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.

Life imitating art – a cabbies diary (26.07.12)

With the first Olympian week drawing to a close, with the predictability of a shortage of cabs on a wet Friday night, we have had a bumper week of motoring stories.

In a scenario straight from the script of BBC’s TwentyTwelve, on Monday two buses containing United States and Australian officials were lost for up to four hours as they made their way from Heathrow to the Olympic Park.

That was followed by confusion on the M4 as to who could (and should) use the Olympic Lanes. The ban of all vehicles except black cabs and Olympic vehicles will, apparently be ‘monitored’ by the police but in the main, the authorities will rely on the goodwill of motorists to stay out of the prohibited sections – Just tell that to John Griffin at Addison Lee.

In central London, in many cases, the lanes, with the confusing signage, have been empty all week for fear that a £130 fine will be dropping through one’s letterbox. Again in a rare display of magnanimity, an unnamed source was quoted as saying: “If we get to the end of the Games without issuing a single ticket then that will be judged a 100 per cent success, and there was me thinking the fines would fill the gap in the Games overspend.

Tuesday found black cabbies wasting their time protesting at their exclusion from the Olympic Lanes. By circling around Trafalgar Square they hoped to draw the public’s attention to their plight, the square might commemorate a battle victory, but I fear that this is one war that has been lost.

Apparently, cycles have also been banned, but who will stop the rickshaws? The sight of a top-of-the-range BMW with a member of the Olympic Family on board, queuing up behind a ropey rickshaw being peddled slowly by a foreign student should make for an interesting interlude while sitting in gridlock.

Speaking of which Tuesday evening gave TfL their finest hour, or to be precise two hours, as Madonna finished her concert in Hyde Park. She had stood on stage brandishing a gun, the precise weapon of choice many motorists must have wished they possessed as Park Lane was closed, along with West Carriage Drive and The Mall. The fare from Paddington to Chelsea Bridge which should have taken a little over 15 minutes took 1 ½ hours and had over £50 on the meter.

Passing on to Wednesday I noticed that in Russell Square one set of markings gives motorists the choice of either driving in a bus lane or an Olympic Lane – the choice of fine is up to you. An exciting diversion that night was accomplished after the Strand and Waterloo Bridge were closed, and why has the Aldwych underpass been changed from northbound to southbound?

Thursday saw the recreation of medieval London Bridge traffic chaos as Waterloo Bridge was closed southbound and Tower Bridge had been raised, it might have taken two hours to transverse old London Bridge but it was still taking half an hour, this could be an idea for Danny Boyle for the opening ceremony – art imitating life.

Soon I should have the answer for these conundrums and others. We have been told that the Olympic handbook detailing everything we need about the Olympics was posted on 9th July to all licensed London taxi drivers and private hire operators. But most documents have been in the post for 11 days, we can only hope that the Royal Mail vans have not been held up in traffic.

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.

A Nation of shopkeepers (17.07.12)

My daughter came home the other day enraged, her favourite Indian restaurant in our high street had closed.

It was being replaced; she informed me, with a note of incredulity in her voice with yet another fast food outlet.

The offending newcomer this time was one selling pizzas with a name sounding like an Italian version of a game played with black tablets with white spots.

Just how many fast food outlets does one small suburb need?

Well, the answer was somewhat surprising as I spent 15 minutes making a survey of our high street.

Once the street provided all the usual outlets for sustenance and comfort: butcher, baker, greengrocer, fishmonger and my hardware haven.

Our local authority in an attempt to give us a balanced retail experience has given us: 13 fast food outlets; 7 hairdressers; 4 nail bars/sun tanning studios; 3 charity shops and 3 estate agents.

Napoleon Bonaparte once famously described the English as ‘A Nation of shopkeepers’, this at a time when the rich would eat at home the food prepared by their staff. While the poor, because they had no choice would eat at the local pie shop.

Danny Boyle’s plans for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics are said to be reflecting the customs and values that made Britain. Well, this should include having unique local shops each with its own identity where your daily needs may be purchased.

Within a few years not only will every high street peddle the same products, only those retailing fast eating or your coiffeur will be available.

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.

Hungry and homeless (11.07.12)

When I did The Knowledge some years ago much of the time learning was spent on my bike in the evening.

It wasn’t long before I realised that there were hundreds of homeless people sleeping rough in London.

At night all over London, there are dozens of charities providing at least one got a meal to those unfortunate enough to not have a roof over their heads. In fact, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields I have seen the queue for hot meals multiply by 10 times over the last 15 years.

So it is always reassuring to discover any new benefactors for our homeless.

But the Rector of a church in Mayfair has come up with an innovative solution which also benefits the cab trade.
St. George’s Church in Hanover Square has for many years given out small amounts of money to the homeless who sleep under the church’s portico at night.

As in many parts of London, the number of rough sleepers and other disadvantaged people has been increasing, and often this money is spent on alcohol or drugs, rather than on food and drink.

The green Cabman’s shelter close by has had difficulties of late obscured as it is by the hoarding for ongoing construction work for Crossrail.

The solution has been that the Vestry has now started to issue “refreshment coupons” valued at £2 each, (facsimile above), which may be exchanged for food and drink at the shelter.

The proprietor of the shelter is given funds in advance, and she accepts the coupons in lieu of payment for the excellent value meals she sells.

Anyone who wishes to purchase refreshment coupons to give out themselves to local homeless and disadvantaged people on the street, (rather than giving out money directly) may do so by contacting St. George’s Church.

I, for one, think this an excellent initiative by the church and if anyone is passing this beautiful Georgian church they should take a look around.

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.

Old cabs never die . . . (03.07.12)

A few days ago I was contacted by a retired London cabbie to tell me to his obvious delight that his 54-year-old cab he had bought new was still alive and kicking.

The vehicle had somehow found its way across the Atlantic to a car dealer in Cape Cod rejoicing in the name ‘The Cape Crusader’ who had recently had the cab shipped halfway round the world to his customer in Australia. Old cabs never die; they just turn off their meters.

Then at the weekend one of London’s first cabs was auctioned for a staggering £22,000. The vehicle featured last week on the Radio Taxis website was a 1910 Panhard Levassor, one of only 674 cabs sent to England from France to become the nucleus for London’s early motorised taxi service, which slowly replaced the horse-drawn Hansom carriage.

The vehicle was believed to have worked as a London cab until 1921 when it was used for commercial transport, resurfacing again appearing in the 1955 movie ‘The Man who loved Redheads’ starring Moira Shearer.

It was later bought by a founding member of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club who among its members included Lord Montague of Beaulieu.

The vehicle had been left in a barn for 15 years before the current owners contacted Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucester at which time a regular contributor to the BBC Antiques Roadshow Philip Taubenheim became involved.
The winning bidder intends to restore this very rare example of an early cab which still has its meter and many original features to its former glory.

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.

Bee-ing aware (26.06.12)

You know the amazing thing about London is that any hobby that takes your fancy can be found if you dig deep enough, somewhere in the capital there will be an enthusiastic group of like minded individuals.

Now take apiarists (bee keepers to you and me), you would have thought they would be pretty thin on the ground in London, not so as I found out last weekend.

You see I’ve been interested in bees since I were a lad and apart from extolling a bee’s beneficial work pollinating over 70 per cent of our crops, I’ve been droning on to my children about the bees decline (over 16 per cent last year) and the calamitous harvests coming our way if this trend isn’t stemmed.

Well in an attempt to shut me up once and for all my family sent me off on a bee aware experience.

There I discovered that amazingly there are over 1,500 registered hives in London, Fortnum and Mason even have a webcam of the hives on their roof.

The Lancaster Hotel has over half a million bees on its roof and last year hosted the first London Honey Show and was named by the AA Eco Hotel of the Year.

For me my bee day started with the obligatory talk about the benefit of our little friends followed by having to construct a hive super. These are the vertical trays where the bee constructs its honeycomb, then a discussion on the correct apparel to wear. They will even make to measure your protective outfit.

Our bee themed lunch was followed by a walk around the Hotel. This was followed by the highlight of the day. Dressed as if we were off to Chernobyl two hives were opened. There were thousands of bees flying around us. We even managed to see the queen taking a break from laying the hundreds of eggs she lays every day. You know the strange thing was that under the supervision of our tutors having thousands of bees flying around your head, when dress correctly, it’s rather therapeutic.

Will get my own hive, Err No. Lots of commitment and experience are needed before I fly at that hobby.