Warning: the following post is my attempt at being an actual journalist. Feel free to stop reading now!
In Croydon, the mayhem of Monday night has been replaced by a strange silence. People are gathering by police cordons looking on at the rubble that were once buildings. The normally bustling streets are now empty of cars and shoppers, instead occupied by police and road sweepers, debris still littering the pavements. At Reeves Corner, the scene of the fire whose image has become synonymous with the riots, forensic officers are hard at work and behind the cordons cameras from the country’s media stand in a line.
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Smoke could be seen from our road.
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| The source of all the smoke. |
On the tram home from my little excursion one passenger regaled the rest of the carriage with stories of looting, including how she saw a boy run down the street with a flat screen TV under each arm, bump into a lamppost and fall over, smashing the TVs. Karma?! But this sharing of stories shows that most people here, decent people, cannot understand the mindless criminality that took place in our town on Monday night. Obviously Croydon has a reputation for being a bit stabby and both my dad and I remarked earlier that day that it wouldn’t be long before Croydon got in on the act. However, I don't think anyone could have predicted that it would be to such a great extent. All a bit scary, really! Anyway, the clean up of Croydon has now begun, but it'll take a long time for the damage to be repaired. I'm hoping that the repairs miraculously turn the town into a place of beauty. Doubtful. So, instead I'll be trying to persuade my parents to move, preferably to Dorset where they can set up a little tea room - an idea inspired by a recent visit to the area with friends.
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| The landlord of this pub was on Sky News and now has an appreciation society on Facebook. I think he's the man in blue. |
In other news, today, when not pretending to be a journalist, I made a cheesecake! The recipe told me to put 900g of cream cheese in it, but that much cheese scared me so I made up my own recipe. Fortunately, it turned out nicely (surprisingly) and went down well at the weekly Buckley family dinner!
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Slice of cheesecake - in case it wasn't already clear...
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Hopefully my next post won't be quite as riot-y!
