The 'London Gold Rush' 1903: Part 3.

The ‘London Gold Rush’ 1903: Part 3.

Towards the end of March the springlike weather completely vanished with a cruel easterly wind blowing in flurries of snow. Work was once again delayed and Willie and Davy found themselves with plenty of time on their hands

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"You know something Davy?" Willie spoke quietly in the kitchen of Mrs. O’Brien’s while they were having a mug of tea with her. She had in fact become quite friendly with them both because of their manners and respect not to mention the odd bits of food that Willie gave her for free. "And what would that be Willie?" Davy answered. "Do you know what I miss most about home?" he asked. "No, Willie, go ahead and tell us". Davy looked up at the dirty ceiling and sighed. "’Tis the sea next to my parents that I really miss. Walking down the strand on the wet sand with the seagulls calling and the waves crashing against the rocks. That’s what I miss Davy most of all".

Davy made no reply as he could feel the pangs of homesickness creeping in and at the thought of the seashore he knew that if he spoke he would choke up and possibly start crying like a baby. They sat and drank their tea without uttering another word between the three of them.

"And why now don’t you both get well wrapped up and catch a train up town and have a look around" Mrs. O’Brien quietly spoke. She did not want them to get the idea that she wanted them out of her kitchen but in fact she did. She was expecting a visit from one of her previous lodgers who called himself a ‘doctor’. "Doctor my foot" she thought to herself, "and him insisting on giving me a thorough examination every time even if I have only a head cold". She let out a long drawn out sign whilst the two lads put on their overcoats and made a move to leave.

An hour later they stepped off the local train and found themselves in the heart of London quite close to Trafalgar Square. They stood in awe and watched the world pass by for almost an hour until Willie shouted. "Good God Almighty Davy, did you see that?" Davy was quite annoyed at the way Willie always made you guess what he had just seen but in a friendly sort of way, he didn’t really mind. "No Willie, what was it?" "The bus Davy, look at it, just look at it" Willie was as excited as Davy had ever seen him. "And what about it Willie, so it’s a bus" Davy was puzzled as to why another bus should excite his friend so. "It’s going to the Strand, it says so on the front" Willie began to drag Davy by the arm. With that they both jumped onto the slow moving bus.

"Two tickets to the sea front" Willie asked the conductor. "Are you taking the piss Paddy?" the conductor looked at them as if they both had two heads. "Sorry" Davy broke in "It’s two tickets to the Strand please" he asked. "Are you both taking the piss or what?" He seemed more annoyed than before. "We’re strangers" Davy spoke with his best apologetic voice. "I’ll take your word for it" the conductor smiled "you can save your money, this is the Strand".

The two lads got off the bus and stood on the pavement and looked around. It was just a busy street with shops and offices and no sign of the sea. Across the road they saw a Police Sergeant and decided to ask him for directions. He was standing looking into a shop window as they approached. "Excuse me officer" Davy began "but can you please tell us …….". As the Sergeant turned around all three of them were struck dumb. Willie was the first to speak. "Mother of God Almighty, if it’s not young Peter O’Loughlin himself. And will you look at that beautiful uniform and helmet on his head. Sure it’s grand you are looking Peter". Peter slapped them both on the back and it was only then that Davy fully realised what was going on. He did know Peter at school back home but had not seen him for years. They stood for a long time talking about home and the latest news. Eventually as he began to leave, Willie told him about the Strand and the sea. Peter began to laugh. He then laughed louder until Davy thought that he was going to burst. "What’s the matter Peter?" he asked. "What’s the matter you ask?" Peter answered through his laughter. "Sure if you tried to swim here I’d have to arrest you. The Strand is the name of the street not the blinking seashore".

The look of disappointment on Davy’s face was only beaten by the look on Willie’s. Peter saw it and took pity on them as he had often felt the same pains when he came to London five years ago. "I’ll tell you what you can do lads" he said "follow me and I’ll take you down by the Thames river and you can walk along the shore and imagine that you are back home. Just one thing though, it won’t be the smell of salty water you get, it smells more like an open sewer". With that, Peter stepped out into the street and with one wave of his hand, cars, buses, horse and carts and everything else came to an abrupt stop. The three of them strolled at their leisure across the road where Peter gave a slight flick of his wrist and the traffic began to flow again. The lads were so impressed that Davy made a mental note to tell them all at home about Peter the next time he wrote.

He took them down a short distance where they could actually see the river and some boats. They were mostly barges coming and going every minute or two. They said their farewells to Peter with a promise to meet up again some time then climbed down some steps onto the stony riverside. Immediately Willie began skimming stones on the water and was more like a ten-year-old child than the seventeen-year-old that he really was. Davy, as he had anticipated, upon seeing the flowing water began to softly cry.

Once again he was so homesick that if they had saved enough money, he would without any hesitation, be on the next boat home. "Alas", he thought to himself, "not quite yet"…………..

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