[Misc] I was there

[portlock seagull]

I was in front of the Brandenburger Tor at the exact moment that West and East Germany became one country. I don't think I've seen so many drunk people in one place.

I was with some German friends who had escaped from the East in the 60s, it was a truly emotional moment for them.

Talking of Berlin, on another trip, I was watching the Berliner Ensemble when the play was invaded by protesters talking about asylum seekers' rights and looking for support for a big demo that week. OK, it's not globally significant, but it did make the front page of the papers the next day - I still have the cutting.

Closer to home, I was also on the Poll Tax march in Trafalgar Square just as it was kicking off and on the Lewisham demo against the National Front in 1977 - they were front page news.

We have a winner! Can still remember watching that on Television and thinking this is serious history happening right now

 

[portlock seagull]

I would imagine many of us have been part of a big story that happened in October 1987.

Good reminder. What a night that was!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

You ****. Have you not seen The Dead Zone?

Possibly not, but maybe he has seen Rogue Male

 

[dejavuatbtn]

If I had gone to the 1976 Ideal Home exhibition 24 hours later I would have been exactly next to the bin that the IRA blew up.
On a brighter note I was at the last game at the old Wembley (which was also Keegan’s Last game).

 

[sully]

I heard the bomb go off at The Grand and saw the aftermath the next day. Doesn't mean I experienced what happened there. At all.

Haha. That’s probably the closest thing for me. I lived just off Preston Circus at the time and when my dad rang me in the morning, he didn’t believe I hadn’t heard the fire engines all leaving.

I also slept through the “hurricane” and thought I was just late for work when I woke up and it was daylight already.

 

[portlock seagull]

I’ve visited Berlin once - the weekend the wall came down. That photo with the guy on top of the wall with a pickaxe? I saw that.

Crikey, you witnessed one of THE iconic images of twentieth century, that’s going to be near impossible to beat. Well played Sir.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I was in The Vortex, Wardour Street, the night Elvis died and Danny Baker came on stage and made a tit of himself (a story he has retold with bogus embellishment).

Pete Townshend on stage with The Clash at Brighton top rank

Johnny Thunders on stage with Generation X at the Nashville, North End Road

So.....no, not really momentous.

 

[portlock seagull]

I was there when that flag was raised in Port Stanley.

Blimey, now that is real history. Our last ever ‘colonial war’, that’s definitely one to tell your grandkids. There’s some astonishing eye witnesses on this thread already.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Crikey, you witnessed one of THE iconic images of twentieth century, that’s going to be near impossible to beat. Well played Sir.

To be fair, I knew it at the time too. It’s the only time I’ve ever bunked off work - I was due to fly back on the Sunday and cancelled that flight and rearranged for the Thursday. On the Monday morning I called my boss and explained and she was completely fine with it.

Total coincidence too - my then partner and I had booked the trip about 4 months earlier.

Like many - I have a chuck of the wall; like fewer, I chipped the chunk off the wall personally.

 

[Frutos]

I can't match many of the things already posted, but I did see GB win, and receive, a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics (Men's Team Sprint cycling).

 

[portlock seagull]

I cycled to Paris with Mrs Mahone this Easter. Great fun, but we were surprised how busy the streets were as we approached the centre of the city - Sunday afternoon and it was almost traffic gridlock. Loads of sirens, too. We thought this must be just the nature of Paris.

We reached the river and turned onto a bridge over the Seine where loads of people were standing quietly. Looking to our right we saw why, and everything became clear. A couple of hundred metres away, Notre Dame was burning.

To see this in person, having had no idea that it was happening before we saw it, was quite emotional. We stood and watched for some time. There was an eerie silence on the bridge - it was hard to believe that what we were seeing was real. 800 years of history being destroyed before our eyes. Incredible.

Yes, that’s certainly an a-list eye-witness. So sad, 800 years of history and one of the worlds most iconic buildings. Must have been surreal to see.

 

[HantsSeagull]

i was at the top of whitehall when the IRA attacked downing street.

 

[portlock seagull]

To be fair, I knew it at the time too. It’s the only time I’ve ever bunked off work - I was due to fly back on the Sunday and cancelled that flight and rearranged for the Thursday. On the Monday morning I called my boss and explained and she was completely fine with it.

Total coincidence too - my then partner and I had booked the trip about 4 months earlier.

Like many - I have a chuck of the wall; like fewer, I chipped the chunk off the wall personally.

Brilliant story! I have a chunk of the old east terrace from the Goldstone. Not quite as valuable on eBay though

 

[Dave the OAP]

In London on 7/7 and the next day having traumatised people working in our DR site from the British medical journal to try and get it published.

Them describing the scenes of bits of body parts splattered on their building at Tavistock square will haunt me for the rest of my days

I also caught that bus some mornings too!!

 

[Dave the OAP]

I was in Victoria station when the pillar box bomb went off outside. Not a huge bang just as sickening thud but still terrifying

i was at the top of whitehall when the IRA attacked downing street.

 

[sully]

I was at the last ever Queen concert at Knebworth

I hadn’t realised it was the last concert they did. I was there, too.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Talking about people gawping at tragedy....anyone remember when the jet crashed after take off at Heathrow in the 70’s

I remember a cartoon in the paper if the crash site with thousands of sheep looking on

It captured the mood perfectly

 

[tip top]

I was at Imola in '94 the weekend Senna and Ratzenberger lost their lives. At that time I was working for a team in one of the support races.
A surreal weekend that affected me for a very long time.
I was at Variante Bassa on the Friday watching practice when Barrichello had his huge accident. The noise was sickening. He was a lucky boy that day

 

[PeterOut]

Haha. That’s probably the closest thing for me. I lived just off Preston Circus at the time and when my dad rang me in the morning, he didn’t believe I hadn’t heard the fire engines all leaving.

I also slept through the “hurricane” and thought I was just late for work when I woke up and it was daylight already.

I was one of those who tried to wake you with the sirens as we left Preston Circus.
Enough people had a lousy night then (and a for a few days after) - glad we didn't spoil your evening

 

[zeemeeuw]

Spent Christmas 2007 with Family in Eldoret, Kenya. We were following the election results on TV, the opposition were winning when counting was suspended. When counting resumed there was a big swing back to the government who went on to retain power. We drove back to Airport after that and crowds were gathering on the streets, we just managed to leave country on time, an hour later the airport was blockaded by protesters. The riots kicked off just after we left, tragically 50 people were burned alive in a Church in Eldoret the next day. Our Family were on lockdown at home for about 4 weeks and said they could hear the gunshots in town. I think overall about 1500 people were killed in Kenya during the post election aftermath and only a contrived coalition government settled the tensions.