SNOW-STRANDED IN LONDON
The time had finally come. It was Tuesday afternoon, school had ended early due to the snow, and I was going to see ‘30 Seconds to Mars’ at the 02 in London. Having walked from the station to the nearest tube station through the snow, in our non-existent snow gear, (as the concert was inside), we arrived at the 02 with no disruptions as the tubes (obviously) were not affected by the blizzard outside.
After having thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic concert, especially due to the oven-like
conditions inside the arena, we reluctantly joined the multitudes getting on the tube to return to London Bridge station to get a train home. However, when we arrived, to our utmost disbelief and frustration, all of the trains were either cancelled or delayed. We chose one which stopped at our station which said delayed, and waited. And waited. And waited some more, with the snow falling innocently to the ground, gradually numbing every inch of our bodies. We were constantly being reassured by the annoying voice of the loudspeaker that every effort was being made to get the trains running. But having been standing there for at least and hour and a half, we had lost all hope of ever getting home.
At 00:30 we decided to call it a night and go in search of a taxi, having found out with
relief that my friend’s aunt lived relatively close to where we were, in south London. So, we trudged out of the station, with the thought of a nice warm taxi in our minds, only to find that there was a queue stretching the entire length of the station! What a nightmare. But, by this time we were so exhausted that we sat down, in the snow, and waited. As we moved along the queue inch by inch we got more and more fed up. When we reached the front of the line and stood at the open window of the taxi, we were able to mumble through frozen lips ‘Blackheath please,’ and scramble into the back.
The following morning, we awoke early with the hope of getting back. We decided to
take a bus to the station which we saw departing just as we arrived at the stop, thus we were forced to wait 20 minutes for the next one. After we had been turned into ice sculptures and we were past caring how cold we were, a bus finally arrived. On our arrival at London Bridge, we unsurprisingly saw that all of the trains to Sevenoaks were cancelled. However, we then saw one appeared which departed in 5 minutes via Redhill and got into Tonbridge, just two stops away from Otford. We sprinted, or rather, attempted to, to the platform, and got onto the train. The journey took a staggering two hours, and when we arrived, we had to walk to my friend’s house which took another 25 minutes, and from there, my other friend’s dad had to come and collect us in his 4x4.
So, all in all, you could say that it was a successful journey as we saw the band, and got back, even though it did take us 14 hours more than it was meant to…
Isabel Mee Isabel is a sixth-former at Sevenoaks School and a member of St. Bart’s YPF.
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