Previously Posted: New Year’s Resolutions

7 January, 2023 Gibson Square 2 Comments

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.

New Year’s Resolutions (01.01.10)

A Happy New Year to anybody who stumbles across this blog, whether by accident or design.

In keeping with the tradition of making a New Year resolution only to break it within one week, I submit for your consideration a selection, which might if adopted, make travelling in London less odious. With more than a glancing nod at an excellent post by my erstwhile colleague The Cabbies Capital, I give you CabbieBlog’s New Year Resolutions:

THE GOOD: Cab drivers are in the main professional, courteous and, well nearly always right. Anyone who drives in London has had a cab stop for no apparent reason in front of him, and if we protest, the cabbie looks done from his eyrie at you in a smug and self righteous manner. Equally cabs are prone to make unexpected u-turns holding up the traffic while the driver completes his manoeuvre sometime without a word of thanks to anyone inconvenienced.

Most cab drivers try to be considerate, it makes no sense for us to damage our vehicles, by careless driving, and it’s our business for God’s sake. So my New Year Resolution will be to thank you profusely for letting me stop, start, pull away, reverse or u-turn near you.

THE BAD: 4×4 drivers. Never I repeat, never give the drivers of these contraptions any consideration. They now have halogen light to mesmerise you in their presence, just like a cobra with its prey. They approach you and expect you to wait for their next move; they now even have LED running lights and fog lights to warn the rest of us to get out of their way. If you only keep one resolution this year make it this one.

This is for all of you. Give way means pausing at the line in the road, not with your nose sticking out, its bloody frightening on a bike having a car block your passage (it doesn’t do much for that part of your anatomy either). And that line at traffic lights indicates where you stop BEHIND, not the green coloured tarmac section for bikes.

THE SAD: Pedestrians. Why of why do you migrate like lemmings near Oxford Street oblivious to the traffic and deep in conversation on your mobile phones. Why stand near a pedestrian crossing often on the zigzags blinking and wondering why the cars don’t stop for you. When you do have the inspired logic to use a pedestrian crossing, wait for the approaching vehicles to stop, don’t walk straight off the pavement expecting that bus to have the stopping power of an F1 car. And why oh why do you have to stand by a pedestrian crossing deep in conversation when you have no intention to cross the road? So just use the grey matter between your ears for once, it might just save your life.

THE MAD: Pizza couriers. These motorised push bikes have the road holding ability of a blancmange. Don’t ride as if you have a death wish, if the pizza is 30 seconds late arriving, tough.

Cyclists. These are some of the most competent of road users, but please, please don’t jump red lights, that boy racer in his dad’s BMW M3 hasn’t seen you, all he is interested in seeing is the green light. And one last comment, pedestrians have right of way on pedestrian crossings, the clue is in the title. I know it’s hard to have to stop once in a while, but your foot will have to touch the tarmac once or twice during your journey home.

THE UGLY: As ugly as the back of a bus, is never more true than when one of these 18m monsters pulls out as you are making a feeble attempt to pass it. Just because the Highway Code says we have to give way to you, doesn’t give you the absolute right to move out into traffic at a whim, just use your indicators. And one final comment, when you are ahead of the timetable don’t drive at 8 mph.

That’s it then, I know most of this will be ignored, but you know keep just one of these resolutions this year and moving around London might become enjoyable. Just don’t hold your breath for it to happen.

Puppydog tails

Test Your Knowledge: January 2023

6 January, 2023 Gibson Square 4 Comments

This month’s post is been called ‘Going Underground’, not travelling on the Tube, but trivia about below London’s surface. As before the correct answer will turn green when it’s clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.

1. If we were to travel back in time without leaving the Sir Christopher Hatton pub we would find ourselves in the basement of what famous department store, which closed in 1972?

Bourne & Hollingsworth

WRONG Gamages, well known for its toy and hardware departments, traded between 1878 and 1972. Located in Holborn, opposite where now Sainsbury’s has their headquarters. In the late 1960s, a second Gamages store opened in Romford closing down in the early 1970s. The flagship Gamages in Holburn closed down soon after in March 1972, and no trace of the original building remains above ground.

Gamages

CORRECT Gamages, well known for its toy and hardware departments, traded between 1878 and 1972. Located in Holborn, opposite where now Sainsbury’s has their headquarters. In the late 1960s, a second Gamages store opened in Romford closing down in the early 1970s. The flagship Gamages in Holburn closed down soon after in March 1972, and no trace of the original building remains above ground.

Dickins & Jones

2. A little-known subterranean market operates out of an old bank vault off Chancery Lane. What type of goods does the market specialise in?

Gold

WRONG The London Silver Vaults occupy a sprawling Victorian storage facility beneath Chancery Lane. Few realise that you can simply walk down the stairs and freely browse one of the largest silver markets on Earth.

Silver

CORRECT The London Silver Vaults occupy a sprawling Victorian storage facility beneath Chancery Lane. Few realise that you can simply walk down the stairs and freely browse one of the largest silver markets on Earth.

Bullion

3. What unusual feature was installed in Holloway tube station in 1906, but never opened to the public?

A spiral escalator

CORRECT The remains of a spiral escalator are now stored at London Transport Museum Depot.

An automatic ticket machine

WRONG The remains of a spiral escalator are now stored at London Transport Museum Depot.

Public toilets

WRONG The remains of a spiral escalator are now stored at London Transport Museum Depot.

4. What function did ferrets perform prior to the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer?

Lay TV cables in Buckingham Palace

CORRECT Some of the TV cables at Buckingham Palace had to be fed through a very narrow underground duct. Conventional methods had failed, so the trusty animal was fitted with a harness connected to a very light but strong line. Lured by a piece of bacon, it scuttled through the duct. When it emerged at the other end engineers were able to attach the TV cables to the line and pull them through.

Clear pigeons from St. Paul’s Cathedral

WRONG Some of the TV cables at Buckingham Palace had to be fed through a very narrow underground duct. Conventional methods had failed, so the trusty animal was fitted with a harness connected to a very light but strong line. Lured by a piece of bacon, it scuttled through the duct. When it emerged at the other end engineers were able to attach the TV cables to the line and pull them through.

Promoting Diana’s favourite animal which appeared on BBC’s Blue Peter

5. Which underground venue played host to David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd?

Chislehurst Caves

CORRECT During World War II Chislehurst Caves became the largest deep air-raid shelter outside London, offering protection to over 1,500 people during the Blitz. Once the war ended, Chislehurst caves adopted a more celebratory function, serving as a venue for dances and concerts throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Village Underground, Shoreditch

WRONG During World War II Chislehurst Caves became the largest deep air-raid shelter outside London, offering protection to over 1,500 people during the Blitz. Once the war ended, Chislehurst caves adopted a more celebratory function, serving as a venue for dances and concerts throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Wallacespace, Clerkenwell Green

6. How deep are the foundations of Western Europe’s tallest building, The Shard?

155ft

WRONG The Shard’s piles, many up to 6ft in diameter took 700 truckloads of concrete which were poured in a mammoth 36-hour long pour, concrete volumes that might ordinarily be poured in a day were poured every hour. The 5,500 cubic meter single pour set a new record for the UK’s largest continuous concrete pour, beating the previous record delivered at Wembley Stadium by nearly 15 per cent.

175ft

CORRECT The Shard’s piles, many up to 6ft in diameter took 700 truckloads of concrete which were poured in a mammoth 36-hour long pour, concrete volumes that might ordinarily be poured in a day were poured every hour. The 5,500 cubic meter single pour set a new record for the UK’s largest continuous concrete pour, beating the previous record delivered at Wembley Stadium by nearly 15 per cent.

135ft

7. During the early 1940s, eight deep-level shelters were built to protect the population from bombing, what was their proposed ultimate purpose?

Command centres in the event of nuclear war

WRONG Designed to protect 8,000 people beneath the street, they were not completed until after the main Blitz, so only saw limited use. The shelters were cleverly designed so that, after the war, they might be linked together to form an express tube line, more pressing needs meant that the money never materialised. The shelters were never demolished, and most became secure document storage spaces, but a few have found more imaginative roles.

Storage space for top-secret documents

Linked to form an express tube line

CORRECT Designed to protect 8,000 people beneath the street, they were not completed until after the main Blitz, so only saw limited use. The shelters were cleverly designed so that, after the war, they might be linked together to form an express tube line, more pressing needs meant that the money never materialised. The shelters were never demolished, and most became secure document storage spaces, but a few have found more imaginative roles.

8. Culex pipiens molestus is a unique London subspecies of what?

Worms

WRONG In 1999, researcher Katharyne Byrne compared Underground mosquitoes with others found in London, she discovered that they were a distinct subspecies. After ruling out migration from elsewhere she concluded that the London Underground was colonised by mosquitoes at a single time, then achieved ‘reproductive isolation’, making it a unique member of the culicidae family.

Rats

Mosquitos

CORRECT In 1999, researcher Katharyne Byrne compared Underground mosquitoes with others found in London, she discovered that they were a distinct subspecies. After ruling out migration from elsewhere she concluded that the London Underground was colonised by mosquitoes at a single time, then achieved ‘reproductive isolation’, making it a unique member of the culicidae family.

9. Beam, Bollo, Crane and Mole are all what?

Underground rivers

CORRECT London has over 20 different rivers which, over time, have been forced underground. Today, apart from the River Thames, there are only two London rivers that remain almost entirely above ground the River Wandle and the River Brent.

WWII underground command centres

WRONG London has over 20 different rivers which, over time, have been forced underground. Today, apart from the River Thames, there are only two London rivers that remain almost entirely above ground the River Wandle and the River Brent.

Disused Underground stations

10. What do Pear Tree House, Sydenham, Dulwich and Sydenham Golf Club and Kingsway Telephone Exchange, Holborn have in common?

Emergency water pumping stations

WRONG During the Cold War, as part of ROTOR, a Cold War plans to protect Britain’s skies, London was divided into four groups, each reporting directly to Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Shelter, in turn, each group was subdivided into individual boroughs, each of them having its control centre. In recent months interest has been piqued amid fears of a nuclear conflict following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nuclear fallout shelters

CORRECT During the Cold War, as part of ROTOR, a Cold War plans to protect Britain’s skies, London was divided into four groups, each reporting directly to Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Shelter, in turn, each group was subdivided into individual boroughs, each of them having its control centre. In recent months interest has been piqued amid fears of a nuclear conflict following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Emergency electricity power stations

Thinking allowed

Peeping Tom

5 January, 2023 Gibson Square 4 Comments

Londoners should have learnt to ignore the anaemic hallucinations plastered on new-build hoardings. They usually contain the same components – a city bathed in permanent sun, populated by adults of unidentifiable ages who stroll aimlessly through the landscaped parkland surrounding their new apartments, with not a high-rise social housing building in the vicinity. Most worryingly in these CGI renders is the implied position of the viewer – frequently these images show the dappling of trees or foliage creeping into frame, suggesting the impoverished onlooker gazes at these people from behind a tree or bush. They are rich, smugly unaware of onlookers. We are perverts. Peeping Toms watching a development paradise.