OXFORD STREET (n.) The hinterland of failed hawkers who once populated this thoroughfare dedicated to retailing opulent chattels.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), All Things Considered
On 18 December 1778, Joseph Grimaldi was born in Clare Market, an area between Strand and Drury Lane, he was to become ‘Joey the Clown’ with the white face. To this day every February, a memorial service is held for Grimaldi, the world’s first modern clown.
On 18 December 1934 infamous Lord Lucan, Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, was born in Marylebone
Jack Ketch’s Kitchen was a room at Newgate Prison named after the bungling executioner, here parts of those hung drawn and quartered were kept
The world’s first underground public lavatory opened in 1855 under the pavement next to the Bank of England
London’s smogs came in a variety of colours: black, brown, grey, orange, dark chocolate or bottle green – hence ‘pea soupers’
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’s Communist Manifesto was first published (in German) in London’s Liverpool Street by the German printer J.E. Burghard in 1848
Next door to the George Inn, Southwark once stood The Tabard which was the pub from which Chaucer’s pilgrims started their walk to Kent in The Canterbury Tales
Between 1879-80 the man who originated the custom of sending Christmas cards, Sir Henry Cole, lived at 3 Elm Row, Hampstead
In the 1908 London Olympic Games marathon Charles Hefferon, with one-and-a-half miles remaining, accepted a victory glass of champagne, the bubbly caused him to vomit, and Hefferon was overtaken
Busking has been licensed on the Tube since 2003, Sting and Paul McCartney are both rumoured to have busked on the Underground in disguise
Established in 1902, Ealing Studios in West London are the oldest continuously working film studios in the world
The word ‘Strand’ is an old English word for ‘shore’. It makes reference to when the Thames was more shallow and more wide, and would have flowed along the side of the Strand
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.
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.
Say No to NoHo (03.11.09)My dream of immortality has been dashed, CabbieBlog’s birthplace has been demolished and the old Middlesex Hospital site is being redeveloped.
In a re-branding exercise unmatched since Datsun decided to pick Cherry as their new car’s name (either you were driving a small red fruit or making a statement on your virginity), they’re calling the development NoHo.
Situated a quarter of a mile north from Soho the title presumably comes from being “Not Soho”.
Soho derives its name from the cry given by hunters in the forest originally situated there when their quarry had been spotted. Similar to today’s cry of Tally Ho!
So NoHo must have the opposite connotation “no quarry spotted”, presumably for disappointed property hunters.
The Residents in the area are enraged at this blatant attempt to rename this area known as Fitzrovia.
The old hospital has now been demolished, except for a range of buildings on Nassau Street. Now the development is currently on hold after Candy and Candy, the interior developers, left the development, leaving the site in the hands of the Kaupthing Bank.
In its place a perimeter hoarding in black has been erected, giving both colour and texture to this otherwise featureless area, a marked improvement to the elegant Edwardian building that it replaces.
Walking past the site, I noticed recently a further twist to the areas’ gentrification, the name NoHo has been removed from the sleek black hoardings. But at least the black looks cool.
CabbieBlog 