Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

London’s cabbies, it would seem, have the undeserved reputation of being self opinionated and lacking manners. Driving all day on London’s roads it can hardly be surprising that common courtesies are not always observed; many times a customer has said that they couldn’t drive all day in London.

The capital’s congested roads, riders wobbly around on Boris bikes and vans trying to squeeze past you on the inside might be a contributing factor to a recent YouGov Poll in which 52 per cent of Londoners said they would prefer to live elsewhere.

Gratuitous use of car horns, I’ve even witnessed a driver tell a pedestrian to get off a crossing when the amber light was still flashing; passengers incapable of stopping taking on their mobile to tell me their destination, working all day in London we seem to have become inured to our brash and discourteous ways.

So it came somewhat as a surprise when in Dorset recently that while walking my dog a complete stranger greeted me with a jovial “Good Morning”, which clearly it wasn’t as rain was just staring to fall. Before I had time to reply we have passed like ships in the night.

On buying my morning paper instead of the ubiquitous ‘no dogs allowed’ sign on the door, not only are mutts permitted, but receive a biscuit.

The trend nowadays for shop assistants to reply “No problem” to the simplest request, implying that some other shops would be less tolerant of my request as this would most certainly have been a problem, just hasn’t entered their lexicon.

In London I’ve had queue jumpers at garages going ahead of a dozen people carrying groceries to tender their exact money for petrol leaving everybody seething standing patiently in the queue. While in Dorset a trip to the petrol station is treated as a social occasion and every purchase of fuel is accompanied by four minutes of banter from behind the counter leading to long queues at the pumps.

The dictatorship of the mobile phone which drowns out all other conversation on trains in London, here in Dorset is benign, mainly due to the fact that the signal can best be described as contrary.

This little anachronism from a gentler age is a mere 90 minutes from London but seems half a century away. But I have to say when returning to the capital it was a relief to be not asked at a petrol station “Have you come far today?”

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

Unlike many cities, due in many cases to our Victorian forebears, London is blessed with vast tracts of green open spaces; incredibly 20 per cent of the capital’s total area is given over to the public recreation.

For this Guest Post Eve Pearce writes that without the strict management of the London’s parks its green spaces could become an unsafe environment which places other users at risk.

This happened to London’s earliest cabbies, despite being licensed they failed to attract the right sort of passenger, so extreme was it that in 1694 a bevy of females in one cab reportedly behaved so badly in the environs of Hyde Park that the authorities responded by banning hired cabs from the park for the next 230 years.

A perk of London Life
London is the most heavily populated city in the United Kingdom with over seven million people registered as living in the city within the Greater London region. The city is constantly evolving and new records are set in construction each year, an example being the newly constructed tower, The Shard, which offers the highest viewing platform in Europe at two hundred and forty four metres. Thousands of visitors have climbed the tower to take in views of London which extend forty miles, such is the height of the building. Despite the bustle of London as a city, it has some reassuring constants that inspire many inhabitants and visitors. One of those constants is the London cab and another is the Royal Parks which for years have offered Londoners a place to relax, exercise and escape the pressures of city life.

History of Royal Parks
The Royal Parks are actually an agency run by the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport and they manage over five thousand acres of prime parkland in and around the city of London. This space is spread across eight separate parks incorporating scenes that are synonymous with London life. Hyde Park contains Speakers Corner, traditionally associated with free speech and some of the finest political orators in history, whilst Kensington Gardens is the home of the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground. The parks are a vital lifeline for Londoners who are often housed in accommodation which does not provide a garden yet are still able to enjoy fine horticultural surroundings without venturing far from home. Cab drivers are proud when hearing the comments of the many visitors to London who wish they had such abundant spaces in their own overcrowded neighbourhoods. In many areas of the country, parks are a byword for neglect and under investment but in London the parks are beacons of excellence and a magnet for those who wish to live healthily whilst living in London or enjoy sport, entertainment or a picnic in beautiful surroundings.

London’s Green Spaces

Other London Spaces
In addition to the Royal Parks London is blessed with other large open spaces such as Hampstead Heath which is the home to Kenwood House, a stately home renowned for hosting huge outdoor concerts in the summer months. Local areas such as Notting Hill and Kensington have their own green spaces which are managed by local residents but many small spaces are accessible for all visitors during daylight hours. Just as cab drivers are urged to evolve and become greener, those who look after our green spaces are looking at their impact on the environment. Parks are now managed with biodiversity in mind and planting schemes are sustainable.

Park Users
The Royal Parks team are aware of their responsibilities to the diverse group of park users. From commercial dog walkers requiring a license through to keep fit classes, each user is considered by the park managers along with their impact on other park users. It is crucial that all groups are considered because the spaces that provide an escape for so many Londoners are in effect owned and paid for by those individuals. The parks can generate commercial revenue through the hosting of events and provision of catering but they are very much a public resource and a national institution. The commitment of the Royal Parks to permit dog walkers but to demand a licence from commercial dog walkers creates a covenant between that user group and the park managers. Without it the management of the parks could be accused of allowing an unsafe environment which places other users at risk. Cab drivers have a responsibility to their users who expect a safe and comfortable journey and to be delivered to their destination using the most effective route. Cab drivers must ensure that their visitor experience is undiminished by the impact of other visitors and this includes the clearance of litter and ensuring that they are protected in the event of accidents. A group returning from a raucous night out will have a different impact on a cab to an individual seeking a lift to a national museum, and pose different risks, but each user group is treated with respect and monitored to ensure that the experience of one does not impact on the other. Parks may have many different user groups sharing the same space at the same time whilst it is less common for people to share taxis unless a coincidence occurs and a common destination is established.

London Life
A growing population and shrinking land bank for new development means the role of those guarding the green spaces in London is increasingly important. All individuals need a comfortable and attractive environment in which they can relax and develop a side of their personality that may not receive much nurturing in such a busy environment. Like London cabs they are a feature on the London landscape that many could not be without and it is essential that they are preserved for future generations. The historic spaces of London are in safe hands and are well protected against development. They are being made more accessible and relevant to those who use them and this can only be of benefit to future generations who are likely to need the same venues to provide an escape from an increasingly busy city.

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Gibson

There are very few honey bees in my garden this year, just a few bumble bees. Not surprising as 25 per cent of hives did not survive last winter.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

The Centre for Retail Research has recently forecast 62,000 shops will close in the next 5 years. The independent analysis group estimate that one-fifth of all retail outlets will cease trading by 2018. Peter Watts writes on his Great Wen site of the demise of Tobacco Dock. Opening in 1989 the dock conversion featured two arcades of shops on two floors inside a skilfully modernised structure that retained its Victorian industrial integrity. It now lies there completely empty.

Once London had a number of prestigious stores many owned in a partnership of two men. Unlike the generically named Next or Top Shop their premises reflected the owners’ personal taste and retain acumen. As our shopping habits change the great days of the department store are probably over. There are some survivors left in London, but many of the great privately owned retail partnerships have gone. Old fashioned concepts like knowledgeable staff, politeness and service are now less important in a digital retail age.

Arding & Hobs

One of the few stores Sarf of the River. This department store was once situated at Clapham Junction and very often spoken of as “Arding ‘n’obbs”. It opened in 1885 and at that time was the largest store south of the River. Destroyed by fire in 1909 it was rebuilt in Edwardian baroque style the original signage remains in place above the main entrance. Now Debenhams.

Bourne & Hollingsworth

Mr. Bourne and Mr. Hollingsworth set up a fancy drapers’ shop in 1894 in Westbourne Grove. In 1902 they moved to Oxford Street slowly acquiring the rest of the block including a brothel, a ‘next of Polish tailors’ and Savory’s cigarette factory. Closed in 1983.

Derry & Toms

A little shop run by Joseph Toms described as a ‘toy and fancy repository’ joined with Charles Derry acquiring seven shops one of which was described as a ‘mourning department’. The firm prided itself on being the main suppliers to the upper classes of South Kensington and had over 200 employees living in. Closed in 1973 and taken over by Biba.

Dickens & Jones

Dickens originally opened a shop in Oxford Street in 1790 moving to Regent Street in 1835. By 1900 the staff totalled 200, most of them lived in nearby Argyll Street. In the 1890s John Pritchard Jones became a partner and the store changed its name. In 1901 the store was all prepared for a while sale when Queen Victoria died. Most of the stock was dyed black to meet the urgent demand for mourning wear. It is now owned by House of Fraser.

Marshall & Snelgrove

Opening in Vere Street in 1837 their nearby rival was William Debenham. By 1871 James Marshall the son of the founder had introduced a large mail-order business. Alas the rivalry is over Marshall & Snelgrove is now part of the vast Debenhams empire.

Swan & Edgar

William Edgar had a haberdashery stall in St. James’s Market and used to sleep under it at night. Meeting Mr. Swan together they ran a shop in the Ludgate area. In 1812 they moved to Piccadilly Circus and then Regent Street premises which had been the Western Mail coach offices and also the Bull and Mouth public house. They retained the inn licence until the late 1970s. Its vast store was closed in 1982.

Waring & Gillow

The business was established by Robert Gillow in Lancaster about 1731 and by 1765 leased some land in Oxford Street that was to become the Selfridge’s site. S. J. Waring had a cabinet making enterprise in Liverpool and in 1895 had a retail outlet in Oxford Street. The companies merged and made furniture for Boodle’s, the Garrick and Reform Clubs. However, the business of the firm began to decline and the Lancaster workshops closed in 1962 and the company merged with Maples.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

My mother once told me that while on a holiday in Switzerland, having walked for 20 minutes from a nearby town and ascended the funicular to take her up to view the Reichenbach Falls without encountering hardly a soul. But there standing alone on the viewing platform was one of her work colleagues.

A similar, if less than dramatic incident, occurred to me on Saturday.

Taking a welcome break from driving a cab around London we went to Hatfield House. This superb Jacobean property is easily accessible from London having as a main line railway station outside its front door.

The BBC are running a Tudor season and as Hatfield House is one of the finest architectural examples from that time, and as one might expect visitor number could rise, that coupled with a recently open children’s’ zoo and sculpture park.

Situated not far from where I grew up it’s a place we return to time and again, but this time we were there to see their garden show and look around at their beautiful gardens and sculpture trail.

One of the first exhibitors we encountered was Fiona Rule, an author I’ve featured in my Radio Taxi blog whom I’ve only corresponded by email, having first listened to her being interviewed on the Robert Elms show on BBC’s Radio London.

A London historian promoting her books, hardly the sort of enterprise you would have thought would be featured at a gardening show. Even though Hatfield House is one of the finest Tudor houses in England it seemed to me a little incongruous until Fiona told me of her other venture.

As well as looking into one’s family tree those lucky enough to live in a house with some character now often want to know their home’s history and this is where House Histories comes in.

Your House History is reproduced in either a small book for a coffee table format and additional copies can also be printed. Each averages around 70 pages with numerous illustrations. Taking a few weeks to complete research is available for properties in any London or Hertfordshire postcode.

I doubt if the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury whose family have lived at Hatfield for 400 years will feel the need to commission a history of his house.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

Every month CabbieBlog hopes to show you a little gem of a building which you might have passed without noticing.

Tucked away in Ashwin Street in the now so fashionable Dalston Junction.

This building which once advertised the original owner’s proud boast to be at the forefront of artists’ paint technology is now a theatre.

Reeves manufactured their artists’ paints here from 1866: This section of their factory was added in 1913 as the print house and is richly decorated with mosaics.

The building stands just behind the ‘Peace Mural’. Unveiled – if that is possible on an artwork covering the side of a building – by the late Tony Banks MP. Depicting the Soviet Union and United States standoff and declaring Hackney as a ‘nuclear free zone’. It seems to have placated both super-powers as Hackney has remained untouched by any nuclear strike.

Reeves were founded in 1766 by William Reeves who opened his first shop on Well Lane, Little Britain near St. Paul’s. In the basement he manufactured his own paints, doing so well he took his older brother Thomas into partnership.

In 1781 William invented the ubiquitous water colour paint-cake by the ingenious process of adding honey to keep the paint moist and give it a gelatinous consistency.

Ashwin Street is really a back lane that has become the focus of much of the arts driven activity of the new Dalston, the catalyst for this was the renovation of the old Reeves building. Lovingly restored, it draws visitors from Dalston Lane with its exquisite external decorative detail including blue and gold mosaic lettering and backgrounds. The building now houses a range of small businesses, a bohemian cafe and the Arcola Theatre.

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Gibson

Thanks Stan what a great story. The area is now Dalston Junction you wouldn't recognise it.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

It is the Celts who probably named the Thames. It is thought by some to come from the Old English word ‘Temese’, meaning ‘to flow turbidly’. A simple name for a river full of detritus you might think, but it was probably the only waterway in the region that actually flowed, even if a little muddily. The river’s sinuous looping remains central to the idea of London and is frequently used on graphic devices representing the capital even the BBC’s Eastenders uses it on the titles.

Today we Londoners refer to this lower stretch of England’s longest river as, well, ‘The River’ in the definite article as if it was the only river that existed, or at least the only one that mattered – which of course it is.

Ham comes from a bend in the shore, similar to ‘ham’ from the bend of the knee, a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especially pig. Hampton gets its name from a pig’s anatomy.

At times it has erroneously been given a male gender and nicknamed Old Father Thames a kind of post-modern quasi-tutelary deity when in reality at times it has flooded and rather than protected Londoners has taken lives.

Over time most goods that entered London came via The River, so landing places were crucial. In Old English the word for a landing place was hythe, some locations on The River’s foreshore still bear this out: Rotherhithe or cattle harbour from which cattle may have been shipped across The River for the market at Smithfield. Greenhithe and Bablock Hythe in Oxfordshire are also locations of mediaeval docks.

Lambs were landed just west of Westminster – you could say today politicians act like a flock of sheep – but from that we get the corruption Lambeth.

Further upriver Chelsea was where chalk was landed and Putney (once Puttenhuthe, possibly where hawks were landed, but more probably named after a man who had hawk-like features).

Greenwich was first recorded in 964, its name derives from the Old English for a green trading place or harbour. At Shadwell its name is derived from a shallow spring or stream, not a shady well as some might think of the area.

Further downriver Woolwich unsurprisingly is named after a trading place for wool, while its neighbour Thamesmead sounds as if should be a bucolic place to enjoy a glass of mead. Thamesmead’s name in fact was the winning entry in a newspaper competition. The area’s topography of lakes and canals relieving the starkness of the built environment was once dubbed ‘the town of the 21st century. I doubt if many of its residents today would agree with that sentiment.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

When I first started working, driving a cab in London, dotted around the Capital were a number of small independent garages, many providing facilities for cabbies to empty their bladders as well as fill up their cabs.

One popular such garage with the most basic of washroom facilities was once to be found in Waverton Street, Mayfair occupying a site worth probably many millions more than the fuel they were selling.

The oldest garage in London, which until recently was located in Store Street, a short anxious drive from Oxford Street when running low on diesel. The Bloomsbury Village Garage reminiscent of a period that Enid Blyton wrote about closed in June 2008 after being turned down for listing by The Department for Culture Media and Sport.

It opened in 1926, probably for the exclusive use of The Duke of Bedford a well known car enthusiast, who on 1st April 1968 was fined £50 for undertaking on the M1, when the police had recognised his number plate DOB1.

The petrol station which attracted famous customers’ including Lewis Hamilton and Jamie Oliver was once probably used by Virginia Woolf’s chauffeur has now been redeveloped using most of the original brick and stone incorporating the original kiosk. A mosaic above harks back to the ‘golden age’ of motoring when it was possible to fill your tank and spend a penny in central London.

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Gibson

Yes unfortunately there are not many garages now left in London. Thanks for your comments.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

The story of the Brompton bicycle is much more than a tale of British engineering achievement.

It is a story of loyalty, passion and true
British grit of how a bright young engineering graduate with a dogged determination spent years trying to persuade a sceptical world that his ingenious little bike would
challenge the very way we all use urban transport.

For this Guest Post Eve Pearce writes that this tiny wheeled wonder that is still manufactured in London integrates perfectly with the London cab.

Cabs Form Part Of Integrated Transport Solution In London

When reading newspapers it is possible to form the opinion that cab drivers and cyclists do not get on. Competing for the same road space with vastly different vehicles is not a recipe for harmony. London leads the way when it comes to cycling in the United Kingdom, the streets are full of cyclists with differing objectives. Commuters speed to work trying to gain an edge over four wheeled transport whilst leisure cyclists take in the sights of the capital and the hard core try to emulate London born Tour De France winner Bradley Wiggins. The streets are also full of cycles, more than eight thousand are located in docking stations as part of a city wide initiative to make cycling accessible by introducing pay as you ride bikes in all areas of London. Affectionately known as “Boris Bikes” the distinctive machines were actually proposed by Ken Livingstone during his term of office before being enthusiastically embraced by the current London Mayor, Boris Johnson. There is another London cycling success story that has provided an integrated transport solution that links cycles and cabs for thousands of commuters across the city.

British Manufacturing Leads The Way

The Brompton bicycle is a modern British manufacturing success story. The company employs over one hundred and forty people in its factory in Brentford and manufactures a range of folding bikes that are exported all over the world. In London it is hard to miss commuters using their machines as the riding style is upright owing to the styling of the cycle. With smaller wheels than a typical cycle and folding joints in strategic places the cycle folds down into a small unit that can by carried in one arm without disrupting passers-by. The cycle is so small when folded down it can be deposited in the back of a London cab quite easily and this is the key to the success of Brompton as a manufacturer. Its users are not restricted in the same way other cyclists are. If they choose to cycle to work in a morning they are not obliged to cycle on the return leg. If they are not motivated to cycle or the weather is inclement it is easy to hail a cab and travel with the bike to any destination. A folding bike that compacts to the size of a small piece of hand luggage is the perfect solution for the occasional cyclist. Cab drivers do not have to worry about the terms of their taxi insurance because they are not carrying a bike in a way that affects other road users. There is no increased risk of liability for any driver carrying a passenger travelling with a folding bike.

Quality Ride

Despite its quirky looks and unusual riding style the Brompton folding bike offers a fun yet comfortable ride. The frame is resilient enough to cope with the streets of London and the addition of mudguards as standard protects riders from any spray thrown up during wet weather. There are many folding bikes on the market but Brompton is the most distinctive and in many ways a trend setter for that sector. Whilst the Brompton World Championships take place at Goodwood Motor Circuit, London has its own event, the Brompton Urban Challenge. One hundred and twenty five participants compete in an event that has an orienteering style format and encourages riders to use their skill and ingenuity to make the most out of their folding bike.

The Future

Whilst there may still exist some antipathy between motorists and cyclists in London, the development of London made Brompton in reshaping London as a cycling city has been exciting to watch. Londoners are now used to seeing riders pedalling furiously along the roads in that familiar style or scurrying along the pavement with a bike tucked under their arm. In many cities with a lower participation rate for cycling the machines still draw incredulous looks from passers by. In London there is probably no cab driver that has not had one in the back and in times of poor weather the London cabbie is the saviour of many stranded commuters. The Office of the Mayor of London announced in 2012 as part of the Olympic Legacy programme, ambitious plans to make cycling in the city even more attractive. The plans are several years from fruition but it is anticipated that cycling knowledge of London cabbies will be developed as demand for its services increases at strategic points on the London cycle path network.

Photo from Lady Fleur who when visiting London wrote an account of 48 hours in London with a Brompton Bike.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

If ever there was a place which encapsulates ‘Englishness’ the Ye Olde Mitre Tavern is it, hidden away down an alleyway in Hatton Garden. The first Mitre Tavern was built in 1546 as the boozer for servants working in the Palace of the Bishops of Ely. This small area is still technically under the control of the Diocese of Ely, Cambridgeshire and until the last century the pub licence was issued from Ely. The City police at that time had no jurisdiction within its bounds.

The Palace, before being demolished in 1772 was the magnificent residence used by the Bishops when they came to town, boasting a vineyard, orchard, gardens, fountains and ponds, all surrounded by a wall to keep out the locals. The community inside was then declared part of the mother county which became a corner of some foreign city that would be forever Cambridge.

If you believe Shakespeare’s opinion on soft fruit, the strawberries grown there were the finest in London. The Duke of Gloucester speaking to the Bishop of Ely in Act 3 of Richard III declares:

When I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there: I do beseech you, send for some of them.

A strawberry fayre is still held in Ely Place every June in aid of charity.

Ely Place was the centre of religious and political power, John of Gaunt’s famous speech from Act 2 of Shakespeare’s Richard II is staged here:

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle; This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars; This other Eden, demi-paradise; This fortress built by Nature for herself; Against infection and the hand of war; This happy breed of men, this little world; This precious stone set in the silver sea; Which serves it in the office of a wall; Or as a moat defensive to a house; Against the envy of less happier lands; This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

After the Reformation Queen Elizabeth forced the bishops to rent some of their land to Sir Christopher Hatton, one of her courtiers, the area then became known as Hatton Garden, which now of course is the centre of London’s diamond trade.

The Virgin Queen seems always to have a liking for trees. In the front bar of the Mitre is the preserved trunk of a cherry tree around which she is said to have danced the maypole. Likewise at Hatfield House, until recently their gift shop had leant against the wall the trunk of the oak she was reputed to have been sitting under when she received news that she was now Queen.

The Mitre today claims to be the oldest pub in London, which although rebuilt in 1772 it is technically still part of Cambridgeshire, so it should lay claim to be the oldest boozer in Cambridge.

Soon after its rebuilding Dr. Johnson was a regular – Is there any 18th century public house without that claim? – and much of the interior would be familiar to the grumpy lexicographer. If you want to be transported back to Georgian London a trip to the outside gents toilets will give you that questionable experience. The only hand basin in the men’s is in the cubicle so be weary of pissing on your hands if somebody is taking a dump there. The women’s toilets are upstairs in the Bishop’s Room it would be too tempting to have the men’s toilets in the Bishop’s Room for fear of jokes about bashing it.

Beware of head and body injuries in Ye Olde Mitre, as the ceilings are low and the rooms are small, dark and crammed with furniture and people, particularly is a tour group have just turned up. There is a coffin-sized cubby-hole off the back room that is large enough for a single table and four very close friends. The furniture comprises of harsh wooden upright seats and solid wooden tables that look as though they were used to lay-out dead bodies in the local mortuary. A sign requests that furniture is not moved away from the authentic wood-panelled walls. With no TV’s, gaming machines or piped music, just the murmur of polite conversation Ye Old Mitre is a hidden gem.

More information on Ye Old Mitre can be found at London Details. The picture of the stone mitre that came from the gatehouse of the nearby Palace of the Bishop of Ely (demolished in 1772) by Mike Quinn.

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Weekly opinion and miscellany from a London cabbie

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 will face the same questions that range from their favourite way to spend a day out in the capital to their most hated building on London’s skyline to find out just what Londoners really think about their city. The questions might be the same but the answers vary wildly.

Fiona Maclean is the founder of London Unattached, a website that covers a whole range of things to do in London and out! She also works as a marketing consultant and in previous lives has helped launch Orange, set up and run dating sites and worked on a building site! She lives in London and has done so pretty much all her adult life, including being born here too. And, even when she tries to move out to the country just keeps coming back!

What’s your secret London tip?

For a completely different view of London, take one of the cheaper river boats up the Thames from Westminster to Tower Bridge. You get to see things that you’ll miss on foot or in a car – and you’ll save your shoe leather too!

What’s your secret London place?

I like a lot of the London churches. I think my favourite is St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield (it’s the one that was in Four Weddings and a Funeral).

What’s your biggest gripe about London?

The weather! Of course!!!

What’s your favourite building?

I am always awestruck when I see the Houses of Parliament.

What’s your most hated building?

The Gherkin. It’s just plain ugly!

What’s the best view in London?

From the Shard. I never thought I’d say it but I went on a press preview and you really do get a 360 view of London! I like the intelli-scopes there too.

What’s your personal London landmark?

St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Dome is something I can always spot

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

Too many really! Perhaps Notting Hill, for something that encapsulates London as I know it.

What’s your favourite bar, pub or restaurant?

Where I live I like the Troubadour for a classic coffee shop experience (they do good food too). Up in town it really depends on what kind of a mood I’m in. I rather like 10 cases in Covent Garden.

How would you spend your ideal day off in London?

People watching on the Southbank, with a swanky meal in Oxo tower as the sun sets!

This ‘Grill’ was first posted on the Radio Taxis blog.

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