Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, rolling into the night / People so busy, make me feel dizzy, taxi light shines so bright / But I don’t, need no friends / As long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset, I am in paradise.
Ray Davies (b.1944), Waterloo Sunset
On 29 September 1792 the first church in England since the reformation dedicated to St. Patrick was consecrated in Soho Square, its successor was completed in 1893. It stands on the site of Carlisle House which became a venue for dazzling soirees, recitals and concerts. Once the home of a Venetian courtesan Mrs Cornelys, an opera singer, serial bankrupt and socialite, she had a child fathered by Cassanova.
on 29 September 1829 this Tuesday the first Metropolitan policeman went out in the streets of London from the unfinished Scotland Yard
‘The bells of Old Bailey’ in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons are the bells of St. Sepulchre rung to mark an execution in Newgate Prison
The three Barbican towers were Europe’s tallest residential buildings when built – the drains zig-zag down so nothing hits the bottom too hard
St. Martin-in-the-Fields is the parish church of Buckingham Palace and any baby born at the Palace is entered into its church register
Ravens are kept at The Tower of London for ancient legend predicts that if they should depart the Monarchy will fall
The Beatles filmed the video for Penny Lane in Angel Lane Stratford (very near Olympic site) they didn’t have the time to go up to Liverpool
Mon Plaisir Restaurant, Monmouth Street claims to be London’s oldest French restaurant having been established in the 1940s
In 1702 while riding at Hampton Court William III was thrown when his horse stumbled on a molehill and died as an equestrian statue depicts
There are no Roads in the City of London only Streets, Lanes, Alleys to be named road highway had to be wide enough to allow two carts to pass
City Livery Companies have their halls in the City except The Gunmakers their use of gunpowder it was deemed prudent to locate at a distance
By the early 12th century the population of London was about 18,000 (compare this to the 45,000 estimated at the height of Roman Britain)
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.
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.
Driving a London cab gives you a panoramic view both of the roads and into other drivers’ vehicles as they stop beside you and it was with that advantage a couple of years ago that I noticed that some prestige cars not only had a built-in Sat-Nav but that the same screen could show a video.
I found that surprising, as my understanding of traffic law was that any monitor must not be visible to the driver; somehow the car manufacturers had managed to circumvent the regulations by ensuring that the device turned off the image when the car moved forward. So that was alright then! Watch TV while sitting at the lights, rather than watching any jaywalking pedestrians, and once your top-of-the-range limousine reaches 5mph you can concentrate on your driving.
This was followed by putting monitors on the back headrests in the manner of an aircraft, anyone who has children must have felt that that was a Godsend, who hasn’t tried to drive with the kids in the back bored and nagging? Every parent knows the stupefying effect that television has on the young – and not so young – so moving images just inches from their noses would keep them quiet all day.
But now not content with a myriad of distractions: Radio (DAB, FM, MW LW); CD players; i-pod compatible; Sat-Navs; even staring at the 2-inch screen of an iPhone, more and more I see drivers watching TV as they drive for unlike their expensive counterparts, the cars they seek to emulate, its image doesn’t turn off while the vehicle is on the move. So with one eye on the road, they can watch the latest music video or shoot-em-up flick.
If a driver was foolish to talk on his mobile phone whilst driving he could expect three points on his license and a £60 fine, but I’ve yet to read of anyone prosecuted for watching the latest Lady Gaga album whilst driving through London’s congested streets.
The wider question must be is that how can anyone watch a television programme or movie with the distractions of driving? How can they watch anything in bite-sized chunks? Do they only have the attention span of the time it takes the light to return back to green or is it that they are so addicted to the moving image it doesn’t really matter what is showing as long as something appears on that little screen?
There have been numerous studies on our television habits. In May last year, the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board found that viewers were watching more television than ever before, concluding that the average number of hours each person spends in front of the television each week has risen by more than 8 per cent. to 30 hours and 4 minutes. Thinkbox, the British marketing body for commercial broadcasters, defended this rise by stating that the greater choice offered by digital television, new technologies such as digital recorders, and on-demand services and yes, it’s been blamed again, the recession is encouraging people to spend more time at home. Watching of television whilst driving apparently did not enter their radar.
The gondolas of London.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), Describing the horse-drawn hansom cab
On 22 September 1735 Sir Robert Walpole moved into 10 Downing Street. Before taking up residence as Prime Minister, he commissioned William Kent to join the adjacent house at the rear to form a property more suited for a Minister of the Crown. Walpole persuaded Mr Chicken, to move to another house in Downing Street, this small house and the mansion at the back were then incorporated into Number Ten.
On 22 September 1848 John Harold, London’s first case of cholera died at 8 New Lane, Gainsford Street, Horsleydown, Southwark
The smallest prison in London is a single room in the base of the St Stephens Tower in the Houses of Parliament, although never used these days, it is still classed as a state prison
The Ritz was one of the first steel-frame buildings to be erected in Europe. The restaurant has so many chandeliers that its ceiling has had to be specially reinforced
Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan died at 14 Savile Row. Whilst laid out in his coffin an overzealous bailiff arrested him for his debts
Christ Church, Lambeth, has a spire decorated with stars and stripes, half the cost of the church was borne by Americans, and the tower commemorates President Lincoln’s abolition of slavery
In the film The Da Vinci Code – The ‘Parisian’ lecture hall, where Tom Hanks gives a lecture is actually Fairfield Halls, Croydon
The Roundhouse in Camden was originally built as a turntable engine shed for the London & Birmingham Railway in 1846, within 10 years the engines were too big for the building to continue to serve its purpose
The 1908 Olympics were heading for Rome until Mount Vesuvius erupted on 5 April 1906 and the Italians suddenly had other priorities, with just two years’ notice, London came to the rescue
Cabbies face a daily £1 fine should he take two consecutive days off ‘without just cause’ according to section 33 of The London Hackney Carriages Act 1843
The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, was formed by a Royal Charter in 1631 and remains the world’s oldest horological institution
There are now 25 Sherlock Holmes Societies around the world, in countries as diverse as Japan, Israel, India, Australia and Venezuela
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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