I took this picture about 25 years ago. I was standing on 'Suicide Bridge' at Archway. The hills to the north of London give a wonderful view of the city, if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between.' From here you can see the Barbican complex, originally built as council houses, now sold at huge price to the rich. Many MP's reside there. What was known as the 'Nat West Tower,' until the IRA blew up the street below causing the National Westminster bank to move elsewhere, towers above everything else. The view must have been excellent but not when a thunderstorm raged.
I wonder what the view is like today? Huge ugly erections have arisen since I took that grainy picture. Buildings climb into the sky, the creators 'making a name for themselves in the world.' To my mind, tired of the emptiness that claims to be success, I find them unappealing. The 'Shard' just looks ridiculous, as does the one called the 'Gherkin!' More to do with an abundance of money and a desire to use it to do something different rather than fulfill a function artistically.
'Suicide Bridge,' built in 1900, carries Hornsey Lane high above the 'Archway Road.' The bridge was enhanced by a row of iron spikes in an attempt to stop people flinging themselves therefrom. Sadly such measures failed to stop three men clambering over the bridge to their deaths in three short weeks in 2010.
John Nash's original bridge shows the height above the road. An excellent view from above, but a long way down for some. The horses no longer struggle up the slope, instead expensive tin cans carry millions of canned people at high speed up the A1, the Great North Road. That is the road the Londoners of yore took when running to Scotland for some fresh air. Not far from here is found the hill where Dick Whittington and his cat turned around and went back to London, so he says, but as he was a politician I have my doubts.
Can I add that suicide is not a good idea. No doubt we have all considered it at some time, even as a remote thought, but not only does it hurt others, especially if you fall on them, it fails to answer our problems. It must be very difficult to convince someone that desperate or mentally unwell that Jesus gave us bright blue skies, green grass and sunshine to indicate life does have a meaning beyond out problems. However it does! One lass at the hospital killed herself one night, she had been crying for months, and nothing could be done. I stopped her cutting her hand on one of the small windows she broke but during the night she ended it all. Life may not be fun, but suicide does not improve it.
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