Spare London, for London is like the city that thou lovedst.
Thomas Nash (1593-1647), Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem
All posts by Gibson Square
London Trivia: Defending one’s honour
On 16 January 1668, Samuel Pepy’s would write of a duel ‘. . . when the Duke of Buckingham . . . is a fellow of no more sobriety than to fight about a whore’. The incident recorded a duel between George Duke of Buckingham who had taken a mistress Anna Brudenell Countess of Shrewsbury and her husband Francis Talbot 11th Earl of Shrewsbury. Talbot was mortally wounded, dying two months later.
On 16 January 1661 King Charles II appointed Henry Bishop as the country’s first Postmaster General he introduced postmarks usually on the back of the letter used in the Chief Office in London
In 1840 butler Francis Courvoisier was hanged for cutting his master’s throat later P.G. Wodehouse wrote about Jeeves next door in Dunraven Street
Ely Place a little cul-de-sac by Holborn Circus is not part of London but an enclave of Cambridgeshire for the Bishops of Ely
In 14th century London employed Rakers to rake the excrement out of toilets, notably one Richard the Raker died by drowning in his own toilet
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
Dr Fu Manchu, Chinese master criminal created by writer Sax Rohmer was as a result of his encounter with a Chinese man in foggy Limehouse
The world’s first magazine, The Gentleman’s Magazine, began publication with the January 1731 issue and was printed at St John’s Gate, in Clerkenwell
Millwall is the only football club in the top 4 divisions whose name, when written in capitals, requires no curved lines
In the 1800s the slang for a cabbie was Jervey a dubious derivation in the OED is: jarvey ‘from a coachman named Jarvis who was hanged’
In 1953 Fashion designer Laura Ashley started her business in her flat at 83 Cambridge Street, Pimlico where she hand printed fabrics
There are over 23,500 jewels at the Tower of London. The total value of the jewels is estimated to exceed £20 billion
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: I’ve Got The Hump
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.
I’ve Got The Hump (27.01.09)
Kwik Fit Fitters could be the sponsors for these carbuncles growing on virtually every street in The Capital. Every regular driver in the City knows to their cost these humps inflect on the suspension.
Last week I encountered 127 road humps on a single shift, yes I know I’m an anorak but I derive a perverse pleasure compiling these statistics.
Putting in 50 standard humps on three or four connecting residential streets costs about £150,000 and some of the more upmarket ones are wonderful works of art, worthy of exhibiting in the Tate.
In the Borough of Islington, they have even constructed humps on short cul-de-sacs, now it is proposed to remove them and impose a blanket of 20 mph on all roads in their borough.
Some of my customers even ask me to make detours of up to a mile to avoid these obstructions in Islington and have you noticed the nouveau rich now buy 4x4s just so they can travel over these humps at 40mph, while the rest of us mere mortals, apart from white van man can only go at only half their speed?
Do emergency vehicle drivers have to wear gum protectors to spare their teeth when on a shout?
So here’s my suggestion, if we are to keep vehicle speeds down to a reasonable level, cameras loads of them. Okay I know we have more CCTV cameras in London than we can shake a stick at, and average speed cameras are useless as journey times across the Metropolis are down to Victorian averages. A set of eight average-speed cameras covering four residential streets cost £250,000.
Produce the cheaper normal speed cameras concealed in hanging baskets and stick them on every lamppost, a double whammy, beautiful streets and an income for The Burgers of London.
And you never know Rachel de Thame might be tempted on Gardener’s World to extol the virtues of speed cameras in hanging baskets, or should she appear on Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson.
Don’t get caught speeding, travel by Licensed Black Taxis for your comfort and security. Complementary opinions are available on current affairs, politics and football. Ask any driver for details!
Protected: Postcard: London 1963
Lack of cabs
After the murder of Sarah Everard, London’s Mayor vowed to protect women when travelling around the city. At the same time, Sadiq Khan has taken 9,000 perfectly serviceable cabs off the road. By my calculations that means nearly half-a-million fewer available journeys per week. Just saying.
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