London in Quotations: Charlotte Brontë

Quote 5 September, 2022 Gibson Square Leave a comment

I have seen the West End, the parks, the fine squares; but I love the City far better . . . The City is getting its living – the West End but enjoying its pleasure. At the West End you may be amused; but in the City you are deeply excited.

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1856), Villette

London trivia

London Trivia: Scouting for girls

4 September, 2022 Gibson Square Leave a comment

On 4 September 1909, Robert Baden-Powell organised the first rally for all scouts at Crystal Palace with 11,000 boys attending, a number of girls dressed in uniform and calling themselves girl scouts. This led to the founding of the Girl Guides in 1910.

<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-13946" src="https://cabbieblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1ca39-488a3-on-this-day_thumb.gif" alt="" width="40" height="40" /On 4 September 1930 the Cambridge Theatre opened with André Charlot’s revue Masquerade starring Beatrice Lillie

In 1952 a Nigerian visitor was fined £50 for committing an indecent act with a pigeon in Trafalgar Square and £10 for having it for tea

In September 2015 the Royal Vauxhall Tavern was given Grade II listing, the first location in the UK to be listed for LGBT significance

Into computing? Half of Charles Babbage’s brain is preserved at the Science Museum, the other half is at the Hunterian Museum

Peter Piaktow aka Peter The Painter was the anarchist gang leader responsible for the murder of 3 policemen at the Siege of Sidney Street in 1911

The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens holds the record for the longest exhibition by a single female artist in the world

Brick Lane Music Hall, North Woolwich Road in a converted church is the world’s only permanent music hall showing daily Cockney Singsongs

The public reaction to the £400,000 Zion logo for London 2012 Olympics was that it resembles the Simpsons cartoon character, Lisa Simpson performing fellatio

If you say Finsbury Park backwards you get a Krapy Rubsnif and Balham is the only Underground station that doesn’t have any of the letters of the word ‘underground’ in it

Harrod’s has 11,500 bulbs on its façade. To keep its nightly appearance 300 have to be changed every week. But how many men does it take?

Zoological Society of London found that 83 per cent of Londoners when asked to name something commonly found in the Thames declared a shopping trolley

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: The Yellow Peril

3 September, 2022 Gibson Square 3 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.

The Yellow Peril (14.08.09)

Call me a naïve cabbie, but I thought that the yellow police appeal signs were a sensible way of helping to solve crime and not merely a vulgar way to decorate London’s streets. But it would appear the bright yellow police signs appealing for witnesses to serious offences will no longer decorate London’s streets.

In an attempt to reduce “fear of crime”, the Metropolitan Police has effectively banned the use of the distinctive signs in all but exceptional circumstances. Presumably rape, murder and armed robbery don’t constitute “exceptional circumstances”, because they were the only ones to gaily bring colour to the pavements of Brixton and Peckham.

Now officers can request their use in exceptional circumstances, but any such requests must be authorised by a “specialist crime directorate commander”. So I want you all to go down to your local nick and request to talk to your “specialist crime directorate commander”. He’s not to be confused with the odd job crime directorate commander who’s in charge minor crimes like dropping litter and allowing your dog to foul the pavement.

Someone in the higher echelons of the Met has become aware that in crime hotspots several yellow signs were being put up at once and presumably thought it showed the police in a bad light, as if crime was out of control.

Puppydog tails

Test Your Knowledge: August 2022

2 September, 2022 Gibson Square 3 Comments

During the war, they were described as ‘Over paid, Over sexed, and Over here’. Yes, the Yanks are in London, but which ones can you identify? As before the correct answer will turn green when it’s clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.

1. According to the 2011 Census, how many residents of Greater London were born in the USA?

44,000

WRONG Incredibly 64,000 Americans registered themselves as living in London according to the last complete Census results to be published by the Office for National Statistics.

64,000

CORRECT Incredibly 64,000 Americans registered themselves as living in London according to the last complete Census results to be published by the Office for National Statistics.

54,000

WRONG Incredibly 64,000 Americans registered themselves as living in London according to the last complete Census results to be published by the Office for National Statistics.

2. Which famous American made a surprise visit to Chingford in July 1952 to ride the model railway?

Mickey Rooney

WRONG Disney was looking to expand into non-animated films but was drawn to Chingford when he found out about its acclaimed model railway. His uncle was a steam engine driver, while a teenage Walt had a summertime job selling food to passengers on a local line, and he had a 5,000ft long model railway track in the garden of his Californian home. When he found out about the track in Ridgeway Park, Chingford he couldn’t resist having a look at the top of the range, and having only opened a few years before.

Walt Disney

CORRECT Disney was looking to expand into non-animated films but was drawn to Chingford when he found out about its acclaimed model railway. His uncle was a steam engine driver, while a teenage Walt had a summertime job selling food to passengers on a local line, and he had a 5,000ft long model railway track in the garden of his Californian home. When he found out about the track in Ridgeway Park, Chingford he couldn’t resist having a look at the top of the range, and having only opened a few years before.

James Stewart

3. Which controversial American soldier is celebrated with a plaque in Marylebone and a stained glass window in Battersea, where he’s buried?

General Benedict Arnold

CORRECT General Benedict Arnold famously changed sides, first fighting for American then British forces during the American Revolutionary War. He later lived in Gloucester Place. The stained glass window in St Mary’s Battersea was completed in 1982.

General George S. Patton

WRONG General Benedict Arnold famously changed sides, first fighting for American then British forces during the American Revolutionary War. He later lived in Gloucester Place. The stained glass window in St Mary’s Battersea was completed in 1982.

General George Custer

4. Which American President is represented by a bust overlooking Marylebone Road?

John F. Kennedy

CORRECT John F Kennedy is to be found just west of Park Crescent looking towards Regent’s Park, George Washington’s statue is in Trafalgar Square, while Abraham Lincoln’s statue stands opposite the Houses of Parliament.

George Washington

WRONG John F Kennedy is to be found just west of Park Crescent looking towards Regent’s Park, George Washington’s statue is in Trafalgar Square, while Abraham Lincoln’s statue stands opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Abraham Lincoln

5. Which American invented the glass harmonica, which can still be played at his former house in central London?

Benjamin Franklin

CORRECT Benjamin Franklin’s harmonica is on show at his house at 36 Craven Street. Jimi Hendrix lived at 25 Brook Street, the same building where Handel resided. Barbara Hutton inherited $40 million from her grandfather, Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth store chain and bought Winfield House, later donating the building to become the American Ambassador’s residence.

Jimi Hendrix

WRONG Benjamin Franklin’s harmonica is on show at his house at 36 Craven Street. Jimi Hendrix lived at 25 Brook Street, the same building where Handel resided. Barbara Hutton inherited $40 million from her grandfather, Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth store chain and bought Winfield House, later donating the building to become the American Ambassador’s residence.

Barbara Hutton

6. Which American singer died on 22nd June 1969 in Cadogan Lane, Chelsea?

Mama Cass Elliot

WRONG Judy Garland died from an accidental barbiturate overdose at her Belgravia home. Mama Cass and The Who drummer Keith Moon departed this world from the same flat owned by fellow musician Harry Nilsson. Texan beauty, Bessie Love was one of the most famous silent screen actresses. As a film star, she was expected to entertain studio executives at parties, so she learned to sing, dance, and play the ukulele, later performing them on screen and stage. Love is credited with being the first person to dance the Charleston on film. She died in Northwood aged 87.

Judy Garland

CORRECT Judy Garland died from an accidental barbiturate overdose at her Belgravia home. Mama Cass and The Who drummer Keith Moon departed this world from the same flat owned by fellow musician Harry Nilsson. Texan beauty, Bessie Love was one of the most famous silent screen actresses. As a film star, she was expected to entertain studio executives at parties, so she learned to sing, dance, and play the ukulele, later performing them on screen and stage. Love is credited with being the first person to dance the Charleston on film. She died in Northwood aged 87.

Bessie Love

7. Which American sportsman drew a crowd of 46,000 to Highbury Stadium in May 1966?

Dick Fosbury

WRONG The second world title fight between Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper held the record for the largest live audience at a British boxing fight. Fosbury revolutionized the high jump by approaching the bar and jumping with his back flying over the bar. Widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, Nicklaus won 18 major championships and 73 PGA Tour events.

Jack Nicklaus

Muhammad Ali

CORRECT The second world title fight between Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper held the record for the largest live audience at a British boxing fight. Fosbury revolutionized the high jump by approaching the bar and jumping with his back flying over the bar. Widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, Nicklaus won 18 major championships and 73 PGA Tour events.

8. In 1886, future US president Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Carow in St George’s Hanover Square. What was Edith’s unusual middle name, more often associated with a famous puppet?

Orville

WRONG Edith also had a brother, Kermit who died in infancy one year before her birth. Her brother’s first name and her middle name were the surname of a paternal great-uncle, Robert Kermit an American shipowner and owner of the Red Star Line, also called the Kermit Line.

Elmo

Kermit

CORRECT Edith also had a brother, Kermit who died in infancy one year before her birth. Her brother’s first name and her middle name were the surname of a paternal great-uncle, Robert Kermit an American shipowner and owner of the Red Star Line, also called the Kermit Line.

9. In 1887 an American show, seen by thousands at Earl’s Court, was endorsed by Queen Victoria. Who was the famous showman who attracted such an august following?

Wild Bill Hickok

CORRECT John Robinson Whitley came up with the idea of the exhibition on a plot of land thought unsuitable for housing. Intending to put on an American Exhibition showing goods and products along the lines of the Great Exhibition, he met President Grover Cleveland and while in America saw Buffalo Bill’s Roughriders and Redskin Show. He booked them for Earls Court’s first season and changed the nature of the Exhibition completely. Billed as the ‘Greatest Showman’, in 1882, Barnum purchased a gargantuan 6-ton African elephant named “Jumbo” from the London Zoological Society. In late 1897, Bailey took his giant circus to Europe for a five-year tour, transporting the entire three-ring behemoth to England by ship. The parade alone dazzled audiences that many went home afterwards mistakenly thinking they had seen the entire show.

Phineas Taylor Barnum

WRONG John Robinson Whitley came up with the idea of the exhibition on a plot of land thought unsuitable for housing. Intending to put on an American Exhibition showing goods and products along the lines of the Great Exhibition, he met President Grover Cleveland and while in America saw Buffalo Bill’s Roughriders and Redskin Show. He booked them for Earls Court’s first season and changed the nature of the Exhibition completely. Billed as the ‘Greatest Showman’, in 1882, Barnum purchased a gargantuan 6-ton African elephant named “Jumbo” from the London Zoological Society. In late 1897, Bailey took his giant circus to Europe for a five-year tour, transporting the entire three-ring behemoth to England by ship. The parade alone dazzled audiences that many went home afterwards mistakenly thinking they had seen the entire show.

James A. Bailey

10. On 30th September 1959, Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield cut the ribbon on which west London landmark?

BBC Television Centre

WRONG She got all the glamorous jobs like opening the Chiswick Flyover. In 1964 the flyover became part of the M4 motorway and by 1969 was said to be the most dangerous road in Britain.

Chiswick Flyover

CORRECT She got all the glamorous jobs like opening the Chiswick Flyover. In 1964 the flyover became part of the M4 motorway and by 1969 was said to be the most dangerous road in Britain.

Trellick Tower

WRONG She got all the glamorous jobs like opening the Chiswick Flyover. In 1964 the flyover became part of the M4 motorway and by 1969 was said to be the most dangerous road in Britain.

Thinking allowed

Uber’s economic reality

1 September, 2022 Gibson Square 3 Comments

Apoint often overlooked in Uber media coverage is that in 12 years of operation the ride-hailing app is yet to produce a dollar of positive cash flow. As of the end of 2021, Uber’s ongoing car and delivery services had produced GAAP net losses of $31bn.

The other too frequently untold truth is that rather than being a beacon of transportation progress, Uber is actually a substantially less efficient, higher-cost producer of urban car services than the traditional taxi operators it has driven out of business. Uber’s business model has never had any ability to profitably produce very large-scale operations at prices the market is willing to pay.

Spotlight on the ‘Uber Files’