London Trivia: Bombing anniversaries

8 September, 2024 Gibson Square Leave a comment

On 8 September 1915 the first bomb of World War I to fall on the City of London hit Fenchurch Street; the first bomb of World War II fell at the junction of Wood Street and Fore Street, and curiously on 8 September 1944 the first V2 long-range rocket fell on Chiswick killing three. Altogether 1,050 V2 rockets reached Britain, killing 2,754 and injuring 6,523. For some reason, the Germans liked 8 September to start their assaults.

On 8 September 1961 the gallows at Wandsworth Prison’s E Wing were used for the last time to hang Henryk Niemasz

In 1780 during the Gordon Riots volunteers from the Bank of England repelled rioters using bullets made by melting down their inkwells

Until the 1990s the City’s Square Mile was exactly that, then pesky boundary changes made it an annoying inexact 1.16 square miles

When Humphrey Lyttelton host of Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue died, people left flowers outside Mornington Crescent Tube station

The MI6 building at Vauxhall is as deep below ground as it is tall above-its river frontage is one of the few places inaccessible to walkers

London’s first Punch and Judy show was in 1662 at Covent Garden commemorated by the Punch and Judy pub in the modern Piazza

The oldest gentleman’s club in London is White’s, St James’s Street originally opened in 1693 as a chocolate house which evolved into a club

Theobalds Road was once a track that led to the Stuart kings’ hunting grounds at Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire

Hardy (as in Nelson’s ‘kiss me ..’) refused to travel from London Bridge station in 1836 because he saw the newfangled trains as ‘too risky’

All-American Marlboro Man’s name comes from London’s Great Marlborough Street, where the cigarette manufacturer had their headquarters

They’re over 25 places in the world called London 17 in the USA, there’s even an asteroid called 8837 London discovered in 1989 by Eric Elst

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

Previously Posted: Falstaff’s Curse

7 September, 2024 Gibson Square 1 Comment

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.

Falstaff’s Curse (29.07.11)

A curious tale relating to the land known today as Seven Dials and St. Giles exists; it claims that this district will be forever cursed. With modern Oxford Street at its northern boundary, Charing Cross Road to the west, with Endell Street and Long Acre at its east and south respectively, this small area still retains the layout of many of its original medieval streets, which until the mid-19th century was a dense warren of tiny courtyards and alleyways, where large numbers of criminals and prostitutes lived.

A medieval leper hospital existed there amid open fields and the parish church to the north of the neighbourhood – St. Giles – is dedicated to the patron saint of lepers.

Developers erected houses for artisans and skilled tradesman in the 16th century, with Samuel Pepys commentating on the desirability of the area, but within a few years it had degenerated into an overcrowded and dangerous place.

For years St. Giles church officials paid for a last drink at the Resurrection Gate public house for the condemned on their journey down Oxford Road from Newgate Prison to the gallows and Tyburn. The old Oxford Road now renamed St. Giles High Street follows this route but the Resurrection Gate has been rebuilt by the Victorians and renamed The Angel Inn.

If the condemned man had been a resident of the area extra guards would try to stop any rescue mission as he popped into The Resurrection Gate for a swift half. More often than not the condemned would disappear into the Rookeries, as Seven Dials was known and would never be found.

London’s plague of 1665 began here before wiping out a quarter of London’s population and 100 years later William Hogarth depicted the area in his famous engraving “Gin Lane”, which depicts the effects of alcohol and poverty. Charles Dickens called the area Tom All Alone’s in Bleak House, and it wasn’t until the 1880s when much the Rookeries were demolished to make way for Shaftesbury Avenue and New Oxford Street that the area became accessible to the visitor.

But the strangest fact about this area is that businesses fail to thrive with a turnover rate far higher than elsewhere.

Those in the theatre business regard the Shaftsbury Theatre nearby as jinxed with a higher number of flops than other West End venues. Centre Point, that large office block at the area’s north-western corner, which is now listed, was a London scandal for a decade because it was regarded as so ugly no one wanted to lease office space in it.

St. Giles Church, completed in 1712, is a rare example that has escaped Victorian “improvements” and the bombing in the Second World War, now has facing it this area’s newest addition – Central Saint Giles – a garishly clad office retail complex, itself standing forlorn almost empty as testament to Falstaff Curse.

Why is this small corner of London so unlucky? In 1417 Sir John Oldcastle – reputed to be the model for Shakespeare’s Falstaff – was burned here at the stake on the order of King Henry V. Legend has it that as the flames rose around him Sir John is said to have cursed the land and surrounding area on which he was to die as well as the executioner, the king (who died six years later), and all his descendants.

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Rose George

Quote 2 September, 2024 Gibson Square 2 Comments

In some of the great cities of Europe – Paris, Vienna, Prague, and Brussels – tourists bored with life above ground can descend below. All these cities have sewer museums and tours, and all expose their underbelly willingly to the curious. But not London, arguably the home of the most splendid sewer network in Europe.

Rose George (b.1969)

London trivia

London Trivia: Self-service debut

1 September, 2024 Gibson Square 3 Comments

On 1 September 1951 the Premier Store opened in Streatham High Street, which at the time was the longest, busiest shopping strip in South London. Arguably Britain’s first supermarket, when competitors were pulling in £100 per week, Premier racked up £1,000 as 1,500 housewives descended on the store in its first day. Jack Cohen of Tesco bought the chain in 1960 having opened their first self-service store at St. Albans in 1956.

On 1 September 1875 Lambeth’s 14-year-old swimming prodigy Agnes Beckwith swam the six miles from London Bridge to Greenwich in 69 minutes

The 16th century bawdy courts were held at St Paul’s Cathedral and dealt with cases of sexual assault and described intercourse as occupying

All Christopher Wren’s churches are replacements after The Great Fire of London except one St. James’s, Piccadilly- built 1676 on a new site

An elephant is buried under Castle Bar Hill, Ealing the animal died whilst being moved and was interned where it fell

On 1 September 1939 Big Ben’s clock faces were unlit for the first time as war with Germany was impending

When Smithfield superintendent found a gold wedding ring he said the statute of a woman there should be married and soldered to her finger

Gordon Selfridge installed a secret lift in the store so his girlfriends, twins who eventually bankrupted him, could arrive unobserved

Dash to Pope’s Road, Brixton in September to watch the Brixton Bolt, see if you can beat Usain’s 100 metre time of 9.58

On 1 September 1968 the Walthamstow-Highbury Victoria Line extensions opened, giving a considerable uplift to local house prices

Cable Street is named after the local 18th century ropes and cable industry and was originally 608ft, the same length as a nautical cable

It wasn’t until an Act of 1765 that street names were made compulsory, traditional colourful shop signs having to give way to street numbers

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.