London is like a dream come true. As I ramble through it I am haunted by the curious feeling of something half-forgotten, but still dimly remembered, like a reminiscence of some previous state of existence. It is at once familiar and strange.
Joseph Fort Newton (1876-1950), Preaching in London: A Diary of Anglo-American Friendship
On 21 March 1829 started the tradition of Duel Day when Wellington duelled with the Earl of Winchilsea at Battersea Fields over Wellington’s support of Catholics. The two drew their arms on the asparagus fields that would later become Battersea Park. Both took care not to hurt their opponent Winchilsea, deliberately firing a wide shot, perhaps with the sudden realisation that shooting the prime minister wouldn’t be a good move.
On 21 March 1853 Alfred Cops, zookeeper at the Tower of London, died at the Tower of London 18 years after his menagerie closed
Hanway Street (links Oxford St and Tottenham Court Road) – named after Jonas Hanway (1712-86), the first man in London to be arrested for carrying an umbrella
Spencer Street and Percival Street in Clerkenwell are named after Spencer Percival, the only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated
In 1803, Chalk Farm: Lt-Col Montgomery and Capt Macnamara duelled because the dog of one snarled at the dog of the other Montgomery died Macnamara was severely injured
Now luxury flats, Tower House in Whitechapel, once a lodging house for homeless men, played host to Stalin and George Orwell
Announcements in Royal Court Theatre’s lifts are the voices of actors: Richard Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Ray Winstone and Harriet Walter
The original plan for the Barbican’s cinema was to have the screen on the ceiling and the audience lying on their backs on the floor
Wisden were one of the original tenants above Leicester Square station – their bat, ball and wicket emblem are still there in the terracotta tiling
On 21 March 1922 Waterloo Station was formally opened by Queen Mary. The rebuilding had started in 1909, but World War I interrupted construction
St Bride’s Church steeple in Fleet Street was the inspiration for the bridal cake design by local baker Mr Rich, his design made him rich
London cabbies’ slang for Harley Street is ‘The Resistance’ because doctors opposed the creation of the NHS. Parliament is nicknamed ‘The Gasworks’
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.
London has many major junctions with folkloric names, I should know I had to learn them. Many recall past businesses, ancient coaching inns or an association with local characters. Here are five of those often heard on radio’s traffic reports.
Henleys Corner, at the junction of the North Circular Road and the A1 gets its name from the Henleys Group garage which sat at the junction from 1935 to 1989. In October 2011, Britain’s first ‘hands-free’ pedestrian crossing here so that the local Jewish community did not have to use electricity or operate machinery. Traffic is held every 90 seconds over this duration (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday), with foot traffic principally to and from the Kinloss Synagogue.
Francis Berrington Crittall started his eponymous company in 1849, but it wasn’t until 1884 they started making their famous metal windows which even found their way on to the Titanic. The company has always been based around Braintree in Essex, so it is a bit of a mystery why a roundabout on the A20 near Sidcup where one of their factories stood on its north-west corner should have been given the accolade of Crittalls Corner.
Gallows Corner is named after a nearby execution spot, not far from a notorious spot frequented by highwaymen, which ably served the local community’s hanging needs from the 16th to 18th century. The ‘temporary’ flyover here was erected in just five nights in January 1970 it’s still in use. In 1932, a Metropolitan Police car collided with a cow at the junction. The animal was so badly injured it had to be destroyed. It was, in all probability, the last time the authorities had to sanction an execution at Gallows Corner.
By any stretch of the imagination, you couldn’t call Staples Corner, a corner. It has two linked roundabouts and flyovers connecting the North Circular Road, Edgware Road and M1, between the two roundabouts are the Midland Main Line and Thameslink, with Dollis Brook running underneath towards the Brent Reservoir. In the past, a B&Q store here has been blown up by the IRA and once had two runaway trains crashing down onto the North Circular Road. The junction is named after a mattress factory, which lasted from 1926 until 1986, then improbably, it’s since been replaced by another Staples, this time a vendor of office supplies.
At the top of Putney Hill is a sign depicting a skulking highwayman wearing a long-brimmed hat and brandishing a pistol, obviously intent on surprising his next victim, celebrating the memory of a famous highwayman who used to frequent the then lonely wastes of Putney Heath. While Tibbets Corner was the haunt of criminal ne’er-do-wells and malcontents eager to relieve wealthy road users of their valuables there is no record of a highwayman by that name operating anywhere near the spot. Prosaically Tibbet was the name of the gate-keeper at the entrance to Lord Spencer’s estate.
Apex Corner
Birchwood Corner
Canons Corner
Chalkers Corner
Crittalls Corner
Dovers Corner
Fiveways Corner
Frognall Corner
Gallows Corner
Gillette Corner
Gipsy Corner
Harlington Corner
Henlys Corner
Highbury Corner
Hobart Corner
Hyde Park Corner
Malden Corner
Ruxley Corner
Shannon Corner
Staples Corner
Stirling Corner
Tibbets Corner
Waterworks Corner
Featured image: Tibbet’s Corner Sign by Tristan Forward (CC BY-SA 2.0)
London is a labyrinth, half of stone and half of flesh.
Peter Ackroyd (b.1949), London: The Biography
CabbieBlog 