I travel continuously, and I see many cities, but there is nowhere like London.
Norman Foster (b.1935)
London Trivia: London tube bombing
On 7 July 2005, a series of bomb attacks on London’s transport network killed 56 people and injured 784 others. Three explosions on the Underground and a blast on a double decker bus in Tavistock Square. The explosions were caused by homemade organic peroxide-based devices packed into backpacks. The bombings were followed two weeks later by a series of attempted attacks that failed to cause injury or damage.
On 7 July 1607 the National Anthem was sung for the first time at Merchant Taylor’s Hall to James I by members of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal
Over the last 200 years, there have been three assassination attempts on Constitution Hill, a road under half a mile long
LSO St Lukes, formerly St Luke’s church in Old Street, was once nicknamed ‘Lousy Luke’s’ due to the flea on the weathervane
David Livingstone is buried in Westminster Abbey – but his heart is buried in Africa – the tribe he’d befriended said it belonged there
Stanley Baldwin is the only British Prime Minister ever to serve under three different monarchs: George V; Edward VIII; George V
By Goldsmith’s Chambers in Inner Temple, a board lists fictional residents from author John Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey
Holland Park was a private estate attached to Holland House and became a public park after the house was bombed in World War II
On 7 July 1985 at seventeen Boris Becker won Wimbledon, the youngest ever player to win, he was also the first German ever to win the title, and the first unseeded player
The only station name common to both London Tube and Paris Metro is Temple. It is not St Paul’s – that’s Saint-Paul
St Andrew’s church in Hornchurch has a stained glass window depicting a red Ford Fiesta, in tribute to the firm’s nearby factory
Sewardstone north of Chingford is the only place with a London postcode (E4) that lies outside Greater London
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: Toilet caper
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.
Toilet Caper (10.06.11)
London’s lost loos, were until the 1950s famous the world over, these magnificent Victorian edifices, both decorative as well as functional, were built in the first place simply that the government saw them as essential to the wellbeing of Londoners.
If you were caught short in London before their construction you would simply relieve yourself in the street. The delicate-minded and, of course, women found this unacceptable and the solution was provided by human lavatories. Men and women wore voluminous black capes and carried a bucket, for a farthing they would shield you from preying eyes while you sat on their bucket. Only one of these heroes for modesty is known: one Thomas Butcher of Cheapside who in 1190 was fined for overcharging his clients. Samuel Pepy’s wife in the 17th century didn’t want to pay for a caped crusader, as he noted in his diary at the time, how his wife squatted in the road “to do her business”.
No word in English has changed its meaning more than “toilet”. In about 1540 it described a kind of cloth derived from the French “toile” – a kind of linen. Then the term was used for the cloth to used to adorn dressing tables, later for the items upon the cloth, hence “toiletries”. The dressing table itself was next to receive that Monica, then the act of dressing, Georgians would use the word to describe the act of receiving visitors when dressing, next came the receiving room or any adjoining rooms, as indoor lavatories arrived that room became the toilet and now we politely call the ceramic bowl a toilet. It explains why in English you can describe something splashed on one’s face as toilet water or the liquid used to flush away faeces. The English noted for the reluctance to talk about such matters have given a plethora of euphemisms to avoid that unmentionable word: spend a penny; smallest room in the house; loo; lav; karsie; bog; john; head; water closet; and for obscure reasons in the 18th century “jordan”.
As these fine conveniences in London disappeared new names have sprung up for their modern counterparts, the automatic loos are known as “Metal Mickey’s”. These automatic machines perhaps reflect the lack of pride much in evidence in the first half of the last century.
I can vaguely remember a toilet near Chancery Lane station, with its polished brass and mahogany fittings surmounted by a set of superb cut-glass cisterns. The pride of its attendant knew no bounds as he then stocked these cisterns with goldfish, where they lived happily for many years until the local authority decided the public would prefer to use the nearby McDonalds toilets and closed this shrine to civic pride.
One of the last personalised loos to go was a splendid example in Covent Garden next to St. Pauls Church on the piazza. Here the attendant was a keen opera buff who decorated the walls with reproductions of some of the National Gallery’s famous pictures, and played well known operatic arias to his customers.
Paul Herringshaw has written a series of spoof histories on individual London toilets, entitled Stall Stories.
London in Quotations: The Smiths
Panic on the streets of London.
The Smiths
London Trivia: Lady Thatcher’s maiden speech
On 30 June 1992 Margaret Thatcher took her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. In her first debate she spoke out against the government on the Maastricht Treaty. She would be proved right, its adoption gave rise to Ukip and ultimately the Referendum to leave the EU. She was Britain’s first woman prime minister in 1979, and the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century.
On 30 June 1937 the British emergency number 999 was introduced, the first telephone system of its kind in the world
On 30 June 1967 a sky-blue Bentley collected Mick Jagger from the Scrubs and Keith Richards from Brixton after doing time for drugs
On 30 June 1894, under a cloudless sky, Tower Bridge was officially opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII)
On Westminster Bridge Road is the entrance to an old station from where passengers took their last journey to Brookwood Cemetery
The Ayrton Light atop Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower (known as Big Ben) shines to show that the House is sitting
When Ellen Terry visited Whistler’s Chelsea studio Oscar Wilde described seeing her arrive in the full regalia of Lady Macbeth
King James I kept elephants in St James’s Park. They were allowed a gallon of wine a day each to get through the English winter
Dash to Pope’s Road, Brixton in September to watch the Brixton Bolt, see if you can beat Usain’s 100 metre time of 9.58
Jubilee Line trains have been decorated for the Jubilee – appropriate really, as line originally named for 1977 one (hence silver on map)
The Castle pub in Farringdon holds a pawnbrokers licence granted by George IV when he left a heirloom in lieu of a gambling loan
During the Great Fire of London, Samuel Pepys buried his prized possession, a chunk of parmesan cheese, in his back garden
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.
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