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If you’ve been for a walk into central during this wild, wild time, you’ll probably have noticed something missing… People, dur.
As much as Londoners have been berated for visiting parks too much, anyone who has walked across London Bridge or visited Oxford Street can tell you that we’ve all done a pretty good job of staying at home.
One surprising perk of this? When people have headed out on the odd long walk through the centre of town, they’ve been met with eerie views: Trafalgar Square and the Mall without the tourists, Covent Garden without the shoppers, the City without the commuters. Weekday lunchtimes in Zone 1 suddenly look like 5am on Christmas Day – and that makes for brilliant photos.
We asked Londoners to share their pictures of the city looking empty in lockdown, and the result is a documentation of the city in a way that – once all this is over – we’ll probably never see it again.
— Mark Lynch (@MTSL134) June 3, 2020
Just cleaned and the water creating a mirror image #piccadillycircus pic.twitter.com/odYsxe6Ivf
— howardrbsmith (@HowardRBSmith) June 3, 2020
— The Stylish Travler (@stylishtravlr2) June 3, 2020
Here are mine: Leadenhall Market and the Gherkin! pic.twitter.com/kvKeXc8RFv
— Gratsiela | Blushrougette (@blushrougette) June 3, 2020
Piccadilly Circus #lockdown pic.twitter.com/Bwxp5f3z0H
— Peter (@MrTrickyTree) June 3, 2020
Camden looks very strange without people. pic.twitter.com/Eo0FxPxPAv
— Mattskating (@Mattskating) June 3, 2020
Natural history pic.twitter.com/m3pM7b3m8c
— lou brooks (@loubrooks) June 3, 2020
New Bond Street midday.... Eerie pic.twitter.com/YyeXCQsdsM
— Scott Farry (@scottyboy_1986) June 3, 2020
Only time I've ever been able to cycle down Carnaby Street. pic.twitter.com/3xDhkL98RJ
— Mattskating (@Mattskating) June 3, 2020
— Cartwheelcaff (@Cartwheelcaff) June 4, 2020
Eerie but beautiful #London pic.twitter.com/TLYxCYCv7i
— Maria J. Verdugo (@MariaJesusV) June 3, 2020
0750 at Leicester Square station, during my Friday morning commute (NHS worker) on 27th March. I have never seen anything like it in 10+ years of living in London. Not the most visually stunning pic, but any Londoner can understand how striking this is and how eerie it felt. pic.twitter.com/Cq4mngRKAb
— sazzxx (@sazzyxx) June 3, 2020
Walking home to avoid the tube before lockdown and the entire hour journey home I saw maybe a dozen people. pic.twitter.com/f4Hd6CJU27
— Kristen (@ManRuiTian) June 3, 2020
leicester square, wellington arch, v&a pic.twitter.com/Y8fpuXYzVo
— lou brooks (@loubrooks) June 3, 2020
St Paul’s from Millennium Bridge pic.twitter.com/etyEDHOqvZ
— Sarah Barthram (@SLJBarts) June 3, 2020
The Mall’s red carpet 😙 pic.twitter.com/zc7vaBVpge
— Tomasz Czerwoniak (@TCzerwoniak) June 3, 2020
— James Teggin (@jamesteggin) June 3, 2020
Still waters with no boats. No traffic on the bridge either. pic.twitter.com/20iKgxIcDj
— kernelpanic0x09 (@kernelpanic0x09) June 3, 2020
Saturday cycling pic.twitter.com/B5MmHh0C6F
— Paul Dowling (@paolodowling) June 3, 2020
Oxford Circus pic.twitter.com/DPaQ5y12It
— Kate Bassett (@kate_bassett31) June 3, 2020
Views along the South Bank pic.twitter.com/wXzvomVs31
— Nicki Bickford (@NickiBickford) June 3, 2020
— David F (@Davefieldhouse) June 3, 2020
Waterloo Station, Easter holiday weekend. pic.twitter.com/xPh6991GmW
— John Pearse (@moofunk) June 3, 2020
— kate (@katewln) June 3, 2020
Covent Garden... at lunchtime! pic.twitter.com/p3TQ8WUmq9
— Sarah Barthram (@SLJBarts) June 3, 2020
— George (@gwg_1981) June 3, 2020
— theGman (@thegmanN17) June 3, 2020
— John Pearse (@moofunk) June 3, 2020
— James Teggin (@jamesteggin) June 3, 2020
— CeCe (@OrpheeLeTitou) June 3, 2020