[Part 1]

[Part 2]

Once the Climate March was over I expected the return journey to be straightforward, but it wasn’t to be. I knew that there was extensive engineering work underway on the London Underground but it did not impact directly on the route I intended to use back from Westminster to Kentish Town.

However, early in the journey it became clear there was another problem. Announcements over the tannoy system indicated that a significant part of the northern section of the tube was experiencing a temporary closure. The reason given was that there was a person on the line, and the implication seemed to be that there had been a suicide attempt.

Anyway, after a number of changes of route and failed redirections I got back to Camden Town and decided to walk from there, even though it was further than I would have liked. At least, I felt, my progress was under my control.

On the way I spotted another electric car, this time a Nissan Leaf. It was plugged in and charging in the compound of a civil engineering firm off Highgate Road – an encouraging sign, I thought, a commercial company using an EV.

I got back to my car, unplugged and drove off without incident. I was actually still doing quite well for time so decided to take a detour. In planning the trip down I had considered parking at Stanmore Underground Station as I had read that it was equipped with a dozen fast chargers – an unprecedented concentration that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the UK, so far as I know.

Finding the chargers was tricky as they were in a car park beside the station with a virtually concealed entrance. However, plugging in and charging was easy – there were half a dozen bright green charge points, each with two connectors, and no other cars charging.

I didn’t really need the charge, of course, since I was fully charged when I left Highgate – I just wanted to assure myself I could make use of them next time I came down to London. In fact, on this day I had made the right choice as – due to engineering works – there was only a replacement bus service from Stanmore.

The rest of the trip home went fine. I went at a steady pace and was able to go all the way to Northampton without needing to stop. I had enjoyed the day – my first time as an ‘activist’ – and committed myself to get more involved in climate change activities in the future.