Two class 171 units for haulage! – That’s it… Report done…
If only that were the case. This week has been tied up with pulling together all the things that have to happen for my Brother-in-Law so that he can go home to rest with his Mother. Some things are inconsequential whilst taking a lot of time – emptying his lodgings tied up all of last Sunday. On the Saturday it was a gathering of some of the family to remember and respect our Brother – I spent the day hosting and prepared the food. That’s going to repeat again this Saturday as there are many other family members who still wish to pay their respects.
Between those gatherings, we have had to chase out the essential documents. Wednesday was the day we collected the final death certificate from Barnet Town Hall. The lady in the registrars office was so consoling while issuing the documentation we needed. She was also able to lighten the mood with some suitable humour based around her own experiences. Once we had the death certificate along with his birth certificate and National Registration Card, we were finally in a position to approach the Zimbabwe High Commission to request permission to repatriate our Brother’s body.
High Commissions and Embassies in foreign countries are focal points for citizens trying to resolve all sorts of issues from lost passports to their rights as a citizen of that country. I can recall passing through Notting Hill Gate and seeing the queues outside the Russian Embassy. The Zimbabwe High Commission also has a lot of citizens to deal with and the initial queuing system is very fraught as there are only 3 desks dealing with a lot of people. Often the citizen seeking aid doesn’t know what documentation they needed to complete their requirement so there is this continuous churn of people moving to the front and then having to go to the back of the queue after getting whatever they were missing at the first attempt. I believe this is normal at many embassies.
We are fortunate… We are blessed… Many years past, when she was a very young lady, Epi actually worked at the High Commission and is remembered there. Additionally, one of the extended family knows the current Ambassador and decided to contact him on our behalf. As a result, we were put in direct contact with the young lady with responsibility for death registrations. So when we presented ourselves at the window, she did a quick double take of Epi’s name and realised that this was the person she had been talking to. We were lifted out of the melee and shepherded into the library where things were conducted in relative peace and quiet – all we had for company were a young couple and their baby daughter who provided ample entertainment😅
With the business completed, we were in for another surprise. The Ambassador himself wished to see us! We were ushered into his office and spent a wonderful 45 minutes during which he spoke mainly to Epi about her Father, their mutual acquaintance’s and other family things. I wasn’t left out of these discussions – we covered my love of the film Zulu and shared a laugh about the reaction of Epi’s Grandfather at my wearing a Kilt at our Wedding – “Why is he wearing a Skirt”😅 I was asked to “Look after our Sister”. Then we were ushered downstairs to have a guided tour of the art exhibition from the Cultural Attaché – Such an enthusiastic guy and busy at the time setting up a multilingual African language arrangement with other embassies. There is some lovely artwork produced by the people of Zimbabwe. We knew, but I’d like you to know too – Look up Shona Sculpture on the internet!
The Irony of all I have written above is that our Brother Victor would have ‘killed’ to get an audience with the Ambassador – I guess we were there to represent him and in a way, his wishes were fulfilled…
Tomorrow, I have another Family gathering to cook for as we welcome those who couldn’t attend last Saturday. That’s 2 weeks in a row when I haven’t been able to photograph the football for Wingate & Finchley. They’ve very kindly sent some love and support to Epi and hopefully I can get back on duty on Tuesday. I also hope to get back to the trains properly next week.
So, back to today when I had a short trip out after the visit to Zimbabwe House. I logged 85 and was very pleased to get 1 new sighting! I also picked up 6 new for haulage. Not a bad return for a short afternoon on the rails. One of those caught for haulage was 171804, seen here back in February last year passing Honor Oak Park…
Hopefully next week’s report will be somewhat more cheerful 😎👍
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