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.

Armadillo swallows London Stone (21.08.12)

When learning The Knowledge some days remain etched in your memory forever. One such day for me was when I went to find a ‘point’ – London Stone – note it is not a definite article, even though it patently is.

I searched Cannon Street looking to find a clue to the elusive stone, up the sides of buildings, perched high up on a roof, inside the station, until I tracked down my quarry.

There behind a hideous grill attached to a scruffy 1960s office was one of London’s oldest landmarks, known to have been in the City since 1198.

It is an unprepossessing piece of Clipston limestone or oolite. With its round-shouldered top and twin grooves, measuring about 18 inches across, if found in a field, one would ignore it. Legend says that this small stone is linked to the destiny of our capital city, hence it is a Grade II listing.

Minerva the company that is developing the site now wishes to move this rare artefact. The name of the company is taken from the Roman goddess of wisdom, but in this instance, concerning a rare Roman piece of history not a lot of wisdom is being demonstrated, it’s just convenient for Minerva as they want to move the artefact a few doors down the street to the Walbrook Building.

The Walbrook Building, one of the City’s newer office blocks designed by Foster and Partners, looks like a metal armadillo, a very modern building but with few heritage nods at ground level. Two of the metal struts planted firmly into Cannon Street incorporate small black plaques that once marked former ward boundaries. They look a bit incongruous, to be frank, but at least they’re still on site rather than scrapped and dumped elsewhere.

The plan is to relocate London Stone to the front elevation of the Walbrook Building and a special display case will be built to contain the legendary. One of the existing grey panels will be replaced by a laminated glass wall, and the stone placed inside on an etched mild steel plinth. And the grille will come too, given a less prominent position beneath, plus the metal plaque that currently sits on top of them all.

The Stone has had a chequered history. It was referenced in Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2, but by the 18th Century, it was known more as a traffic hazard. The Stone was moved back and forth across Cannon Street and eventually ended up in St. Swithin’s Church until the building was bombed in World War II. Since the early 1960s, the Stone has been housed at street level in an office building, opposite Cannon Street Station, so it certainly has led a life of travel.

Old enough to remember the original Olympics in Rome, should this piece of stone be now relocated behind glass, as if it was a museum exhibit, in one of the most modern buildings of London, divorced from the everyday fabric of the city?

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.

Taking the waters (17.08.12)

One little published event in the Olympics was the 10km Open Waters Swimming in which competitors swam around a pond. We were 4th in the women’s (just missing the bronze by less than a second) and 5th in the men’s.

The event was held on The Serpentine in Hyde Park, the same waters where on Christmas Day a group of intrepid swimmers break the ice and ignore any broken bottles, submerged shopping trolleys or contracting leptospirosis appear on television in this annual event.

Swimming in open water has been practised for many years and one of London’s most famous is Hampstead Heath’s three bathing ponds which have welcomed swimmers for over 150 years.

In the truly British tradition of prudery mixed with a degree of eccentricity, the ponds are segregated.

In the male-only pond with its secluded sylvan fenced enclosure nudity is de rigueur amongst the regulars – the serious swimmers, chess players and weight-lifters for whom this is a sort of club. Out on the springboards and in the water, costumes are required. There are no longer any high boards – a sign of these cautious times.

As the Ladies Pond is the highest up the hill and benefits from being nearest to the natural springs in Kenwood it has by far the cleanest water. It’s hidden by an expanse of sprawling foliage to hide the ladies’ modesty.

There is also another pond designated for mixed bathing.

The ponds were originally dug as reservoirs by the Hampstead Water Company in the 17th and 18th centuries from the original malarial marsh which was then drained, before falling into disuse during Victorian times.

In 2004 the City of London Corporation tried to close the ponds on the grounds that they posed a health risk to swimmers amid local protest those plans were abandoned.

Now the ponds may close soon to enable 10ft high dams to be constructed. The City of London claims thousands of lives are at risk should the existing dams burst after heavy rainfall.