7/7 Remembering the day

[Pebbles16]

I'm not sure if this is being discussed elsewhere. And my heart goes out to all those affected. Those I know and those I don't.

I was then and still live in London.
It was such a strange day because - for the first few hours, until the bus bomb - it was just another weird day on the tube. The Northern line had a power surge was the first message - the Northern line was not affected by the bombs.
I remember it so clearly from personal and work-related circumstances and then the emerging horror. I had friends affected through loss, injury and death.
Then, I got on the tube on 8th July and went back to work.
Watching the BBC documentary and so much of it feels like it was yesterday.
What are other people's memories?

I lived near Tavistock Square and heard the bus explode. In fact I was on my way out to the bus stop around 30m away from where that bus exploded but I had actually had a lie in that day due to not sleeping well. I’d had nightmares all night about trains crashing.

The following few days were absolutely horrific with people desperately searching for loved ones. We had armed police on our door for the first 24 hrs and trying to let family know I was safe was so hard as all the networks were down.

I was teaching in a London school when it happened. I had very close relatives, one of whom I knew bussed in to work near the BMJ and another who'd just taken up office space in the next street.

There was no phone coverage. My heart was in my mouth.

They were OK.

The phone coverage was madness. Luckily landlines were still in use (and common back in the day) and that's how I checked in with others and reassured my parents.

I was nowhere near but got home from a GP checkup, following a miscarriage, and turned on the TV to the breaking news.

I was at home but my dad and my sister were both in London. Fortunately, and very on brand for them both, they missed the train into town as they were running late but both headed for Russell Square and should have been arriving half an hour before which would
have been just after the explosion.
Honestly to this day I could never moan at either of them for being late. We couldn’t get hold of them for ages as the networks were down and the ended up walking back to Waterloo. For some reason I remember them getting back home when it was almost dark - can’t remember now but obviously everything had ground to a halt and all the trains were fucked.
i remember watching it play out in horror on the news that morning, lying in bed with dc1 hanging out while pregnant with dc2 wondering what i was doing bringing children into such an awful awful world.
Can still remember so much of it like it was yesterday.

I was at work. We saw the breaking news alerts. A colleague had an adult child living in London. She wasn’t sure of his route to work. We were googling tube routes and pointing out there was no reason to think he’d be anywhere near but she got more and more desperate as she couldn’t get him by phone. Eventually she just burst in to tears. And then to her and our relief he rang. Was nowhere near. But by then we’d all realised how awful it was. I have never forgotten her fear. Unimaginable to not have got that reassurance and instead the worst news. A uni friend lost a colleague. I will be thinking of all the families

I was in a year 8 geography lesson. We happened to be in a computer room that lesson, meant to be researching something geography related, ox bow lakes probably. And someone in the class must have gone onto a news site, because it slowly went round the class and the teacher heard about it.

The only other thing I remember about the day is the queue of students coming out of the office and across the playground. Not many kids had their own phones, and we lived in a commuter town so plenty of parents worked in London, so kids were queuing up to see if they could call their parents.

I was living in London but on holiday for a few days in the French Alps. I switched on Sky news because it was the closest weather forecast before going hiking. They were talking about a 'power surge' but it didn't ring true, that wouldn't have made the news.

I watched the news emerge. It was heart breaking. I hadn't taken my mobile or any phone numbers with me, but I knew my mother's number and called her. She answered on the first ring, she was sitting by the phone desperately hoping I would call, I was only away for a few days so she didn't know I was away and safe.

It changed my life, because it made me realise I was fed up of the career and commute. I made some major changes in my life which I am glad about.

My now DH and I lived between zone 1-2. I was awoken my him phoning me. I had a day off from work and he was working away, but had seen the news. I happened to work in a busy, London major trauma A&E at the time. I couldn't get through via phone to see if they needed help, the buses and trains had stopped- so I walked.

When I arrived, they'd already set up a media tent and other trauma and triage tents outside the main A&E entrance. It was surprisingly organised for such a chaotic situation. A day I will never forget due to the general atmosphere, fear in peoples eyes and the way emergency services came together to do what we could.

I was on a District Line train and remember the driver announcing there was a delay due to a fire in the tunnel. Got to work to find out what it actually was. Security came around and told us not to leave the building. I worked in Chancery Lane. I had to call reception and ask them to put a call through to my parents in Australia to tell them I was ok. They said it was just breaking news when I called so they hadn’t had a chance to get worried about me. I vaguely recall mobiles not working so having to email friends to check on them. All together a very weird, sad and a bit scary day.

I was a teenager. My sd (evil man but not relevant to this story) called the land-line and left a message for my mum

I wasn't supposed to be off school so didnt answer

It was like 'just to let you know darling that im okay, I'm here (he worked in westminster) at work and fine.

I remember thinking 'adults are so weird' and eyerolling. Little did I know.

A girl in my school lost her sister. Who was a Muslim.

My condolences to those who were affected, and my sympathies to the Muslim and Asian people affected by the racist attacks that followed. Such a terrifying time.

I lived in East London and worked by Lambeth Bridge (opposite the Houses of Parliament).

I remember the news breaking, I was already in the office, we must've been listening to the radio or something.

We all tried to carry on working, growing more and more suspicious thay it wasn't the "power surge" it was initially reported as.

We left the office after the bus explosion, and joined the hundreds upon hundreds of people, just walking, trying to make their way home.

I walked to Waterloo, where I knew there was a black cab garage (tucked away near Southwark Station). I hailed a cab as it came out of the garage, and it took me back to East London. The cabby wouldn't take payment, he said "I know if it was my daughter I'd want to know someone got her home safe".

It was such an act of kindness, I still well up when I think about it.

I am lucky that i wasn't anywhere near, and didn't know anyone involved, but its interesting to hear the stories above as I remember the event well.I would have been 17 and at college.I remember watching the coverage on the news with my parents and especially the pictures of the bus with the top blown off 😔 I went to London to a white stripes gig later that year for my 18th birthday and remember feeling quite nervous using the buses and tubes.

A colleague’s DD was working in London and used that underground route It took hours for her to get through; she’d stayed with friends the night before iirc so had walked to work. Another colleague was heading for the bus stop where the 2nd bomb was but stopped to talk to someone.

I also spent several hours trying to get hold of a uni friend who worked in the city. Took me until v late at night as he’d had a hell of a time getting home.

The weirdest thought I had was that at least the IRA had given warnings (of debatable use but still) but with this new threat it was totally random and without warning.

Utterly heartbreaking for those families who were injured and who lost people.

I had the day off work. My then husband had set off but only got as far as new cross gate before being told the overground wasn't running so came home. We couldn't contact his brother who worked near Edgware Rd for hours. It turned out he'd been swimming in a gym and missed all the frantic calls...

Someone based at my work died on the bus as we worked 5 mins from Tavistock Square, I always walked past the BMA on my commute and always remembered. There was a tree planted at work for her.

Thank goodness that there are so many more examples of kindness than the cruelty of the bombers.

The police and fire fighters who went into danger to help, and the many, many people who did something to help a complete stranger.

My friend was injured on the Northen line. He never been the same again he suffers from ptsd now a very different person to he used to be.

We all went to the staff bar at work (university) which was open but felt it couldn't serve alcohol. Then relented.

There was a big TV they'd wheeled in and I remember mishearing Blair speaking. He praised the British people's stoicism. I heard it as cynicism and thought cynicism was actually a better word. Cynical about whether we should be fearful of further attacks.

You may be misremembering. The Northern line was not affected.

I was 8, we were due to go to London that day to watch a play for my siblings birthday. We were up, getting ready when my mum saw it on the news. Obviously cancelled our trip & remember it being on all day on TV. First major disaster I can remember (too young to remember 9/11). Rip to all of the victims and those affected by the tragedy.

I remember everyone grumbling because we were made to get off our train in Kings Cross and someone making a comment about how we would never be able to handle the logistics for the Olympics (London had just been awarded 2012 the day before). Little did we know this wasn't the usual train delays. Still think of it and the people who died that day when I go through that part of London.

I emailed my parents who lived abroad when I finally got into work to let them know I was safe. Very "deja vu" as I had done the same less than 4 years before when I was working in New York on 9/11. Couldn't believe it was all happening again.

I had exactly the same situation. One by one we all managed to get in touch with our loved ones. Except for one of us. Eventually, she heard. Her (adult) child was in hospital. Transport across London was totally shut down. Her and her husband walked 10 miles across London to get to him. He was ok.

Sorry, I mean he wasn’t ok, he was badly injured but he recovered.

One of the bombers lived down the road from me. The press camped outside his house for a few days,

I saw and spoke to his 'unkowing' widow a few times after - not as innocent as she seemed though and I believe she's still one if the most wanted women in the world

One of my DC had gone on a school trip into London that day and was due to pass through one of the stations that was affected. Once all the parents were aware of the events unfolding, it was a horrible wait for news from the school until they were able to get in contact. I often think about those who died because it could so easily have been any one of us.