When I started The Knowledge I was shocked to see so many rough sleepers in shop doorways. Now a cross-party group of London Councils report that nearly 170,000 people in London are homeless, i.e. they’re living in hostels, bedsits, or other temporary accommodation. That’s an increase of about 17,000 from last year and means that one in 50 people in the city are now classed as homeless. Most depressingly, “the organisation estimates that this includes more than 83,000 children”.
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Johnson’s London Dictionary: Pie and Mash
PIE AND MASH (n.) Traditional East London delicacy topped by a green liquid described as liquor despite the absence of alcohol.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
London’s first photo
This is thought to be the earliest surviving photograph of London. It was taken in 1839 by Monsieur de St. Croixin, a Frenchman who had set up his camera behind the statue of King Charles I. The featured image is from approximately the same position nearly 200 years later.
M. Croixin’s choice of location brings us to the vexing question of just where is London’s centre. It is a quandary that has perplexed geographers, cartographers and general town-planning nerds for generations. In the strictest geographical sense, it should be where lines intersect between the four furthermost locations which would, surprisingly, make the Shell Centre buildings on the Thames riverside just outside Waterloo Station London’s actual epicentre.
The official point, according to The Carriage Office, which is the arbitrary starting point for The Knowledge is the King Charles I Statue in Trafalgar Square, the very spot chosen by the photographer.
In 1649 John Rivett, a brazier, was ordered to destroy the King’s statue by Cromwell, but he buried it in his garden and made a fortune by selling souvenirs allegedly from the metal. He gave it back to Charles II upon the Restoration of the Monarchy, and presumably, he was rewarded for his loyalty.
The image shows the statue behind railings (presumably to protect it from Republicans), these have since been removed and the surrounding pavement turned into a mini-roundabout.
A ghostly form of a Hansom cab driver (the vehicles had only appeared on London’s streets some five years earlier) is seen on the right, waiting outside what is now the Trafalgar Theatre. Was this cabbie the first Londoner ever to be photographed?
London in Quotations: Benedict Cumberbatch
I drive a motorbike, so there is the whiff of the grim reaper round every corner, especially in London.
Benedict Cumberbatch (b.1976)
London Trivia: Marchioness disaster
On 20 August 1989 the pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being run down by the dredger Bowbelle in the Thames, a total of 51 people died in the collision. The Bowbelle’s skipper, Douglas Henderson, was acquitted after a trial in 1991. After a campaign lasting 10 years a public inquiry criticised Henderson for failing to set up a proper lookout. In 2002 the first River Thames lifeboat rescue service was started in response to one of the report’s recommendations.
On 20 August 1929 the BBC made the first transmissions of John Logie Baird’s experimental 30-line television system
Chancery Lane takes its name from the 14th century Court of Chancery administered by the Lord Chancellor’s personal staff, the Chancery
Charing Cross was a hamlet known as Charing derived from Anglo-Saxon word cerring meaning ‘bend’ its position by a large bend in the Thames
Canning Town once had no roads, pavements, drains, fresh water, houses built below high tide level behind embankments were damp and flooded
The London Silver Vaults opened 1876 survived a direct hit by a German bomb in World War II that completely obliterated the building above
Jeremy Sandford’s much acclaimed 1966 BBC play Cathy Come Home directed by Ken Loach was partly filmed on Popham Street, Islington
Kensington Olympia opened in 1886 as the National Agricultural Hall on the site of a vineyard and market gardens in Kensington High Street
Chesham the start for the Tube Challenge visiting all stations on the network in the fastest time first completed in 1959 latest 16 hours 29 minutes 57 seconds
The original Tube escalators ended with a diagonal so it finished sooner on the right leading to the etiquette of standing on the right
Cannon Street was known as Candelwrichstrete meaning ‘candle maker street’ after the many candlestick makers that had set up residence
Olympia proved popular with King Edward VII who requisitioned a private suite as a secret rendezvous for liaisons with his many mistresses
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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