the rat man - a photo on Flickriver

the rat man

            Norwood Junction Underpass, Croydon, London

Entering the tunnel that runs under the railway lines at Norwood Junction, I was a bit alarmed to see a man in a hat facing away from me, brandishing an iron bar, and a woman with child and a toddler in a push chair entering at the far end. Now, like most people from north of the Thames I know very little about south London (indeed, I have spent more time in Moscow than I have in south London) but this seemed to sum up all my fears and expectations of a place like Croydon.

However, all was not what it seemed. As I got closer, I saw that there was a huge rat running up and down the tunnel between them, one of the biggest rats I have ever seen. The man in the hat, a tall black man, was telling the woman - "don't worry lady, I'll get him if he runs towards me." 

This didn't seem terribly reassuring. If the rat ran away from the man it would run towards the woman and her children, and if it ran towards the man and he missed it then it would run towards me. And why was he carrying an iron bar in the first place? 

So, not wanting to miss my train, or to see a rat killed, or to see a rat attack anyone, or, indeed, to have a close encounter myself with either a rat or a man with an iron bar, I turned around and used the bridge instead.

Perhaps it did sum up south London for me after all.

Taken on: November 4, 2015

Tags:

tunnel

underpass

terror

fear

Croydon

East

London

south

buildings

city

townscape

dystopia

urban

squalor

decay

england

english

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Groups appears in: • What the Thunder said... • London buildings more » • A LONDON EYE • London Tales • This Is England • London Architecture • Paths and People • Candid & Street Photography UK and Ireland • Written Pages • Street photography & Candid photo group • London Streets • London Lovers • LONDON LONDON LONDON « less

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S100FS, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, 7.1mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Fujifilm FinePix S100FS
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	7.1mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Digital Camera FinePix S100FS Ver1.02
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