I don't know if it says more about me than anything else, but it completely passed me by and i didn't see anything on social media or on the radio etc.
Had got off tube at Aldgate East and walked to office in Bishopsgate Got in the office and we could hear loads of ambulances and fire engines and they were stopping outside Liverpool Street Station
Wondered what was going on - people coming into the office were saying they had been told there was a power surge on the underground causing a fire at Liverpool Street.
Obviously was a lot of confusion and misinformation going around and it was probably another 25 minutes or so before the news channels / websites started updating with what had actually happened and where.
After work could see it was a nightmare with people trying to get home We just went to the pub till closing time whilst watching the coverage and got cabs home. Was strange in that pubs were busy with people stranded up town, but no one seemed drunk - everyone was just numb
One of those memories when you don’t realise how many years have passed since.
I was flying home from the US that morning, started circling London, as pilot said we weren’t allowed to land. Didn’t know what had happened until were leaving the plane and people started to get phone calls etc. Won’t forget the feeling of waiting to get through passport control and get to a pay phone, to find out if my Dad was okay in the Bishopsgate/Aldgate area (thankfully fine).
We’d climbed Mount Toubkhal that day in the Atlas Mountains.
Not many knew we were on a trekking holiday.
We’d left all valuables in a hotel, so when we got back late that night & turned our phones on they went bonkers. Mainly from relatives desperately trying to find out if we were ok? Hubby rang his parents first to find out what had happened.
Awful.
When we got back to work, Hubby was part of the team that dealt with taking statements from the survivors gathering evidence etc…
I know many who were first to the scene, it broke a few.
RIP to those lost & much love to those who survived 🙏🏻❤️
Remember the day well as it also coincides with my wedding anniversary. Would be 20 years today if we hadn't divorced 10 years ago.
I remember 7/7/05 very well. Played golf at Sundridge Park in the morning & driving there heard news of "incidents" on the underground. It want until we approach a tea hut half way round did we find out the true nature of the atrocity.
Also hold special meaning as at the time I worked for the BMA & was often at BMA House (where the bus blew up). On another day I might well have been there giving a pension presentation to Doctors.
Working in construction at the time. Obviously a lot of the other people on the site had radios on and I started hearing reference to a 'series of bombs in London' which as a phrase barely describes what happened. Started ringing round friends back home to make sure everyone was okay. Terrible day. RIP to all who lost their lives.
My wife and I were in Rome - we took the opportunity for a short break while the boys were both on foreign school trips.
We hadn't heard anything until we walked into a shop and the assistant recognised our voices and just said 'I'm so sorry'. I spent the remainder of the day ringing around friends checking they were ok.
Also hold special meaning as at the time I worked for the BMA & was often at BMA House (where the bus blew up). On another day I might well have been there giving a pension presentation to Doctors.
They will never know how doubly lucky they were that day ....
I was teaching at Thomas Tallis School at the time. That year, the school just happened to have come up with a great idea called the “Tallis Big Day Out” where the entire school would have a day trip either in London or elsewhere. It was a brilliant idea with staff and students alike coming up with interesting (and free) places to visit. Some went to museums, some just went to parks, some went to other places. It was excellent. Everyone was in great spirits at school the day before we were due to go because London had just been announced as the Venue for the 2012 Olympic Games. That day was 6th July 2005.
The Big Day Out arrived: 7th July 2005. When the first news of the attacks came through, another teacher and I were already on the way to Hornimann’s museum with about 50 year 7s. We got a message on the school mobile that there had been an ‘incident’ in London, but were advised to continue as we weren’t in the affected area. After arriving at Hornimann’s, we walked the kids around for about half an hour before getting the message to return. Understandably, a lot of parents were freaking out because quite a few groups were supposed to travel into London by train, bus or tube that morning. The day trips came to a premature end and the school was full of panicky parents and kids who were either shocked or bewildered. We didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened until we got back. There was a skeleton staff of about 5 teachers who weren’t going on trips - they had an awful time that morning because they were manning the phones, calming parents and tracking down which trips had which kids. They were absolutely shattered.
I’ll never forget that day. What should’ve been a memorable day for lovely reasons ended up being memorable for terrible reasons. To make it worse, I later found out that a guy I used to go to school with was one of the victims on the tube that morning.
I often thought Tallis should’ve tried to do the big day out again the following year, but I guess nobody had the appetite for it after this unhappy experience. I know there are some former Tallis kids who post on here, so they might remember it too. I don’t know if it’s quite as etched on their memories as it is on mine.
Anyway, apologies for the long, and slightly sad post. Just felt like sharing.
RIP all the victims and a special RIP for Lee Baisden.
Awful day. They deliberately detonated those bombs at some of the deepest parts of the tube to make it difficult for the emergency services to get to the victims.
Just impossible to understand why anyone would do something so terrible.
Comments
RIP.
quite fitting that there was a celebration at the weekend of all the things those bombers were against.
RIP.
RIP
Had got off tube at Aldgate East and walked to office in Bishopsgate
Got in the office and we could hear loads of ambulances and fire engines and they were stopping outside Liverpool Street Station
Wondered what was going on - people coming into the office were saying they had been told there was a power surge on the underground causing a fire at Liverpool Street.
Obviously was a lot of confusion and misinformation going around and it was probably another 25 minutes or so before the news channels / websites started updating with what had actually happened and where.
After work could see it was a nightmare with people trying to get home
We just went to the pub till closing time whilst watching the coverage and got cabs home.
Was strange in that pubs were busy with people stranded up town, but no one seemed drunk - everyone was just numb
RIP to all the victims
Not many knew we were on a trekking holiday.
We’d left all valuables in a hotel, so when we got back late that night & turned our phones on they went bonkers. Mainly from relatives desperately trying to find out if we were ok?
Hubby rang his parents first to find out what had happened.
Awful.
When we got back to work, Hubby was part of the team that dealt with taking statements from the survivors gathering evidence etc…
I know many who were first to the scene, it broke a few.
RIP to those lost & much love to those who survived 🙏🏻❤️
I remember 7/7/05 very well. Played golf at Sundridge Park in the morning & driving there heard news of "incidents" on the underground. It want until we approach a tea hut half way round did we find out the true nature of the atrocity.
Also hold special meaning as at the time I worked for the BMA & was often at BMA House (where the bus blew up). On another day I might well have been there giving a pension presentation to Doctors.
RIP.
We hadn't heard anything until we walked into a shop and the assistant recognised our voices and just said 'I'm so sorry'. I spent the remainder of the day ringing around friends checking they were ok.
Truly shocking.
RIP the poor victims.
A grim feeling on the journey home, I can't remember if I chose not to take the tube, or the system was totally closed.
;-)
That year, the school just happened to have come up with a great idea called the “Tallis Big Day Out” where the entire school would have a day trip either in London or elsewhere. It was a brilliant idea with staff and students alike coming up with interesting (and free) places to visit. Some went to museums, some just went to parks, some went to other places. It was excellent. Everyone was in great spirits at school the day before we were due to go because London had just been announced as the Venue for the 2012 Olympic Games. That day was 6th July 2005.
The Big Day Out arrived: 7th July 2005.
When the first news of the attacks came through, another teacher and I were already on the way to Hornimann’s museum with about 50 year 7s. We got a message on the school mobile that there had been an ‘incident’ in London, but were advised to continue as we weren’t in the affected area. After arriving at Hornimann’s, we walked the kids around for about half an hour before getting the message to return. Understandably, a lot of parents were freaking out because quite a few groups were supposed to travel into London by train, bus or tube that morning. The day trips came to a premature end and the school was full of panicky parents and kids who were either shocked or bewildered.
We didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened until we got back. There was a skeleton staff of about 5 teachers who weren’t going on trips - they had an awful time that morning because they were manning the phones, calming parents and tracking down which trips had which kids. They were absolutely shattered.
I’ll never forget that day. What should’ve been a memorable day for lovely reasons ended up being memorable for terrible reasons. To make it worse, I later found out that a guy I used to go to school with was one of the victims on the tube that morning.
I often thought Tallis should’ve tried to do the big day out again the following year, but I guess nobody had the appetite for it after this unhappy experience. I know there are some former Tallis kids who post on here, so they might remember it too. I don’t know if it’s quite as etched on their memories as it is on mine.
Anyway, apologies for the long, and slightly sad post. Just felt like sharing.
RIP all the victims and a special RIP for Lee Baisden.
Just impossible to understand why anyone would do something so terrible.