My alarm goes off at 5am. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I detest early starts (I am the antithesis of a ‘morning person’) and I only rise before 9-10am in rare exceptions.
Today is such an exception.
I drink two cups of strong Java coffee and fix myself a hearty breakfast - eggs, beans, veggie sausages and toast. I need fuel for the day ahead! I then double check my backpack - the previous night having packed snacks, bottled water, a thermos flask of black tea, a novel, some cash (and, of course, the obligatory packet of anti-bacterial wipes, a staple since Covid).
Like every boy scout, I am prepared.
I shut my front door at 5.55am and set off in the direction of Shadwell station, on the Docklands Light Railway. I’m heading south of the river to Southwark Park - the spot where wristbands (obligatory for any queue-joiner) are being handed out.
As I exit Surrey Quays, the sun is just beginning to rise and two policemen wish me good morning and point me in the right direction.
From there, it’s a 10-15 minute walk though the greenery, towards the Thames, and as I edge closer to the starting point, I notice a few other arrivals.
Fluorescent wristbands are being handed out in a range of colours (quite randomly). Mine is pink and a kindly volunteer attaches it for me. It will be the proof I need to remain in the queue, all the way to the Palace of Westminster - about 8kms.
I may be asked to present it at various informal checkpoints along the way, although I can hardly imagine anyone would try do anything as un-British as trying to push in! After all, this is what we live for, isn’t it? Queuing. And, by any standards, this is the Queue to End All Queues.
And within five minutes, I’ve fallen in with a group of seven people who will accompany on this journey - it’s entirely organic although I can’t help but feel God was good to me because, in the next eleven hours, we will form a merry band of men, sharing our snacks, laughing, joking, swapping tales of who we are and why we’ve come, not to mention taking it in turns to go on ‘coffee runs’ (along with toilet breaks, leaving the queue for a short period to purchase food and drinks is allowed).
I’ve heard, in the last few days, of people forming these kinds of groups whilst in The Queue and now, without realising it, I’ve got my own. They are going to make this day much easier for me, And, arguably, I for them. We are an architect, nurse, IT manager, lawyer, retired policeman, prison officer, myself and an eleven-year old boy named George.
And we’re all ready to set off on an epic journey.