London Trivia: Guy Fawkes comes early

12 July, 2026 Gibson Square Leave a comment

On 12 July 1856 five died and 300 people were injured when fireworks exploded at Mr Bennett’s factory in Westminster Road. Bennett was charged that his business was making fireworks contrary to the law, and he kept combustibles at his house for that purpose. During his absence, a fire broke out through the negligence of his employees. The court found that the deaths were caused by the negligence of his employees.

On 12 July 1962 the Rolling Stones gave their first performance at The Marquee Club on Charing Cross Road

It is illegal for anyone to possess a pack of cards ‘who lives within a mile of any arsenal or explosives store’

The theatre ticket booth in Leicester Square conceals, 3-stories below, a electricity sub-station capable of supplying the entire West End

King Charles II took so long to pass away after having a stroke he apologised to his courtiers for “being an unconscionable time a-dying”

In 1902 after an “indignation campaign” the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act became the first law to protect a view

A rather dubious attraction of the 1908 Franco-British exhibition at White City was a butter sculpture of King Edward VII

The Great Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel for many years the largest public room in Europe was a skating rink before becoming ballroom

Rugby netball was dreamt up by soldiers in 1907 and has been played on Clapham Common ever since. Games take place also on Tuesday evenings, but only during the summer

Dogs travel free on London’s buses but only at the discretion of the driver and must sit upstairs, TfL don’t specify which is the doggy seat

In 1748 Yorkshireman Thomas Chippendale set up his famous furniture business at 60-62 St Martin’s Lane employing just 40 men

The oldest door in the country dating from the Anglo-Saxon period is at Westminster Abbey using dendrochronology dates it at 950 years old

Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.

Previously Posted

Previously Posted: Bloomsbury Blues

11 July, 2026 Gibson Square 8 Comments

For those new to CabbieBlog or readers who are slightly forgetful, on Saturdays I’m republishing posts, many going back over a decade. Some will still be very relevant while others have become dated over time. Just think of this post as your weekend paper supplement.

Bloomsbury Blues (28.05.13)

When I first started working, driving a cab in London, dotted around the Capital were a number of small independent garages, many providing facilities for cabbies to empty their bladders as well as fill up their cabs.

One popular such garage with the most basic of washroom facilities was once to be found in Waverton Street, Mayfair occupying a site worth probably many millions more than the fuel they were selling.

The oldest garage in London, which until recently was located in Store Street, a short anxious drive from Oxford Street when running low on diesel. The Bloomsbury Village Garage reminiscent of a period that Enid Blyton wrote about closed in June 2008 after being turned down for listing by The Department for Culture Media and Sport.

It opened in 1926 probably for the exclusive use of The Duke of Bedford, a well known car enthusiast, who on 1st April 1968 was fine £50 for undertaking on the M1, the police had recognised his number plate DOB1.

The petrol station which attracted famous customers’ including Lewis Hamilton and Jamie Oliver was once probably used by Virginia Woolf’s chauffeur has now been redeveloped using most of the original brick and stone incorporating the original kiosk. A mosaic above harks back to the ‘golden age’ of motoring when it was possible to fill your tank and spend a penny in central London.

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Robert Montgomery

Quote 6 July, 2026 Gibson Square 4 Comments

The fret and fever of the day are o’er, / And London slumbers, but with murmurs faint, / Like Ocean, when she folds her waves to sleep: / ‘Tis the pure hour for poetry and thought; / When passions sink, and man surveys the heavens, / And feels himself immortal.

Robert Montgomery (b.1972), London, Religion and Poetry: Being Selections Spiritual and Moral

London trivia

London Trivia: First black player to win Wimbledon

5 July, 2026 Gibson Square 1 Comment

On 5 July 1975 American tennis player Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles’ championship. Ashe beat defending champion Jimmy Connors three sets to one on Centre Court. Ashe would use his profile protesting against apartheid in South Africa and US treatment of refugees arriving in the country from Haiti. He died in February 1993 after contracting Aids from tainted blood.

On 5 July 2012 The Shard, standing at 1,016ft, the tallest building in the European Union was inaugurated, three weeks before the London Olympics

It is illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster on the grounds that anyone who dies in a royal palace is technically entitled to a state funeral, unfortunately, this has been proved to be a myth

The world’s first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel opened in 1834 between Wapping and Rotherhithe was until 1866 used by pedestrians

The Museum of London has in its collection 6,500 skeletons comprising for study every period in London’s 2,000-year history

Charles I, rather ungallantly it has to be said, after his own nuptials declared that “you can get used to anyone’s face in a week”

The figure of The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street on the facade of the Bank of England has a model of the bank on her lap

On 5 July 1969, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert in Hyde Park following Brian Jones’ death two days earlier

On 5 July 1957 the men’s final at Wimbledon was interrupted by a polite protester against the banking system

Before motorised vehicles, horses were involved in an average of 175 fatal accidents a year in London and eat over 1 million tons of fodder

The Press Association was formed from an idea hatched in the back of a Hansom Cab stuck in a London smog in 1868

On 5 July 1799 the first streaker was arrested when a man run naked from Cornhill to Cheapside for a wager

Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.

Previously Posted

Previously Posted: Hippy Homes

4 July, 2026 Gibson Square 2 Comments

Hippy Homes (10.05.13)

It was a beautiful summer’s evening and after nearly five years hard graft to pass The Knowledge a task which at times had taken over my life I was now ‘King of the Road’.

Having criss-crossed London a thousand times I thought I knew every square, cul-de-sac and back-water of London, but my fare had directed me to Bonnington Square, somewhere I had never investigated.

As we turned into the square ahead of me was a sub-tropical garden in Vauxhall!

Here tucked away a stone’s throw from where the gardener John Tradescant had founded ‘The Ark’ with its collection of botanical specimens from around the world were tropical trees in peoples’ front gardens.

The story of the saving of Bonnington Square from developers is a true David v Goliath. In the early 1980s a large number of properties were acquired for demolition by the then Inner London Education Authority in advance of proposals to build a new school on the site. However, plans for the school were dropped and the houses were left empty.

The square was taken over by squatters who formed a Bohemian community comprising of individuals from around the world. The squat had two community gardens one created from a derelict playground which previously was a bomb site, a café, wholefood shop, nightclub, newsletter and even a milk bar.

Forming housing co-operative they started negotiating with the ILEA to lease the 100 properties to the South London Family Housing Association. The co-op did up the houses and saved them from dereliction, some have tenants or shared ownership and some even have the occasional freehold.

If ever there was a place in London which shows the capital to be a collection of villages, this little community, in the shadow of the brutal St. George’s Wharf this is it.