O2 ARENA (n.) Tent erected for the Millennia that lost a King’s ransom, that has transmogrified into the largest broadsheet for a purveyor of communications.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
It is that time of year when the media publish lists. You know the sort of thing: recommended books, best Christmas puddings, annual weather data and gongs to people you’ve never heard of. So I thought I’d list the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree donated by the people of Oslo.
Common name: Norway Spruce
Scientific name: Picea abies
Symbolism: Greek mythology devoted to Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the Moon
Common title: The Queen of the Forest
Height: 70ft
Age: 70 years
Sourced location: Nordmarka, a heavily forested area north of Oslo
Felled: Mid-November
How long we’ve received the tree: 76 years
Lights: 500 halogen bulbs
Lighting ceremony: Thursday 7th December
Number of branches: Well over 100, just guessing!
Needles: Pointy evergreen glossy dark green, less than 2 inches long
After Twelfth Night: The tree is taken down, and turned into mulch, which is then used in gardens around London
The story behind the tree: The tradition of cutting down a tree and putting it up in Oslo’s Universitetsplassen is a long-held tradition. So sacred is it, that even when Norway was occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War, members of the Royal Norwegian Navy snuck back into their own country to cut down a tree each year, bringing it back to London for King Haakon in exile there. (now THAT is a Christmas film waiting to happen). Today, the tree symbolises not just what Britain did in the war, but also a respect for democracy, human rights, peace — and solidarity between the two countries and cities.
When he had first arrived, he had found London huge, odd, fundamentally incomprehensible, with only the Tube map, that elegant multicoloured topographical display of underground railway lines and stations, giving it any semblance of order. Gradually he realized that the Tube map was a handy fiction that made life easier but bore no resemblance to the reality of the shape of the city above. It was like belonging to a political party, he thought once, proudly, and then, having tried to explain the resemblance between the Tube map and politics, at a party, to a cluster of bewildered strangers, he had decided in the future to leave political comment to others.
Neil Gaiman (b.1960), Neverwhere
On 17 December 1849 the world’s first bowler hat was sold by James Lock & Co., hatters of St. James’s Street. Created for Edward Coke, younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester for his gamekeepers. It was designed by hat-makers Thomas & William Bowler. To ensure it fulfilled his brief of protecting the wearer from low hanging branches Coke is said to have twice stamped on the hat’s crown before parting with his 12/-.
On 17 December 1983 an IRA bomb exploded outside Harrod’s, killing six and injuring 90, the car containing the bomb was projected onto the 5th floor of an adjoining building
In 1952 a Nigerian visitor was fined £50 for committing an indecent act with a pigeon in Trafalgar Square and £10 for having it for tea
Caxton Hall has been the venue for celebrity weddings including Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland. Diana Dors liked it so much she used it twice!
Suicide victims were once buried at crossroads to bring absolution, last person was Abel Griffiths interred at Grosvenor Place/Lower Grosvenor Place 1823
In December 2005 the London Eye was lit pink in celebration of the first Civil Partnership performed on the wheel
The Proms came to the Royal Albert Hall in 1941 from the Queen’s Hall in Marylebone which was bombed in the Blitz
Before the statue of Nelson was placed on top of the 170-foot-tall column in Trafalgar Square in 1842, 14 stonemasons had dinner at the top
The place name Millwall originates from the windmills that previously lined the western embankment of the Isle of Dogs
There was great opposition to the building the London underground from Victorian Churchmen because they thought it would ‘disturb the devil’
Kenneth Williams was once employed as an apprentice draughtsman at Stanford’s Map Shop at 12-14 Long Acre, Covent Garden
Before he got the part of James Bond, Roger Moore moved into a new house where he inherited a telephone number ending ‘007’
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.
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’m sorry to come over all cabbie centric here, but if you want the answer to why there aren’t any cabs are to be found soon on a wet Friday night, stick with me so you’ll know who to blame, now here is a clue: Our London Mayor Boris Johnson is proposing to put a 10 year limit to the age of London Black taxi fleet.
A leading trade journalist has estimated that at a stroke 7,500 cabs will be taken off the road equating to one third of the fleet. Followed by another 1,500 every year after that, so in just over two years nearly half of London cabs would be scrapped. These scrapped cabs are the vehicles approved by TfL and in fact until recent they were virtually the ONLY vehicles cabbies could use with TfL approval.
Not long ago to gain our green credentials every older cab had to undergo an expensive modification to bring it up to Euro 3 compliant. Apparently Boris doesn’t think the £2,000 conversion goes far enough and wants to run fleets of Euro 4 or higher compliant vehicles.
His proposition to cap the age of cabs at 10 years means that their residual value would reduce by approximately £4,000 a year and that dear reader would mean increased fares just at the time of austerity measures for many London business and residents.
Setting aside the environmental impact of dismantling perfectly serviceable vehicles only to replace them with imports from China, yes China, many components from London’s cabs are produced in Asia and the vehicles are only assembled in Birmingham, how can that be a realistic option for the environment when many much older cars are allowed into London?
What our passengers don’t realised (and why should they), is that many vehicles are rented. Again the London Taxi Drivers Association (“LTDA”) estimated this older fleet of rented vehicles will diminish by up to 50 per cent and the operators would be unable to survive this catastrophic blow to their equity. These garages owned by fleet owners would just shut up shop with their staff being made redundant.
Many older drivers, including this writer, would simply retire having decided that to replace their cab or the increase in rent was too a higher price to pay, for what a part-time job is for many. Some younger drivers, particularly firemen supplement their income as cabbies, and would have to consider the viability of replacing their vehicle or seeking alternative employment.
The LTDA have commissioned a report to counter some of the dubious claims made about London cabs green credentials by TfL, and hope to persuade Boris of his folly. But if reasoned persuasion doesn’t work (and Boris is not renowned for about-turns) expect to find an awful lot of empty cabs blocking traffic flow while demonstrating in central London.
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