It can be pretty weird being me sometimes. Today was another rather hot day, so I just thought I would head to Woolwich and then take one of my regular trundles along the Thames, perhaps as far as Greenwich. However, I’m still very conscious of the need to drink water regularly, so at Woolwich I was struck by the idea of just popping into the Elizabeth Line station and asking one of the staff there to help me have a sip. They know me there now, so I doubted it would be a problem. As soon as I got into my station and rolled up to the staff though, I was met by the customary question about where I wanted to get off, the people obviously having presumed quite naturally that I had come to ride London’s newest railway.

What could or should I have done? Should I have come clean and confessed that I was only there for a sip of water, or changed my afternoon’s plan on the spur of the moment? When you need to ask for such kinds of aid regularly, I suppose you develop an aversion to looking like you’re taking advantage of people. That’s why I have just come home from a completely unexpected afternoon rolling around Canary Wharf – the first Elisabeth Line station to come to mind. Although it must be said that the Isle of Dogs is one of those exciting, dynamic, fast-changing areas of the city I enjoy going to and looking around quite regularly, it is surely rather strange how my plans have such a tendency to change at such short notice and for such weird reasons.

At least I got my drink of water.