So Sadiq Khan has set up a ‘brains trust’ to look into ways of reducing congestion in London: more bikes; banning cars on certain days; no deliveries during daylight hours; you know the sort of thing. It would be less risible if he hadn’t issued 40,000 Uber licences.
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Protected: London cab quiz
London in Quotations: Oscar Wilde
Oh, I love London Society! I think it has immensely improved. It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what Society should be.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), An Ideal Husband
London Trivia: First windscreen wiper
On 26 April 1908, the windscreen wiper was invented by a Newcastle United fan driving home from London in a blizzard. Gladstone Adams was driving home after seeing his team lose the FA Cup Final to Wolves. His journey was punctuated by repeated stops to clear snow from the windscreen. Adams vowed that when he got back home he’d do something to solve the problem. And so he did.
On 26 April 1921 the first motorcycle police patrols went on duty on the streets of London, it’s not recorded how many speeding offences were booked that day
When Scotland Yard’s foundations were being built the headless torso of a woman was found, the murderer was never caught
Crutched Friars, Tower Hill takes it’s name from Fratres Cruciferi a Roman Catholic religious order that settled in the street in 1249
St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is the oldest hospital in London having been founded in 1123 by a monk named Rahere
The first Lord Mayor of London (who is an officer of The City of London) was Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone who held the position in 1189
At Guildhall’s Art Gallery the eastern entrance of a Roman amphitheatre can be viewed underneath the artworks
Princess Elizabeth (before becoming Queen) was first seen with Philip Mountbatten in public at the recently re-opened Savoy Hotel in 1946
A tennis ball was discovered in 1922 in the rafters of Westminster Hall dating from before 1520 it was stuffed with dog hair
The Ryde to Shanklin train line on the Isle of Wight uses for its rolling stock 70-year-old London Tube trains from the Northern Line
Performed at 10 pm for 700 years The Tower of London’s The Ceremony of the Keys is the world’s oldest surviving continuous military ceremony
Over 25 per cent of all people living in London were born in another country and more languages are spoken than any city in the world
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.
Caught short
What is the connection between these numbers?
2 and 4 at the same time, then 3; 3574; C395ZY; 2088; and 1975
Here’s a clue: The numbers are all useful in the Tottenham Court Road area should you have an urgent need to use them.
When as a cab driver of advancing years, much of my thinking time was taken up looking for these facilities which these numbers allow access.
A young pressure group have produced an essential Twitter feed, and considering their needs would be far less urgent than we septuagenarians, they should be applauded.
Apparently, any establishment with an alcohol licence is mandatorily required to allow anyone to use their toilets, and offer a glass of water, isn’t stipulated in what order. This stipulation, of course, is never complied with.
How many times have you gone into an establishment to find a sign reading “For patrons use only”, or my favourite “Out of order, awaiting Plummer”, and if that is the case, just how to their employees take a comfort break or maybe they are not allowed to take a break during their working hours.
@LDNloocodes with nearly 7,000 followers aim to give everyone who gets caught short a selection of entry codes to the local toilets.
The five locations and their codes are:
Change Please, above the Halifax Bank, corner of Tottenham Court Road; Pret, New Oxford Street; Waterstone’s, Tottenham Court Road; Pret, Centre Point; Five Guys, next door to the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road.
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