Reports in the press claim that the Met is ‘planning to spend £440,000 on mounting certificates and picture frames’ to maintain morale by recognising officers’ ‘bravery in the line of duty, innovative instigations, long service, and for those retiring’. Very worthy I’m sure, but in my day a poster from Athena of a tennis player scratching her bum only cost 50p. Mind you her outfit later sold for £15,000.
All posts by Gibson Square
Johnson’s London Dictionary: Black Rod
BLACK ROD (n.f.) The usher belonging to the order of the garter, unsurprisingly so-called from the black rod he carries in his hand.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
The London Grill: Rob Hinchcliffe
We challenge our contributors to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don’t take “Sorry Gov” for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out what Londoners think about their city. The questions are the same but the answers vary wildly.
Rob Hinchcliffe is a writer and editor who can’t stop writing about London. In the early 2000s he started a blog called The Big Smoker in his spare time and that eventually became the award-winning site, Londonist. These days Rob edits London in Bits a newsletter about the city’s news, politics, arts, food and people.
What’s your secret London tip?
If you can walk there, then walk there. You miss so much by getting on the Tube and chances are you’ll come across something even more interesting than the place you were heading. If you have to get a cab, get a black cab. I’m not just saying that. Uber is a terrible company and a dreadful service. Cabbies know stuff. The only reason I know one of the great train robbers used to live on my road is because I got a black cab home one day.
What’s your secret London place?
Bit of a weird one because it’s hiding in plain sight, but a lot of people walk past Le Beaujolais because of its location right in the middle of all the tourist traps, or they peer in and see a dark cave with a load of ties hanging from the ceiling and get scared off. But it’s one of the best bars in the whole of London and you will always get to talk to someone interesting there, plus the people-watching is first class.
What’s your biggest gripe about London?
Right now it would be the amount of small, independent businesses that are being forced to close. Every other day another one seems to bite the dust and we don’t seem to be able to do anything to stop it.
What’s your favourite building?
I could happily sitting front of the British Museum all day and I’ve always been a fan of St Pancras.
What’s your most hated building?
Probably the MI6 building. Eugh.
What’s the best view in London?
Well, I live in Crystal Palace, so I have to say the view from ’the triangle’ looking back out over The City don’t I?
What’s your personal London landmark?
I proposed to my wife on Chelsea Bridge so there can be no other answer (but if there was it would probably be the Crystal Palace dinosaurs).
What’s London’s best film, book or documentary?
Film: Oh wow…Okay. Alan Moore’s From Hell is up there for the book title (but not the film!). But I just wrote a whole article about how much I love Geoff Ryman’s 253 so I have to mention that too. More recently there’s Little Scratch by Rebecca Watson, Loom by Matthew Turner and Plume by Will Wiles. Also, I loved The Parakeeting of London by Nick Hunt because we have so many in SE19.
Films: An American Werewolf in London is one of my all-time favourites, and the other film featuring monsters on the Tube: Death Line…. But what about The Elephant Man? The Long Good Friday? 10 Rillington Place? This question is evil!
Documentaries: There aren’t enough good London documentaries actually. The London Nobody Knows, obviously. The Cardinal and the Corpse is great. And Keiller’s ‘London’ has to be on the list.
What’s your favourite restaurant?
Other than cheese and bread at Le Beaujolais? 🙂 If it’s a special occasion then probably Pollen Street Social, but less fancy than that I would usually go to one of the Noble Rots or Quality Wines.
How would you spend your ideal day off in London?
I would probably walk the dog through Crystal Palace to pick up a coffee and breakfast, then I’d head off on my own and go see an exhibition somewhere like Whitechapel Gallery or the Photographer’s Gallery. Seeing a film in the afternoon on my own is one of my favourite things to do and I’m a lifetime member of the Prince Charles cinema, so I’d go there next (maybe stop off at the Coach on Greek Street for a drink or Bar Bruno for lunch). Then in the evening, dinner somewhere (see previous answer) and end up somewhere like Bradley’s or Trisha’s (depending on how much energy I have left).
London in Quotations: George Orwell
In a town like London there are always plenty of not quite certifiable lunatics walking the streets, and they tend to gravitate towards bookshops, because a bookshop is one of the few places where you can hang about for a long time without spending any money.
George Orwell (1903-1950)
London Trivia: Birth of an ideal
On 30 April 1907 for 20 days history was in the making. At the Brotherhood Church, which once stood on the corner of Southgate Road and Balmes Road, the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was held. Attendees included Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxembourg and Maxim Gorky. The rest is history. The site is now occupied by a mixed-use residential and business building, with the exact site of the church now a Tesco Express.
On 30 April 1980 gunmen took over the Iranian embassy at Prince’s Gate, under the full glare of the media the SAS stormed the building on 5 May killing 5 and releasing the hostages
In 1906 Messrs Spillberg, Nabian and Aaroris of Nelson Street, Stepney were convicted of smuggling saccharin which then was considered a drug
Liverpool Street’s Great Eastern Hotel (now the Andaz) opened in 1884 and was at one time the only hotel in the City
Builders working on the Builders working on the Bakerloo Line are reported to have suffered from the bends while tunnelling under the Thames
During World War II and the Nazi occupation of Holland Queen Wilhelmina moved her Dutch government into her London home at 77 Chester Square, Belgravia
The Cliff Richard musical Summer Holiday had a bus bound for ‘London to the South of France via Dover Paris’ most was shot in LT’s bus works Aldenham
Museum of London tracing the capital’s history from Prehistoric times to the present day is the largest urban history museum in the world
In 1966 actor, bodybuilder and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger lived at 335 Romford Road Ilford as a guest of bodybuilder Charles Bennett
The first section of the Underground ran between Paddington and Farringdon Street. The same section now forms part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines
Miles Coverdale who supervised the production of the first complete bible in English in 1535 was once Rector of St Magnus the Martyr
When the Millennium Dome was built, a Blue Peter capsule was buried containing amongst other items a spice girls cd, a tamagotchi and a Blue Peter badge!
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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