i remember having to walk home from whitechapel, the tubes had stopped and the few buses were quickly packed. crowds marching, through the city and on to the west end, to holland park where i lived then. i stopped off at a pub on the way, in holborn. unusually for london people were talking together, even joking and laughing. it was reminiscent of what we were told by our parents and grandparents about life in WWII; people were closer, more co-operative, a community of shared experience. it felt a bit like that, openly talking to strangers. despite the laughing and joking there was no denying the underlying sombre mood.
i remember it was a beautiful july day, brilliant blue sky and golden warm sunshine.