London in Quotations: Kate Moss

Quote 30 December, 2024 Gibson Square 1 Comment

I do love New York. But I’m a Londoner at heart.

Kate Moss (b.1974)

London Trivia: St. Paul’s survives

29 December, 2024 Gibson Square 2 Comments

On 29 December 1940, the largest area of continuous Blitz destruction anywhere in Briain took place. The Luftwaffe dropped over 24,000 high-explosive bombs, times to coincide with a very low tide, making it difficult for firefighters to get water. The famous picture of the church surrounded by smoke and fire was taken by photographer Herbert Mason from the roof of Northcliffe House, the Daily Mail building on Tudor Street.

On 29 December 1860 HMS Warrior an armour-plated warship, the biggest in the Navy was launched and froze on the slipway, six tugs were need to pull her off into the Thames

The term ‘clink’ is derived from the Clink Prison in Southwark a private lock-up owned by the Bishops of Winchester

Under Cleopatra’s Needle, a Victorian time capsule contains railway timetables, bibles, newspapers and photos of beauties of the day

Great Ormond Street was the first hospital in England exclusively for children when it opened in 1851 42 per cent of deaths were children under 10

Queen Victoria’s Coronation Ring was jammed on to the wrong finger by the Archbishop of Canterbury and as a result got stuck

Carving Handel’s statue for Westminster Abbey the artist objected to the size of the maestro’s own ears and modelled them on a young lady’s

Opened in 1881 the Savoy Theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit throughout by electricity, fitted out with 1,200 incandescent light bulbs

To make balls more visible early tennis courts were painted red using lampblack and oxblood the animal being slaughtered on the floor itself

Daimler made the first petrol-driven cab in 1887 but it was 17 years before the vehicle was licensed to ply for hire in London

When escalators were first installed at Earls Court Bumper Harris a one-legged man was employed to demonstrate their safety and ease of use

When weddings take place at Bevis Marks, London’s oldest synagogue, the building is lit by candlelight as it would have been in 1701

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: Stopping dead cats flying

28 December, 2024 Gibson Square 3 Comments

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.

Stopping dead cats flying (01.11.11)

You are sitting in your deckchair enjoying the sun when from next door a ball is kicked into your garden. Annoying? Just think of what it must have been like for George Augustus Henry Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington – Lord George Cavendish to his friends – to have oyster shells (the takeaway food of the day) landing on his head, along with apple cores, empty bottles and the occasional dead cat, thrown over his garden wall from the adjacent alleyway.

The garden wall was the western boundary of his palatial London home which for modesty’s sake was only called Burlington House, which now is the home of the Royal Academy.

After much thought on how to resolve the detritus conundrum, he came upon the brilliant idea to turn this alley into a shopping mall, making it one of the world’s earliest. Completed in 1819 these tiny shops remained virtually unchanged until an upper story was added in 1906 creating a series of rooms which prompted one wag to remark “they were let to the better sort of courtesan” These ladies would use these small rooms as their places of work and when they saw guards coming they’d whistle to warn their pickpocket friends down below of the imminent danger. This has led to the beadles (the private police of the arcade) imposing the no whistling rule which remains to this day, sometimes with embarrassing consequences.

In the early 1980s, a beadle warned a whistler asking him to refrain, the offender turned round to reveal Paul McCartney who was giving an impromptu performance from his repertoire. To cover the beadle’s embarrassment McCartney was given a whistling exemption for life. He now admits to doing his Christmas shopping each year and while in the arcade gives a furtive little whistle.

Only one other alteration has been done to this Regency masterpiece, the beautiful triple-arch entrance was destroyed in 1931 for no discernable reason, but much of its Grade II-listed interior remains as the day it was first built by Lord Burlington nearly 200 years ago.

Until now, the new owners have spent £104 million on the purchase and intend to carry out a £2.5 million makeover, including a new floor and lighting and incorporating art installations by Angel of the North creator Antony Gormley.

Existing shop tenants fear that the refurbishment will destroy the character and quaintness of the arcade by enlarging the units to accommodate such downmarket brands as handbag maker Lulu Guinness and cobbler Jimmy Choo.

What next? Soon the beadles will drop their ban on running and carrying an open umbrella and perish the thought – allow the builders laying the new flooring to whistle – which in all probability their song of choice will be Yesterday . . all my troubles were so far away.

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Jilly Cooper

Quote 23 December, 2024 Gibson Square 2 Comments

I’d never have written the big books in London.

Jilly Cooper (b.1937)

London trivia

London Trivia: Edward Heath bombed

22 December, 2024 Gibson Square 3 Comments

On 22 December 1974 Conservative Leader and former Prime Minister Edward Heath’s home in Victoria was bombed by the IRA. Thrown from a Ford Cortina the 2lb. bomb damaged the exterior of the house. Two policemen and a patrol car chased the vehicle as it drove off, but the Cortina crashed a few minutes later in Chelsea and several men fled from the vehicle. Edward Heath was not at home at the time but arrived 10 minutes later.

On 22 December 2003 the London Frost Fair was revived with a 1-day festival at Bankside, it is now a regular feature in December

The London Hackney Carriages Act 1843 forbids a cabbie whose ‘For Hire’ light is on to seek trade whilst the vehicle is moving – fine £200!

Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott – who gave us the telephone box – Grade II listed Battersea Power Station is Europe’s largest brick building

Jeremy Bentham proposed eminent men be preserved and stuffed for prosperity unfortunately his head rotted and replaced with a wax replica

Horse drawn Hansom Cabs gained a renaissance in the Great War as petrol cabs slumped by 60% due to petrol shortages-1947 saw the last horse

When opened in 1928 the owners of the Piccadilly Theatre claimed that the bricks used if laid end to end would stretch from London to Paris

Peach Melba created at the Savoy for soprano Nellie Melba used her favourite ingredients to reduce the cold of ice cream on her vocal cords

On 22 December 2007 after being on the pitch 1.2 seconds Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner scored the fastest goal by a substitute in English Footy

North End (nicknamed Bull and Bush) Station on Northern Line between Hampstead/Golders Green closed in 1907 before seeing a single passenger

In 1901 Westminster Abbey became the first public building to be vacuumed when cleaned by a ‘Puffing Billy’ for Edward VII’s coronation

Barges rarely ply the Thames but when the Crown Jewels travel by carriage they traditionally do so in the company of the Queen’s Bargemaster

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.