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

Knowledge Alarm Bells

8 March, 2022 Gibson Square 2 Comments

How do we save and change The Knowledge of London taxi test?

Alarm bells are ringing in the cabbie community after data revealed the number of students currently being tested to become London taxi drivers has fallen to its lowest level yet, to just 552.

In November 2019 the number of candidates studying the Knowledge of London (KoL) at the testing stages, otherwise known as ‘Appearances’, dropped below 1,000 for the first time and stood at 943. In addition, 714 candidates had not yet reached the testing stages, but were signed on to the KoL and learning the capital’s road network.

Fast forward post-pandemic restrictions to August 2021 and the number of KoL candidates at the testing stages tumbles further to just 552, and worryingly only a further 363 candidates are currently waiting to reach the testing stages.

The KoL taxi driver test has recently come under scrutiny as industry representatives look for ways to increase the number of students undertaking the training.

What is The Knowledge of London?

As the iconic black cabs can be hailed in the street, taxi drivers must have a thorough knowledge of London within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross. Tens of thousands of road names and places of interest must be learnt. This is why taxi drivers have to learn and pass the world-famous Knowledge.

The KoL was introduced as a requirement for taxi drivers in 1865 and completing the test usually takes students three to four years.

How do you get tested on The Knowledge of London?

Each appearance usually consists of four questions about the shortest route between any two points in London. An appearance takes about 20 minutes, and you’ll get a score from A-D.

Depending on your score you will accumulate points; when you have enough you will progress to the next stage when appearances will become more frequent. However, if you get too many Ds, you may be put back to a previous stage.

At Stage 3, appearances are about 56 days apart, at Stage 4 they are about 28 days apart, and at Stage 5 they are about 21 days apart. On average you will have to score on four appearances to accumulate enough points to progress to the next stage.

According to trade sources, a final ‘Suburban’ test has recently been condensed to include fewer routes out of central London into the suburbs to speed up the final testing stage. Upon completion of the ‘Suburban’ test, the KoL student will then be handed their bill and badge to allow them to ply-for-hire as a licensed taxi driver.

There are currently 20,027 licensed taxi drivers in the capital. Of those 17,910 hold All London licences, otherwise known as ‘Green Badges’, and 2,337 hold ‘Yellow‘ Suburban licences.

What changes are being called for?

Let’s start with the obvious measures TfL could take to improve take-up onto the KoL. Scrubbing the fees to sign onto the KoL would be a great start and even subsidising access to KoL schools would speed up the process for students.

There is also an issue when it comes to the advertisement of the role to become a London taxi driver. In the past, word of mouth encouragement from those working within the trade would have been enough. However, with the explosion in social media that has now changed to become more of a hindrance when it comes to recruitment.

Jay Nicola, a driver who passed the KoL in early 2020, said negative drivers play a big part in the lack of recruitment onto The Knowledge. He said:

Drivers claiming it’s ‘dead’ and ‘not worth doing anymore’ are also 100% part of the problem. We all know it’s worth doing and isn’t dead. If it was that bad, they wouldn’t be sat in their cab on a rank having a moan up on Twitter! The doom and gloom this trade brings on itself are shambolic.

Another cabbie added:

Most responses are negative and that’s all I heard from cabbies when I was on the KoL. Sometimes I would get home and wonder if I was wasting my time, but so glad I persevered because I have the best job in the world in my opinion.

There is also the idea that The Knowledge should be better promoted as a career option to young adults leaving A-Level education in the capital.

You must be 18 years old at the time of applying to join the KoL and can only become a licensed taxi driver once you reach 21 years old.

There are not many jobs that will allow a 21-year-old access to starting their own business up in a stable income trade and many argue this is not spoken about enough.

One cabbie who passed the KoL in 2012 said:

At the end of the day this job is the best, and anyone can do it, but you’ve got to do the KoL. I did it because I was getting paid rubbish money and I was determined to pass it to earn better.

One cabbie, Russell Simmons, thought KoL students should be handed an exemption from the Congestion Charge to help them learn the roads. Simmons said:

When they sign on they should be exempt from congestion charge so they can come out during the day. My son did it in a Smart car like many other people but could only come out after 10 pm at night.

And finally, the last one, and possibly the most important, is not being ‘coy’ about the earning potential handed to licensed London taxi drivers.

People sign up on the KoL because there’s a guaranteed job at the end of it, but they need to be told reliably what wage they can expect to be earning from the outset.

Is it worthwhile leaving your current job as a postman, a delivery driver or a private hire driver, to take on the KoL? Financially yes, but how many know that and can trust it’s true?

The question potential KoL students should ask themselves is why so many cabbies don’t leave the industry to go and work in other low paid roles instead.

Like with any job, the role of a taxi driver has its drawbacks and will not be for everyone. If you do not like interacting with people, then this is not the job for you from the outset! But the job is rewarding both financially and in terms of job satisfaction.

Tweaks are needed from everyone connected to the trade, should the KoL survive long-term and they must come now.

Suggested changes

• Remove ‘Red Line’ on appearance testing
• Remove fees to start the KoL and look into possible funding options
• Remove Congestion Charge fees for all KoL students
• Remove the need for final ‘Suburban’ runs test
• Promote case studies based on drivers who have recently joined the industry. Was it worth it?
• Promote the true earning potential of the job
• Promote the role of a licensed black cab driver as a long-term career option
• Promote the role on social media via targeted and trusted channels
• Stop the negative ‘doom and gloom’ on social media from those in the trade comparing the industry to decades in the past
• Stop closing road access to licensed taxi drivers to provide long-term confidence in the trade
• Better support from those within the trade to help and mentor those studying.

Reproduced by kind permission of Perry Richardson editor of TaxiPoint the UK taxi industry news source.

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Arthur Symons

Quote 7 March, 2022 Gibson Square 3 Comments

The English mist is always at work like a subtle painter, and London is a vast canvas prepared for the mist to work on.

Arthur Symons (1865-1945), Cities and Sea-Coasts and Islands

London trivia

London Trivia: Taxi getaway

6 March, 2022 Gibson Square 4 Comments

On 6 March 1997 Picasso’s Tête de Femme worth £700,000 was stolen from the Lefevre Gallery in Mayfair, by a man brandishing a sawn-off shotgun. The raid was over in 35 seconds, the thief jumped into a taxi which took him to, of all places, Halford’s in Battersea at which point he made a phone call before travelling on to Wimbledon and evading capture. To the dismay of art lovers, the painting was later recovered.

On 6 March 1961 the image of the capital’s taxi cab as a black Austin FX3 changed as the capital’s first mini cab by Carline Cabs arrived

Among the final few people ever to be imprisoned in the Tower of London were the Kray twins. (Recaptured after deserting from the Army)

Percy Circus, WC1 was named after writer Sydney Smith’s brother Robert Percy Smith who was a director of the New River Company

Charles Dickens nearly became an actor but missed the audition at the Covent Garden theatre due because he had flu

John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the USA, was married in All Hallows by the Tower in 1797, the oldest church in the City of London was founded in 675AD

In 1747 William Hogarth painted The Stage Coach at the former Angel Inn, 1 Islington High Street, rebuilt and occupied by Co-op Bank

The founder of Soho restaurant Quo Vadis chose the name because he didn’t know whether it would succeed – it means ‘where are you going?’

As the boat race is taking place Spitalfields City Farm raise funds for animal feed by racing 3 goats: ‘Oxford’ and ‘& Cambridge’

Next time you can’t find a bus, try Waterloo Bridge, there, one crosses the Thames every 16 seconds, but very slowly

Edward Garton had an incentive to change the name of his Gartons sauce everyone spelt it backwards and you get snot rag – so HP Sauce it was

On 6 March 1998, the Meteorological Office in Bracknell was rung by a pensioner from Shirley distressed at seeing her garden covered in frogs

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: My favourite things

5 March, 2022 Gibson Square 2 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.

My favourite things (27.12.09)

It’s that time of year when the media is crammed full of trivia, so in the Christmas tradition, here are CabbieBlog’s London favourites:

Neighbourhood: Clerkenwell; I had my first job in London in this small district populated at the time by Italians giving us great delicatessens, a catholic church and an introduction to their beautiful language. The principal industries there was watchmaking and typesetting.

Building: St. Paul’s is obscured by other buildings, so the best place to see it is from Bankside on the other side of the Thames, then cross by Millennium Bridge and climb to the top, and don’t forget to visit the crypt.

View: No problem choosing this one, Waterloo Bridge in the evening. Wordsworth got it wrong when he wrote Upon Westminster Bridge:
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear

Nice sentiment, wrong bridge. But to be fair to Bill, Waterloo wasn’t built then, Ray Davis was right though, with Waterloo Sunset.

Open Space: Hampstead Heath, the highest point in London, with its varied landscape and nutcases swimming in its famous ponds.

Interesting Shop: Pollock’s Toy Museum and shop in Scala Street near Goodge Street. A fascinating collection of toys from a bygone era.

Bar/Pub/Restaurant: Bar Italia on Frith Street, Soho, for the best cappuccino north of the Alps, their espresso machine is over 50 years old and still going strong. Open 24 hours a day, they just kick you out into the street when they want to clean the place. Or for a slightly upmarket tea try Claridges, good value, superb service and no tourists.

London book/film/documentary: London Sight Unseen by Snowdon. I was bought this book a few years ago. Snowdon travelled all over the capital photographing anything unusual or fascinating that caught his photographer’s eye. Or watch the play “The Knowledge” by the late Jack Rosenthal a brilliant comedy about becoming a cabbie.

London street/road/square: Queen Anne’s Gate. Unlike her statute outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, this exquisite little turning which takes its name from the aforementioned queen, encapsulates Georgian London, go there and be amazed that there are still places left in London like this, just don’t tell those modern architects, they’ll want to develop it.

Londoner: Thomas Coram although born in Lyme Regis, Dorset and spent much of his early life at sea and in the American colonies he’s an adopted Londoner. He later became a successful merchant in London, as a great philanthropist Coram was appalled by the many abandoned, homeless children living in the streets of London. On 17 October 1739, he obtained a Royal Charter granted by George II establishing a “hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children.” Visit the Foundling Museum near the children’s playing fields which take his name, just don’t go into the playground next door, you must be accompanied by a minor.

Period: 1650-1720 This is the time when London was brought to its knees after the Great Fire of London, yet within decades London was reborn as the greatest city in the world, in addition to surviving civil war, plague, drought and bankruptcy. It’s a time when London gave rise to a generation of extraordinary men: Sir Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, John Locke, John Evelyn and Nicholas Barbon.

Puppydog tails

Test Your Knowledge: March 2022

4 March, 2022 Gibson Square 2 Comments

Claiming something to be the ‘oldest’ is often fraught with problems, so bear with me on what I think are the correct answers. As with the previous Quizzes, the correct answer will turn green when it’s clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.

1. Britain’s oldest door can be found in which religious building in London?

Westminster Abbey

CORRECT Westminster Abbey has Britain’s oldest door, dated for the first time in 2005 by the process known as dendrochronology, it showed the wood had been felled after 1032 and the door constructed sometime in the 1050s during the reign of King Edward the Confessor.

Tower of London

WRONG Westminster Abbey has Britain’s oldest door, dated for the first time in 2005 by the process known as dendrochronology, it showed the wood had been felled after 1032 and the door constructed sometime in the 1050s during the reign of King Edward the Confessor.

Fulham Palace

2. What is the capital’s oldest mainline train station in Zone One?

Kings Cross

WRONG London Bridge station was opened in December 1836. Kings Cross was opened in 1852 and named after a huge statue of much-derided statue of George IV, removed in 1842. Charing Cross Station was named after a short street near the notional centre of London from which distances from the city are measured and opened in 1864.

London Bridge

CORRECT London Bridge station was opened in December 1836. Kings Cross was opened in 1852 and named after a huge statue of much-derided statue of George IV, removed in 1842. Charing Cross Station was named after a short street near the notional centre of London from which distances from the city are measured and opened in 1864.

Charing Cross

3. Which restaurant claims to be London’s oldest?

Rules

CORRECT Established in 1798, Rules is regarded as London’s oldest restaurant. Edward, The Prince of Wales would entertain his mistresses there in a secret room. Established in 1889, Sweetings is London’s oldest seafood restaurant, apparently gangster George Francis once offered one-time owner George Needham £1,000,000 in cash for the restaurant. Wiltons began life as an oyster stall in 1742 before its establishment in St James in the 1840s, they proudly announced in 2017 that it was older than America.

Wiltons

WRONG Established in 1798, Rules is regarded as London’s oldest restaurant. Edward, The Prince of Wales would entertain his mistresses there in a secret room. Established in 1889, Sweetings is London’s oldest seafood restaurant, apparently gangster George Francis once offered one-time owner George Needham £1,000,000 in cash for the restaurant. Wiltons began life as an oyster stall in 1742 before its establishment in St James in the 1840s, they proudly announced in 2017 that it was older than America.

Sweetings

4. Some of the world’s earliest shops can be found in London, but which is the oldest?

Lock & Co

CORRECT Curiously all three are near each other. Lock & Co founded in 1676 is the oldest hatter in the world who invented the bowler. Berry Brothers are next door and have been supplying fine wines since 1698. Founded by a saddler and whip maker in 1750, Swaine Adeney Brigg has been selling leather goods for centuries, supplying luggage for films including the Kingsman movies.

Berry Brothers & Rudd

WRONG Curiously all three are near each other. Lock & Co founded in 1676 is the oldest hatter in the world who invented the bowler. Berry Brothers are next door and have been supplying fine wines since 1698. Founded by a saddler and whip maker in 1750, Swaine Adeney Brigg has been selling leather goods for centuries, supplying luggage for films including the Kingsman movies.

Swaine Adeney Brigg

5. We’ve more statues than you could shake a stick at, but which is the oldest?

King Alfred the Great in Trinity Church Square

CORRECT Created in the 14th century in honour of King Alfred, the man who ruled Wessex in the 9th century was originally located at the Palace of Westminster before it was brought to its present location in 1823 at about the time the square was being laid. Credited as being London’s oldest equestrian bronze, King Charles I statue is used to measure all distances from London. Queen Elizabeth I dates from 1586 and was created during her reign.

King Charles I sitting astride his horse on the southern side of Trafalgar Square

WRONG Created in the 14th century in honour of King Alfred, the man who ruled Wessex in the 9th century was originally located at the Palace of Westminster before it was brought to its present location in 1823 at about the time the square was being laid. Credited as being London’s oldest equestrian bronze, King Charles I statue is used to measure all distances from London. Queen Elizabeth I dates from 1586 and was created during her reign.

Queen Elizabeth I standing on the facade of St Dunstan-in-the-West in Fleet Street

6. Where is what’s claimed to be London’s oldest house?

Mayesbrooke Road, Barking

WRONG Estimated to have been first built in 1435 this house was known as Walthamstow Tony. Sadly, this isn’t after a 15th century East London ‘Tone’ living in Walthamstow, but the name probably derives from the combination of a Saxon landowner ‘Waltheof’ and the name of a French nobleman called Ralph de Toni. Hidden down a small street in Farringdon lies 41/42 Cloth Fair, built between 1597 and 1614, this is the only house in the City of London to have survived the Great Fire of London. Was the Gunpowder Plot hatched at Eastbury Manor House, Mayesbrooke Road, Barking built in 1557? So says a local tradition supported by the author Daniel Defoe.

Cloth Fair, Smithfield

Church Lane, Walthamstow

CORRECT Estimated to have been first built in 1435 this house was known as Walthamstow Tony. Sadly, this isn’t after a 15th century East London ‘Tone’ living in Walthamstow, but the name probably derives from the combination of a Saxon landowner ‘Waltheof’ and the name of a French nobleman called Ralph de Toni. Hidden down a small street in Farringdon lies 41/42 Cloth Fair, built between 1597 and 1614, this is the only house in the City of London to have survived the Great Fire of London. Was the Gunpowder Plot hatched at Eastbury Manor House, Mayesbrooke Road, Barking built in 1557? So says a local tradition supported by the author Daniel Defoe.

7. You can still worship in London’s oldest Christian church, but which one?

St. Bartholomew-the-Great

WRONG Believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, St. Pancras Old Church was established around the 4th century, on the site of a former Roman temple. St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield might be the oldest intact continuous place of worship, dating back to 1123. Some parts of the original building remain. All Hallows dates back to 625, but very little of the original structure remains.

All Hallows by the Tower

St. Pancras Old Church

CORRECT Believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, St. Pancras Old Church was established around the 4th century, on the site of a former Roman temple. St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield might be the oldest intact continuous place of worship, dating back to 1123. Some parts of the original building remain. All Hallows dates back to 625, but very little of the original structure remains.

8. Love it, or loathe it, can you identify the oldest actress to appear on BBC’s Eastenders?

Barbara Windsor

WRONG June Brown joined the show in 1985, the year it was created, and stayed until January 2020, playing Dot Cotton the chain-smoking, quick-witted and loveable character who left the square in 2020 aged 94. Gretchen Franklin played Ethel Skinner’s final scenes at the age of 89, marking the end of her acting career. The late Barbara Winsor was a mere 79 years old when she left The Vic.

Gretchen Franklin

June Brown

CORRECT June Brown joined the show in 1985, the year it was created, and stayed until January 2020, playing Dot Cotton the chain-smoking, quick-witted and loveable character who left the square in 2020 aged 94. Gretchen Franklin played Ethel Skinner’s final scenes at the age of 89, marking the end of her acting career. The late Barbara Winsor was a mere 79 years old when she left The Vic.

9. Have you watched a match at London’s oldest football club?

Fulham

CORRECT Their formation in 1879 make Fulham the oldest professional club in London and the second oldest in the world. The oldest senior non-league club is thought to be Cray Wanderers, founded in 1860, currently playing in Bromley.

Chelsea

WRONG Their formation in 1879 make Fulham the oldest professional club in London and the second oldest in the world. The oldest senior non-league club is thought to be Cray Wanderers, founded in 1860, currently playing in Bromley.

Arsenal

10. Noted for its quintessential squares, but which is London’s oldest?

Charterhouse

WRONG The earliest squares were little more than open grass, surrounded by timber fences. The first square to have a properly laid out garden at its centre was probably Soho Square built in 1681 by the Earl of Macclesfield. Did you know? The body of Oliver Cromwell is said to lie beneath Red Lion Square, dug up from Westminster Abbey in 1666 and dumped in unconsecrated ground.

Soho

CORRECT The earliest squares were little more than open grass, surrounded by timber fences. The first square to have a properly laid out garden at its centre was probably Soho Square built in 1681 by the Earl of Macclesfield. Did you know? The body of Oliver Cromwell is said to lie beneath Red Lion Square, dug up from Westminster Abbey in 1666 and dumped in unconsecrated ground.

Red Lion