Monthly Musings

2 September, 2025 Gibson Square 2 Comments

September 2025

🎤 Talking to the Oldies

I’m now booked in to give my cabbie talk in the middle of September. Hopefully it will result in a few donations to Tom Hutley’s fund raising money for the Cabbie Green Huts.

🩺 In praise of the NHS

Everyone said it would catch up with me. My life now seems to revolve around doctor’s phone calls, blood tests, health check ups and consultations. And there was me thinking when I stopped pushing a cab around London I could relax.

✍️ Gloriously bonkers

I’m enjoying Chaz Hutton’s comic graphic take on life. He’s created a light switch, clicking his tongue for audio and drawn, well, a working switch; paradoxical islands; vikings; or explaining a skerry:

I’ll leave you to seek out Chaz’s description of just what’s a skerry.

🏡 Losing Trust

As lover of the British countryside and a history geek, for the last 50 odd years I’ve been a member of the charity The National Trust, happy to make an annual contribution to maintaining our glorious land, coast and historic buildings. But now The Trust, which looks after about 500 historic properties and thousands of square miles of our most cherished landscapes, is making 550 of its 9,500 employees redundant, apparently to control soaring costs after losing 89,000 members last year. The problem is that the charity needs to go back to basics and concentrate on conserving its buildings and landscapes thus giving its visitors a great day out. Too often in recent years its bosses have seemed perversely determined to infuriate their traditional supporters — the people whose membership fees keep The Trust going — by endorsing trendy social justice and eco-warrior causes. The first signs we noticed of a profound change in The Trust, was whilst holidaying in Jersey, a couple told us they ‘were asked’ to leave after 10 years volunteering after refusing to wear badges promoting a liberal political view of which they disagreed. Since then The Trust has accelerated this egregious wokery, lecturing us on the evils of the colonialism which, after all, enabled The Trust’s properties to be built in the first place, whilst trying to make the charity more ‘inclusive’, when anyone with an interest can join anyway. They have changed the voting procedures enabling members to back The Trust’s governing council by simply agreeing with one keystroke to its recommendation on issues and recommended candidates, who no doubt belong to London clubs which are clearly not inclusive. Former Supreme Court judge, Lord Sumption described the quick vote system as ‘North Korean’ in nature. They’re turning half of its restaurants vegan, I’m expecting the remainder to become halal any time soon. And instead of sourcing locally produced ingredients cooked in their kitchens, they now will offer factory generic culinary delights full of e-numbers. When visiting we don’t expect to be branded white privileged middle class, nor to be lectured on our colonial history. A home baked scone, choice of tea and an afternoon spent in one of the glorious corners of our Island Nation is sufficient. I’m sorry to say my family ticket at £168.60 is unlikely to be renewed.

Last month’s posts and pages:
Most read – Green cab shelters
Least read – 100 years down the drain

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London in Quotations

London in Quotations: Peter Ackroyd

Quote 1 September, 2025 Gibson Square Leave a comment

London is a labyrinth, half of stone and half of flesh.

Peter Ackroyd (b.1949), London: The Biography

London trivia

London Trivia: Cholera outbreak

31 August, 2025 Gibson Square 3 Comments

On 31 August 1854 a severe outbreak of cholera started at Broad Street, Soho, by the end 616 people had died. Dr John Snow deduced that the cause was contaminated water from the pump. A replica pump is to be found near the site of the original in Broadwick Street.

On 31 August 1888 Mary Ann Nichols’ body was found in Buck’s Row, she was Jack in Ripper’s first victim

Buckingham House built 1702 which would later become Buckingham Palace was built on the site of a notorious brothel

A ‘tot’ was an artificial Celtic beacon hill arranged along solstice lines London’s most famous tot hill was Westminster hence Fields and Street

Richard the Lionheart’s heart is believed to be buried in the churchyard of All Hallows by the Tower, beneath a demolished chapel

Pear Tree Court on Lunham Road has an 18-room nuclear bunker in the basement, now closed as Lambeth declared the borough nuclear free

165 Broadhurst Gardens was home to Decca Records until the early 1980s, on 1 January 1962, Brian Epstein paid for an hour audition for The Beatles, but they were turned down by Decca

Bleeding Heart Yard is almost certainly derived from an ancient religious symbol later adopted by a tavern which once stood on the site

The footbridge outside Wembley Stadium is named White Horse Bridge after the police horse who controlled the 1923 FA Cup Final

Building the tunnels for the first section of the District Line (South Kensington to Westminster, 1868) used 140 million bricks

Until Edward VIII changed the rules in 1936, Beefeaters at The Tower of London were required to sport a beard

Dulwich College founded in 17th century by actor Edward Alleyn has famous alumni including PG Wodehouse and Ernest Shackleton

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.

Previously Posted

Previously Posted: The Only Running Footman

30 August, 2025 Gibson Square 5 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.

A road less travelled (07.08.12)

In Charles Street, Mayfair there remains evidence of the last vestiges of Georgian competitive running with a tentative link to the cabbies of their day. Dating from 1749 this pub has a curious name: ‘The Only Running Footman’.

The pub was once called the Running Horse and frequented by the footmen who were in service to the households of Mayfair. As the fashion for footmen dwindled one bought the pub and renamed it after himself.

London in the 17th century was a pretty chaotic place, with narrow streets, overcrowded, animals, carts and numerous other obstructions. A footman’s job was to run ahead of his master’s coach paying any tolls and clearing a safe passage.

After The Great Fire of London, many streets were clearer and the need for a running footman lessened, although they were then employed as house servants.

By 1750 a footman’s advertised annual salary was £7, including a smart uniform, white stockings and shirts with full board. But with ‘vails’ he could expect an income of £40 (about £60,000 in today’s money).

He had to be tall (about 6ft), look fit, and be nonchalant and handsome. Footmen were notoriously the source of the best gossip, trusted with clandestine errands and hanging around with women ‘above their station’. These runners were also useful in a household to fetch things and take messages before a reliable postal service had been introduced.

King Charles I’s household accounts record the payment of 2/- (10p) paid to a footman to run from London (presumably Whitehall) to Hampton Court.

The aristocracy would also like to pitch their footmen in a race with others from wealthy households. On the 3rd July 1663 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary:

The town talk this day is of nothing but the great foot-race run this day on Banstead Downs, between Lee, the Duke of Richmond’s footman, and a tyler, a famous runner. And Lee hath beat him; though the King and Duke of York and all men almost did bet three or four to one upon the tyler’s head.

That old reprobate The Marquess of Queensbury is said to have kept the last running footmen as a mark of his own virility. The Survey of London records an incident (possibly anecdotal) in which ‘Old Q’ met his match:

The duke was in the habit of trying the pace of candidates for his service by seeing how they could run up and down Piccadilly, watching and timing them from his balcony. They put on a livery before the trial. On one occasion, a candidate presented himself, dressed, and ran. At the conclusion of his performance he stood before the balcony. “You will do very well for me,” said the duke. “And your livery will do very well for me,” replied the man, and gave the duke a last proof of his ability as a runner by then running away with it.

The pub’s full name is actually ‘I Am The Only Running Footman’ and has been the venue for many a historic London pub crawl, treasure hunt, mystery tour and even a novel by American detective fiction writer Martha Grimes.