We had three hot nights in succession

[venta]

Morning, all.

Ealing is still there. I've just been out to check.

Quite a lot of it is closed, though - roads are closed for forensics, or due just to being full of crap.
Note for locals: the approach to Ealing Brodway station is shut. To get to it you either have to go down Madeley Road and Hanger Lane, or down Gordon Road and Winchester Road. No, really.

Mayhem seems to have been restricted more or less exclusively to shopping areas, as far as I can tell. Walking down the residential street from my flat to the station this morning, there was nothing amiss (barring a pair of neatly-folded, brand-new jeans stuck in a bush!) until I got to the green by the railway station.

Last night, being firmly in the middle of a residential bit, I remained blissfully ignorant of the entire situation until text messages started rolling in around midnight from other locals checking I was ok. I was, and they all seemed worse off: at that point I couldn't hear so much as a siren or a shout.

Later on, by about 2-3am, I could hear sirens and the police chopper, but even then surprisingly faintly. Given that the Broadway, where most of it was kicking off, is about ten minutes walk away I'm astonished that the noise didn't carry better up the hill.

This morning around the railway station, there's broken glass there everywhere, and people with cameras and an earnest-looking young man filling a notebook with Pitman. Of the parade of shops north of the station, I think one doesn't have its glass broken. Poor Pizza on the Green looks worst, with all its windows broken and all its tables and chairs built into a barricade on the inside. Hare & Tortoise is so thoroughly and inexpertly boarded up that I'm guessing it was preventative. I think Tesco may have been looted, and Blockbuster seems to have been thoroughly broken-into. Blockbuster has, in fact, been closed and empty for some months, but there you go.

The closed roads mean you can't get down to the relevant bit of the Broadway, so I've no idea what state it's in. All in all, though, the visible aftermath round the station doesn't look nearly as bad as I'd expected. Some blokes in high-vis gear were still stamping on the odd bundle of burning paper, but the burnt-out cars I'd expected to be littering Haven Green weren't there. There were a few abandoned vehicles, but they "only" had their windows smashed. Shops are battered, but mostly not looted and will "just" need to be reglazed.






I was considering asking for time off work (I'm working at home today) to go and join the #riotcleanup in Ealing, but it's advertised as meeting at "The Horse". Does anyone have any idea what that might be? I'm not aware of any Horse & Jockey, Horse & Groom, or similar equine pubs. There's the statue of the horsie down the side of the Broadway centre, but I very much doubt you can get to that at present.

Comments

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Phew, doesn't look too bad. I mean, it's still horrid, but phew, no burnings and stuff.

Good to hear you're ok and your district fairly robust.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Just waiting to hear back from the boss whether I can go out looking for a cleanup team - I suspect that the Broaway (which is currently hard to get to) is the really messy bit :(

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

There wasn't a #riotcleanup for Bromley listed, or I'd have taken the day off. I've not actually been out to inspect as my commute doesn't take me through the town centre.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pictures. I knew you lived somewhere in the Great Metropolis, but hadn't realised that you were so close to one of the trouble-spots. Although I guess I very high proportion of London's population must have been within 10 minutes of one or another of them last night. :-( I'm glad to are OK and were able to sleep safely and soundly, anyway, and I hope that your area recovers quickly.

[hughe.livejournal.com]

I've put some photos of my end up here http://www.flickr.com/photos/hughe/sets/72157627392376558/

seems we got off lightly up here. so far anyway

[venta.livejournal.com]

That seems a little less lightly than here - or as far as I can tell, having not been down to the worst bit.

[ebee.livejournal.com]

I've seen it advertised at the horse statue in the broadway - nr the costa/Starbucks/leonidas. Not sure if you can get there but Richard is at the LIbrary and recons you can get there.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, "The Horse" turned out to be that statue, and you could get there by 10am (you couldn't at 8). Although there was no one there when I arrived.

I ambled around for a bit, but there seemed to be way more people with brooms than there was work to be done. To be honest, the council had it pretty much under control by 10 - I didn't see any teams of volunteers actually doing anything (though I understand they exist). Such things are pretty hard to co-ordinate, it'd have been better if they'd set up an HQ at the Horsie and directed people where to go.

[marjory.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're OK.

This morning I'm doing a head count of people I know in London. No-one counted on that as damage in the aftermath...

[venta.livejournal.com]

It's always the collateral you have to worry about...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

That lyric was in my head as well ...

[venta.livejournal.com]

It seemed strangely apt :(

I wonder to what extent the weather contributes. Lying in bed last night I did keep thinking that probably the best be would be if the weather would just play nice and chuck it down - it'd help with the fires, and surely rioting in the rain is less fun.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I think there's a lot of praying for rain going on. I know that the riot police for iffy football matches generally hope for drizzle. It's hard to be enthusiastic about running around and smashing things when you're cold and soggy. (And it also tends to make stealing electrical goods less attractive.)