We've only moved just over 5 miles but we didn't know this area at all before moving here. Although of course we did have a good look around when looking for a house and there were a number of things we wanted on our check list.
One of the quirky things in our area is that we have a level crossing in the centre of town. Trains run from Chingford (just to the north of us) to Liverpool Street in Central London. Trains run every 15 minutes in both directions so the crossing closes at least 8 times an hour. The warning sound goes, the lights flash and then the barriers come down. And then we wait!
It's not usually down for too long and actually pedestrians don't need to wait as there is an underpass that goes under the tracks. Of course if the barriers malfunction you can be there for a while. Sometimes if the trains are a little out of kilter the barriers can seem to be down for ages but in situations like that a few minutes can feel much longer.
It's been a bit chaotic down there this week because of this:
Photo from Facebook Photo from Facebook
This is the other side of the crossing. A circular hole approx. 2 foot wide opened up earlier this week and quickly became a major problem. Apparently it's due to a burst water main. Traffic is only being allowed across the level crossing in one direction and bus routes are on diversion.
It has been very chaotic and a major talking point on social media.
The latest news is that the leak has been identified and fixed but they now have to fill in the huge hole. Hopefully that won't take too long as we're currently experiencing a lot of extra traffic on our road plus 2 extra bus routes using it.
Still it could be worse - at least the hole was caused by a burst pipe and not a bomb.