Traders, police, tourists and locals gathered for a moment of silence at London’s Borough Market on Wednesday morning before ringing the opening bell for the first time since the terror attack there 11 days ago.
The normally bustling marketplace, packed with stalls peddling everything from artisan breads to aromatic curries and British charcuterie, had been boarded up since a vehicle and knife attack on June 3 left eight people dead.
Donald Hyslop, chair of the Trustees of Borough Market, said the reopening marked the start of the “healing process” for the community.
“While the victims of last week’s terror attack will never be forgotten, and while the trauma experienced by this community will weigh heavily for a long time to come, it is essential for the well-being of everyone associated with Borough Market that we return to at least a semblance of normality as soon as we can,” Hyslop said in a statement.
“The stalls will open, customers will start to arrive, and the healing process will begin,” Hyslop said. “That healing process will require a vast well of empathy and support — something that we know exists here in abundance.”
Just days earlier, bullet holes were still visible in the shutters of some stalls where police fired on three knife-wielding assailants as they stormed nearby restaurants and pubs. The men, who have since been identified by police, were shot dead just under Borough Market’s iconic Stoney Street entrance.
Many walking to work through the area on Wednesday passed by a blue and white ‘Take Courage’ sign — a relic of the Courage & Co. brewery, which feels more poignant in the wake of the attack.
Piles of floral tributes and a rainbow-colored array of sticky notes have been left at the south end of London Bridge, where the attackers plowed their vehicle into pedestrians before making their way to the market below.
“Love will always win,” and “No one can divide the people of London,” are among sentiments papering the makeshift wall of remembrance.
Hyslop says that while the Borough Market community had been sorely tested, it was also flooded by similar messages of support, as well as offers of assistance.
And he adds that anyone else hoping to help in the coming weeks could do so in one simple way: “by turning up and putting a buzz back into the atmosphere.”