I was in our capital only a few weeks ago, travelling extensively on the underground system (I used to live at one end of it – opposite end to you though Gentle Author, Amersham). Anyway, after much consideration and without recourse to Google, I wondered if Crossrail was completed yet, I looked at a fair few underground maps and, whilst not specifically considering Crossrail, I really think I would’ve noticed if it suddenly appeared on the underground maps…

I ‘m also involved with Crossrail, and I too have, well, you conveyed so well…

”I was becoming overawed, when I saw that – although these men were simply doing a routine job of work, drilling holes in Sainsburys’ car park – they were themselves excited and proud to be the harbingers of such a monumental and wondrous enterprise.”

Beautifully put.

I live very very close to Stepney Green and frankly under a year’s worth of lorries and a bit of mess seem like a pretty small price to pay for a vast improvement to London’s infrastructure.

Thankyou for introducing this issue.

Your grievance has both my sympathy and support.

But it does not temper my passion for engineering that I owe to my father who was an engineer. From the age of eleven, from apprentice to retirement, he spent his whole working life in an engineering shop. He worked on many great projects, including Concord, but never received any credit – just the satisfaction of knowing what he had done. So I am aware of the unacknowledged skills and individuals who contribute to any big undertaking and that is why I have respect for these men drilling for soil samples.

It is the names of Christopher Wren, John Nash and Isambard Kingdom Brunel that I think of as those who have shaped London with their designs. I suppose it is easy for us now to love their works when we can simply enjoy the finished results, without having to endure any of the mess and upheaval.

Dear Maggie, I am sure there will be more reports from me on this project over the coming years!