The closure of TfL’s Lost Property Office on Pelham Street has resulted in taxi drivers being advised to take lost items to the nearest London police station. However, many drivers have encountered difficulties as the police often refuse to accept the lost property. This refusal contradicts the legal obligation for taxi drivers to hand over lost items. With the new lost property office located far away from central London, taxi drivers are likely to rely more on police stations to return lost belongings, particularly for drivers who operate on the other side of the city. These drivers face hours navigating through London traffic to drop off lost property in West Ham, resulting in what could be four-hour round trips.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
Johnson’s London Dictionary: Sightlines
SIGHTLINES (n.) Thirteen protected views of St. Paul’s Cathedral and The Palace of Westminster from fixed points thus thwarting architects’ ambition to populate the capital with vanity projects.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
Are you a real Londoner?
You don’t have to be born in the capital to qualify, just try this totally arbitrary and subjective test to help you understand if you can claim to be a Londoner. The maximum score is about 100, unless you are very old you’re unlikely to reach those dizzy heights.
- I was born and raised in The Smoke, even if you have since left (+5 points)
- I live in London (+1 point per year)
- I shop local before using Amazon or any multiple retail organisation (+1 point)
- I know the difference between The City and the city of London (+1 point)
- I volunteer with community groups or charities including being a pearly king or queen (+1 point)
- My main mode of getting around is by Underground, bus, tram, bike or walking (+1 point)
- I don’t own a car (+1 point)
- I was here for the pandemic and never considered leaving. (+1 point)
- I can negotiate the Underground pretty much anywhere without consulting Harry Beck’s map but will direct tourists to the correct train (+1 point)
- I’m prepared to travel to Zone 6 even the section South of the River (+1 point)
- I have driven an iconic London vehicle: cab, bus, tube (+1 point)
- I’ve sat on a Boris Bike (+1 point)
- You wouldn’t get me in a rickshaw, I’ll leave that for gullible tourists (+1 point) extra point if you’ve warned a visitor about rickshaws
- At some time I’ve kept London safe working in the emergency services (+1 point) extra point for every life you’ve saved
- I’ve never been to Madam Tussauds (+1 point)
- I’ve never asked a cabbie “Had anyone in your cab?” (+1 point)
- Yes I have actually eaten pie and mash (+1 point) extra point for consuming jellied eels
- My bookshelf has at least five books about London (+1 point) extra point for owning Peter Ackroyd’s London: The biography
- I went to work/school on Friday 16th October 1987, a breezy day wasn’t going to stop me (+1 point)
- I can point to London’s official centre (+1 point)
How did you score? Let others know in the comments. Since you asked, I got 92 points, which rather pleased me.
Featured image: The View from the Shard by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash.
London in Quotations: Sir Seymour Hicks
You will recognise, my boy, the first sign of old age: it is when you go out into the streets of London and realize for the first time how young the policemen look.
Sir Seymour Hicks (1871-1949)
London Trivia: The wrong box
On 22 October 1910 Dr. Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey of his wife’s murder. The police had found the gruesome remains of a body beneath the coal cellar of his house, wrapped in a male pyjama jacket and identified as his wife Cora, it had no head, no limbs, no bones and no genitals, but there were traces of a poison that Crippen was discovered to recently purchased. Recent analysis of the remains indicate that the corpse found in his house were not female.
On 22 October 1974 a bomb exploded in Brooks Club injuring three members of staff, one of the first on the scene was Conservative Party leader Edward Heath who was dining nearby
At Newgate 1789 Catherine Murphy was the last woman to executed by burning however all was not so as she had been hanged first for coining
The 5-star Lanesborough Hotel was built by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough in 1719 before becoming St George’s Hospital in 1733
When Augusta of Saxe-Coburg married Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1736 she was sick down her dress, an ill omen he died before being crowned
Longest Budget speech ever: Gladstone, 1853 – 4hrs 45mins. Drank sherry and beaten egg, the budget only time any MP is allowed alcohol in the chamber)
Ray Davis originally wrote about Liverpool sunset in a nod to The Beatles but was persuaded to eulogise about the city that he loved
In the 80s Cynthia Payne was convicted of running a brothel at 32 Ambleside Avenue, Streatham, luncheon vouchers paid for personal services
The Wimbledon Championships held annually since 1877 at the All-England Club is the oldest tennis tournament in the world
Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Tube each day, enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool every quarter of an hour
A Billingsgate porter’s hat aka ‘bobbin’ is made of wood and leather to support heavy boxes of fish. The upturned brim captures the fish juice
The TARDIS, (Dr Who’s transport) can be found outside Earl’s Court station. Or at least an old police call box can
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.
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