Archive

29 June 2012

The London Grill: David Rosenberg

We challenge our contributor to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don't take "Sorry Gov" for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London's skyline to find out what Londoners really think about their city. The questions might be the same but the answers vary wildly.

David Rosenberg is a teacher, writer and tour guide. He specialises in walks around the East End revealing its social and political history, but also leads a course called "In the Footsteps of London's Rebels" for the City Lit - London's leading adult education centre. He attributes much of his geographical knowledge of London to three years spent working as a van driver in the early 1980s delivering books to the furthest reaches of London as well as to inner city locations. He is the author of Battle for the East End: Jewish responses to fascism in the 1930s (Five Leaves Publications, 2011). You can find out more about David's walks by visiting: www.eastendwalks.com

What's your secret London tip?

Discover London on foot! There's a world of social history, art and culture out there which shows why London is such a great and diverse city to be in. But don't go for the all-singing-all-dancing central London tours - look for the more localised, more quirky tours.

What's your secret London place?

Angel Alley, a few doors down from the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The East End used to be full of little alleyways. Down this one you will find a rather intriguing art installation, and Freedom Bookshop - one of the longest standing radical political bookshops in the capital.

What's your biggest gripe about London?

Empty buildings alongside homelessness. London's a great city and nobody should be spending it sleeping on the streets. We need to make some of these buildings socially useful again rather than let them simply add value for speculators. We need to address homelessness in creative ways and make use of the talents of everyone in the capital including those who have fallen on hard times.

What's your favourite building?

The old St George's Town hall on Cable Street because across the whole of one external side it has got the fabulous Cable Street mural recalling the dramatic victory over Mosley's fascists in October 1936. Look also for a very poignant small golden plaque on the front of the building.

What's your most hated building?

Toss up between Brent Cross shopping centre or the new Westfield in Stratford. No, Brent Cross gets the vote! I like real shops, selling useful and interesting things that real people need.

What's the best view in London?

That's really difficult as there are so many.  But a few years ago, when Ken Livingstone was heading the Greater London Authority, I was invited to an early evening event at the GLA building and we were encouraged to take our drinks out on to the 9th floor balcony. The view from there is spectacular!

What's your personal London landmark?

That's got to be Upton Park - home of West Ham United FC, my place of worship on Saturday afternoons since 1966. It's the only place where I pray, though it doesn't always work. Things are starting to look up now though! Like most West Ham fans, I would be totally gutted if we moved to that soulless wasteland of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

What's London's best film, book or documentary?

The London Nobody Knows - a short and powerful documentary narrated by James Mason in 1969 - is my favourite film. My favourite London book is a fascinating study, mainly told through oral history, of an estate in East London that was pulled down in the 1970s. The book is called The Rothschild Buildings and it's written by Jerry White

What's your favourite bar, pub or restaurant?

No contest. Monsoon Restaurant at 78 Brick Lane - the best Brick Lane curry by far. I used to work off Brick Lane in the late 1980s and got to know most of the restaurants along there. New restaurants continue to open but nothing can compete so far with Monsoon.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

If it's raining (as it often is) I would spend it in museums and art galleries, especially the Tate Modern, which is consistently excellent, but if the weather is good and it's the right day I'd take in a few markets like Portobello Road, Brixton market or Camden Lock, and do a bit of canal walking to get away from the traffic and enjoy London's buildings from a different angle.

27 June 2012

A Capital Idea

The city of London was founded by the Romans, as Londinium, in the 1st century AD (although there was an earlier settlement), but the origin of the name London is still uncertain.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his 12th century work Historia Regum Britanniae, suggested it derived from an ancient King Ludd who, on capturing the settlement, renamed it Kaerlud, which became Karelundein and then London. This has been widely accepted, though Monmouth's book is full of myth. Richard Coates, in his 1998 article A new explanation of the name of London in transactions of the philological society, suggests the name derives from the pre-Celtic word Plowondia, meaning "boat river" or "swimming river", because the Thames becomes too wide to ford in London. He also outlines other theories such as the Welsh-derived Llwn Town ("city in the grove"), or Glynn din ("valley city"). Another suggestion is that it comes from Luandun, "city of the moon", a reference to the temple of Diana, supposedly on the site of St. Paul's Cathedral.

The World Gazetteers lists 27 other Londons or which 18 are in the United States alone. There is even an asteroid called 8837 London discovered in 1989 by Eric Walter Elst is a Belgian astronomer.

Here, I believe is the definitive list:

London, England, a city in the United Kingdom

London, Ontario, a city in Canada

London, Belize, a village

London, Equatorial Guinea, a village

London, Finland, a section of Jakobstad

London, Kiribati, a small city on Kiritimati

London, Nigeria, a village

London, Limpopo, a village in South Africa

London, Mpumalanga (Noordprovincie) in South Africa

London, Mpumalanga (Graskop) in South Africa

In the United States:

London, Conecuh County, Alabama, an unincorporated community

London, Montgomery County, Alabama, an unincorporated community

London, Arizona, an unincorporated community

London, Arkansas, a city

London, California, a census-designated place

London, Indiana, an unincorporated community

London, Kentucky, a city

London, Michigan, an unincorporated community

London, Minnesota, an unincorporated community

London, Missouri, an unincorporated community

London, Ohio, a city

London, Richland County, Ohio, an unincorporated community

London, Oregon, an unincorporated community

London, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community

London, Tennessee, an unincorporated community

London, Texas, an unincorporated community

London, West Virginia, an unincorporated community

London, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community

25 June 2012

The lost apostrophe

Harrods cast it aside in 1928; Selfridges followed 17 years later, but by then Gordon Selfridge was too busy having his way with twin showgirls The Dolly Sisters, than worry too much about what went over the door of his emporium. Currys have dispensed with its services and Starbucks, well they are American, never used one in the first place.

The apostrophe is going the same way as the double space after a full point, which was much loved by legal secretaries when using manual typewriters. If punctuation marks were endangered species, then the apostrophe would be an Amazonian rainforest frog, or a fish dependent on Great Barrier Coral Reef for its survival. We would have David Attenborough talking earnestly to camera in hushed tones about the need to keep it safe for future generations.

Despised by graphic designers who have been paid a fortune to "conceptualise" and "brand" a product,  this little tick just gets in the way of their oh so cool layouts when they use their ubiquitous MS Comic San's. And so corporate logos, billboards and most advertising omit this little symbol of possession or contraction.

This humble floating tadpole once looked to be consigned to the history books, but one valiant group have continued to keep it alive, albeit mistakenly. The greengrocer's apple's and pear's were for many years a reassuring sight on our high street. This kind of sign-writer did not want to be faulted for omitting an apostrophe, so they were willing to run down their stick of chalk whenever an "s" is found on the end of a word. And it is this reverence for punctuation, an anxiety, even in this misuse which has kept it alive.

The large supermarkets seem to have put pay to the humble high street greengrocer with his random tadpole placed before an "s", and Sainsbury's, not content with taking all the customers from high street grocers, have even taken on the mantle of using their own apostrophe, the only supermarket chain to retain its use.

If punctuation has a gender then the full point is undeniably male, while the rather contrary apostrophe can only be a lady. The little mark shows up when she feels like it and at other times will appear gracefully in the wrong place altogether.

The Apostrophe Protection Society, established to defend the punctuation mark's place in the English language, is calling on users of the inappropriate apostrophe to mend their ways, well they would. The Society probably has among its members the Colonel Blimps of this world who reside in The Shires expressing righteous indignation whenever an offending tadpole is spotted.

With the demise of the greengrocer one might have expected the apostrophe to disappear from our streets, only appearing in its correct place, firmly disciplined within articles in The Times. But no, a new group has taken up the baton, and if anything in London at least is more numerous than the late lamented greengrocer.

Road works. Hundreds of them, in every street there is an urgent need to dig a hole and leave it for posterity. And many holes need the familiar temporary yellow road sign that in many cases states the obvious.

The writer of the many road signs might not have apples and pears to sprinkle with fairly punctuation dust, but they have surfeit of roads, streets, parks, squares . . . and yes cab's.

22 June 2012

The London Grill: N Quentin Woolf

We challenge our contributor to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don't take "Sorry Gov" for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London's skyline to find out what Londoners really think about their city. The questions might be the same but the answers vary wildly.

N Quentin Woolf is a writer and broadcaster who hosts the cult podcast Londonist Out Loud, a weekly round-up of news, views and curiosities around London. His work has been published in a variety of publications and broadcast on the BBC. He also hosts regular live events and groups, including Writers' Mutual writers' workshops. www.nquentinwoolf.com / www.londonist.com

What's your secret London tip?

London rewards the curious. Do something you've never done, every day. Look down an alleyway, visit a weird museum, check out a tiny park, speak to a stranger, go to that tube stop you've never been to. If you're seeing the same people and the same streets every day, you're missing the point. Explore! The city evolves constantly - you'll never run out of new experiences.

What's your secret London place?

Not a lot of people know this, but there's this one place where they've got all these life-size models of celebrities, made out of wax. Keep it to yourself.

What's your biggest gripe about London?

People who treat bus drivers like crap. I could never be a bus driver. I'd drive up and down the same route for about a day-and-a-half, maybe less, and then I'd feel absolutely compelled to turn left instead of right, or take a detour, or something - anything - to alleviate the monotony. Hats off to anyone who is able to stick that. These guys (of all genders) have to be patient and professional in the face of all sorts of obnoxiousness from within and without, and, yes, I know there are a few duff 'uns, but for the most part they are unassuming, patient, reliable and uncomplaining. Some even smile. And when they don't pick you up outside of a bus-stop, or when the bus is full, it's because that's how buses work. A good bus driver is good precisely through resisting acts of spontaneity. Go easy on the driver.  If we are blessed with anything in London, it's the certainty that there will be another bus along in a minute.

What's your favourite building?

London Bridge - the old one, long gone, with the buildings on it. Heads on spikes at the gatehouse at one end, dire traffic jams in the narrow passage between the shops and houses, the odd pedestrian being blown into the Thames when the wind got up. Not to mention the fire hazard. What's not to like?

What's your most hated building?

The Barbican terrifies me. It's not a complex, it's a dystopia.

What's the best view in London?

I did a show with London's Air Ambulance, and up we went, and London from 1000 feet is something to behold. The only other thing in the same space is the Shard; everything else is laid out with Toytown neatness, with a river made of tin foil snaking through it. The Tower looks like a cake decoration; Tower Bridge like a Crazy Golf shot. And, even from that height, the Barbican still looks like it might suck out your soul.

What's your personal London landmark?

That very high bridge near Highgate village. Always makes my knees go funny.

What's London's best film, book or documentary?

Film: 28 Days Later (2002). The knowledge that those spooky scenes of deserted London streets were done without SFX (they were simply shot during quiet moments) blows my mind. Book: a toss-up between Mrs Dalloway (1925), with the leaden circles of sound emanating from Big Ben and dissolving in the air, and Bleak House (1853), with that image of a megalosaurus waddling up Holborn Hill. Documentary: The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (1964), which details how London will meet its end, in 2164.

What's your favourite bar, pub or restaurant?

Starbucks. It doesn't fall exactly into any of the above categories, but it does understand that the early 21st Century Londoner requires the ability to a) leach electricity and b) connect to wifi while c) injecting caffeine into their eyeballs. Put Starbucks in charge of the electric car scheme, and we'd have a pollution-free city (and the shakes). Screw it - the chippy in Victoria Park Village. Heart disease never tasted so good.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

In the morning I would locate some squirrels, and attempt to feed them. Within seconds, every pigeon, gull, goose, urban fox and royal swan within half a mile would descend upon me, tearing the food from my hand, the hair from my head, stealing my trousers and leaving me to flee for my life.

Shortly afterwards, bleeding profusely, I would present myself to one of our friendly accident and emergency wards, where a sympathetic administrator would greet me by name and ask whether I'd been feeding the squirrels again.

In the evening, I'd write. I am working on a novel, and there's nothing better than shoving off to a pub with wood chairs and an open fire, setting down a few paragraphs, growing dozy, nodding off and catching alight.

20 June 2012

4,821 can't be wrong

I drive the world's best taxi giving a level of service that is second to none. How do I know? Well, the annual survey of 4,821 respondents from 23 countries by Hotels.com has revealed that London taxis polled 28 per cent of the votes putting us way out in front of our nearest rivals in New York who only polled 9 per cent. London Cabbies came first in five out of the seven categories including safety, friendliness, and cleanliness, quality of driving and knowledge of the area. Our famous chat and banter wasn't so popular with 37 per cent of Korean and 30 per cent of German visitors who said that they hated "chatty drivers". No matter, group hug chaps.

But wait a minute, what empirical evidence was used to reach this conclusion? Precisely none. Every contributor used their own judgment of what they wanted from their taxi experience. And that is the problem; all these sites on the World Wide Wait provide a means to express one's own opinion. Mister Angry to Miss Supine all have a chance to express their view. And who are these people? I don't know, and nor do you, they could be genuine or one of my colleagues' brother-in-law.

It is the modern curse, this information overload. A guide book, written by professionals can at least be relied on to be consistent; but these sites rely almost solely on user-generated content- and there is plenty out there in cyberspace - I should know, contributing more than my fair share of personal opinions which my Korean and German customers seem to abhor.

One of the biggest sites is TripAdvisor who boast 45 million users, who once claimed on its homepage that it had "reviews you can trust", but following from an allegation that up to 10 million reviews of hotels, restaurants, and holiday businesses could be fakes, possibly posted by the proprietors of these services, which prompted an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority, TripAdvisor has dropped their claim of trustworthy reviews. Presumably now you should only use these comments as a rough guide.

So I decided to do a little research of my own in relation to the London taxi service and tripped over, so to speak, to TripAdvisor:

Moi0606 asked, quite reasonably I thought: "Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to get a cab from Marble Arch to [Natural History] Museum and then return at end of the day. Your advice is very much appreciated". To which ajeleonard gave this valuable advice: "About as difficult as sticking your arm out and hailing one with its light on".

Linet wanted to know: "We will need to take a 5-10 minute cab ride in London, when we visit in May. Approximately how much would this cost?" CheshireCat helpfully writing from Chester some 170 miles away gave this answer on London cab fares which should leave Linet in no doubt as to the cost: "Assuming you hail a taxi in the street or pick one up from a rank, my best guess is budget for about 5-7GBP. But . . . this isn't a straightforward question. Depends on lots of things as fares are a combination of distance and journey time plus a whole lot of "extras" (e.g. how many people, how much luggage, time of day). Also if you pre-order one expect to see 1.50-2.00 GBPon the meter before you start your journey. Fares are regulated so see: londontransport.co.uk/pco/taxi_fares.shtml for details of how they arrive at a figure.

Clearly concerned by being ripped off Rickamandog inquired: "I was reading a recent posting that said that the cabs [fares] in London were outrageous." TexasEllen replied: "Black Cab drivers are a whole lot better than they used to be and generally are very appreciative when you tip them. Unfortunately we came across one of the old school who took us to London Bridge Station, his technique was to get out of the cab walk around the back of the cab and accept the fare on the kerbside, the fare was 7GBP I only had a 10GBP note as he walked back around I heard him say "I guess we will call that even" yeah like a tip of 40%whatever percent is even, I would have given him a pound coin, I'm a pretty good tipper but 3 pounds on a 7 pound fare was an attempted rip-off. I have never come across this before and don't expect to again. We have found them to be knowledgeable and if you treat them well you get the same back. We even had one sing The Yellow Rose of Texas, after we told him we were from Texas.

Well thanks Ellen, your review is obviously genuine.

So there you have it, you pays your money and takes your choice, or in the case of the internet don't pay your money and take your chance.

18 June 2012

Staying erect

Samuel Johnson's friend James Boswell had an interesting experience on Westminster Bridge. He recalled: "I picked up a strong jolly young damsel and taking her under the arm I conducted her to Westminster Bridge, and there in amour complete did I engage up in this noble edifice. The whim of doing it there with the Thames rolling below us amused me much."

Boswell might not have had trouble in staying erect but for Big Ben it seems a case of erectile dysfunction. I have looked at it through one eye, aligned it with a lamppost, I've even tried viewing it upside down, but try as I might I just cannot see the list, but according to a report by London Underground Big Ben is leaning to such an extent that the tilt can now be clocked with the naked eye. The 316 ft. tower on the north side of the Houses of Parliament correctly is called St. Stephen's Tower but is known colloquially as Big Ben - the name given to the great bell that it houses, the clock is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and surmounts the tower which is founded on a 49 ft. square 9.8 ft. thick concrete raft sunk to a depth of 13 ft. below ground level.

You would have thought with foundations like that the tower would be stable but it is sinking unevenly into the ground, causing it to lean toward the northwest, and as a consequence the movement has resulted in the formation of cracks in the walls and ceilings of parts of the House of Commons.

The engineers claim that if you stand on Parliament Square and look east, toward the river, you can see that the tower is not vertical. As with so many things it's the MPs that are to blame, the construction of their underground car park in the early 70s started it and an extension of the London Underground Jubilee Line didn't help matters either. But what has accelerated the movement to 0.9mm per year was the digging of the deepest hole in Britain during the construction of the new Parliament Square tube station and the construction above it of Portcullis House, again building work for the benefit of our MPs.

If the tower continues its slide towards the river in about 4,000 years it will compete with the Leaning Tower of Pisa which lurches 12ft from the vertical. By then anyone who should feel the desire to follow James Boswell's example of amorous exploits upon Westminster Bridge would be well advised to find an alternative hunting ground.

15 June 2012

The London Grill: Mark Mason

We challenge our contributor to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don't take "Sorry Gov" for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London's skyline to find out what Londoners really think about their city. The questions might be the same but the answers vary wildly.

Born in the Midlands in 1971, Mark Mason moved to London when he was 20. Over the next 13 years he sold Christmas cards in Harrods, made radio programmes for the BBC and busked outside Eric Clapton gigs at the Royal Albert Hall. He also published three novels, several books of non-fiction including Walk the Lines, and wrote for publications as diverse as The Spectator and Four Four Two. He continues to do some of these things, though has now defected to Suffolk, where he lives with his partner and son.

What's your secret London tip?

The tour at Lord's. Even if you don't like cricket the pavilion's beauty will knock you out (it's now a listed building.) Do the tour on a non-matchday and you even get to visit the dressing rooms and the Test Match Special commentary box.

What's your secret London place?

Gresham College - brilliant free lectures on everything from quantum physics to the London Underground

What's your biggest gripe about London?

Pedestrians who walk slowly along, come to a complete stop, or perform U-turns without warning. Do any of those as a driver and you'd be banged up.

What's your favourite building?

Impossible to choose - but let's go for the Royal Exchange. Apart from the fact it's stunning, it perfectly symbolises London's genius for reinvention: one-time trading floor, now a fantastic café and bar. (Though in a continuity vein, the rents from its luxury shops still fund Gresham College, as they have done for centuries.)

What's your most hated building?

Westfield Shopping Centre

What's the best view in London?

The bar of Ye Olde Mitre off Hatton Garden just after they've put my pint of Guinness on it.

What's your personal London landmark?

1 Canada Square - my first London home was in Shadwell, just down the river from it, and my major memory is of the flashing light at the top. Later I learned from a brickie that his mate had laid one of the bricks at the top of the building 10mm higher than the others, so he could say he'd laid the highest brick in Europe.

What's London's best film, book or documentary?

Film: The Long Good Friday, book: Money by Martin Amis, documentary: The London Nobody Knows presented by James Mason (delightfully surreal)

What's your favourite bar, pub or restaurant?

Posh night out: The Wolseley ... great value: The West End Kitchen (Panton Street, just off Leicester Square)

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

Simply walking round. London's the best human zoo in the world. One guy I passed as I walked the Victoria Line was saying into his mobile: 'It'll be an hour and a half before I'm in Romford, Matilda. If you're going to have a bath, have a bath now.'

13 June 2012

Demographic analysis

Last year London's first French language terrestrial radio station started broadcasting to the capital's 400,000 native French speakers as a reminder of their own culture, but why are so many French institutions based around South Kensington?

It's a subject that has perplexed me for years, if not decades and here I feel I might need some help.

London is often said to be a conglomeration of villages each with its own identity, but also within our City - as with its villages - are islands of immigrant settlements each with their own economic, social and cultural identities.

But here's the question I would like answered: What attracts ethnic, religious or cultural groups to live in particular areas?

For instance why have the Chinese moved into Chinatown; why are a few streets at the north of Stamford Hill the home to Europe's largest Hasidic and Adeni Jewish communities. The Greeks frequent Green Lanes and why would you find Little Lebanon, with its large Arabic population along the southern stretch of Edgware Road.

When I first started working in London my company was located in Clerkenwell known then as Little Italy, there was to be found an Italian delicatessen, restaurants serving pasta and pizza, an Italian church, it even had (and still does) an Italian driving school, presumably to teach you Italian driving skills.

Earls Court is known as Kangaroo Court due to the large number of antipodeans students in digs there.

The Irish once populated Kilburn while the Whitechapel Road supports an almost exclusive population of Muslims.

For while I can understand later arrivals setting up home near people of their own ethnic mix for language, security or cultural reasons but what makes the first settlers adopt a particular area?

For the large Afro-Caribbean community in Brixton David Long in his book The London Underground suggests:

During the war a series of deep level air raid shelters were built designed in such a fashion they could eventually be linked up to form a super underground railway, but lack of money after the war meant this scheme was abandoned. So in 1948 the Clapham Common Deep Level Shelter became briefly home to several hundred Commonwealth citizens who arrived on the SS Empire Windrush, laying the foundations for nearby Brixton's Afro-Caribbean community.

So why have different divergent communities decided at random to live in different areas of London, any theories are to be welcomed.

I am indebted to Lucy Inglis for her map of London, her site Georgian London was voted History Website of 2009, on it will find more information than seems possible to amass on what London was like to live in during 18th Century.

11 June 2012

Weird homes

It is said that an Englishman's home is his castle. For some homeowners that is true . . . for other well they have had other ideas.

But first a castle:

Vanbrugh Castle, Maze Hill

In 1717 Sir John Vanbrugh was the first to introduce nostalgia to architecture when he built for himself a miniature medieval fortress for a home, starting the fashion which lasts to the present day. Some of the castle was demolished to construct Maze Hill Station; the remainder is now divided into rather burglar proof flats.

Tile Kiln, Walmer Road

I doesn't look like a house and it certainly wasn't built as one, but this the remains of what was a thriving pottery industry in the 19th century. This area of Notting Hill with its open cesspits, pigs roaming free and cholera gave the area a notoriety unsurpassed by any other district in London. This 1827 tile kiln was converted into a house by Michael Brown in the 1970s.

St. Alban's Church Tower, Wood Street

Living in a tower outside a police station and overlooked on all sides by office workers might not be everybody's idea of Heaven. This medieval church rebuilt in the Gothic style in 1633, burnt down in the Great Fire of London, rebuilt by Christopher Wren and then destroyed by bombing in 1940 with only the tower surviving. After several years it was converted into a private house.

Leaning Tower, Rotherhithe

Originally the premises of Braithwaite & Dean, a barge company. While its neighbours were pulled down in the 1960s by the council as a health hazard, no one can remember why this building was spared. It is now one of the most solitary private houses in London.

8 June 2012

The London Grill: Alf Townsend

We challenge our contributor to reply to ten devilishly probing questions about their London and we don't take "Sorry Gov" for an answer. Everyone sitting in the hot seat they will face the same questions ranging from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London's skyline to find out what Londoners really think about their city. The questions might be the same but the answers vary wildly.

Alf Townsend, a London Cabbie for 50 years. A founder member of HALT, the cabbies co-operative at Heathrow, later the Chairman, and Editor for some six years of The HALT Magazine. A well-known trade journalist for the past 45 years and author of six published titles. Winner of The Taxi-Driver of the Year Competition in 1979, followed by many appearances on TV. A popular lunch-time speaker at the American Women's Clubs in Greater London, where I try and spread the gospel of London taxis and their longevity! One of the first to join The LTDA in the sixties and still an active member.

What's your secret London tip?

Stay along the river for most of your runs if you can.

What's your secret London place?

Highgate Cemetery where our eldest daughter Jenny and her son Sam, lay at rest.

What's your biggest gripe about London?

All The PCN's dished out to us cabbies while the bikers get away with murder!

What's your favourite building?

Oak Tree House Hampstead - where I live! 

What's your most hated building?

The Gherkin - ugh!

What's the best view in London?

From the top of Parliament Hill.

What's your personal London landmark?

The Old Curiosity Shop in Portugal Street - just off of Lincoln's Inn Fields.

What's London's best film, book or documentary?

My book The London Cabbie tells everything about London that tourists should know!

What's your favourite bar, pub or restaurant?

The Garden Gate, South End Green,

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

A trip on the boat from Westminster Pier to Greenwich.