All posts by Gibson Square

A Licensed Black London Cab Driver I share my London with you . . . The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Previously Posted

Previously Posted: Goodbye Piccadilly

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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.

Goodbye Piccadilly (06.10.09)

When was the last time you had your inside leg measured? Or for that matter you were asked rather discreetly “and what side does Sir dress?”

One of the last bastions of sartorial elegance is hanging up its tape measure for the last time at the end of the year. Baron of Piccadilly one of London’s quirkier outfitters is to close, as Crown Estates their landlord plans to pull down their block for re-development.

Further along the road was Simpsons of Piccadilly, now a Waterstones book store. Simpsons opened in 1936 in what is now a listed building the Art Deco design was the first shop in Britain to have an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. This new style was made possible by arc-welding a wide-span steel frame, rather than earlier techniques which involved using bulky bolted joints.

The company built as a quality clothing store specifically for men had the ethos that Simpson of Piccadilly was to be a purveyor of “quality clothes for the well-heeled”. Indeed, the store regularly attracted the ‘tweed set’ including Royals, MPs, dignitaries and country landowners.

During the early 1950s, scriptwriter Jeremy Lloyd was employed as a junior assistant at Simpsons; he drew on his experiences to come-up with the idea for the highly-popular television sitcom Are You Being Served?

At least Fortnums are still in Piccadilly, the store that gave you such exotic foods as Harts Horn; Gable Worm Seed; Saffron and Dirty White Candy, and incidentally were the first in 1886 to stock the entire output of a Mr Heinz’s newly invented canned food.

Thinking allowed

Cabbie, what does an Iambic Pentameter sound Like?

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On 1st October 2021, Transport for London changed how they assess London PHV drivers’ English language skills and introduced a requirement for drivers to show an understanding of safety, equality and regulatory matters. Drivers have to satisfy the English Language Requirement by taking and passing a new speaking and listening test. It is proposed that these requirements are to be extended to cabbies. Throughout The Knowledge of London, the applicant must sit more than TEN face-to-face oral exams to display their knowledge of the road network. It is preposterous that London cabbies are required to undertake the English Language test. By completing the KoL Taxi Drivers have demonstrated they have a topographical knowledge of London and a command of the English Language.

Puppydog tails

Johnson’s London Dictionary: Protestors

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PROTESTORS (n.) Moneyed individuals who doth indulge in obstructing costermongers purveying their goods.

Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon

A window on My World

Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion

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In mid-life David Styles started a journey of discovering London, embarking on a five-year journey learning The Knowledge of London and unearthing facts along the way unknown to many Londoners. Once qualified he would meet, among others, Grayson Perry dressed as Little Bo Peep and the Archbishop of York on the eve of a Royal Wedding.

Part memoir with useful tips on increasing your memory; part manual on how to pass The Knowledge enabling you to join the ranks of the world’s finest cab service; and part London tourist guide. Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion takes you on a cabbie’s journey from working in an ancient industry facing redundancy to confronting Knowledge examiner, the feared, Mr Ormes.

He discovers how trees were planted in 1399 specifically to repair Westminster Hall’s roof some 500 years later, discloses that a Tory MP confused the Liberal Club with a public toilet, shows why maps are a work of fiction and advises that, for the sake of your health, you really shouldn’t queue outside Madame Tussauds. Where, should you wish, buy American postage stamps, finds Dick Whittington’s cat and seeks out the ancient London Stone.

Boris Johnson gets to be interviewed and the book explains why all London cabbies are obliged to carry a health certificate, at any time, not just when Boris is a passenger, and just what is behind those cabbie green shelters.

A London cabbie for over 25 years, David Styles, writing under the pseudonym Gibson Square (the first ‘Run’ on The Knowledge), has written about London on CabbieBlog.com since June 2008, and his blog has been read by over 1.4 million; he was features editor at Radio Taxis; he has contributed to Time Out, Metro, Evening Standard, Mail on Line, National Geographic; and The Spirit of London, a book presented to Her Majesty the Queen and given to all athletes competing in the London 2012 Olympics. He also appeared in the BBC documentary A Picture of London.

Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion is his first book, available free on Kindle Unlimited or may be downloaded for £4.49, the paperback is modesty priced at £8.99 should you prefer that rather quaint method of reading.

Gavin from New Zealand writes:

I am a Kiwi and served in the London Ambulance Service from 1980-85. I used the cabs regularly. When I came back for a holiday in 2014, I got all our party to use them. Convenient, cheap and took you right to the doorstep of your destination. But the best part is the banter. If you were in David’s cab and he was giving you a commentary like in this book, I wouldn’t want to leave his cab. “The Knowledge” study and test have some intrigue and romanticism about them. David finally sets the record straight in a most enlightening and humorous manner. London is one big history book, far too big to ever be published. If David was my history teacher, I wouldn’t have given up. His explanations of maps, beehives on hotel roofs, trivia and where cabbies go to pee and eat, are all in this book. I couldn’t put this book down. Cheekily written from the heart and the brain.