I didn’t know whether to praise my local council or ask of it just why are they spending money on this and not keeping libraries open. A Royal Charter of 1247 (not a typo) could kibosh the plans to move Smithfield and Billingsgate markets to Dagenham Dock because it forbids a market from being set up “within a day’s sheep drive” of the existing Romford Market. In case you need reminding, a day’s sheep drive is the equivalent of the (slightly satanic) 6.66 miles, and The City of London’s proposed new site in Dagenham Dock is about four miles away from Romford market. So if you’re into what you get by giving ‘a drink’ to a medieval king, in this case, King Henry III, here it is
Johnson’s London Dictionary: Raymond Revuebar
RAYMOND REVUEBAR (n.) A bawdy-house where traffick is made by wickedness and debauchery.
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
Coronation Streets
It is nearly 70 years since we have had a coronation, so naturally, I started looking up roads named after that ceremony.
My 1936 copy of Phyllis Pearsall’s Geographers’ A-Z Street Atlas only shows two ‘coronations’:
Coronation Road E13
Coronation Road NW10
But hold on a minute, haven’t there been dozens of coronations since the start of roads being named in the 6th century and the 1936 coronation? But here in London, there are only two.
Next turning to a modern road atlas I find the originals plus five new ones:
Coronation Avenue N16
Coronation Close, Bexley DA5
Coronation Close, Ilford IG6
Coronation Road E13
Coronation Road NW10
Coronation Road, Hayes UB3
Coronation Walk, Twickenham TW2
But how many coronations have taken place in the intervening period which would promote the naming or re-naming of a London street?
Precisely two, the late Queen in 1953 and her father King George VI in 1937.
With the increase of Republican support, what national event has taken place in the last 86 years to inspire local authorities to give their thoroughfares a regal connotation?
In a word television.
Since 1960 the world’s longest-running television soap, Coronation Street, has appeared on our television screens, but not one local authority has grasped the nettle and given the moniker Coronation Street, otherwise Bill Roach might turn up.
Featured image: Manchester: Coronation Street Sign. The sign on the corner of the road says we are on Coronation Street by Lewis Clarke (CC BY-SA 2.0).
London in Quotations: Horace Walpole
Would you know why I like London so Much? Why if the world must consist of so many fools as it does, I choose to take them in the gross, and not made into separate pills, as they are prepared in the country.
Horace Walpole (1717-1797)
London Trivia: For valour
On 23 April 1390 (St. George’s Day) a joust was held between Lord Welles, Ambassador to Scotland, and Sir David de Lindsay, a Scot, on London Bridge. This was a result of an argument as to the valour of the two nations. On the third run Lindsay unhorsed Welles so easily that the crowd began yelling that he had nailed himself to his saddle. To prove he had not, Lindsay jumped off his horse and then back on, while still wearing his full suit of armour.
On 23 April 1702 gout ridden Queen Anne became the first monarch to be carried to her coronation and wore a £12 wig to improve her demeanour
Reggie Kray and Frances Shea’s photographer at their wedding at St James the Great, Bethnal Green Road in April 1965 was David Bailey
Dr Samuel Johnson once owned 17 properties in London, only one of which survives – Dr Johnson’s Memorial House in Gough Square
18th century Hampstead was a spa resort where people came to take the waters which reputedly had health giving properties
In April 1905 Vladimir Lenin lived at 16 Percy Circus, since demolished and replaced with the rear of Kings Cross Royal Scot Travelodge hotel
Actor, dancer, comedian and clown Joseph Grimaldi lived at 56 Exmouth Market, Islington from 1818 to 1828, there is now a park off Pentonville Road named after him
Coram’s Fields park and playground in Bloomsbury is unique in that adults are only allowed to enter if accompanied by a child
The sport of golf, which originated in Scotland, was first played in England on Blackheath in 1608. The Royal Blackheath Golf Club was one of the first golf associations established (1766) outside Scotland
London’s heavily congested streets mean that a taxi’s average speed of 17mph is slower than that attained by Hansom cabs over 100 years ago
The ‘porter’ style of beer was officially invented at the Bell Brewhouse in Shoreditch by Ralph Hardwood in 1722
Marc Isambard Brunel came up with his idea on how to dig the Thames’ Tunnel whilst in debtors’ prison watching a shipworm bore through wood
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.
CabbieBlog 