The fret and fever of the day are o’er, / And London slumbers, but with murmurs faint, / Like Ocean, when she folds her waves to sleep: / ‘Tis the pure hour for poetry and thought; / When passions sink, and man surveys the heavens, / And feels himself immortal.
Robert Montgomery (b.1972), London, Religion and Poetry: Being Selections Spiritual and Moral
On 5 July 1975 American tennis player Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles’ championship. Ashe beat defending champion Jimmy Connors three sets to one on Centre Court. Ashe would use his profile protesting against apartheid in South Africa and US treatment of refugees arriving in the country from Haiti. He died in February 1993 after contracting Aids from tainted blood.
On 5 July 2012 The Shard, standing at 1,016ft, the tallest building in the European Union was inaugurated, three weeks before the London Olympics
It is illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster on the grounds that anyone who dies in a royal palace is technically entitled to a state funeral, unfortunately, this has been proved to be a myth
The world’s first underwater tunnel was the Thames Tunnel opened in 1834 between Wapping and Rotherhithe was until 1866 used by pedestrians
The Museum of London has in its collection 6,500 skeletons comprising for study every period in London’s 2,000-year history
Charles I, rather ungallantly it has to be said, after his own nuptials declared that “you can get used to anyone’s face in a week”
The figure of The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street on the facade of the Bank of England has a model of the bank on her lap
On 5 July 1969, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert in Hyde Park following Brian Jones’ death two days earlier
On 5 July 1957 the men’s final at Wimbledon was interrupted by a polite protester against the banking system
Before motorised vehicles, horses were involved in an average of 175 fatal accidents a year in London and eat over 1 million tons of fodder
The Press Association was formed from an idea hatched in the back of a Hansom Cab stuck in a London smog in 1868
On 5 July 1799 the first streaker was arrested when a man run naked from Cornhill to Cheapside for a wager
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.
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.
It was a beautiful summer’s evening and after nearly five years hard graft to pass The Knowledge a task which at times had taken over my life I was now ‘King of the Road’.
Having criss-crossed London a thousand times I thought I knew every square, cul-de-sac and back-water of London, but my fare had directed me to Bonnington Square, somewhere I had never investigated.
As we turned into the square ahead of me was a sub-tropical garden in Vauxhall!
Here tucked away a stone’s throw from where the gardener John Tradescant had founded ‘The Ark’ with its collection of botanical specimens from around the world were tropical trees in peoples’ front gardens.
The story of the saving of Bonnington Square from developers is a true David v Goliath. In the early 1980s a large number of properties were acquired for demolition by the then Inner London Education Authority in advance of proposals to build a new school on the site. However, plans for the school were dropped and the houses were left empty.
The square was taken over by squatters who formed a Bohemian community comprising of individuals from around the world. The squat had two community gardens one created from a derelict playground which previously was a bomb site, a café, wholefood shop, nightclub, newsletter and even a milk bar.
Forming housing co-operative they started negotiating with the ILEA to lease the 100 properties to the South London Family Housing Association. The co-op did up the houses and saved them from dereliction, some have tenants or shared ownership and some even have the occasional freehold.
If ever there was a place in London which shows the capital to be a collection of villages, this little community, in the shadow of the brutal St. George’s Wharf this is it.
Most read post – Ten things Londoners never do
Most read page – The Knowledge
And there is London! – England’s heart and soul. / By the proud flowing of her famous Thames, / She circulates through countless lands and isles / Her greatness; gloriously she rules, / At once the awe and sceptre of the world.
Robert Montgomery (b.1972), London, Religion and Poetry: Being Selections Spiritual and Moral
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