historic days, and a video made in tribute to the original debaters, at the church.

From the 28th October to 9th November 1647, soldiers and officers of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, including civilian representation, held discussions on the constitution and future of England. Should they continue to negotiate a settlement with the defeated King Charles I? Should there even be a King or Lords? Should suffrage (a civil right to vote, known as the franchise) be limited to property-holders? Would democratic changes lead to anarchy? This historic event saw ordinary soldiers take on their generals to argue for greater democracy and provided a platform for 'common people' to make their voices heard. These debates, forced by the Levellers, paved the way for many of the civil liberties we value today. (http://www.putneydebates.com)

Trains No. 22 - 24 today. We're on our way up to York for a week. The first two trains took us across London: the reverse of last Thursday's route, but in less crowded carriages, this time. Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations standing side-by-side, we wandered around both during the long wait for our train to York. The futuristic canopy over the concourse at Kings Cross is a great improvement on past times. This journey is another one full of memories for us both, since we've been travelling up and down this line at various periods in our lives since the 1960s. In the mid-80s we lived in a house very close to the railway line, at Welwyn Garden City, and I used to take the children bird-spotting at Sandy Beds (Bedfordshire), a few stations further north, when they were young members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, with a collection of wall charts, magazines and badges. A new landmark is an extensive solar farm just north of Sandy.

... Passing Grantham now, where my sister-in-law and husband Phil live. I just had an email to say they saw our train go through! (Later we received an email to say that it snowed immediately after our transit, with a picture of the white view from their window, Phil hoping for a snowball fight with the local kids!) It is now tipping with rain once more, although this morning dawned fine and clear, with the full moon still visible in the sky.