All posts by Gibson Square

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

London Trivia: Hibernian duel

22 August, 2021 Gibson Square 6 Comments

On 22 August 1809 according to the London Gazette a duel took place in a field between Highgate and Hampstead Heath between two Hibernians, not by pugilism, but with cudgels, their national weapons. They fought for an hour and five minutes with the greater desperation until O’Reilly fell to the ground covered in contusions.

On 22 August 1854 magistrates spent three hours dealing with cases arising from the fair at Camberwell, including numerous children, as young as nine or ten, who were charged with pickpocketing

Robert Peel’s new Metropolitan Police Force nicknamed ‘Blue Devils’ wore blue to avoid confusion with the red coats of the army

St Bartholomew’s Hospital is the oldest hospital in London having been founded in 1123 by a monk named Rahere

Covent Garden is believed to be haunted by the ghost of William Terris who met an untimely death near the station in 1897

In 1966 Russian spy George Blake escaped Wormwood Scrubs and a 42 year stretch by making use of a ladder made of knitting needles

During World War II a branch of the Piccadilly line Holborn/Aldwych was closed and British Museum treasures were stored in the empty spaces

18th century Shepherd Market Mayfair was home to courtesan Kitty Fisher who, insulted by a low value note given for services given, ate it!

West Ham’s I’m forever blowing bubbles was inspired by trialist schoolboy Billy Murray who resembled the boy used to advertise Pears soap

When Paddington Underground Station, as the western terminus of London’s first underground, opened in January 1863 it was called Bishop’s Road

Marc Isambard Brunel came up with his idea on how to dig the Thames’ Tunnel whilst in debtors’ prison watching a shipworm bore through wood

In 1792 Lady Braddock and Mrs Elphinstone duelled Braddock’s hat got shot off and Elphinstone wounded in the arm by a sword – later they had tea

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.

Thinking allowed

Boris Bags

20 August, 2021 Gibson Square 2 Comments

I‘ve always been amused when I pass this shop in Hackney Road. Bags what? A wife, a mistress, a brace of pheasant. Unfortunately, this manufacturer of luggage has nothing to do with our current prime minister – Boris.

So proud of their name, their old factory in Hertford Road has Boris emblazoned across the facade.

The red-brick 1913 building was erected for Willeys, a Devon gas equipment company. With its huge ‘Boris Limited’ sign, this has partly been used for storage in recent years. The adjacent mission hall was created as an adjunct to the nearby St Peter’s Church in 1887.

The mission hall at one time housed plastic injection moulding equipment used in the manufacture of Boris Bags rigid suitcases, which, at the time, was one of only three wholesale bag suppliers in the whole of London.

As well as services, the mission hall was when built to be used for ‘amusements of an elevating character such as concerts, addresses, lectures on history, biography and other kindred subjects, nothing unseemly or undesirable was to be permitted’.

Which I suppose brings us neatly back to that other ‘Boris’.

Derelict Boris factory by Paul Bolding (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) for information can be found on Layers of London

A window on My World

Johnson’s London Dictionary: Blog

18 August, 2021 Gibson Square 3 Comments

BLOG (v.) Electronick diary unto which earnest fools do commit their innermost thoughts, safe in the knowledge that no man shall ever read them

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

Puppydog tails

Capturing a moment in time

17 August, 2021 Gibson Square 2 Comments

Thank you Netgalley and Amber Books for the opportunity to review this beautifully illustrated tome.

Written by one of London’s most innovative Blue Badge Guides, Katie Wignall’s Abandoned London takes you on a journey around forgotten, or unknown (at least to this cabbie) buildings and sights in the capital.

Each chapter covers a single theme, from transport to shops and retail.

Accompanying the images are descriptions by the author disclosing little known facts about the subject. Who knew that the decrepit Asylum Chapel in Peckham was, rather than a hospital for the mentally ill, a retirement home for pub landlords that is now a licensed wedding venue.

London is forever a city that reinvents itself and some of the buildings I discovered on the knowledge are, like the Hungarian Gay Hussar Restaurant in Soho, in business since 1953, are now featured here as derelict, awaiting reinvention.

As the Londonist website acknowledges, the title also holds a slight irony, given that the book was written during the lockdown, when much of central London was all-but-abandoned.

This lavishly illustrated book with over 200 photos of abandoned places capturing a moment in time is sure to appeal to anyone who has a passing interest in London.

Featured image from the book: Grade II Listed Savoy Cinema, Burnt Oak by Ewan Monro (CC BY-SA 2.0).