Big

Over 18 months or so, once it was high enough above the ground, I watched the Shard being built each time I went to London. I’ve watched a documentary about its construction and I’ve seen countless photos taken from the top. Since it was completed three years ago I’ve looked at it every time I've crossed the river and, like millions of others, I’ve wandered round the base and pointed my camera to the sky. Even so, I gasped as I reached the viewing gallery today. Magnificent London! My birthplace, my deep-down home, my beautiful sprawl.
 
To Canary Wharf and the Thames barrier, to the huge tents of the festival On Blackheath, to Crystal Palace, to Wembley, to Hampstead Heath, to Anish Kapoor’s Orbit in Stratford to, almost below us, the Traitor’s Gate, Tower Bridge, the curves of the river – hang on – what?! Hundreds of tiny boats in the Thames? And more? And looking beyond, around the bends in the river, more and more? What is this? Rowers coming from the sea. ‘The Vikings,’ quipped one of our party, ‘perhaps they’re bringing us back a welfare state.’
 
As we watched we saw lots of the rowers raising their oars in unison as they reached the bridge and letting off orange smoke ‘flares’. Unexpected and dramatic.
 
For our first 20 minutes, London was overcast with little spotlights of sun breaking through the clouds and drawing our attention to certain buildings. I was glad the clouds chose to let the sun through onto the beautiful white stone of St Paul’s (extras). Then the clouds withdrew and we were lucky to have a bright blue sky and London lit by heaven. I could have posted a hundred pictures but others have done so, so I’ll just add the astonishing discovery of how Google does the street edging in Streetview (extras).



I realised before we went up that we'd be on top of the world when the Labour leadership was announced :))  I found out while I was on top of the world that Jeremy Corbyn's next engagement was the refugee rally in support of people who, unlike me, can't hop onto a train when they miss their birthplace. Almost immediately the people who told us he would split the party started announcing that they wouldn't work with him (who, quite, is splitting the party?). He'll have a struggle putting into practice the humanity that has fired up so many of the disaffected, but what hope! What re-engagement of so many of us who've been sidelined for so long! And perhaps we can get our own welfare state back without asking the Scandinavians to bring it upriver to us.