The River Rodent

Today marked an important turning point in my essay work, I actually started to do some and the inevitable happened - procrastination was promptly replaced by panic!!! Panic has now subsided as I've spent the last few hours being very industrious and am now taking what I think is a well earned break during which I would like to reflect on my trip into work this morning.....

..... For once I actually managed to catch the W19 bus which is an achievement because they only come every 30 minutes and so it's crucial you get the timing right. As most of you are well aware, perhaps poor Lindsey more so than others, timing is not my strong point and so most mornings I fail miserably to get to the bus stop on time. Usually I end up getting the 145 into Ilford instead which is OK but takes longer and involves a longer walk, whereas the W19 drops me neatly off right by my place of work - Becketts House. Today however I managed to get the W19 and although it was more by accident than design because I was even later leaving the house than usual, the point is I travelled a different route to work - a route that meant walking across the River Roding........

.......now you may be forgiven for thinking that there isn't a river in Ilford, even though the name gives it away, - it's not exactly in the commercial bit of the town centre and it's hidden under two busy roads; the choked up Romford road from Stratford and the A-road flyover thingy that zooms in from Barking direction and touches down at Redbridge roundabout. But the river is there, buried underneath the tarmac, its banks barricaded in by monstrous conrete and metal. It is an ugly dumping ground for litter, shopping trolleys, and other such urban faeces. In short it is an unloved stretch of water that seems to be present only in so far as it is clearly a transport inconvenience because there are limited crossing places for motorists. It is because of needing to cross the river that causes the bottleneck into Ilford from Romford Road and whilst I hate the pollution this causes and the angst of the drivers at rush hour I can't help but smile smugly to myself at the fact that even in our cities, nature still keeps us in check.

So, I was walking across the Roding in my zombie-like state this morning, only to be shaken from my reverie by a rustling sound coming from small patch of grass by the side of the river. I turned rather startled, to see a creature sat on a branch of a young tree. Blurry eyed I initially thought it was a squirrel but then quickly realised it was actually a rat!!! Suddenly I gained the ability to move fast and hurried into work. Realying my trauma to people in the office I was promptly informed that there's a woman who throws bread down there to feed the pigeons, but then the rats suddenly appear and there's a kind of showdown between the rats and the pigeons for the food. I am thinking of starting a campaign for the immediate distribution of "Do not feed the rats" signs, what do you think?

One final thought - my blog is entitled - "Where London Ends", a topic I think about a lot especially in relation to having been brought up on the edges of London in dreary suburbia. Is Ilford part of London or is it really Essex? Well, if the rodent population is anything to go by the debate is settled!