Do you know the tenants who live next door? Do you say hello when you bump into them on the stairs? If not why not? If you do – well done, people in cities need to talk more, and London is no exception. I was moved to write this after reading “Waking up to Death”

There was a dead man on my brother’s patio when he woke up this morning. That’s not something that happens every day, I’m sure you will agree. Even in the urban jungle of central London, where my brother lives, it is a bit of a shocker.

The first warning he had of this occurrence was when there was a loud banging on the front door early in the morning. It was the police. Quite a few police. They trooped through his basement flat, opened the french windows of his bedroom and stepped onto the patio outside. There the body lay. The dead man was in his 50’s and had jumped from the roof of the tall London  town house where my brother’s flat is situated on the lowest level.

This happened 2 days ago, 3 streets away from Pimlico Flats, in a building very like our own. The dead man & the writer’s brother didn’t know each other even though they lived in the same building – London can be like that. However Pimlico has always been different – the film Passport to Pimlico captured a village community which wasn’t and isn’t fictional – Pimlico is a village at the centre of London, so if you are living in London (and in particular in Pimlico Flats) and feeling lonely ……. join in with the village:

• If you are a tenant of Pimlico Flats you will have spoken to George, he won’t let you go to work without saying Good Morning – but do you speak to your neighbours? Don’t make the first words you exchange be a complaint about noise!
• Do you speak to me? I did have a tenant who I caught crossing the road as I approached. It turned out that I had only spoken to him twice in 5 years, and put his rent up each time, so he wasn’t taking any chances over a third meeting. We don’t do that any more!
• Do you use the local shops? We have 2 pubs, 2 convenience stores, 2 restaurants literally round the corner. Do you use them, and do you chat with the staff whilst you are in there?
• Do you gossip? Pimlico is a haven for all the weirdest wackiest people God put on the earth. If you haven’t heard about them – ask. I’m afraid I’ll get sued if I print any of the stories on here, but life in Pimlico is very rich!

There is no excuse for loneliness in Pimlico, if you are a tenant of Pimlico Flats and lonely do something about it tomorrow on your way to work. Say “Good Morning” to 3 people before you get to the end of Winchester St. – it won’t be difficult, and it will make a difference. It may not be you that needs to talk but “Good Morning” Could Be a Matter of Life or Death in London to someone else.