After weeks, the brick red buses of Wimbledon paraded their way onto Worple road after an excruciatingly long wait. For those that live near Wimbledon, or go there for work/school you are probably aware of recent closures of Worple road due to extensive sewage works. Towards the end many were asking themselves, ‘will it ever end?’ However on the fateful day of 27th September the double-deckers returned, and a new found appreciation came with it.

 

Often when we’re faced with the odd road closure we figure ‘hey, I’ll just go around it’, however what if there was no other way? There are several schools along Worple road and multiple offices, for all of September hundreds of us were faced with the same problem. Many decided to drive up onto the upper road: Ridgeway as an alternate route, this made matters even worse as buses had already been diverted on to it, this was in addition to its regular traffic, and this resulted in hours of intense, draining congested traffic. Many schools even forbade their students from using the diverted buses on the Ridgeway, as it would inevitably result in lateness. When the same problem hit residents around Hammersmith Bridge, they made quite an elegant solution by enjoying the peace and quiet which is so rarely present due to endless traffic congestion. So we did the same thing! Every morning many had the pleasure of walking a scenic route; this was especially pleasant as the summer weather was wonderful and warm. Some boys and girls were even inspired to go and cycle to school, this was quite relaxing activity before starting a busy day (not to mention a good form of exercise).

 

However, this was not an easy journey for many others. Many students live much further, so consequently had to disrupt their regular routine by waking up even earlier to get to school on time. Not only did the inconvenience of the road works put a dent in the mornings, but in the whole day. Isabel Ferreira a 6th former at Ursuline high school says “Often I had to wake up 45 minutes earlier, many times I remember even being exhausted by the time I got to registration. But what was very difficult for me was the day itself, which I found to be a lot more stressful, in the sense that I had to follow a much tighter schedule. Now that I can use the bus I feel like it has made the day much easier for me – I’m so relived!”