. . . a duller spectacle this Earth of ours has not to show than a rainy Sunday in London.
Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859)
Monthly Archives: November 2022
London Trivia: The Thunderer returns
On 13 November 1979 The Times newspaper was published for the first time in nearly a year, following a dispute between management and unions over manning levels and the introduction of new technology. It was the first break in the production of the Times, known affectionately to its readers as “the Thunderer” since it was founded in 1788.
On 13 November 1969 Britain’s first live quintuplets born this century at Queen Charlotte’s maternity hospital. The five girls were born to Irene Hanson and her husband John from Rayleigh in Essex
An old police box aka TARDIS can be found outside Earl’s Court station. The same station that had the Underground’s first escalator on 4 October 1911
Records show that the site of OXO Tower, bought for £75,000 by the Leibig Extract of Meat Company in the 1920s, was once used as a butchery!
Charles II, encouraged by Nell Gwyn, founded Chelsea Royal Hospital in 1682 for injured Civil War veterans. Soldiers over the age of 65 may apply to become a Chelsea Pensioner
In 1796 a Commons Committee spent days debating a plan to dig a channel across the Isle of Dogs to save sailing time around the peninsular
In his study at Harrington Gardens SW7 W S Gilbert saw a Japanese sword fall from the wall and inspired him to write The Mikado
Piccadilly may take it’s name from Piccadilly Hall so called home of Robert Baker, a tailor who sold piccadillies, a form of collar or ruff
London has more professional football clubs than any other city in the world except Buenos Aires. In 2013 the Football Association celebrated the 150th anniversary of its formation in a tavern in Holborn
The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 miles per hour including station stops but on the Metropolitan Line trains can reach over 60mph
From his Wapping soap factory John Knight produced the famous Knight’s Castile soap, which won a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851
In 1995 Holborn had a bizarre claim to fame as the most commonly mispronounced word in the English language. Remember the l is silent
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: Goodbye Piccadilly
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.
Goodbye Piccadilly (06.10.09)
When was the last time you had your inside leg measured? Or for that matter you were asked rather discreetly “and what side does Sir dress?”
One of the last bastions of sartorial elegance is hanging up its tape measure for the last time at the end of the year. Baron of Piccadilly one of London’s quirkier outfitters is to close, as Crown Estates their landlord plans to pull down their block for re-development.
Further along the road was Simpsons of Piccadilly, now a Waterstones book store. Simpsons opened in 1936 in what is now a listed building the Art Deco design was the first shop in Britain to have an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. This new style was made possible by arc-welding a wide-span steel frame, rather than earlier techniques which involved using bulky bolted joints.
The company built as a quality clothing store specifically for men had the ethos that Simpson of Piccadilly was to be a purveyor of “quality clothes for the well-heeled”. Indeed, the store regularly attracted the ‘tweed set’ including Royals, MPs, dignitaries and country landowners.
During the early 1950s, scriptwriter Jeremy Lloyd was employed as a junior assistant at Simpsons; he drew on his experiences to come-up with the idea for the highly-popular television sitcom Are You Being Served?
At least Fortnums are still in Piccadilly, the store that gave you such exotic foods as Harts Horn; Gable Worm Seed; Saffron and Dirty White Candy, and incidentally were the first in 1886 to stock the entire output of a Mr Heinz’s newly invented canned food.
Protected: Metrodle
Cabbie, what does an Iambic Pentameter sound Like?
On 1st October 2021, Transport for London changed how they assess London PHV drivers’ English language skills and introduced a requirement for drivers to show an understanding of safety, equality and regulatory matters. Drivers have to satisfy the English Language Requirement by taking and passing a new speaking and listening test. It is proposed that these requirements are to be extended to cabbies. Throughout The Knowledge of London, the applicant must sit more than TEN face-to-face oral exams to display their knowledge of the road network. It is preposterous that London cabbies are required to undertake the English Language test. By completing the KoL Taxi Drivers have demonstrated they have a topographical knowledge of London and a command of the English Language.
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