7/7 - where were you?

[CuppaTeaAndAJammieDodger]

Just realised it's the 7th anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings tomorrow.

I haven't thought about that day for some time now, but for a long time after there wasn't much else I could think about. Here's my recollection of the day.

I was on my way to a primary school outside of London to do some user testing for a course my company had developed and was en route between Bethnal Green, where I lived, and Waterloo.

I walked in to Liverpool Street Station and down in to the ticket area of the tube and made my way on to the eastbound platform just as a circle line train was pulling in. I was running pretty early so decided to grab a can of coke to wake me up from the kiosk on the platform, and let that train go by without me. Not long after the train had fully left the station there was a whooshing sound, soon followed by (which really stayed with me) a smell of burning (plastic or something).

A kind of controlled panic ensued, nobody knew what had happened, we all started getting off the platform as quickly as possible and the staff were ushering everyone out of the station. by the time I managed to get outside the emergency services were arriving. I had no idea what to do so just started walking to Waterloo, desperately trying to get a news feed up on my phone to see what was going on (this was 2005 - no smart phones back then!) but couldn't. It wasn't until I arrived at Waterloo that I found out what had happened and was told that I could leave London, but I wouldn't be getting back in today, so I decided to cancel the testing, make my way home and work from there.

I started to make my way, again on foot (public transport had obviously completely shut down), but every street I walked down seem to be being cordoned off by the police and I found myself walking further and further trying to find a route, then it started raining. Finally I managed to get to Bethnal Green Road after walking for what felt like hours, my mum managed to get through to me on my mobile after hours of trying, as soon as I heard her voice I just sat down on the curb and started crying - the gravity of the situation just hit me.

Took me a while to realise that that decision to have a can of coke could have potentially saved my life (dependent on what carriage I'd got on of course) - the ironic thing is I don't drink the stuff any more as I can't have caffeine due to panic attacks/anxiety issues.

Wow - that was long, sorry if I've bored you to death! That was the first time I've written down in detail what happened that day, rather cathartic really.

Interested to hear your memories of the day.

I was working at office in Shoreditch; one of my colleagues gave up trying to get in, the other was on her way out of London and her parents rang, worried about her - I said I was sure she'd be away and fine. Hearing sirens and looking at internet, and eventually decided to walk home. But I couldn't contact DP, who was at a meeting in Bloomsbury, and was horribly and stupidly worried about her for hours - turned out she didn't even know about events till all over. A ghastly day for London.

I was walking the dogs in a N. London park. DH phoned from his central London office, which he'd commuted to that morning, to tell me he was fine & I said, "That's nice, Dear" as I had no idea what had occurred

Also remember the armed police on the underground afterwards. I left London a short while later, I felt very uneasy.

I was working as a supervisor in a petrol station in surburban SE London. We had no radio, so just kept hearing lots of snippets of news from customers as they came in. Was frantically trying to get hold of my brother and friends who I knew worked in that area. The husband of one of my colleagues was a bus driver so she was frantically trying to get hold of him as well, and panicking about it. I spend my lunch break in my car listening to the news.

I was in Crete on a beach with my mum and a friend and we starting getting text messages from family and friends in London. It was awful being so far from home. A day I will never forget

I was due to have a scan in London that morning, as we were still in Kent then and I recall it was quite an early appointment we would've been in London on the line where one tube was hit- I had worked out the times for tubes and trains as I pretty nerdy like that and it was in the days when going to London was a big deal to me (now I hop on and off with ease).
I work up that morning feeling like utter crap, so told OH I would cancel and rebook for a later date. I went to make some breakfast and tried to phone to cancel and couldn't get through.
Never thought anything of it, sat down eating toast and put the radio on (we didn't have a TV in 2005, pre-kids you see!). The radio one news team announced delays to tubes due to a "power surge" on a line. Then another power surge was announced on the line we would have been sat on. I remember saying to my OH "that's weird, two power surges on different lines, are they near each other?" as my OH is from Camberwell and knows the network well. He was baffled and said it didn't feel right to him, something was going on.
Of course, then it started to come through properly that an "incident" had occurred, then the bus went up and you knew. At first we assumed something with the IRA again (both having grown up with it).
We both had mates in London- I couldn't reach my friend and was petrified, and another friend of my partners who lived near Tavistock Square has never been seen or heard of since. We think it may have triggered a mental illness off in his head (he had suffered on and off for years) and he may have simply walked out of London and not gone back.
I never can forget the people on GMTV the next morning, with pictures of loved ones. Awful. Regards to those who lost people x

I was in the first carriage of a packed, hot and sweaty Victoria line train from Finsbury Park which stopped at Kings Cross/St Pancras and didn't open its doors. People got hotter and angrier and angrier as the driver wouldn't tell us what was going (in retrospect this was because he didn't know anything). We waited for what seemed like ages. It probably was nearly half an hour. Someone fainted, people were crying and I was stood up feeling like I couldn't breathe.

People began to panic and banged on the driver's door, then people began to force the tube's doors open using bags to wedge it - the driver was forced to open the doors and we all spilled onto the platform.

We were told to get out of the station as fast as possible and began to leave walking up the escalators which we stopped. At the top, I remember someone handing me a bottle of water and when I walked out from the station up the steps into the outside, the first thing I saw was someone covered in soot with blood over their head. They were being helped by a paramedic. I knew something was very wrong. There was a cordon round the whole station. I just kept on walking.

I managed to phone my Mum to say I was ok, she laughed and said 'don't be silly I saw it on the news, it's just a power surge'. I bumped into a man from my work and he used my phone to phone his girlfriend as his didn't have any signal.

We walked into work which was in Oxford Circus. Halfway along Euston Road a policeman suddenly shouted for us all to move as fast as we can and keep walking and not to go back or turn left. It would have been the time that the bomb in Tavistock square went off.

I'll never forget that day. It didn't hit me unto the next day when I couldn't stop crying.

Four months later I met my now husband. It was the worst and best year I've ever experienced.

We were living on the east coast of America at the time so woke up to all news channels reporting the London bombings.
We couldn't believe what was happening as it wasn't so long since the 9/11 attacks.
In a strange way it made me feel truly homesick as it was clear all back home were pulling together. I remember not putting my DS on the school bus as I just wanted him and his sister at home with me.
But in the following few days it was a lovely gesture to see all the union jacks being placed outside fellow Brits homes - us included on our porch - just to show we were thinking of everyone back home.

I was with an Ante-natal Group friend and our DSs in an indoor ball-park. The TV was on in the corner but of course no sound. Friend and I suddenly started noticing that news flashes kept coming on and pictures of stations/buses.... I was heavily pregnant, not really sure what was going on and took DS to afternoon Nursery session on the bus - when we got back in the mid afternoon DH had left a frantic answer-phone message instructing us to avoid public transport at all costs.

Hopefully a never-to-be-repeated event....

Oddly enough, I can't actually remember exactly where I was. I remember 9/11, I remember the announcement the Olympics had been awarded to London, but I have no idea where I was when 7/7 was announced. I almost don't want to remember, actually, because then if it has a serious impact on me, and makes me feel scared/nervous/anxious, then the terrorists have presumably achieved what they set out to do.

I wonder if just missing an IRA bomb by a few minutes in the early 1990s desensitised me, actually.

At that time I lived in Shepherd's Bush and worked about 15 minutes walk from Liverpool St Station. Most of the time I cycled to work, but that day I actually got the Central Line in as I had not been able to retrieve my bike the day before - I'd not been able to take it up in the lift to my office, so I had to leave it in the garage which was locked by the time I left work. I got in relatively early, about 8.45. I can't remember how we found out at work - I think we saw it on the BBC News website and then someone put the TV on. One of my colleagues at the time had previously worked with one of the victims.

I remember my parents phoning me up in the office and contacting friends to check they were OK. Many colleagues didn't come in that day. It was scary to think they could just have easily targeted the Central Line. I remember it very clearly although so much has happened since - hadn't met my DH at that point.

I was living in Shepherds Bush too.

I was at work. DH had to get the tube into town and rang to say that Hammersmith was closed so he was walking to the Central Line. Then he rang 15 mins later to say that the Central Line was shut and he was taking the car.

At the time, the news just said that there was a power surge.

His car didn't have a radio so he knew nothing about it as he was driving either to another tube station or into town. Because of the phone networks etc, I then couldn't get through to him for about 3 hours during which time I was becoming ever more frantic.

When we all got home that evening we went to the pub.

I also have a strange feeling that DS1 was conceived that night

I was heavily pregnant with DD1, and probably at home as I think I was on mat leave by then. I'm trying to think why I can't remember where I was/what I was doing when I heard the news. Because I can clearly remember hearing about 9/11.

I think the difference is that between 9/11 and 7/7, I lived through the entifada in Israel, and bombings were a daily occurance. Sadly, I'd grown somewhat immune to them, and had a few near misses in Israel.

A friend of our who had very narrowly avoided being killed twice by bombs back in Israel was working in an office right where the bus blew up in London on 7/7. He still jokes that the terrorists are following him and have it in for him.

my goodness, your stories are incredible, my thoughts are with those that lost friends and family.

i was in holiday in Skye - DD1 was 6 months. we were watching on TV the chaos of the G8 summit which was taking place in Scotland - riots at bannockburn, protesters storming the fences etc. Then the bombings happened and obviously things calmed down up here. I think for me it was the shock that something like that could and did happen.

We were on holiday in Woolacombe. First thing in the morning we put the TV on to check the weather and there were reports of a gas explosion. We went out for the day thinking no more about it until we caught the news on the car radio that evening.

I know that the M6 toll bus incident made a lot of people laugh this week, but it just goes to show what can happen!

I've been thinking about all affected by 7/7 today, the people and the city. I was Up North so not affected, remember watching the news on my PC and just being shocked and sad. I felt like it was the beginning of the end of the world.

My friend has had a baby today....it will be nice to have a happy association with the date.

At work in Holborn. I heard the bus go up - it shook the building. My daughter should have been at Aldgate but when i eventually got hold of her she was working from home.
London was silent except for emergency sirens. we were all confined to the office and the CEO sent out for sandwiches.
I knew it was bad when my ex-H and and ex-BF contacted me to check I was ok.
It was a dreadful time.

Lying on the sofa watching events unfolding on the TV, trying not to admit to myself that what was happening was another MC.

At a conference at York Uni.
There was a trade fair bit to it too, and some contractors had little TVs showing promo videos. The previous day one trade stand had tuned one in too see who'd won the 2012 olympics. All the delegates were standing round cheering!
24 hours later we were all standing round in disbelief. The first presentation of the day had been quite funny, and everyone was in a good mood. You could feel the mood change. People from London paniced and started running out to make phone calls.

All trains going south from York heading for LKX were cancelled. I got home (only about 40 miles) on a series of local buses. The Uni put up the folk who couldn't get home.

I was still at school, would have been in Year 10. I remember getting home, no one else was back. I logged onto MSN Messenger, of course, and the MSN Today thing popped up with a picture of the bus. I was really confused and thought it was showing an old photo of something that had happened years ago. After I realised, I managed to get in touch with my cousin and heard my Aunt's family were all safe. I was listening to Jem's album - to this day it turns my stomach to hear it.

I gave birth to dc1 at 4am at Tommy's and dh went home to kentish town very shortly after as it had been a 3 day intenesely dull and slow induction and we were both out of it. He walked back from KT at that afternoon, no bikes to borrow, no cabs, noone to give a lift. Hospital was locked down but after protests they let in relatives with people on the critical list, and with newborns. There were major staffing issues as so many people couldn't get into work there. We cabbed home about 10pm that night, signed off by an SHO as they needed the bus space. I sobbed up a bit of southhamptom rown, along the lines of 'oh they can't make my PFB go for a soldier, please don't let this be a war in future'. Etc. He was readmitted, to UCLH NICU at dawn the next morning, his mild jaundice having turned to severe overnight.

bus=bed

I was in Egypt on my honeymoon. Sharm-el-shek was bombed around the same time. It was horrible not knowing what was happening back home.

The thing I remember most clearly was a group of young Egyptian men laughing at the news, and one of them looked in my direction and said "you next". It was horrible to feel such hatred from a stranger.

Thinking of those affected by that dreadful time x

I work in theatres in a major London hospital, we spent the day doing the unspeakable to people with no names, who looked older than they were from the dust and loss of blood.

I walked home across one of the bridges, the sky was blue the sun was shining, London was moving on foot, quietly and with determination. It was so quiet but noisy, no traffic hum only the wail of a siren.

I cry now, but not then.