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Brewer's drops
Page 15
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Congestion charging has been up and running in London for over two months but is it still working? Eight weeks after her first trip with Young's Brewery, Jennifer Ball heads out on the road again.
8.10am: Drivers Allan Todd and Peter James load the truck with beer and wine ready for our journey into the charging zone. We struggle out onto Wandsworth High Street. Unlike the last time CM did this journey when we sailed up Battersea Bridge Road, we sit in traffic for around 10 minutes without moving. We make our first drop at The Pedlars pub In SW11, and then head towards the City.
Cross—the traffic is horrendous. When we finally manage to turn onto the Embankment and towards the Lambeth Road, it becomes relatively quiet.
"The problem at Vauxhall Cross is that so many people now try to use Vauxhall Bridge to avoid paying the charge rather than driving along the Embankment," says James. Our next delivery is in New Oxford Street, but there is nobody to take it in so we depart. We will have to return later. 10am: We arrive in Fenchurch Street. Our next delivery is up a narrow side street; few members of the general public realise the difficulties truck drivers face in the City with narrow streets and pedestrians running across the road.
1 lain: Our next delivery is in Leadenhall Street. The last time we were here, we faced a traffic warden telling us to move off the yellow line, and up the road. Todd and James unload quickly and today are lucky enough to escape without a parking ticket.
11.30am: We head to Aldgate High Street for our next delivery, where the traffic seems to be heavier. There are two loading bays but both are full: "It is still really busy round here as one side of the roundabout is in the charging zone, while the other isn't. This is our biggest job in the City. We rarely manage to park in a loading bay. Most of the road is also red
routed, so we have to park miles away and walk down the road with the barrels of beer," says Todd.
12pm: We have three more drops to do. We return to New Oxford Street to make the deliv
ery we were unable to do earlier and then head for Epping. The M25 is gridlocked due to an earlier accident. We make our delivery at Welling Golf Club, before heading back to Putney High Street for our final delivery, and then back to the brewery.