All posts by Gibson Square

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

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Trust me dear reader there comes a time in one’s life when memory is not just an abstract concept, but something that needs to be monitored. So any aide memoir is a welcome discovery or a means to test memory.

Many have travelled regularly along the same Underground route and can probably name every station, it helps to know how far you are from your destination, but how many other stations on the network are known?

Our mobile phones now enable us to talk without the necessity of remembering telephone numbers, and SatNavs reduce the need to commit a route to memory, they also suppress spatial awareness.

Are you losing the ability to store information, how many of the London Tube stations can you name from memory?

London Tube Memory Game challenges you to name as many stations as you can and shows on a map where your identified station is in London, it also gives the number for each Underground line you’ve found.

My attempt was 12.1% of the network, not good, but considering I’ve hardly travelled by Tube for decades (last year I discovered that you can walk down the length of a moving train without opening and closing doors), so not too bad.

Try it here.

Thinking allowed

Lost, lost property office

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The closure of TfL’s Lost Property Office on Pelham Street has resulted in taxi drivers being advised to take lost items to the nearest London police station. However, many drivers have encountered difficulties as the police often refuse to accept the lost property. This refusal contradicts the legal obligation for taxi drivers to hand over lost items. With the new lost property office located far away from central London, taxi drivers are likely to rely more on police stations to return lost belongings, particularly for drivers who operate on the other side of the city. These drivers face hours navigating through London traffic to drop off lost property in West Ham, resulting in what could be four-hour round trips.

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Johnson’s London Dictionary: Sightlines

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SIGHTLINES (n.) Thirteen protected views of St. Paul’s Cathedral and The Palace of Westminster from fixed points thus thwarting architects’ ambition to populate the capital with vanity projects.

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

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Are you a real Londoner?

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You don’t have to be born in the capital to qualify, just try this totally arbitrary and subjective test to help you understand if you can claim to be a Londoner. The maximum score is about 100, unless you are very old you’re unlikely to reach those dizzy heights.

  1. I was born and raised in The Smoke, even if you have since left (+5 points)
  2. I live in London (+1 point per year)
  3. I shop local before using Amazon or any multiple retail organisation (+1 point)
  4. I know the difference between The City and the city of London (+1 point)
  5. I volunteer with community groups or charities including being a pearly king or queen (+1 point)
  6. My main mode of getting around is by Underground, bus, tram, bike or walking (+1 point)
  7. I don’t own a car (+1 point)
  8. I was here for the pandemic and never considered leaving. (+1 point)
  9. I can negotiate the Underground pretty much anywhere without consulting Harry Beck’s map but will direct tourists to the correct train (+1 point)
  10. I’m prepared to travel to Zone 6 even the section South of the River (+1 point)
  11. I have driven an iconic London vehicle: cab, bus, tube (+1 point)
  12. I’ve sat on a Boris Bike (+1 point)
  13. You wouldn’t get me in a rickshaw, I’ll leave that for gullible tourists (+1 point) extra point if you’ve warned a visitor about rickshaws
  14. At some time I’ve kept London safe working in the emergency services (+1 point) extra point for every life you’ve saved
  15. I’ve never been to Madam Tussauds (+1 point)
  16. I’ve never asked a cabbie “Had anyone in your cab?” (+1 point)
  17. Yes I have actually eaten pie and mash (+1 point) extra point for consuming jellied eels
  18. My bookshelf has at least five books about London (+1 point) extra point for owning Peter Ackroyd’s London: The biography
  19. I went to work/school on Friday 16th October 1987, a breezy day wasn’t going to stop me (+1 point)
  20. I can point to London’s official centre (+1 point)

How did you score? Let others know in the comments. Since you asked, I got 92 points, which rather pleased me.

Featured image: The View from the Shard by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash.

London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Sir Seymour Hicks

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You will recognise, my boy, the first sign of old age: it is when you go out into the streets of London and realize for the first time how young the policemen look.

Sir Seymour Hicks (1871-1949)