Every cloud has a silver lining

16 March, 2023 Gibson Square 5 Comments

Here’s a question for you: What connects a London Black Cab with Germany’s Leopard 1 battle tanks being sent to Ukraine?

The answer is the German company Reinmetall, it provides key components for the tank, including the turret and the gun. It also supplies automotive parts for the cab, and the war in Ukraine has changed the fortunes of the 130-year-old company. Before the war the company was valued at €4bn, today it is worth €10bn. With the slow automotive market, the company now is estimated to make €70m from sales of shells for these tanks.

Puppydog tails

Johnson’s London Dictionary: Scotland Yard

15 March, 2023 Gibson Square 4 Comments

SCOTLAND YARD (n.) Law agency named after small cul-de-sac for reasons doth unknown.

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

An urban view

It hasn’t fallen down

14 March, 2023 Gibson Square 3 Comments

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

London’s most famous bridge has never fallen down, but it has been replaced several times over the centuries, and the latest incarnation was opened by the Queen 50 years ago this week on 16th March 1973.

Whether by accident or a deliberate nod to the late Queen’s age, Operation London Bridge was the code name for the funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II, which of course swung into action a few months ago.

London Bridge’s predecessor, famously shipped off to the Arizona desert, had been there since 1831 when it replaced ‘Old’ London Bridge, the medieval one with the houses down it.

Where London Bridge is today is 50 yards upstream from its predecessor.

Have you ever wondered why the Monument feels off-centre and Gracechurch Street terminates with an awkward curve? This piece of poor urban planning is because this was the original alignment of the former bridge, and the introduced curve aligned the road to the modern bridge.

In particular, the northern roadway used to pass the west door of St Magnus the Martyr, a church which for six centuries was the spiritual guardian of this crucial bridgehead. It was one of the first churches to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London so what now occupies the site is Wren’s magnificent replacement. Its clock once projected out above the roadway, and when traffic increased a pedestrian walkway had to be cut through the bottom of the tower.

St Magnus’s importance vanished when the bridge shifted, and its churchyard is now a flagstoned dead end, barely trodden, with a small flowerbed at one end. It’s still worth a visit, though, to see two chunky stones from the Old London Bridge which were relocated here in 1921.

London Bridge and the Shard by Christine Matthews. The top of the Shard is being decorated with different coloured lights designed by local children. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: James Huneker

Quote 13 March, 2023 Gibson Square 2 Comments

With the possible exception of New York, there is no place like London for versatility in eating.

James Huneker (1859-1921)

London trivia

London Trivia: Much ado about nothing

12 March, 2023 Gibson Square 2 Comments

On 12 March London seems to have held its collective breath and done nothing. To liven up the date in 1969 Paul McCartney, then aged 27, married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office with Miss Eastman’s six-year-old daughter in attendance. Hundreds of distraught fans gathered outside seeing their chance of marrying their idol slip away. The ceremony was delayed because the best man, McCartney’s brother Mike McGear of the Scaffold pop group, arrived late.

On 12 March 1836 pioneering cookery writer Mrs Beeton was born in Cheapside, her Book of Household Management is still in print

Wife selling in Smithfield didn’t become illegal until the early 20th century. One of the last reported instances, a woman in 1913 claimed that she had been sold to one of her husband’s workmates for £1

London’s smallest statue can be found on Philpot Lane – a mouse – a memorial to two builders who were killed working on the Monument

In 1985 eight people were killed in a gas explosion at Manor Fields Estate Putney Police found bags stuffed with £20 notes in the debris

Edward VI punished Westminster Abbey (St Peter’s) by diverting their funding to St Paul’s hence the phrase robbing Peter to pay Paul’

When the Coliseum Theatre opened in 1904 it featured a private elevator to transport the King to the royal box. It broke down!

The Hoope and Grapes, Aldgate has a listening tube which runs from the bar to the cellar so the landlord can listen for treasonable gossip

When Billy (the police horse who controlled spectators at the 1923 FA Cup final) died, his rider was given one of his hooves as an inkwell

The Jubilee Line was initially named the Fleet Line after the River Fleet; however it was changed to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee

When Odham’s publisher Julius Elias died in 1946 his successor claimed Elias continued to run the Long Acre firm through him as a medium

We know six ravens are kept at the Tower to keep London safe from invasion, but in 1981 one escaped and flew into a pub in East London

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.