One and Other - Day 11

Photos from the afternoon of Day 11 of the project. A carnival atmosphere prevailed in Trafalgar Square through sun and showers. The crowd were far too good-humoured to justify the comparison of some critics with the spectacle of public executions past - an occasional heckler, but no baying mob. Watch the action and inaction on the live webstream at: http://www.oneandother.co.uk/

2.00 - 3.00pm Anonymous -listened to his ipod and did little else except throw the occasional paper aeroplane. The legend on his t-shirt read 'There are at least 2 views', though this didn't apply to opinions of his performance.

3.00 - 4.00pm Under_Surveillance sat in a rainstorm under his umbrella writing on a laptop, presumably making a point, though not in an interesting way

4.00-5.00pm Bushewacker, aka Tim Bushe, a London architect, gave the crowds something more interesting to watch, taking only 45 minutes of his allotted hour on the plinth to make a 360 degree drawing of Trafalgar Square inside an acetate tube to support hft, Home Farm Trust, a charity that cares for people with learning difficulties. The drawing is to be auctioned on ebay from 24th July: www.ebay.co.uk/ebayforcharity

The handover

5.00-6.00pm Rosemary -auctioned her artwork for a dyspraxia charity

Plane spotting

People spotting

Honeymooners

Seven-seven

Photos taken 07/07/2005


Aldgate roundabout, looking towards Aldgate tube station

TV outside broadcast vans arrive and have to park up outside. The entrances to Aldgate East tube station are closed.

Four years ago as I turned right into Whitechapel High Street opposite the Whitechapel Hospital, the first rapid response emergency vehicle was setting out, sirens blaring, and the emergency helicopter was taking off from its roof. I thought there must have been a serious road traffic accident. It was just after 9am. By the time I reached my office right over Aldgate East Underground entrance, the sirens were non-stop. Rumours were rife: there had been a serious incident underground at Tower Hill station, it was a power surge, a Tube train crash. Helicopters and sirens were relentless. Whitechapel High Street was blocked off at Aldgate roundabout. Our doorkeepers got out a portable TV from somewhere. The news of the first bombing came through, then the next and the next. Disbelief. Then the bus at Russell Square. It felt like a war zone. It was. By 10.00 mobile networks were down and landlines were intermittent, the speculation being that security services had closed the networks, though this was later denied. One colleague who had been on the bombed Aldgate train in the first explosion later described the horror of being guided along the tracks past the injured and dying in the dark of the tunnel. He wasn't able to return to work for many months and took early retirement the following year, still traumatised. My line manager lost his beautiful niece. Today a permanent memorial to the 52 murder victims was unveiled in Hyde Park.