Tuesday 9 August 2011

#Enfield



what a horribly bizarre and scary night

i should be going to bed but i wanted to put into words exactly how i feel about everything that has been going on, sunday night onwards

my dad had been in touch with me about the tottenham riots, making sure i hadn't been out in london and trying to get home, and news of the devastation was horrendous, but that was tottenham

when i was home from camping i just busied myself, stuck the washing on, washed up my cooking kit and had a bloody good sort out around the house, it probably wasn't until about half 6 or 7 that i turned on my computer and logged into facebook

a shot from the flats above the shops was being posted around, a photo of a smashed police car soon cropped up



there was shock and concern, and as the night drew on and darkness fell it all melted into a large overwhelming blur as hours fell into each other whilst #Enfield was trending on twitter worldwide and all there was to do was keep refreshing social networking feeds and flick between BBC and Sky news' slender coverage as it rolled round and repeated itself


waking up to the cold light of day brought an uneasy calm and a restless mind, i cycled into town to survey the damage done, though most of the reported damage seemed to have been confined to twitter, none of Krispy Kremes, Cineworld or Nandos had gone up in flames the night prior and petrol bombs on the a10 were pure chinese whispers that were soon being passed off as fact

Enfield Town itself was bewilderingly serene, cordoned off as the town played host to plenty of curious visitors that were more confused by it all than shaken in anyway.  some premises faired better than others, ranging from a handfull of broken windows to full on looting from sports and electrical shops.

My work was still open, we suffered a broken window along our shop frontage but nothing else, as the sun beamed and people busied themselves it all felt slightly anti-climactic, friends dropped in as they passed by and a couple of pints sunk in The George beside a deserted one way system and police line all contributed to a strange buzz as people came to terms with what had happened

but as the afternoon drew on and grey clouds drew overhead, the atmosphere visibly changed, talk of offices recieving advice to evacuate prompted an ominous vibe that hung heavy in the air, more rumours were dispensed through the day that the same was expected tonight, or that it would be hitting Barnet and Waltham Cross, or Brookfield Farm and Brent Cross

again, rumour and false reports were rife on the way home, my best friend rang me to warn me of a vehicle on fire on Turkey Street just before i had made it that far, i proceeded with caution, but there was no truth in it at all


and i wanted to keep clear of it all this evening, i pulled up weeds in the garden and favoured Don't Tell The Bride over rolling news coverage of scuffles and fires in peckham, i put on a film to escape it all for a couple of hours, but sadly it was all still there, and worse than ever as curiosity got the better of me and i checked the news for a quick update

you don't need me to tell you what is going on all over london, and also in birmingham, i am purely sickened by it all, i'm not sure if there is anymore that needs to be said on the matter, and that is certainly all i will say for now

so as i finish typing this up, and prepare to power down, helicopters overhead and regular sirens wailing are still audible.

good night london, i'm praying for a better tomorrow tonight

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