🚓 What Cab News

I was rather surprised to watch Tom Hutley’s latest youtube video. Here he’s found a piece of film travelling around London in the 90s, at the time I first drove a cab. It’s remarkable how much has changed and Tom’s commentary of the changes is very surprising. Recommended.

🎧 What I’m Listening

Tom Hutley was a guest on the podcast WizzAnnCast discussing cabbie’s books – and thanks for the mention by the way – I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to start listening to Dean Warrington. A great listen if you want to understand or start The Knowledge.

📖 What I’m Reading

I’ve just finished Christopher Fowler’s The Water Room and it is a great romp around London’s [spoiler alert] underground rivers. So I thought I’d reproduce TfL’s Pride poster campaign including a fabulous map of London’s lost rivers.

📺 What I’m watching

East London Boy Jay Blades has been making a show for C4 – Britain’s Best Beach Huts, and whilst in Dorset this example amused me, with its nod to TV’s greatest comedy.

❓ What else

This diary entry from diamondgeezer made me laugh:

Tue 6: Today, as temperatures soared, I was privileged to be in attendance at London’s annual Please Carry Water With You In Hot Weather ceremony. Two members of TfL staff appeared at the far end of the Central line platform at Holborn station, the junior acolyte clutching freshly-printed rolled-up posters. The elder used his radio device to alert staff further up the line that the religious objects were ready, then handed them to a train driver for safe transfer to the next two stations. I missed the unloading ritual at Chancery Lane but at St Paul’s a member of staff graciously accepted the offering, checked that it had the sacred text “St Paul’s” scrawled on the back in pen, then processed serenely up two sets of escalators and delivered it to the control room. I imagine a prayer was said and the poster splashed with holy water, and when I came back a few hours later it was on proud display in the ticket hall.

📆 What date?

Seventy-five years ago, on 22nd July 1948, bread rationing came to an end. With Ukraine, Europe’s bread basket still at war with Putin, is Harrods’ Roquefort and Almond Sourdough Bread priced at £20 per loaf, under threat of being unavailable for us all?