Another commuter train pulls out of Clapham Junction. The signs boast of being the country's busiest railway junction. An intersection for the trains running to and from Victoria and Waterloo, it's embedded in the nation's consciousness as is the M25, Spaghetti Junction, and Watford Gap Services. Anyone who has ever commuted by train, has passed though the Junction in spirit. Over two thousand trains a day pass through Clapham Junction.
Coffee is drunk.
Newspapers are read. The meeting of eyes is studiously avoided. The rest of Clapham is more at ease. What he would have made of today's rows of terraced homes and the tower blocks of council housing is anyone's guess. Clapham Common may lack the grandeur of the Royal Parks, but it's an expansive piece of greenery, much loved by those who know it.