More England… And a Teaser

A few weeks ago I wrote about my trip back to my home city. Aside the dog shit – that other Londoner’s have told me that they agree and is one of their main bug bares – I wrote about vistas and views across the city.

There was a story that I couldn’t fit in. That didn’t fit quite in place.

So here it is…

More England

Not speaking to other’s only reaches number five of a Time Out tube etiquette.

Time Out - Tube Etiquette

Don’t talk to anyone. We are not here for fun. We travel.

The same can be said of London buses.

Or London.

This may explain the nervousness of the voice that piped up on a 78 bus from Peckham Library to Liverpool Street station one Wednesday afternoon.

I was with Toe. We were heading to Shoreditch.

Yeah… It’s true. I was back in London for less than 24 hours and heading to Shoreditch. You couldn't make it up, could you? 

I was a bloody tourist. Just shoot me!

Linking back to my recent post “England Oh England”, we were taking in the views and discussing how incredible the City can look.

England Oh England

Heading up the Old Kent Road, we were discussing the relative (minimal) merits of The Shard, Cheese Grater and Walkie Talkie (“Talkie Walkie”… for any French readers). I’m not keen on any but would plump for The Shard if I had to. Just based on its blunt scale and fact that the view from the top would be incredible; but even so I do not believe it has any elegance, or style. It is just a shard of steel and glass. Nothing more.

Ignoring the square mile, I was far more excited by the clear view of The BT Tower you get as you head up the Old Kent Road. I’d never seen it from here before. Completely separate to the rest of London’s skyline it still stands isolated, alone and beautiful.

And this is where a sheepish, fellow passenger waded in to agree with me.

His voice stammered, slightly, as he stated that he also thought that the BT Tower was the greatest building in London. 

Which it is. Obviously. 

Our fellow passenger was so shocked at his own interjection and breaching of the most basic bus rules, he immediately rang the bell, stood up and - rightly - alighted the bus. I mean, where did he think he was? Yorkshire? 

"This is London. Keep your eyes to the grounds and mush shut and everyone will ignore you."

I imagine that he tore his soul apart as he waited for the next bus and continued his journey. Punishing himself before the City could punish him for his inexcusable social faux par (or "gaffe"… for any English readers).

Anyway. I digress.

The BT Tower is fifty years old but it still looks like the future. It looks more alien and futuristic than any of the other buildings that have popped up across London through the intervening years. Canary Wharf, Tower 42, The Shard, the bloody Walkie Talkie.

I guess that the only competition would be The Gherkin. But that has been drowned and near obliterated by the “size” and “height” of more recent developments and now seems lost. It is, also, beautiful but I feel that it less unique. I cannot think of a tower elsewhere to rival the BT Tower’s design whereas the Torre Agbar down near Las Glorias in Barcelona always feels so similar to “The Gherkin” that they feel like cousins. To me, it lessens its impact and originality.

Yes. The BT Tower. That will always stand out to me as the “one”.

To me… It is London.

…

…

…

But this is where it all fades out and comes to nothing. It doesn't go anywhere.

But I want it to.

My PC is getting filled up with false starts about the BT Tower and how it’s impact on me from childhood to date. I have so many ideas, so many disassociated events that seem to link back to it directly or indirectly. I have so much to share but I cannot get down.

This is one of the key reasons that I didn't post for so many weeks across January. I was stuck in an epic with no start, no middle and definitely no end. I had sleepless nights with it rattling around my head. I kid you not. I could not sleep thinking about the BT Tower!

I need inspiration. I need to find a way to get through it.

So this sits as a teaser of sorts. Something that is out there. Something public. Something that will make me complete my task.

Alternatively, this will amount to the straw that broke the camel’s back and I will drown in an abyss of BT Towerness… of nonsense.

One day.

Soon. Or later. Time will tell.

I know it sounds painfully pretentious but hope it’s interesting. Perhaps it'll be funny, too. I hope. I truly do.

Stay tuned.