Genesis

It turns out that the first post of a new blog is not an easy thing to write. Despite knowing that, in all likelihood, I will be the only person ever to read it, I still feel the need for it to be a highly polished piece of prose which will serve to trail the kinds of post that may come later.

I have admittedly chosen an odd time to start my first web log. The advent of sites such as Twitter have only served to highlight and advance a trend which was already in evidence: people are generally no longer willing to sit and read a long post by someone they have never met. It does not even have to be long actually: anything over 140 characters can be enough to put them off.

Yet start a blog I have. I have started this blog principally because I enjoy reading the blogs of others, and I would like to bring that kind of enjoyment to other people if at all possible. I also feel, perhaps mistakenly, that I have some things of interest to say. Thousands if not millions of people are interested in the things that I am interested in; mainstream things like history and politics; not-so-mainstream things such as local history, the exploration of underground spaces, how London Underground was formed, has changed and operates today, and the desire to find out more about London than is simply written in the guidebooks. The successes of sites such as Subterranea Britannica, Qype and District Dave; as well as of blogs such as Annie Mole and Diamond Geezer, have assured me of this, which is why I have decided to start a blog. I hope I shall not live to regret it.

So what will you be able to expect from this blog? Commentary and analysis of UK politics in general, and London politics in particular. An insider’s view of the workings of the London Underground. Details of walks or explorations to be had both in London and in the countryside, particularly west London and the area of Kent in which I grew up. Yes, all this and more will be written about here. Like many of the people who, I hope, will become my readers, I have eclectic tastes. I look forward to being able to indulge them here.