I went on one of my longer trundles today. The Regents canal runs from the Olympic park in Stratford to the Regent’s Park and central London. I don’t take that route very often because it’s so long and takes most of an afternoon, but it’s a very pleasant, peaceful roll. As I was making my way this afternoon , it struck me how quiet it was: I was nearing the centre of a metropolis of eight million people, yet the loudest thing I could hear was birdsong. People walked along the towpaths as passively as the horses which once pulled barges along them. I can’t help remembering how a week or so ago I was in cities full of noise and hubbub. In places like Casablanca the sound of traffic is fairly constant, especially in the medina. Of course they are very different places, and I know there will be far noisier areas of the capital, but it now seems very odd indeed that London can be so silent.