GAVIN AITCHISON was in central London. He spoke to people who live and work in the capital and witnessed a city coping with the aftermath of the terror attacks.

RESILIENCE -- that was the one word used again and again as Londoners reflected on one of the city's darkest- ever days.

Throughout the capital there was an unmistakeable determination that life would go on; that London would bounce back; that the terrorists would not win.

Walking around the city last night, several hours after the morning's atrocities, many people were visibly rattled by what had happened.

But most were surprisingly calm. There was no mass hysteria; no great outpouring of grief. Around the police cordons at Kings Cross and Russell Square, there was an eerie quiet, as traffic was diverted away from the blast sites.

But the overwhelming impression was that of a city already coming to terms with the tragedy, and looking to the future.

In pubs and bars throughout London, the attacks were the only topic of conversation, with eyes glued to the televisions as more and more details emerged.

"It's all people have been talking about in here," said Ross Askell, barman at The Driver on the corner of Wharfdale Road and Caledonia Road.

"But people do not seem to be that fazed," he added. That sense of composure was shared by many.

Brian McBride, 25, who moved to London from York eight months ago, said: "It's been strangely calm. I was at work most of the day and everyone was very calm and just phoning families and checking people were OK.

"There was a lot of people on the streets, but there was no general feeling of panic. People have been fairly resilient."

York graduate Tom Carr, 23, said: "It's amazing how calm everyone is. People were not expecting it, but they are coping with it very well on the whole."

Rupert Pady, a volunteer minister with the Church of Scientology, said Londoners had shown "typical resilience" in dealing with the disaster.

"There is no hysteria or dramatic reaction," he said.

But others were more wary. Bruno Loxton, of Holborn, said: "People say they won't let it affect them, but I think it will quite deeply. I do not feel like getting another underground train or bus too soon."

Another York exile, Martin Cannings, 28, said: "I think it's a fairly rattling experience -- it's right there on your doorstep. It shook me up a fair amount."

Mr Cannings, originally from Dringhouses, also spoke of the widespread confusion immediately after the blasts.

He said: "At one stage, I was hearing reports that there were five buses gone, and as many as seven to ten explosions on the network, and also a story of a suicide bomber who had been shot in the Canary Wharf area by a police sniper."

Dan French, 28, a solicitor with Freshfields in Fleet Street, said his morning in the office had been fairly normal, with few people discussing the attacks.

But when he went for lunch and saw the news, he

realised the scale of the disaster.

"They had all the pictures on and I could not eat," he said. "It strikes you down that you've got to get on

the Tube again."

Many Londoners said they knew this day would come one day, but said it was still a shock that the nightmare had come true.

Mr Loxton said: "People have all been saying 'when' not 'if.' But it's still quite a shock and not expected."

Updated: 10:24 Friday, July 08, 2005