Monthly Archives: September 2023

Previously Posted

Previously Posted: Join the queue

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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.

Join the queue (07.09.2010)

Often as I’ve put the cab up on the Paddington rank, I have watched passengers as they have squabbled about their relative positions in the queue, blithely ignoring the fact that behind me are 100 taxis available for hire. Observing this I’ve just put it down to “Johnny Foreigner” who doesn’t understand the quaint English courtesy of standing in a line and waiting one’s turn.

Apparently though according to a recent survey LINK the English are becoming more impatient; 41 per cent of people refuse to queue longer than two minutes in stores, with two-thirds regularly stomping away in a huff at having to endure a wait for anything. Furthermore, half of us refuse even to enter a shop if there is the sign of a queue.

Six years ago in a previous survey we were prepared to wait patiently for a barely credible five minutes before impatience got the better of us.

I remember visiting Paris in the 50’s and finding a ticket number dispensing machine attached to bus stops, used to establish the order passenger should embark, this at a time when queuing in England was seen as enduring a mild hardship for the common good, if soldiers at Dunkirk could stand in line to board their ship, waiting one’s turn to buy a loaf of bread was what set up apart from those “one the other side of the English Channel”.

We now one company is keeping alive this tradition I discovered recently when I visited the London Eye. On arrival I noted with smug self-satisfaction, the queue stretching into infinity for the attraction. Clutching my “fast track” pre-booked confirmation I joined the queue for the ??? kiosk. After 10 minutes of waiting the assistant informed me as she ad other before me that I was in the wrong queue and directed me to the ticket office. A crowd of us joined the back of the 80ft long queue marked “Pre-booked and Group Bookings” each holding their fast-track confirmation receipts.

When reaching the desk I have to admit dear reader my stiff upper lip was sorely tested when told again that I was in the wrong queue. The sound of protestations from my fellow queuers the desk clerk reluctantly issued that precious official tick.

It then was only a matter of joining yet another 40ft long queue to enjoy the “flight”. Total time flying 40 minutes; total time queuing 40 minutes. Next time I’m going on a foggy day.

A window on My World

September’s monthly musings

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🚓 What Cab News

If one had gained a degree or doctorate you’d have that qualification for life. No so TfL, should you allow your cab licence to lapse, having spent the best part of five years gaining your badge you’ll have to undergo this convoluted process:

A re-test will consist of an oral one-to-one examination with a Knowledge of London Examiner, with a duration of approximately 30 minutes. Drivers must demonstrate sufficient knowledge to be re-licensed, in addition to meeting all other licensing criteria. If a driver’s performance in the re-test is deemed insufficient, regardless of their score, they will be allowed to attend a further one-to-one examination within a specific timeframe determined by the examiner. This period allows for additional learning of the required information. However, if the driver’s knowledge remains inadequate following the second examination, they will be required to enter the Knowledge of London Examination system at stages 3, 4, or 5, as per the marking scheme outlined by TfL. Essentially, the driver will have to start afresh and work their way through the stages of The Knowledge once again.

🎧 What I’m Listening

I’m now up to Episode 170: Printers, Plague and Poets from Kevin Stroud’s excellent History of English Podcast. In this episode, he examined the connection between poetry and plague in the early 1590s. An outbreak of plague contributed to Shakespeare’s early career as a poet, and about an acquaintance from Shakespeare’s hometown who emerged as one of the leading printers in London and how his print shop influenced the development of English during the Elizabethan period.

📖 What I’m Reading

I’d been offered a copy of Jack Chesher’s London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers, with illustrations by Katharine Fraser. This is a beautiful book which I’ve enjoyed greatly. Thanks to the publisher Frances Lincoln for the opportunity, my review was posted last Tuesday.

📺 What I’m watching

Lev Parikian’s excellent weekly Substack – Six Things – directed me to watch the extraordinary work of Levon Biss, whose insect photographs are taken at extremely high magnification. One of the gadgets I treated myself to upon retirement was a Canon lens for macro photography to capture the most abundant animals on the planet – insects. You will never look at these invertebrates the same again.

❓ What else

For weeks they’ve been installing fibre optic cables, both above and below ground. Could this be to cope with the huge surge of data from Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ cameras sited all over our corner of rural Essex?

📆 What date?

Fifty years ago on 8th October 1973 from Gough Square just before 6 am Britain’s first legally authorised commercial radio station went on air. I’ve written all about it on Substack.

Thinking allowed

Cash Cow Cameras

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Two TfL cameras have appeared nearby on a straight road which is one of the only means to leave our estate. Motorists often drive at over 50mph past this spot (a primary school), whilst every street branching off to the north is a cul-de-sac due to thousands of acres of arable land and forestry beyond. With no Boris Bikes, two buses both going in the same direction, the nearest train or Tube some three miles distant, no cabs passing displaying their for hire light and the Superloop bus an hour’s travel away, what is the point of the camera? It’s a rhetorical question, not being a speed camera, it can only be used to fill the coffers of TfL, the local cows around here produce more pollution.

Puppydog tails

Johnson’s London Dictionary: Albert Hall

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ALBERT HALL (n.) Grandly named: The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences was renamed The Royal Albert Hall in honour of the Queen’s late husband, it was said upon opening to be useful for many things apart from music due to its acoustics.

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

Puppydog tails

Curious Bimbling*

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There are dozens of books devoted to London’s history, I should know I’ve dozens of them. But I doubt you’ll find a better-designed one, for if it was larger it could be described as a coffee table art book. Each entry is precisely the right length to create a harmonious balance with the headings and illustrations. For example and probably unnoticed by many readers, Jack and Katharine’s biographies occupy exactly the same number of lines. For this graphic design geek, it was perfect symmetry for me.

The square format fits perfectly with Jack’s bite-sized descriptions detailing discoveries he’s found in the capital. Many of the entries are illustrated with delightful watercolours by Katherine Fraser, each positioned perfectly within the text.

As a Licenced London cabbie much was known to me, but that didn’t temper the enjoyment of reading, the entries proving Jack’s superior knowledge as he’s found some, for me, previously unknown gems. Who knew 10 Downing Street had yellow bricks? The building was thought to be black, but London’s pollution had discoloured the bricks. When cleaned in the 1950s it was thought not to look prime-ministerial enough so was painted black. Or that Cavendish Square also has an empty plinth once occupied by Prince William, Duke of Cumberland’s statue, it was taken down after the public discovered he had mercilessly crushed the Highlanders. In 2012 the Duke’s effigy was reproduced in soap and allowed over time to dissolve.

At the end of each section is a short walk taking in much of the features described, the size of the book allows the map and itinerary to be photocopied to fit onto an A4 sheet to put in your pocket, rather than carrying the book around London.

As you would expect all entries have been indexed, but curiously an additional list of postcodes with their locations within the book is also included.

If you wish to own just one reference about London, you could do no better than purchasing this sumptuously produced book.

London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers by Jack Cheshire, with illustrations by Katherine Fraser

*Bimble (intransitive verb): Originating in the 1980s; to amble at a leisurely pace, to walk with no particular haste. Frequently associated with military slang, ‘bimble’ has become a part of the informal English language. It conjures up the notion of a relaxing stroll to fetch the Sunday papers, a ‘turn around the grounds’, or a pleasant summer stroll..

This is not a sponsored post. The publication reviewed has been kindly donated by the author or publisher. CabbieBlog has not received payment for writing this review and opinions are solely his own. All links here conform with guidelines set out in Write a Post.