Who'd have guessed that Buffalo weather would find it's way here? Snow was eagerly forecast for several days, and I hoped for an inch or so, just enough to cover everything and create an aspect of London I'd never seen before. Several visits have provided sightings of the odd flake, here an there, but not "real" snow.
So I was delighted last night when we had beautiful series of flurries that lasted a couple of hours, culminating in a great clap of thunder--big flakes the size of 50p coins (everything is more expensive here, or I'd have said a quarter). I worried that it would be gone by the morning, so despite not having read the manual for my new camera, I snapped some photos by streetlight so I could record London snow before it melted.
The corner of our front yard.
The Maze Hill gate into the Royal Park, under the streetlight.
The garden.
Well, I can't get into the city to see that blanket of snow (no train, Tube or bus service), and I needn't have worried that it would be gone by morning. I hope to make it to central London tomorrow; today's only option was a four mile walk or the water taxi--but too much to see here in Greenwich and too cold, brrrrrr.
London buses, according to Ken Livingston (Labour, former Mayor) ran without fail for a hundred years (and he implied they'd have run if not for the Conservative Mayor)--buses ran through the Blitz and through blizzards, but today were unable to navigate the snowy streets of London and its 'burbs. About 20 percent of the British population stayed home from work. That's because most of the snowplows in England are at that construction site that has its own airport (Heathrow has 58 snowplows), but even there, they couldn't keep up. 600+ flights were cancelled today--no more room to put snow and planes.
What London does have is a fleet of "gritting lorries." I don't know why I find that term so funny, but every time I think about gritting lorries I smile. The gritting lorry passed our house several times, making Maze Hill passable for intrepid drivers--though few tried the uphill slog. Mostly, the streets are ungritted and snowy, only main ones are gritted and slushy. For once, I'm happy enough not to be behind the wheel of a car. BBC has commented throughout the day that because London is neither Moscow, nor Budapest, nor Canada (perhaps because the news reader doesn't know the names of any snowy Canadian cities), London couldn't be expected to handle this amount of snow. [Aside: There was not a single mention of Buffalo's propensity for snowiness.]
Heard today:
"Absolutely diabolical. No gritting on the road, no nothing...we're like a third world country."
Man-on-the-Street, providing colour commentary for BBC News, with no apparent sense of irony that the countries he thinks of as conventionally third world would be unlikely to need gritty roads, so much as roads in the first place.
"This is not the way the country should be run." Opposition politician commenting on snow removal (or lack thereof).
Stating the obvious:
ITV Reporter, querying an AA service provider in his tow truck on the way to rescue a motorist who spun-out in the snow: "So, what would you say was the main reason your crews were called out on the road today?" Taciturn AA service provider: "Snow." Likely answer to same question next week."Rain." Stupid questions are not the exclusive domain of American reporters.
BBC tonight:
"People should expect very difficult journeys tomorrow, as it is still snowing. The best advice is to avoid unnecessary travel and high ground." Gotta love the Beeb, what other news provider would suggest avoiding hilly spots?
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