I used to work in Canary Wharf in another life and last week I was back for the first time since 1998. There wasn’t much about then and getting there was a victory,largely thanks to the unreliable Docklands Light Railway. A lot has changed.
Just to wind me up, they finished the Jubilee Line about 6 months after I moved back up North. This week I was amazed how quick it made the journey and how clean and, well, nice it was.
Canary Wharf has turned into one big shopping centre with anything you could possibly want to shop for.
But what really struck me was exactly the same as the first time I was here – the sheer scale and style of the architecture. I soon got used to it and never noticed it anymore, I even used to sit in the staff canteen near the top and not notice that I could see all of London around me.
I left London because the crowds, the tube and the sheer impersonal nature of the place was too much for me. But whenever I go back I get a bit whistful about the life you can have down there.
Is there ever a time when you appreciate what you have instead of what you don’t? Maybe we should stop to smell the flowers while we can.
When I got back home to Leeds, being away made me love home that little bit more for a while. The quiet roads, smiling people, cheep beer, having a garden…. and no London bogies. But by next week I’ll be moaning about speedbumps or something again.
NORTHERN PLANNER 
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