eveningstandard03-12-1980a

London Bombings from Under the Carpet

Pops has been having the sister's bedroom replastered with the aim of redecorating. Under the carpet, which they laid when we moved a couple of decades ago, he found this page from the Evening Standard dated 3 December 1980 (used under the underlay for some reason). It sort of felt poigniant to find this now - it could almost be a headline from now.

Evening Standard 03-12-1980

The IRA bombings were destructive - buildings were blown up, attempts made on the Prime Minister's life, politicians, parliament and military targets were attacked, people were injured and killed. They also led to the rubbish bins being removed from the underground and train stations (anyone remember when you could put your rubbish into the bin on the platform - they were sort of narrow and slotted into the wall), everyone being on high alert for abandoned bags (much more so than anywhere else in the world - I remember travelling to France and being quite paranoid about the luggage left unattended while people bought tickets, went to the toilet, etc.), checking under the car for bombs (not sure how real a threat this was to ordinary folks but pops said they did that for a while), the Post Office Tower's revolving restaurant being closed to the public (a personal disappointment of mine - promised a visit when I was 5, it was the target of a bombing before I made it), and eventually the introduction of the City Mile boundaries where traffic continues to be checked.

Our city has been altered by terrorism for a long time. We are edgy, unfriendly even (as tourists frequently complain), unwilling to get involved. And yet, when in crisis, we show our brave faces, help strangers, feel comraderie and get on with it.

The tubes are no longer empty as they were soon after 7th July, I don't find myself scanning for suspicious people with backpacks as much. I have for many years, avoided the tube as much as possible, preferring the view and relative comfort of above-ground travel (not as much playing sardines, lurching along nose in the armpit of somebody, unbearably hot all year round). My tube travelling is through necessity and amounts to 3 stops daily. But I suppose the scariest thing is that the tube and therefore common people are the target this time rather than politicians or military personnel or buildings - which I suppose makes me personally at risk. And the fact that it is people who are the bombs and not suspicious packages - much more difficult to be wary of and much more difficult to stop if determined.