The Londoner seldom understands his city until it sweeps him, too, away from his moorings.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970), Howards End
Monthly Archives: April 2023
London Trivia: Frozen Bacon
On 9 April 1626 Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author, died of pneumonia. He was the agent of his own demise having experimented at trying to freeze a chicken with snow. He argued that scientific knowledge must be based only upon inductive and careful observation of events. He caught a chill and was taken to the Highgate home of the Earl of Arundel and put into a damp bed. He would never get out of the bed alive.
On 9 April 1970 at the High Court in London a petition brought by Paul McCartney formerly wound up The Beatles
On 9 April 1976 then president of the Young Liberals, Peter Hain, was acquitted of bank robbery at the Old Bailey (£490 from Barclays bank)
The only London residence of William Blake that still remains is 17 South Molton Street where Blake lived on the first floor 1803-1812
On 9 April 1483 Edward IV died at Westminster, the crown passed to his son Edward V aged just twelve years old
On 9 April 1747 at Tower Hill Scottish clan chief Lord Simon Fraser Lovat was the last person in Britain to be executed by being beheaded
On 9 April 1914 the world’s first silent colour film, the sleezy sounding World, Flesh and the Devil was shown in London
The Old Mitre pub in Holborn contains a cherry tree trunk round which, it is claimed by the pub owners, Elizabeth I danced
West Ham United football club were originally founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks Football Club and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United
Seventeen different bus routes pass through Trafalgar Square it makes the square one of the busiest crossroads for London traffic
In 1100s human lavatories walked the streets of London wearing large cloaks and a bucket. Customers used the bucket whilst hidden by the cloak
On 9 April 1787 a fencing match between Chevalier de St. Georges and Chavaliere d’Eton took place at Carlton House, both were 1st class fencers, d’Eton 20 years older and dressed as a woman won
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: Top 10 Worst Places to Catch a Taxi
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.
Top 10 Worst Places to Catch a Taxi (05.03.2010)
I have recently found the site mapvivo.com where travellers can relate their experiences, as it’s coming up to deciding your travel arrangements for this year I would suggest that you check it out, it’s a great source of information and frankly very funny. At the risk of being accused of plagiarism, although the author’s consent has been given, I think this post is worthy of inclusion in CabbieBlog.
Well, maybe not the absolute worst, but a catalogue of experiences around the world which explain why a taxi is always my last resort for getting from A to B, and why I’d rather walk, take public transport or a bike just about anywhere.
Disclaimer: Many taxi drivers are polite, courteous, professional and very honest. It’s the others that give you a bad rap, which are the ones I am complaining about…
BANGKOK: Don’t expect taxi drivers to know the way – particularly if there has been a bad crop recently in the countryside, since in these times your taxi driver is likely to be an out of work farmer who is unlikely to find his way home, let alone that restaurant you just asked for. In fact, it may take 2 or 3 different attempts before you find a taxi driver that knows where your destination is; let alone how to get there.
If you are lucky the driver will tell you that he has no idea where the destination is in advance, otherwise he’ll just drive you around for a little while.
Having somebody write the destination down for you (or learning how to pronounce words in Thai) can help, but not always, as can calling the place where you are staying and asking them to talk the taxi home for you.
NEW YORK: Not that bad actually. Relatively inexpensive and efficient, but smells horrible and don’t expect much in the way of courtesy – either from the driver or other passengers competing for the same cab.
New York cabs win a prize for being the largest vehicles with the smallest passenger space, but definitely count as one of the world’s better taxi experiences.
It could be said that there is not much difference between driving a cab in London than driving one in New York – except that we speak in English and have to rely on our brains to get us from one part of the city to another and not rely on a numerical grid system.
LONDON: Encyclopaedic knowledge of London’s streets, spacious cabs, polite drivers (to passengers at least – comments made to other road users are part of the entertainment) and cheap fares. London is Taxi heaven. I can’t disagree with those fine words.
Until midnight that is, when the black cabs go home and unlicensed mini-cabs take over to fill the demand. Beware of these guys: people tell of drivers rolling joints whilst driving with their knees, whilst others talk of drivers who’ve obviously had several already. A phone call followed by a quick detour to help a friend of the driver escape from a crime scene is also not unheard of. Police reports describe far more sinister doings, particularly concerning women travellers.
ZÜRICH: If your hotel isn’t one of the five biggest in Zürich then bring your own map, or chose a driver with a GPS. English is rarely spoken and German or other Swiss languages are not guaranteed. And bring plenty of cash – that number on the meter really is the cost.
Definitely the most expensive and most often lost taxi drivers in the world. On one occasion I spent 30 minutes while a taxi tried to find my (rather large) hotel, asking for directions from several pedestrians on the way. We eventually found it, and a long argument ensued over the expectation that I pay the meter fare for the whole duration. Which I won only narrowly.
ROME: If you manage to actually find a cab in Rome then please comment. I’ve given up each time as taxis are scarce in Rome, and drivers tend to strike (whilst blocking traffic in the city) every time the city tries to increase the number of taxi licences.
In a blog post, Pauline relates to an experience where a driver busy taking a phone call made them wait outside before allowing them in, in the rain, with the meter running (including the approach fare), for 10 minutes. That’s service.
PARIS: Generally professional, but basically rude. Can make a bit of a fuss when asked to take you somewhere that’s not totally convenient for them – consider this when choosing destinations such as out of the way places where they won’t pick up a huge fare right after.
I once spent 15 minutes in a taxi being complained at by the driver because he ‘claimed’ he would lose money driving to my destination (near the airport). I paid him 1/3rd more than the fare as a good-will token, but it didn’t make him happy and he drove off refusing to give a receipt.
INDIA: Finding a taxi or auto rickshaw is easy. Just wait by the road and they’ll soon be fighting over you. The family member’s shop or restaurant that they recommend is never as good as the place you originally wanted to go to, so be persistent and insist that you want to go to your original destination. Like many attempted transactions in India it comes down to a war of attrition.
Taxis are cheap enough to rent for the day in some cases, so make sure you enjoy the unique spectacle of road transport in India, complete with sleeping cows in the middle of the carriage way, oncoming trucks in the wrong lane, constant use of the horn, etc.
CAIRO: Similar to India, except they continue to fight over you after you’ve arrived. In fact, Taxi drivers will follow you around all day, stalking you. The family member’s shop or restaurant is also never as good as the place you actually wanted, but in many cases they will take you there anyway and just pretend that’s what you asked for.
Don’t be alarmed by the fact that obeying traffic signals are optional in Cairo, meaning that they are always ignored, and on a three lane carriageway there will be at least four cars abreast.
However, if you can find an honest one (and don’t rely on a hotel concierge for this) then they can make excellent tour guides.
Don’t expect the negotiated price to remain the same for the entire journey; it usually has doubled when you get to your destination. If you are unlucky to have a driver who speaks English, a warning, they will talk to you whilst driving as you sit in the back seat, but face to face.
CHINA: Don’t lose the piece of paper with your destination written in Chinese, unless you are good at charades, as you shouldn’t count on being able to pronounce your destination no matter how much you practice. Otherwise Chinese taxis are honest, professional and courteous, if a little erratic in their driving style.
WARSAW: Very keen to get going to the extent that over eager drivers can slam doors shut before all appendages are inside the taxi. It can really hurt.
Speeds on wet roads defy the laws of physics (or at least common sense).
Generally, taxis in Warsaw are very reasonable and honest providing you take a licensed taxi, not one of the private taxis that lurk around airport arrivals and on popular streets.
Test Your Knowledge: April 2023
Today is Good Friday, and as we enter the penultimate day of Holy Week, today’s quiz concerns Easter in London. As before the correct answer will turn green when it is clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.
1. Since 2010 Trafalgar Square has been the venue for what open-air event?
Easter bunny play
WRONG A moving 90-minute portrayal of the final days of Jesus is performed twice during Good Friday afternoon which includes more than a hundred players in costume, as well as real-life horses, doves and a donkey.
The Passion of Jesus
CORRECT A moving 90-minute portrayal of the final days of Jesus is performed twice during Good Friday afternoon which includes more than a hundred players in costume, as well as real-life horses, doves and a donkey.
An Easter egg hunt
WRONG A moving 90-minute portrayal of the final days of Jesus is performed twice during Good Friday afternoon which includes more than a hundred players in costume, as well as real-life horses, doves and a donkey.
2. What Easter treat does a sailor climb up and hang from a pub’s ceiling every Good Friday?
Easter eggs
WRONG An old widow, on receiving news that her son would return from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars that Easter, traditionally baked him a hot cross bun to welcome him home. He did not return, and every year after that, on Good Friday, she would bake a fresh hot cross bun and hang it in her home. The Widow’s Son pub was erected on the site and they carried on the tradition.
A hot cross bun
CORRECT An old widow, on receiving news that her son would return from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars that Easter, traditionally baked him a hot cross bun to welcome him home. He did not return, and every year after that, on Good Friday, she would bake a fresh hot cross bun and hang it in her home. The Widow’s Son pub was erected on the site and they carried on the tradition.
Simnel cake
WRONG An old widow, on receiving news that her son would return from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars that Easter, traditionally baked him a hot cross bun to welcome him home. He did not return, and every year after that, on Good Friday, she would bake a fresh hot cross bun and hang it in her home. The Widow’s Son pub was erected on the site and they carried on the tradition.
3. The rector of St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield asks what question on Good Friday whilst standing over a grave?
Are any poor widows present who are in need of 20 shillings?
CORRECT A 1902 account details 21 widows raising their hands and each approaching the grave in turn and collecting from it a single silver sixpence. It then describes them being given a hot cross bun and offered a steadying arm as they completed a ritualistic walk across the tombstone.
Who believes in Christ’s Ascension to Heaven?
WRONG A 1902 account details 21 widows raising their hands and each approaching the grave in turn and collecting from it a single silver sixpence. It then describes them being given a hot cross bun and offered a steadying arm as they completed a ritualistic walk across the tombstone.
Are there any evil spirits within?
WRONG A 1902 account details 21 widows raising their hands and each approaching the grave in turn and collecting from it a single silver sixpence. It then describes them being given a hot cross bun and offered a steadying arm as they completed a ritualistic walk across the tombstone.
4. On Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter, what do children hit at the Tower of London?
Iron markers
CORRECT Beefeaters and children march the perimeter of the Tower grounds and whip its iron markers with sticks. Known as Beating of the Bounds its origins are in a 17thC riot. In 1698, an angry group of Londoners gathered outside the Tower in protest after the King had granted the expansion of the Tower’s boundaries, depriving locals of land that had formerly been theirs.
The White Tower
WRONG Beefeaters and children march the perimeter of the Tower grounds and whip its iron markers with sticks. Known as Beating of the Bounds its origins are in a 17thC riot. In 1698, an angry group of Londoners gathered outside the Tower in protest after the King had granted the expansion of the Tower’s boundaries, depriving locals of land that had formerly been theirs.
The execution site
WRONG Beefeaters and children march the perimeter of the Tower grounds and whip its iron markers with sticks. Known as Beating of the Bounds its origins are in a 17thC riot. In 1698, an angry group of Londoners gathered outside the Tower in protest after the King had granted the expansion of the Tower’s boundaries, depriving locals of land that had formerly been theirs.
5. The Cart Horse Parade and the Van Horse Parade traditionally held in London on Easter Monday amalgamated in 1966. The renamed Harness Horse Parade now takes place at which venue?
South of England Centre, Ardingly
CORRECT There were several initiatives in the 19th Century to try to improve the conditions of the city’s horses, one of which was the Cart Horse Parade, established in 1885 to encourage the owners of horses to take pride in their animals and to show to their peers and the public in a formal annual parade.
Essex County Showground, Brentwood
WRONG There were several initiatives in the 19th Century to try to improve the conditions of the city’s horses, one of which was the Cart Horse Parade, established in 1885 to encourage the owners of horses to take pride in their animals and to show to their peers and the public in a formal annual parade.
Kent Showground, Detling
WRONG There were several initiatives in the 19th Century to try to improve the conditions of the city’s horses, one of which was the Cart Horse Parade, established in 1885 to encourage the owners of horses to take pride in their animals and to show to their peers and the public in a formal annual parade.
6. Easter House is an apartment block in which London area?
Docklands
WRONG Situated in Drummond Road, Bermondsey, curiously the ground floor apartments are designed on two levels to negate the flood risk to bedrooms and the site straddles the Metropolitan Line underground.
Bermondsey
CORRECT Situated in Drummond Road, Bermondsey, curiously the ground floor apartments are designed on two levels to negate the flood risk to bedrooms and the site straddles the Metropolitan Line underground.
Greenwich
WRONG Situated in Drummond Road, Bermondsey, curiously the ground floor apartments are designed on two levels to negate the flood risk to bedrooms and the site straddles the Metropolitan Line underground.
7. Crucifix Lane can be found under the viaduct of which London station’s approach?
King’s Cross
WRONG An old inn existing here some years ago, having for its sign St. Christopher, associated it with the bearer of the cross, hence the Crucifix-Lane. The Victorian London Bridge railway lines were constructed at a later date. The houses now Nos. 37 and 38 are called ‘God’s Providence’ and are the gift of Robert Banyard in 1659 to the relief of the poor of the parish forever.
Paddington
WRONG An old inn existing here some years ago, having for its sign St. Christopher, associated it with the bearer of the cross, hence the Crucifix-Lane. The Victorian London Bridge railway lines were constructed at a later date. The houses now Nos. 37 and 38 are called ‘God’s Providence’ and are the gift of Robert Banyard in 1659 to the relief of the poor of the parish forever.
London Bridge
CORRECT An old inn existing here some years ago, having for its sign St. Christopher, associated it with the bearer of the cross, hence the Crucifix-Lane. The Victorian London Bridge railway lines were constructed at a later date. The houses now Nos. 37 and 38 are called ‘God’s Providence’ and are the gift of Robert Banyard in 1659 to the relief of the poor of the parish forever.
8. Who played the eponymous role in Jesus Christ Superstar when it opened in London?
Michael Crawford
WRONG Superstar opened at the Palace Theatre in 1972, starring Paul Nicholas as Jesus, this production was much more successful than the original production on Broadway, running for eight years and becoming the United Kingdom’s longest-running musical at the time.
Tommy Steele
WRONG Superstar opened at the Palace Theatre in 1972, starring Paul Nicholas as Jesus, this production was much more successful than the original production on Broadway, running for eight years and becoming the United Kingdom’s longest-running musical at the time.
Paul Nicholas
CORRECT Superstar opened at the Palace Theatre in 1972, starring Paul Nicholas as Jesus, this production was much more successful than the original production on Broadway, running for eight years and becoming the United Kingdom’s longest-running musical at the time.
9. In what year was April’s highest recorded temperature for the 20th century?
1949
CORRECT On Easter Saturday, the 16th of April 1949, an amazing 85°F was recorded at Camden Square, this is the highest recorded temperature in April for the 20th century in the British Isles, and not just for the Easter period.
1979
WRONG On Easter Saturday, the 16th of April 1949, an amazing 85°F was recorded at Camden Square, this is the highest recorded temperature in April for the 20th century in the British Isles, and not just for the Easter period.
1999
WRONG On Easter Saturday, the 16th of April 1949, an amazing 85°F was recorded at Camden Square, this is the highest recorded temperature in April for the 20th century in the British Isles, and not just for the Easter period.
10. The London-based drama Long Good Friday saw the film debut of which future James Bond?
Timothy Dalton
WRONG Pierce Brosnan was 25 when he played an IRA man alongside BAFTA-nominated Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.
Pierce Brosnan
CORRECT Pierce Brosnan was 25 when he played an IRA man alongside BAFTA-nominated Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.
Daniel Craig
WRONG Pierce Brosnan was 25 when he played an IRA man alongside BAFTA-nominated Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.
Gutenberg doesn’t work
I am back to complaining about Gutenberg. CabbieBlog’s theme is Twenty Fourteen released as WordPress’ theme of the year. Sidebar headings were displayed in black with a rule running above them. Now if I want to insert a new item I cannot incorporate this heading, even though they at WordPress developed the theme. I can see soon my days fighting Gutenberg will be over.
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