Living in London is like being an inmate of a reformatory school. Everywhere you turn you run into some regulation designed for your own protection. The Government is like the School Matron with her keys jangling at her waist. She orders you about, good-humouredly enough, but all the same, in no uncertain terms.
Charles Ritchie (1906-1955), The Siren Years: A Canadian Diplomat Abroad 1937-1945
On 4 January 1946 the day after William Joyce became the last Briton put to death for treason, 27-year-old Theodore Schurch a British soldier of Anglo-Swiss parentage was hanged for treachery by Albert Pierrepoint at Pentonville Prison, the last person to be hanged for a crime other than murder. Tried by court-martial at the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea during September 1945. He was found guilty of nine charges of treachery.
On 4 January 1962 Galton & Simpson sitcom Steptoe & Son was first broadcast from the BBC’s Shepherds Bush
In 1736 gravedigger Thomas Jenkins received 100 lashes for selling dead bodies from St. Dunstan and All Saints Church, Stepney High Street
On the site of Bridewell Court, New Bridge Street, Blackfriars once stood Bridewell Palace the residence of Henry VIII from 1515-1523
In 1938 a pedestrian was killed by a stone phallus falling from a statue on Zimbabwe House in the Strand other appendages removed for health and safety
During World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle set up Le Bureau Centrale de Renseignements et d’Action at 10 Duke Street, Marylebone
England’s first public playhouse was The Theatre built in Curtain Road in 1576 by actor James Burbage. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England
Comedian and actor Will Hay English comedian, who first became well-known for his theatrical sketch as a joke-school master lived at 45 The Chase, Norbury from 1927 to 1934
Spurs’ first competitive match was versus St. Albans in the London Association Cup in 1885, Spurs won decisively 5-2
The George Inn, Borough High St. dates back to 1676, is the last galleried coaching inn in London and is mentioned in Dickens’ Little Dorrit
Abbey Road Free Church members formed the Abbey Road Building Society in 1874 in 1944 it merged with the National to form the Abbey National
In 1969 Laurence Olivier started a petition demanding that the dining car of the London to Brighton train reintroduce kippers – it worked
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.
During the five years that I was studying there, I would spend some – well a lot – of my time at college staring out of the window at a silver cube in the middle of the Elephant and Castle northern roundabout. Today I would bet the thousands who pass through that double roundabout at the Elephant don’t even notice the enormous box in front of them.
At 75ft wide and 20ft high it is what must be by volume the largest monument in London – and nobody seems to notice it.
The Michael Faraday Memorial was designed by the brutalist architect Rodney Gordon who, with the regeneration of the Elephant in the early 60s, wanted to embody the visionary credentials of the man who was the area’s favourite son, who was born in nearby Newington Butts.
Unfortunately, even though the notorious Heygate Estate was still under construction vandalism was already a problem. So out went Rodney Gordon’s box of glass, which would have allowed the public to see the London Underground transformer beneath, and thus make a connection with the pioneer of electricity. The glass was substituted by polished stainless steel panels, but they needn’t have bothered with the increasing traffic levels closer inspection is almost impossible marooned as it is surrounded by the Elephant and Castle gyratory system.
In 1996 Blue Peter held a competition, which was won by a local schoolgirl from English Martyr R.C. Primary School, to design a lighting scheme to illuminate its 728 steel panels and thus draw the public’s attention to its presence.
That same year the monument gained Grade II listing status, unlike its neighbour the Heygate Estate currently in the process of being demolished.
The box has appeared on the BBC’s Dr Who and Harry Potter, but despite its size and prominence, it is ignored by Londoners. In 1995 the Evening Standard carried a picture of the cube with the caption ‘What on Earth is it?’
The anxious wait is over! I can now announce the winner. The correct answer, which Tom Hutley achieved by running 14.75 miles to all of London’s Cabbie Green Shelters, was an impressive 2 hours 31 minutes, at a pace of 6:23km. The competition was won by Alan; unfortunately, his entry was not close enough for the bonus book.
Another month and another medical procedure. For the last three months, I’ve had three operations. Hopefully, I’ll not come in contact with another surgeon’s knife for some time…well, apart from another eye cataract removal.
This AI video is of London in the 1600s, done by videomaker Matt Reconstructs History. Very impressive it is too, since a lot of obvious post-production work to create longer sequences has been done. My only criticism is the Thames is too tranquil under London Bridge, as the saying went: ‘London Bridge was for wise men to pass over, and for fools to pass under’, referring to the hazardous, rapid waters between the starlings, where strong tides created dangerous conditions, making rowing underneath a risky feat only attempted by daring, specialised boatmen while most people crossed safely on top or by disembarking.
The Knowledge of London is 160 years old. Started in 1865 following the cabbies’ inability to find The Great Exhibition. After the recent hiatus, applications are up by 68.7 per cent in the past 3 years, admittedly from a very low base, probably as a consequence of a faltering economy. In addition less drivers are taking retirement, almost certainly for the same reason.
A huge thank you to all who follow CabbieBlog; those who regularly comment or ‘like’; and to the many who just pop in whilst passing by without leaving a metaphorical footprint on the site. This blog is approaching its 17th anniversary; it would be a much less rewarding experience without your engagement. I personally won’t be sorry to say farewell to 2025, but let me wish all of you health and happiness for this New Year.
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I walk to Oxford Street and climb on the number 8. It’s freezing and it starts to rain and it’s the ugliest bus I’ve ever seen, rattling down the ugliest streets, in the ugliest city, in the ugliest country, in the ugliest of all possible worlds.
David Thewlis (b.1963), The Late Hector Kipling
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