Monthly Archives: June 2022

Previously Posted

Previously Posted: Exporting Churches

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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.

Exporting Churches (021.06.09)

The early churches of New England are based almost entirely on the design of St. Martin in the Fields. Completed in 1724 its revolutionary design of having its steeple at the east end of the church, not the west end was the brainchild of architect James Gibbs who decided to turn convention on its head and build the steeple where we see it today. He also built it above an imposing portico that looks like the grand entrance to a Greek temple. Critics marvelled at the audaciousness of the new church and despite the innate conservatism of churchgoers and the church authorities, the new design soon became very popular, so much so that several members of Gibbs’ architectural practice were enticed to American by the offer of large sums of money. With the design of St. Martin’s packed in their bags they moved west as the American settlers moved west, building identical or near-identical copies of St. Martins as they went.

A window on My World

June’s monthly musings

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Cab News

I have a confession, as from this month I’ve become a bit of a fraud. Ever since CabbieBlog has been uploading missives, I’ve boasted about being a London cabbie. This month I surrendered my badge and bill, so I can’t claim that again. This has occurred due to health issues, the difficulty with London’s traffic, but mainly Sadiq Khan removing thousands of cabs from the fleet, resulting in an inability to find a vehicle when you want to work part-time.

What I’m Listening

For anyone who has dreamed of becoming a writer (see the last paragraph of this post) Ed Reardon’s Week, was first broadcast on Radio 4 and available to purchase, and is essential listening. Written semi-naturalistically in the style of a radio drama, it concerns the story of a curmudgeonly middle-aged writer described in the show’s publicity material as an ‘author, pipesmoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email’. Victor Meldrew is mild-mannered by comparison.

What I’m Reading

Dr Amir Khan: The Doctor Will See You Now is a powerful story and a rare insider account of what goes on behind those surgery doors written during the Covid-19 crisis – hope and heartbreak and everything in between. I’ll never complain about the NHS again.

What I’m watching

During this Platinum Month, I’ve been immersing myself in our Queen’s Jubilee and watching Netflix’s The Crown. My earliest memory of the Coronation was being given a pen and pencil set both with matching crowns in my first year at primary school, it’s a pity I didn’t keep them.

What else

I was expecting my memoir Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion to have been published by now. Now delayed due to my Gmail account not always allowing me to contact eBook Versions who are formatting the manuscript. It’s been a long journey from 23rd October 2018 when I agreed to write my autobiography for PenguinRandom House.

Thinking allowed

Are we now facing the beginning of the end?

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Just ahead of the end-game in New York, NYC yellow taxis are to be offered for hire under the Uber platform. After this surprising move to partner with New York’s finest, the ride-hailing app has struck similar deals in Spain, Germany, Austria, Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong and Colombia.

Does anyone know what the rate will be if you ehail a taxi under the Uber platform?

Will they undercut the usual fare just to begin and when people get used to it, gradually raise the price?

So what happens to taxi fare rates when they are offered on Uber?

If they receive the Uber rate, will they simply start to respond only to Uber e-hails and will consumers realise they are way worse off?

The way they use surge pricing in London, you can bet your bottom dollar the customer will lose out.

What’s the purpose of a regulated meter and a historic licensing regime, if a third party booking can take you outside the regulations?

Is Uber’s Project Horizon coming to fruition? Make no mistake, this is the way we are being led by corporate greed, and it’s the way the trade is blindly going.

Uber would love taxis to join their platform because the industry would cede power to them. An ad hoc meter would be the logical next step to full deregulation.

Once the meter is undermined, then it’s game over, £70,000 cabs and cabbies might go the way of Victorian lamplighters.

Puppydog tails

Johnson’s London Dictionary: Museum of London

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MUSEUM OF LONDON (n.) A repository of historic memorabilia soon to be much frequented by tourists doth startled to view horseless stagecoaches driven through its basement.

Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon