All posts by Gibson Square

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

It’s not fair

7 Comments

When writing a post for a blog, you might have to research the subject, format the text and upload this to your hosting provider. You’ll probably want to illustrate this with a picture you’ve taken or spend time sourcing an appropriate image.

All this completed you sit back to see how many people actually want to read your missive.

The halcyon days of blogging appear to be over, and apart from a few notable exceptions most bloggers are finding their hit rates on a downward trend. In fact, compiling my statistics for next month’s yearly update I’ve found CabbieBlog hasn’t bucked this downward trend.

Imagine my surprise when my son told me of a picture (see featured low resolution image) he had taken of ASDA in Romford attracting a lot of attention.

This prosaic snap, he’d been informed, had attracted 1.9 million hits on Google.

There really is no justice in cyberspace.

Thinking allowed

It is so simple nowadays

2 Comments

When I was young you’d get a bus to the local swimming pool proffer sixpence and the heated water awaited. Not so today: 1. download an app on your smartphone; 2. register yourself on the app; 3. obtain an entry card; 4. link card to your app; 5. choose your preferred pool; 6. book and pay for a swim; 7. gain entry using said card. Simples as they say.

Twice I’ve had only 10 minutes’ notice of the pool’s closure only to receive an email the next day informing me:

You are receiving this e-mail because our records show that you did not attend a Swimming Session which you had booked for yesterday at Central Park…We are asking all customers to please be considerate of others when booking sessions. We have limited spaces available, especially at peak times, so if you are unable to attend your session please cancel at least 4 hours in advance so we can offer the space to others…Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and we look forward to seeing you in-centre soon.

Puppydog tails

Johnson’s London Dictionary: London Plane

4 Comments

LONDON PLANE (n.) Not to be confused with an aircraft (whatever that is), but a Georgian arboreal addition to London before the advent of the double-decker stagecoach, which now is much given to swerving to avoid branches.

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

Puppydog tails

Crossing roads

Leave a comment

I‘ve written before about there being ‘no roads in The City’, and recently I’ve found that one examiner could ask Knowledge students: “Take me from Victoria Station to Chelsea Football Club, without going through any traffic lights”.

Well, cobbling together these two concepts, and including a project from Victor Keegan, a serious walker who has plotted a walk from Trafalgar Square to Greenwich, without crossing over a single road, I’ve come up with this project.

Is it possible to go from Charing Cross (the epicentre for The Knowledge) and get to Greenwich (home of the Meridian Line which started modern navigation), without crossing a single road?

Starting on Charing Cross, the road, not the station, which is at the western end of Northumberland Avenue turn right into Strand and head down for 100 yards. Turn right and go through Charing Cross Station (passing another Charing Cross in the station’s forecourt) and across Hungerford Bridge until you are on the South Bank. Turn left and continue the riverside walk until reaching Tower Bridge. Cross the bridge and hug the river around St Katharine Docks carry walking on further until you come to Island Gardens at the tip of the Isle of Dogs. This last stretch was the most tricky. Officially you’re on the Thames Path when you cross Wynan Road. The Thames Path leads you on to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, then using the King William Walk, footpaths take you to the Meridian Line and your destination.

Featured image: Northumberland Avenue Looking west towards Trafalgar Square by Chris Downer (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Christopher Fowler

Quote 9 Comments

Now, the tourist hot spots of the city were the very parts that made it like everywhere else. Was it possible to imagine those buildings without inhaling the animal-fat stink of McDonald’s or KFC? He never thought London would cease to appeal to him, but the little faded glory it still possessed was being scuffed away by the dead hand of globalization. On his down days he saw London as a crumbling ancient house, slowly collapsing under the weight of its own past.

Christopher Fowler (b.1953)