Exactly 34 years go today i was sitting roughly where I am now awaiting the
arrival of the removal van that would complete my transformation from country
bumpkin to townie. I had become fed up with 25 years of commuting from
Hampshire, the time and the expense. It was possibly the biggest mistake I ever made.
Bexley levied almost the lowest taxation in London, Bromley beat it by a whisker,
and the fastest trains took me to London in less than half the time of the
fastest from the sticks. My only London based friend lived 20 minutes drive
away. Where did it all go wrong?
The train to Charing Cross currently takes more than double the time it did back in 1987 and longer than the fastest
to arrive on Platform 9 (usually) at Waterloo Mainline. Bexley Council has been mismanaged from 3rd
lowest taxes to 25th lowest and this morning my friend took 50 minutes to come
over from just the other side of Chislehurst station.
Can’t be long before I put things into reverse.