I don't actually like living in London, I'm a country girl through and through, but I do like my house. I have become accustomed to the area I live in, and although it has its faults, it's a lot better than some areas. It is relatively clean, it's got some good infrastructure (corner shops, pubs, churches and temples etc.), but it's very delicate. It's like a jenga tower... you remove one vital piece (a small business, a small supermarket, a doctors office) and the whole structure collapses.

Manitas has always lived here. This is his home, he was born in Stratford, he's more East End than anything you see on Eastenders. I moved up here when we married because he already had a good job here. We cannot now move out of commuter range because he would not get such a good job or an equivalent pay anywhere else.

I have yet to meet a London citizen who isn't unhappy or cynical about what the Olympic Games coming to East London is going to mean. We've already had to put up with years of Channel Tunnel link construction, M11 link construction and the loss of many local services.

I suspect very strongly that if there were the prospect of another 7 years construction, rising prices and traffic congestion coming to YOUR town or city or village, Guest and Noreen, you too would be whining and bitching with every other resident.

LTS