I see a lot of people when I am out and about in London. Famous people, bad people, homeless people, kind people and lots of different and unusual situations which to others are almost once in a lifetime things for good and for bad and yet as anyone on my Facebook pages will know, seem to happen to me almost on a daily basis.
On Friday last week I was a little early for my tourists and so went to do some exploring, taking photos for my own interest and then scouting out a location for one of the people I am writing on in my next book on Victorians who lost their lives whilst saving the lives of strangers.
As I was meandering through the maze of streets in Millbank, just a few minutes walk west of Parliament, I could see two women clearly not paying attention to th chair which was right next to them. It started moving, faster and faster and they didn’t seem to notice.
What I noticed was that there was a large rubbish bin lorry coming round to collect all the waste from the large office blocks and hotels and the baby was running straight underneath the lorry. I ran like crazy and stopped the pram just as its two front wheel went off the kerb and a foot or so away from going under the moving vehicle.
The people were spanish speaking and profusely thanked me having seen to late what was happening and behind the pram, unable to catch it. I carried on, only pausing for the second needed to save the day and when I turned back I was astonished to see them debating with each other over who was at fault and again no-one holding the push-chair which is what caused the emergency in the first place.
The little girl is still looking at me; partly wondering what on earth is going on and a touch of bemusement as to why I am leaving her with people who almost got her killed!
It’s not the first time I’ve saved a life on my tours and I thought it somehow fitting it happened when I was out looking for a photo of a location where someone had done something rather similar 120 years ago.
If that wasn’t enough excitement for the holiday weekend, no holidays for those who provide holidays on Monday I had two tours, the latter of which was cancelled only after I had made a special route for the first one to make everything work.
A few minutes after getting on the tube at Farringdon, we arrived in a very busy Kings Cross station. It being extra busy with it being a public holiday and neighbouring Euston station being all but closed for engineering and construction purposes.
I knew something wasn’t right straight away and bizarrely the train stopped suddenly. We waited and waited, the lights were mostly off. Announcements were heard, the train then reversed. The doors opened after several minutes. The train got even darker and then the platform was evacuated with voices coming on the station tannoy system.
Soon 8 or 9 police arrived, running up and down the platform, various transport supervisors and emergency medical teams. We all sat mostly in silence except for the occasional anxious passenger and the much less occasional passenger, muttering to themselves about the delay to the journey.
We must have been there for 15-20 minutes; the number of police outside meant something was going on and they were definitely looking for something. What could be so dangerous on the train that everyone outside it was rushed away?
I’m know I wasn’t the only person who thought the tube train might be stormed by police, who eventually did enter through the drivers cabin as everyone remained locked inside. We waited in out rather stoic London fashion for whatever bad was happening or about to happen to be over so we could get on with our lives. My overriding concern was that I had already needed the toilet even before I started by 60-80 minute journey… let alone waiting for some emergency or siege to unfold.
Eventually after a bit more of a commotion outside, one set of doors were opened and everyone disembarked from the train in the sort of grudgingly unwilling fashion of when a child is being sent to bed as we were asked to speak up if there was anything unusual going on.
A line of police stopped anyone going anywhere but to the exit though one told me there was an incident on the train. Something I probably I had figured out 20 minutes ago. I think everyone in London is very used to terrorist attacks over the last 50 years, I know I am. And in this situation it turned out to not be terrorists, I think the photos I took of people on the train show that whatever hysterical foreign media sometimes like to make-out, we were not particularly fussed.
Outside the station there were 10 or 12 police vans, ambulances and vehicles with the curiously labelled ‘Response Unit’ scrawled on the side.
As it happened, a crazy, evil or indeed both man had tried to push a lady under a train only to be hit himself (is it bad to cheer that? I know lots of people who did). The lady was totally uninjured and the man was arrested and been charged with Attempted Murder. I remember the man who pushed me under a train and wished someone had caught him, or suffered terribly from Covid. Either would do!
Soon the photos I took were being picked up by news websites in London and I’ve put a few links below.
and eventually the Daily Mail, the worlds most popular news website. Phew, hadn’t been in the news for about 3 months.
Hopefully this weekend will be a little more mundane but I won’t get my hopes up.
Stephen Liddell 
Idiots and terrorists are everywhere. No surprise you encountered both on one day. BTW, saving the child was something else. You are a hero. But looks like the idiots did not think it was much to thank you for.
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Yes they are everywhere. Thankyou! It does look like the idiots didn’t learn anything and ignoring their baby again. You’d think they’d be more careful in a foreign country where the cars drive on the other side of the road which makes things more dangerous for them to begin with.
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Hiya Stephen 👋 wavin atcha from Canada 🇨🇦 well your story sounds like Toronto with all the hustle and bustle and various incidents. Plus there are terrorists are terrorists everywhere globally, and unfortunately we’ve all become conditioned to our environments making many occurrences and tragedies not surprising at all. It’s a sad sad sad world today and we’re all losing sense of community in every country globally. Extremely difficult for us older folks when we’ve experienced the difference. Thank you for your writing ✍️ it’s quite enjoyable and interesting. BTW my maiden name is Liddell. Have a great day Stephen, and be safe 🤗😘👍❤️
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