Blood SweptLands andSeas of Red

Blood SweptLands andSeas of Red

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Winter 2014/15

4 Roger Sligo’s ‘Ed Lines’Roving Roger repeatedly reporting...

6 Charity Shop Book Find – Another ChapterRoger Sligo receives an update from a driver

7 RadioTaxis & Dial a Cab. A new beginning?Asks Chairman & CEO Geoffrey Riesel

9 Veterans’ Christmas Lunch at The DenRoger Sligo reports from the home of Millwall FC

10 An Interview with Lee Scott MPBy Chairman & CEO Geoffrey Riesel

12 Booking OptionsDan Ellis examines the many different ways to book a cab

15 Help us Cover the Work!Alan Franks pleads for your help

16 Imperial War Museum World War I ExhibitionThe poppies have sprouted more visits here

18 Christmas Past at the Geffrye MuseumRoger Sligo looks back at Christmas Past

20 In defence of the Cycle Super Highway?Gordon Brown gets on his bike!

21 Gerry Graham – ‘The Chef’... an ObituaryGeoffrey Riesel reminisces about a sad passing

22 Curiosity CornerRoger Sligo tells of an Arabian Knight & The Soho Grille

24 The Bakerloo Line ExtensionRonald MacDonald Watson tracks what’s happening

26 Sherlock Holmes – The Man Who NeverLived and Who Will Never DieRoger Sligo at the exhibition for the greatest detective

29 Getting up early to see what the futurelooks like...Peter Gibson talks ‘Autonomous Vehicle Technology’

30 The Lord Mayor’s Show 2014Roger Sligo reports from the roadside

33 The Times they are a Changing… and so are weRoy Hughes – New technology & the Black Cab Booker

34 The “Where Am I” ContestWin a £25 Marks & Spencer Gift Voucher

35 The Mountview Puzzler PageCrossword & Soduko to keep your little grey cells busy

THE MOUNTVIEW NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM IS:Roger Sligo – Editor & photos / Penny Cuckston – AdministrationDoug Canning, DC-Graphics – Design, layout, printing and distributionGeoffrey Riesel & Peter Gibson – Board productionDesign, Layout & Print: ©2014 / DC-Graphics / High Barnet / Herts / EN5 5TP

T: 0208 440 1155 / W: www.dc-graphics.co.ukContent: © 2014 / Radio Taxis Group Ltd / Lennox Road / London / N4 3TXThe information and images contained in this Newsletter are subject to copyright.Unauthorised use, disclosure or copying without prior written permission from RTG Ltd is strictly prohibited.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Tools of histrade?

Discover who’s on page 22

THE DRY MOAT, WHICH SURROUNDS THETower of London, has been used as avisual reminder of the 888,246 Britishservice men and women who lost theirlives in the First World War.

Many thousands of people have visited theTower just to stand and look at this sadremembrance, just like a sea of blood, with

each poppy representing a lost life in the Great War.The last week of October, during the half term schoolholidays, there has been unprecedented numbers ofpeople visiting the Tower, to such an extent, that onelane of Tower Hill needed to be closed off, resultingin major traffic disruptions in all directions.

The poppies at the Tower had certainly caught thepublic’s imagination and once the selling of theceramic poppies at £25 each was announced they werecompletely sold out within a few hours.

As we approach Christmas 2014, I thought it wouldbe a nice gesture to remember Christmas day ahundred years ago in 1914, when there was a series ofunofficial cease fires, amid an exchange of Christmaspresents and Carol singing which took placeastonishingly, between German and British soldiers, aswell as, to a lesser degree, from the French units.

Independently both sides had ventured from theirtrenches into “no man’s land,” where food, cigarettes,beer and souvenirs were exchanged. Troops from bothsides were even friendly enough to play in a“legendary” game of football against each other.The truce is often thought of as a symbolic action ofpeace and humanity between enemies, of one of themost violent acts in human history. The dead soldiersfrom both sides were collected and buried with bothsides showing due respect and remorse for one another.

Subsequently, never again were these spontaneousChristmas truces allowed to happen, due to stronglyworded orders from the High Commands on bothsides. With the unprecedented bloody battles of theSomme and of Verdun and the beginning of thewidespread use of poison gas, soldiers on both sidesincreasingly viewed the other side as less than humanand no more Christmas truces were ever sought again.

KEEPING US OUT OF SOME BUS LANESEventech, which owns the Addison Lee minicab firm,had a long battle to use London’s bus lanes and thistook another blow recently when the Advocate General,who advises the European court of Luxembourg, foundthat Transport for London’s (TfL’s) policy of onlyallowing licensed taxis to use London’s bus lanes didnot constitute an unlawful bias between taxis andprivate hire. “Where state authorities make a bus lane ona public road available to black cabs but not to PHVs(private hire vehicles) during the hours of operation ofthat bus lane, that does not involve a transfer of ‘stateresources’, provided that all comparable undertakings aregranted access on equal terms,” Advocate General NilsWahl said in his opinion.

The European court respects opinions fromadvocates general in a majority of cases.

The underlying reason given in court that taxis areallowed to use bus lanes in London – from both TfLand the Advocate General are that taxis are permittedto be hailed in the streets and therefore they need to benear the kerbside so as to be able to stop easily whenhailed, Private Hire does not need this requirement asall hiring’s must be pre-booked!

I think the question must now be asked; isn’t it theright time for the taxi-trade to put a request forwardand asked both TfL and the European Courts why arewe being refused entry into some of London’s other buslanes? Isn’t it just as relevant that we need to access thenearside lanes in such places as Fleet Street, St Paul’sChurchyard, Bishopsgate and London Bridge? As TfL

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The ChristmasTruce

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has given their sole reason as to why we should beallowed to use bus lanes and not private hire, ongrounds that we need to be near to the kerb, thenshould we not be asking why this needs to change incertain other places? Add to that the fact that only theLondon taxi trade is 100% wheelchair accessible andthen taxis should be able to pick up those wheelchairpassengers from any kerbside.

THE SKY’S THE LIMITI just had to laugh when I heard about Mayor BorisJohnson and his £10 tickets to watch the New Year’sEve Firework Display near the London Eye. What I findso amusing is that people are prepared to pay it – andeven pay a lot more to the ticket touts!

Come on now, you can stand anywhere to watch afireworks display, because when I last looked fireworkswent high up in the sky. I can see no good reason whyanyone needs to pay for something that is readilyavailable to anyone who cares to lift his or her eyestowards the sky!

After all no one has any jurisdiction on where youare allowed to look. I’m sure most people would get thesame pleasure from outside the £10 zone. FromPrimrose Hill to Greenwich Park the panoramic view isamazing. I think one of the best places to stand for freeand see the fireworks would be Waterloo Bridge –“Where East or West London looks best.” As Ray Daviesof The Kinks so rightly sang; “As long as I gaze onWaterloo sunset, I am in paradise.”

METROCAB ON TOUR

Frazer-Nash took their new Electric Vehicle (EV) zero-emissions capable Metrocab out on the road to theNew Royal Oak at Paddington, to find out the reactionfrom London’s taxi-drivers, most of them having theirfirst close-up look at the new taxi. It was the first timeanyone outside of Frazer-Nash had been given theopportunity to look under the bonnet at one of theseveral One-litre petrol engines being considered forthe cab. (The engine only charges the batteries as arange extender and doesn’t drive the wheels at all,which is solely done by electric motors.)

I spoke to a few drivers to get their thoughts on whatthey were looking at. There was a taxi-driver namedDave sitting in the passenger section of the cab andwhen I asked him what he thought he told me –

“It’s going to be about £60,000 I reckon – but nobody isgiven a firm price.” I spoke to a lady cab driver and shehad certain issues; “The partition window is very flimsyand offers no protection whatsoever.” She told me. “Thedriver’s seat doesn’t rise up unfortunately, I suppose youcould always put a cushion on it, if push comes to shove,but you should be able to adjust the height of the seat – youcan, however, adjust the steering wheel though.” She said.

I had already previewed the Metrocab at City Hallin January and again during early spring at thedevelopment site near Guildford, where I had theopportunity to do a test drive. I must say over theintervening ten months since I first set eyes on it verylittle if anything seems to have changed. I askedGordon Dixon, Director of regional operations atFrazer-Nash to answer some of the drivers concerns.Firstly I asked him why they still haven’t come up withthe price of the cab. “It will be somewhere in between aTX4 and the Vito.” He replied. I told him that, that wasthe same thing he told me in January and I pushed himto give us a better idea, as some drivers are already overestimating the price tag by a long way. “It should workout to about £40k.” He said. I discovered that they willbe built in Coventry with manufacturing beginningtowards the end of next year, so it will be 2016 at leastbefore they are in service!

While the Nissan cab is supposed to be on the roadthis December – but don’t hold your breath – theyoriginally told us it would be out the beginning of thisyear – they also have no firm price. With taxis comingoff the road every day and only one manufacturer atpresent and Boris Johnson’s zero capable emissions by2018 – the future for new taxis is looking uncertain!

CHRISTMAS TIMEOnce again, we are well on our way to anotherChristmas and the time for a well earned rest andcelebration – even if it’s just for getting throughanother year. We have certainly seen many changes notleast with all these digital disrupters – this time lastyear hardly anyone had heard of UBER and “Sidecar”was the thing George Roper had bolted on the side ofhis motorbike!

Hailo was supposedly the best thing in the cab tradesince sliced bread – how the “halo” has slipped.

Meantime Radio Taxis has hit back with Pay As YouGo which began last January and has proved verypopular with a much needed increase in drivers as thework has been picking up, in the last few weeks it hasbeen a struggle to cover some jobs during busy times,so please all of you – the radio customers are there allyear round, so put yourselves out to cover these jobsand so that we keep this valuable work.

Don’t forget though, that Christmas is not all aboutwork and shopping. The best gifts around anyChristmas tree are the presence of a happy familywrapped up in each other.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and HappyNew Year! Roger Sligo.

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The new Metrocab getting the once-over

Charity Shop Book Find –Another Chapter

In the autumn issue of Mountview News I wrote about abook find I made in a charity shop in Shaftsbury, Dorset.Maurice Levinson a taxi-driver in 1963 wrote the book

“Taxi!” – about his thirty years on the road. I knew thatsomeone on Radio Taxis would know either him or his familyand I was delighted to receive the following email:

Dear Roger,I read with interest the piece on your charity shop book find‘TAXI!’ by Maurice Levinson, in your last paragraph youexplain that he mentioned his children and whether or not theybecame cabbies?

I can throw some light on that as I was friendly with his sonPaul from the mid 70s up until he retired several years ago – butlike many ‘friends’, we drifted apart. I married – he didn’t.Paul was on LORDS for many years.

I never met Maurice, who had passed on by then, but I didmeet his wife and daughter on a couple of occasions.

I don’t know if Paul is still around, as I am not in contact withothers who were also friendly with him – (part of the (in)famous‘GRANBY GRILL’ crowd) at the time. If he is, he’d be in his early 70s.

Regards –

Ray Montanjees G.48 (Nightman).

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THIS YEAR HAS BEEN VERY DIFFICULT;the radio taxi business (I mean radio taxibusiness in its generic sense) has beentougher than ever.

You see the corporate customers still like touse taxis, for all the reasons we know, such asthe fact that taxi drivers know where they’re

going, taxi drivers aren’t “slaves” to the Sat Nav, thefact that the passengers have privacy behind apartition and the fact that taxis can use the buslanes for speed.

Also of course all of you accept credit cards for anyjourney whenever offered (well you do don’t you?) you areall good at interacting with the public and friendly andhelpful, well you are, aren’t you?

The problem is the people who pay the bills for thecorporate accounts – have decided in droves in severalcases that taxis are too expensive and they don’t care howmuch better you are at the job. It’s certainly the reason wewill often discount longer journeys in taxis.

So in some cases, the only way to win some of the newcorporate business is in a race to the bottom on price.In those circumstances either the driver works at a rockbottom price, (albeit that’s more straightforward to do forlonger journeys but with a moderately discounted price) orthe company works for nothing (and the radio taxibusiness is already working on very slim margins as abusiness) and we know what the corollary of that iseventually. The only other alternative is to offer the wholerange of transport services (including taxis) through OneTransport – and indeed One Transport is becoming RadioTaxis biggest customer.

The principal problem is that many corporates thinkthat the service levels of Private Hire will be the same as itis with taxis. Of course it isn’t however, we will always allowthe client to choose but, Private Hire needs at least a 30minute lead time, the drivers are frequently not anywherenear as professional and competent as taxi drivers and ofcourse taxi lead times are on average only about 10 – 12minutes, taxis can thus be so much more responsive.

However if a client wants a tiptop service and aknowledgeable driver we naturally suggest that they use ataxi service.

SEVEN LEAN YEARS – ALMOST BIBLICAL?

After the banking crash in 2007, enter the digital disrupters,not only HAILO, Get Taxi, Kabbee and a myriad of other “getrich quick” entrants, have decided that they know thebusiness, but then up steps UBER.

AGGRESSIVE SURGE PRICINGUBER are the most aggressive disrupter in the market, theyare also the most well funded, they are the most cavalier interms of regulations and in terms of refuting any liability andthey are undoubtedly the most high profile in terms of PR(they believe there’s no such thing as bad publicity, a bit likeRyanair who’s also grown immensely on the back of what hasseemed to be cheapness & bad publicity!). And there is nodoubt that they (UBER) are having a major effect on all of us,not only on London’s taxi businesses, but also on the likes ofAddison Lee and Private Hire generally who must besuffering (its why the Carlyle Group, who had that businessup for sale are not getting any takers) despite the fact thatAddison Lee deny any issues (well they would, wouldn’tthey?) and they lose drivers to UBER as well as clients andthen struggle to cover work as a consequence.

The bad PR doesn’t seem to affect UBER overall, evenwhen complainants worldwide cite their diabolical practice ofsurge pricing regularly, where passengers have been chargeddouble, treble, quadruple the usual fare and even more thanthat at times. And irritatingly they are still “seen” as cheaperthan taxis even though this is unequivocally not true.

CIRCLE THE WAGONS?So it seemed really sensible for us to commence discussionswith Dial a Cab. We both occupy the same space, and franklyif we could agree a merger of our taxi businesses – then theeconomies of scale would allow us to have a considerablygreater financial strength in order to invest larger sums inmarketing than any of us can afford at present and to enhanceour technology where automation is the norm thus competingin those two areas where UBER have heavily invested.

Of course it would mean that if we can achieve this mergerwe will have created a super sized radio circuit and as I havealways observed (and completely contrary to what most taxidrivers believe,) that more taxis always equal better service andthat better service equals more repeat business.

This is a truism that has been proved time and again byhard and strong evidence, the protectionist view of many cabdrivers, that less cabs means everyone gets a larger slice of thecake, is a pure fantasy and this is backed up as well by hardevidence.

UPDATE ON TALKSSo where are we? The two boards have had initial talks andthere is unanimity, both are agreed that if we can pull it off,then in principle, it will be a good thing to do both for our

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Radio Taxis & Dial a Cab –a New Beginning?By Geoffrey Riesel

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individual companies and for the industry in general. Of course the devilis always in the detail and a steering committee is starting work on quitean extensive merger agenda.

Dial a Cab would need to demutualise, which is a matter for theirmembers. But we are starting down the road towards a potentialmerger and we have agreed that we both need to approach thisproject in a genuine spirit of partnership and if we can do that thenwe have a fighting chance of winning a great prize for bothcompanies.

NEW WEBSITE UPDATEOur new website has had around 15,000 visits since its launch date inmid September. It’s also had hundreds of visitors to the “book a cab”page and the online pre paid (by credit card) Black Cab booker has alsohad several hundred trips booked through it. Also we’ve had a few scoreof new small clients open Black Cab accounts which they can now doonline. Its early days yet, and we continue to promote all of thesethrough social media (Twitter, Facebook, You Tube etc.) We anticipatethat this will grow organically.

OPEN AN ACCOUNTAND GET £25 COMMISSION

You will have received, hand out cards from Station Road or when wehave had people coming out into town to give these out to you, also youwill have received some of these with this magazine and similarly thepostcards encouraging your street hailed clients to open a Radio Taxis,Black Cab account, remember to try to persuade your passengers to fillit out and you will get £25 for every account that opens and spends. Alsoanother promotion that we’re doing is, if they open an account betweennow and December 31st and as long as they spend £100 they will get £20off their first bill. Our drivers have always been our best ambassadors andour best salesmen and saleswomen, so get selling, you can supplementyour income if successful! Lets see who’s the best.

CREDIT CARDS It would seem that TfL, were going to mandate the acceptance of creditcards in 2015, however it would appear that despite the fact they acceptthat it would be especially good for the industry as well as being good forLondon, they have, what is more, lost their nerve.

It is often said that you get the leaders (or should I say followers) youdeserve. So why is mandation so important?

Because unless and until passengers always get a completeconsistency of service so that whenever they get in a taxi, for whateverjourney, be it near or far, our passengers can absolutely rely on being ableto use their cards, every time if that’s what they choose.

This reliability of service can raise the amount of business we get inthe trade by between 33% and 50% (this is a statistic which is evidencebased) – that’s why its so important. Every time someone gets into a cabwho either has the machine covered over or with a, machine out of ordersign, or if they don’t have a machine at all, it is driving our passengers touse UBER who only accept payment by credit cards. Don’t complainabout UBER if you’ve ever refused to take a credit card, whatever yourreason, if you want to fight them and compete, then accept them, for anyand every trip at all.

THE PROPOSED CYCLE SUPER HIGHWAYI attended a meeting at Palestra hosted by Leon Daniels of TfL regardingthe proposed Cycle Super Highway. This was a project put forward byAndrew Gilligan, Boris’s Deputy Mayor for Cycling, to be a legacyproject for when the Mayor has stood down and put himself up forParliament in the Uxbridge constituency.

Mr Gilligan is using statistics to try to convince us all that cyclingdeserves such a large slice of the very limited and contentious space inLondon, quoting that in rush hour 25% of traffic is cyclists. However hisnumbers are disingenuous, for example he admitted that he counted abus with more than 40 people on board as one vehicle, the same as asingle bicycle with a solo rider.

I detect that TfL are going through the motions, without muchenthusiasm for this ill-advised scheme they know that this will clearlyslow traffic even further, for taxis, for delivery drivers, for buses, it willslow traffic for disabled blue badge motorists (who frequently can’t usethe tube) and of course it will increase fares for our passengers includingwheelchair passengers (and lose us business.) And it will cost London’seconomy a significant sum, indeed TfL cannot quantify how much.Ironically this is being proposed at the same time as the ULEZ (UltraLow Emission Zone) consultation. Two policies, which are at, completeodds, as the contention caused by the proposed Cycle Super Highwaywill create vastly increased levels of CO2, NOx and Carcinogenicparticulates. TfL have not even had agreement from the boroughs aboutcoordinating traffic flows, the reality is that its been badly thought outand rushed through.

A strong road safety campaign encouraging cyclists not to goalong the blind side of trucks, not to jump red lights and for motoriststo be much more cycle aware will save many lives. Indeed the poor airquality caused by segregation in areas where there is frankly notenough room and which will slow London’s traffic even further as wellas damaging London’s businesses will cause as many deaths throughdiminished air quality.

My understanding is that if this scheme is put forwards both CanaryWharf Limited and the LTDA intend to fund a Judicial Review, I don’tknow if they can stop this happening, because frankly Mr Gilligan is a bitof an “evangelist” on this issue, but London is for everyone, for thedisabled, the deliveries, the businesses, the buses and the majority; notjust for ardent cyclists.

While I believe we as a trade should be against this ill thought outproject, however in the interests of impartiality, we’ve asked GordonBrown our COO to write a piece on the positive side of the Cycle SuperHighway. You will be the judges of whether you think its will be good forLondon and Londoners or not.

Finally at this festive time of year, can I take this opportunity to wishyou and all of your families and loved ones, a very Merry Christmas anda Happy Healthy and prosperous New Year.

Geoffrey Riesel – Chairman & CEO of Radio Taxis Group.

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Both veterans and drivers really seem to enjoythis annual event in the lead up to Christmas.The afternoon was well organised as usual with

the entertainment provided by St Jude’s SchoolChoir, who sung wonderfully, those much lovedChristmas Carols.

Fund raisers were doing well with lotterytickets and some outstanding auctionswith some high bids taking place. One ofthe auctions, for a pair of tickets for anyWest End show at any performance wentfor a staggering £300. I caught up withthe buyer Mr Colin Wright, (left)Secretary of the London Branch of TheParachute Regiment Association, andasked him what show he would be going

to – he told me “I don’t know yet! I’ll tell you what I’mgoing to do – we have a raffle in January and this will beour first prize in the raffle.” Hopefully Colin will be ableto raise a lot more money than he laid out for them!

Kitchener’s Restaurant Manager Denise, was handeda bouquet of flowers in appreciation for all the hardwork she does with her team – Gareth, Michael andGenine who managed the bar.

All the taxi-drivers seemed to enjoy the occasion andwere applauded by the veterans for the work they do andfor giving up their time during this busy period justbefore Christmas.

Roger Sligo.

Veterans’ChristmasLunch atThe Den

ON THURSDAY 4th DECEMBER,The London Taxi Benevolent Associationfor War Disabled was once again invitedfor the annual Christmas Lunch atKitchener’s Restaurant, in the executivesuite of the Millwall Football Club.

INTERVIEW MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2014

GR: Lee, Thank you very much indeed for talking to us.I am really pleased to be able to talk to the Member ofParliament for Ilford North. The London Taxi industry isviewed as being one of the most iconic in the world. Do youhave any favourite stories about London taxis or the LondonTaxi industry?

LS: Yes, I do actually Geoffrey. Just before the last GeneralElection, I got in a cab and had to come to the House ofCommons and the driver said to me, “I haven’t decided howI am going to vote in the election yet” and I said “well that’sobviously up to you mate” and he said “what do you dothere?” I said “I’m a Member of Parliament”. The driver askedwhat constituency and when I said Ilford North, he said“you’re Lee Scott” and I said “funnily enough I knew that” butI said “if you haven’t decided, is there anything I can tell youto make you decide?” He said “no I’m just winding you up, ofcourse I knew who you were, of course I’m voting for you”.So that was a very pleasant story. If I can convince another23,000 – I’m laughing.

GR: So tell me, what do you think is the role of theLondon Taxi industry?

LS: I think it’s unique. I think our licenced cab industry inLondon is, as you quite rightly say, is iconic, is respected theworld over, people know they are secure and safe and it’s very,very special and I think we need to make sure it stays that wayand that we do everything we can to protect it because I dothink in the same way as the Changing of the Guard, it is partof London.

GR:: Your constituency of Ilford North, they used to call itGreen Badge valley because of the amount of London Taxidrivers who live there. Do you come across manyconstituents who are London Taxi drivers?

LS: Yes, I come across a lot who are licenced London Taxidrivers as I go round, knocking on doors, or just at events, a lotof people are licenced taxi drivers and of course what they needis exactly the same as everyone else, they want a roof over theirhead, food on their table, salary, and it’s no different to anyoneelse in the problems that they talk to me about.

GR: Ok let’s talk a little bit about some of your colleagues,Boris who’s the Mayor of London. Do you think he hasbeen a good Mayor of London? And perhaps do you thinkmaybe he will make a good Prime Minister?

LS: Well, I will answer the first question first. I think Boris hasbeen a great Mayor of London. He’s done exactly what Londonneeds, he’s been an ambassador for London and he’s a character.There are very few people who you just say their first name andpeople know who they are, but with Boris, everyone knows whohe is. Now the second part of your question is would he make agood Prime Minister. We have a great Prime Minister and I amsure David will be Prime Minister for a long while to come, soask me about that one again in about 5 to 6 years’ time!

GR: The London Taxi industry and Taxi drivers areextremely concerned about UBER who seem to be ridingroughshod over rules and regulations which are there notto protect the taxi industry they are there to protect thepublic. The taxi industry wants there to be a level playingfield. The taxi industry is used to having competition butcompetition that works to the same rules. What do youthink can be done as far as UBER is concerned, is thereanything that you can say to give reassurance to Londontaxi drivers about some of the digital disruption that iscoming into the market place?

LS: Well I agree with you, the biggest concern as you quiterightly say is passenger safety, that’s what this is all about.I have grave concerns about UBER and other companies of thesame ilk who are, let’s face it, in it for profit. They are in it tomake money and they are not in it for passenger safety andtherefore I think that we need to seriously look at this. Youasked the question, what can I do? Well what I am doing isasking questions, I am asking Transport for London and otherpeople to look at this very seriously and I think you are 100%right, it needs to be a level playing field so that nobody is at adisadvantage but most importantly above anything else, thepassengers are safe.

When you get in a licenced cab you know that your driverhas been through checks. Now, nothing is ever completely

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Radio Taxis Chairman Geoffrey RiesParliament, Lee Scott MP. Lee repressometimes referred to as‘Green Badg

foolproof we know that as well, however you can be pretty wellassured that you are safe. You can’t be elsewhere and that iswhat has always worried me. You’re quite right, you can’t justsay you don’t want competition, I’m not saying that but it hasgot to be a level playing field and I want to see our licenced cabindustry protected.

GR: I think on the subject of UBER there are two thingsthat are of concern, three things probably, one is the fact thatthey are not registered in the UK to avoid UK corporationtax. The second one is that they don’t take any responsibilityor liability, because they say that they are just a technologycompany and the third one is this practice of surge pricing,which is appalling. I mean they tell the passenger just beforethey pick them up that there is a surge price but once you’veaccepted it, it’s Hobson’s choice. Do you think there isanything that can be done as far as that is concerned?

LS: Well I do think that something can be done and I will bepressurising for it. I do think there needs to be legislation onthis to protect the fact that, it’s all well and good saying youdon’t have a responsibility but when you are involving peoples’safety, you do have a responsibility and that is going to have tobe put in law. It is a relatively new concept and therefore it isplaying between the different laws that currently exist. Weknow exactly what they are doing and those laws need to bechanged so I will be pushing for that.

GR: A personal question, as you know I’m a resident inRedbridge and I’ve signed up to the campaign, the Red RagCampaign, for those people who don’t know what that is, it’sRedbridge Lane East, the junction with the RedbridgeRoundabout reputed to be the busiest roundabout inEurope, there is not a traffic light between the two, there is aconstant traffic jam, there are impatient drivers driving onthe wrong side of the road to get past the queue, there’s anaccident pretty much every week, some of them quiteserious. Possibly a flyover from the North Circular onto theA12 but there definitely needs to be a rearrangement of thatjunction. Is there anything you can say, not just to the taxidrivers who live in that area but to the residents ofRedbridge who have had to suffer this for at least 10 yearsand it is getting worse than ever.

LS: Well, I have given my support to the campaign, I havealso now approached Boris as Mayor of London to step in anddo something because TfL have been dragging their heels onthis. I use the roundabout regularly myself and it is anightmare. It’s as simple as this, if you are trying to get acrossto go onto the North Circular or to head towards Leytonstone;you have got a major problem on your hands. The only way

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that you can do it is to take your life in your hands; you’recutting across traffic, which is just so constant.

I’m not pretending I have all the answers but I think someof the things you have suggested are the way forward, thereneeds to be some traffic calming that doesn’t back all the waydown to Redbridge Lane right the way back to the WoodfordAvenue which is what we are on the verge of doing now and it’sgetting worse and worse. Also the local council have anobligation in this as well, they want to build new homes in thearea and that is only going to add to it, it’s not going to make itany better. So I have gone to Boris, I am awaiting replies fromBoris but I am lobbying very hard to get this sorted.

GR: As we all know, the General Election is due next year,what can you say to us regarding that general electionregarding the taxi industry to give assurance to London’s cabtrade and also to Radio Taxis customers about the future sothat they can feel happy about what’s going to happen nextyear. There is a lot of concern, I mean politics isn’t goingthrough it greatest period in history, is there anything thatyou can say that we can take away?

LS: Well, I don’t believe in being negative when onecampaigns so I am going to tell you as I see it. My party, invery difficult times, as part of a coalition, has I believed savedus from going the way of Greece and other countries wherethey have gone into massive, massive debt. Where pensions arebeing slashed, where infrastructure has gone, where tourism isdown, I believe the work we have done has helped stop thatfrom happening. I would like the opportunity for us to governwith a majority. But being blunt, going back to the old days ofspending money, that we do not have, the economy isbeginning to take off again. I can see tourism coming back toLondon in a bigger way than ever which obviously will benefitthe licenced cab trade, but on top of that as well, we want tosee people keep more of their own money, we want to seepeople have more control over their own destiny and youwould say I am biased and I guess I am. But I believe the onlyparty that can deliver that is the Conservative Party. Give usthe opportunity and an overall majority and if we let youdown kick us out, but give us that opportunity to govern onour own. That is what I would ask people to do. And a vote forany fringe party, no matter what they promise, they will neverbe able to deliver it. And that is anything from a Europeanreferendum down, because if people want a Europeanreferendum, UKIP can’t do it, Labour and the LiberalDemocrats won’t, the only party that will are theConservatives.

GR: Lee Scott, Member of Parliament for Ilford North,thank you very much.

el interviews his own Member ofents Ilford North – ge Valley’.

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AS A DRIVER, ALTHOUGH YOU SEEthe terminal with the differenttypes of jobs that appear; Cash,Account, Credit Card, Radio TaxisBlack Cab Card etc but do youknow, how does the passengerbook on Radio Taxis?

Well these days it’s never been easier to book a Taxiso let’s have a look at the options:

Telephone:Passengers can call up and speak to our contact centreto book a Taxi on Account, Credit Card or Cash. Ourcontact Centre in Mountview House is open 365 days ayear, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Priority is given toour account clients who have a dedicated line and canbook taxis all over the world and not just in London.This is still the most popular method of booking a taxi,although we are seeing more and more bookingsautomated through the following options.

Internet Booker(for account customers):Our account customers have access to online Internetbookings and have their own webpage which they canuse to book taxis. These jobs will show up on yourscreen as a normal account and from a driver’s point ofview you won’t notice any difference in how they arebooked.

Black Cab Booker(formerly known as the Consumer Booker):Passengers can book through the website using ourpre-paid credit card service which is proving popular.This is where the customer pays a fixed price inadvance using a card and it will also show up on yourterminal, just like a fixed price account job. These jobswill always be a fixed price and that fixed price willremain, despite any traffic conditions; however theywould be adjusted only in the case where thedestination changes, or where the journey differssignificantly from the original booking or where youhave had unarguably excessive waiting time.

Using their Smartphone –Cash App:The cash App is an easy quick process for the customerto book a cab. Once they open the App it locates wherethey are and a couple of button taps later to confirmthe booking the job will be offered to the closest cab.On your terminal it will show up as Cash App so pleasetry to cover these jobs as the success of this is down toyou covering the jobs. The App has also recently beenamended to allow customers to choose putting in adestination, as we know this cab help with coverage.

Credit Card App:We have additionally, in recent times, included theoption of paying with a registered Credit card on theApp. So passengers can easily book a taxi when they areon the go using their phone, without the need for cash.This will show up on your terminal like an account job.

Once they have booked a Taxi – what happens next?If the customer has booked for ASAP the job gets firedout from our Despatch System called Pathfinder.Pathfinder locates the closest driver to the pickupaddress and offers them the job.

Once the job has been accepted, if the passenger hasprovided a mobile number, they get an SMS Textmessage with the registration of the vehicle, thedriver’s first name and a link that brings up a mapshowing them the location of the Vehicle. They can usethis to track the cab and see you arriving at theiraddress. If they book in advance they get a text messagewith a booking confirmation. These messages help usoperationally, as they obviate the need for the customerto phone us for an update as they can see for

themselves online.Sometimes after you haveaccepted the job we ask youhow many minutes to arrival.The reason we do this is thatonce you are within a certaintimeframe we message thepassenger to let them know youwill be with them shortly.

Once you’ve completed thejob, the passenger will get a textmessage with a link asking

Booking OptionsBy Dan Ellis –Technical Manager Driver Services

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them if they would like to open an account (but only ifthey are not yet an account client) if they have bookedfor a cash or with a credit or debit card.

What the passengers would likefrom the driver:When the passenger makes a booking we ask them ifthere is anything they would like us to let you knowupon your arrival. So please make sure you check yourdriver notes on all jobs before you arrive at the pickup.Not checking driver notes is one of the biggest reasonswhy drivers fail to make contact and one of the biggestreasons why passengers get quite irritated, especially asit frequently means that by the time you do makecontact with them, you have too much money on themeter. If you do not check these notes you may bewaiting in the wrong place, which will cause thesefrustrations to both you and the passenger.

If you have arrived at the pickup address but cannotwait directly outside, please use the send messagefunction and select “I am waiting outside number….”You can then fill in the whereabouts of where you are,for example at number 23, or I’m by Tesco’s or at thecorner of Bond Street. This will help your passengerfind you and in turn have a more responsive experiencewith Radio Taxis.

If at any point you may be running late for jobs,even by the odd five minutes, please send a DelayAdvise. This function will contact your passengerdirectly informing them how long you are going to be.It’s much better to inform the passengers that you aregoing to be late than for them to call us to find out youare running late. Good communication keeps peoplehappy and in the loop. However, please bear in mindthat this function contacts the passenger directly soplease try to be as accurate as you can.

Parking and Loading Bays Recently we have seen an increase in the amount of tickets we havereceived for drivers waiting in loading bays. So I would just like toremind you of the rules about this.

What you shouldn’t do:� Use the bay to pick up and drop off passengers� Stop in the bay without loading or unloading – the bay is not for waiting or parking� Use the bay to park or go shopping� Use the bay outside of the hours shown on the sign or for longer than permitted� Move goods that do not require the use of a vehicle to transport (e.g. taking a suit to the

dry cleaners or collecting a prescription)

What you should do:� Use a loading bay to collect pre-ordered goods or unload goods that require a vehicle to

transport them � If you leave the vehicle unattended try to make it obvious that you are loading and

unloading� Tell any traffic warden or civil enforcement officer that you are loading� These are not exhaustive lists. If you are not sure you should have a look on the TfL

website for more details.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

CHIEF RENTALS is proud to announce that theyhave joined forces with Radio Taxis as their mainsupplier of replacement licensed Radio Taxis fortheir drivers who find themselves involved in theunfortunate circumstance of a non-fault accident.

This specialist service enables Radio Taxis drivers who areinvolved in such an incident to get straight back to work andmore importantly, back on the Radio Taxis circuit as allreplacement vehicles supplied by Chief Rentals are fitted witha Radio Taxis terminal.

Other aspects of this exceptional service also include repairmanagement of the driver’s own vehicle as well as the handlingof all personal injury claims, either from injured drivers ortheir injured passengers.

Not only are these services available to Radio Taxis drivers,but Chief Rentals has also agreed to expand them to drivers’

families and friends who may also find themselves in a similarpredicament following a non-fault accident and requiring alike-for-like replacement vehicle.

Chief Rentals look forward to working with both RadioTaxis and their drivers long-term into the future and endeavourto provide them with an outstanding service that will keepeveryone ‘on-circuit’ and at work during difficult times.

To find out more with no obligation, please call us FREEon the number above.

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AS WE ARE IN THE FESTIVEseason I would like to emphasisethe importance of trying to coveras much work as possible duringthe run up to and over theChristmas period itself.

We have been receiving quite a number ofChristmas party bookings for some time andwe are hopeful that we will be reasonably busy.

However we do need to make sure that we cover thiswork, so please do your best.

As usual we will be asking for drivers that areworking on Christmas Day and on Boxing Day, tocontact us via a designated phone line closer to thetime and we will try to pre-allocate as much work aswe can.

The snag is that we usually receive these bookings quitelate and as a consequence we tend to run out of time, butwe’ll do our best to help drivers during this period.

A PLEA ON THE SUBJECT OF TAKINGPRE-ALLOCATED BOOKINGS

From our own hard experience, please check with yourwives/husbands/partners before accepting any booking,as every year we have drivers phoning us back (at the lastminute) saying they are unable to do the job allocated asthe wife says no! Please don’t let that happen.

The extra payments for account jobs overthe Festive period are as follows:

£5.00 Additional excluding the £4 extras from 20:00on the 24th December until 06:00 on the 27th and20:00 on the 31st until 06:00 on January 2nd.The LUL account will be £10.00 additional duringthe same period. These additional amounts will beautomatically added to your trips and you shouldnot add them to the fare.

I repeat it will be done automatically so don’t addanything on!

Finally I would like to take this opportunity tothank you for all your hard work during the last year,which as everyone knows has been a really difficult oneand from everyone at Radio Taxis we wish you all avery Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Help us cover the work!By Alan Franks – Group Operations Director

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With an outstanding display of the mostcomprehensive collection of World War Iartifacts from across the globe with

thirteen hundred objects on display – many ofwhich haven’t been seen before. It also includessixty digital displays, including interactive andimmersive spaces. The galleries are made up offourteen chapters of; Hope and Glory, AnInevitable War, Shock, Your Country Needs You,Deadlock, World War, Feeding the Front, Total War– The Somme, At All Costs, Life at the Front,Machines Against Men, Breaking Down, SeizingVictory, War Without End.

In the section Deadlock, trench signs, such as‘Hellfire Corner’ and ‘Piccadilly Circus’ helpingsoldiers navigate the complex network of trenches,are shown alongside objects telling the stories ofinnovations in trench warfare, including a jarringarray of gas masks and poison gas canisters.This also includes a hollowed out fake tree, whichbecame a camouflaged look out post in no man’sland.

There was also a mud-painted sniper’s robe, to

help the soldier blend in with his surroundings,usually earth and rubbish in no man’s land.The British set-up special sniper schools, the firstinstructors were made-up of Ghillies (gamekeepers)from the Scottish estates. They taughtmarksmanship, stealth and camouflage. Britishsnipers operated in pairs; one to observe the otherto shoot.

In Shock, visitors hear the scream of shrapnelshells; the visitors will soon come face to face with aFrench 75mm field gun, which contributed to the

DURING THIS CENTENARY YEAR OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR,many people are rediscovering the Imperial War Museum (IWM), afterthe entire building has beentransformed into an historicalreminder of some of the mosthorrifying moments in Britishhistory.

Imperial War MuseumFirst World WarExhibition

Poppies from the air

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deaths of a million men in just four months of fightingin 1914.

The exhibition becomes particularly moving when youmake your way through Life at the Front. Visitors are ablewalk through a ‘trench’ – one of the highlights of theGalleries – with a Sopwith Camel fighter plane swoopinglow overhead and a Mark V tank looming above.

As you traverse through the uneven andclaustrophobic trench, one is then surrounded by theprojected silhouettes of soldiers and of a soundscapewhich evokes the drudgery, the discomfort, the dangerand the comradeship which characterised the experienceof a British ‘Tommy’ on the Western Front, from a suddenthunderstorm, to a gas attack.

“The remarkable new 1914 – 1918 galleries at IWMLondon will be one of the highlights and most enduringlegacies of the First World War centenary,” said ProfessorDavid Stevenson, (London School of Economics) andHistorical Advisor to IWM.

“They integrate text, artifacts, and audio-visual materialinto a compelling total presentation that – while properlyfocusing on the experience of Britain and its empire – isglobal in scope.”

“Though taking full account of the latest historicalresearch, they leave it open to the visitor to gather theessential information and to draw their own conclusionsabout the outbreak, development, and impact of thatterrible conflict.”

Roger Sligo.

Mud-painted sniper’s robe

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THE FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD OFthe Geffrye Museum, it was one of themany points on the Knowledge ofLondon blue book runs. Although I soondiscovered where it was situated, onKingsland Road, I still had no idea whatwas exhibited inside.

The museum buildings are the formerAlms-houses of the Ironmongers’company built in 1714 with a bequest

from Sir Robert Geffrye and sold to theLondon County Council (LCC) in 1911.

In 1914, the council was persuaded to savethe 18th century buildings and their gardens byleading members of the Arts and Craftsmovement, who suggested conversion into amuseum. The buildings were Grade I listed inthe 1950s and with their gardens, they now forma wonderful oasis in Hoxton, East London.

The Geffrye Museum’s purpose was toprovide a reference collection of furniture of a‘fine standard of technical and artisticexcellence’ to educate and inspire the localworkforce around the Shoreditch area, which formany years was populated by furnituremanufacturers.

The museum’s collections are presented inthe context of period rooms. They show thechanging styles and tastes of the urban middleclass at different periods of history. Theyrepresent living rooms, known in the past asparlours and later, drawing rooms and theyshow examples of the furniture, textiles anddecorative styles, which were current in aparticular period.

This time of year for the last twenty years,the Geffrye Museum’s eleven living rooms aretransformed with authentic festive decorations,lighting, music and greenery to give visitors amagical glimpse into how Christmas has beencelebrated in English middle-class homes overthe past 400 years.

A perennial favourite, many visitors say, isthat of the Christmas Past exhibition, which hasbecome an essential part of their own Yuletidetraditions.

The Christmas Past exhibition runs fromTuesday 25 November 2014, until Sunday 4January 2015: It is a good way to get started intothe Christmas spirit and to see familiar roomswith decorations reminding you of your ownChristmas past – remember making all thosepaper chains for the classroom at school?

Highlights include festive greeneryworkshops, a concert by candlelight, a specialopen evening, exhibition talks and ‘Farewell toChristmas’ – the Geffrye’s traditional burning ofthe Christmas greenery, with carol singing,stories about Epiphany, also a taste of mulledwine and a Twelfth night cake. If you haveyoung children or grandchildren I am sure thewhole family will enjoy starting the festiveseason here.

This year (2014) marks two major milestonesin the Geffrye’s history: 100 years since themuseum opened and 300 years since theopening of the Alms-houses.

Free admission. Closed Christmas Eve,Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.Roger Sligo.

Christmas Past at the Geffrye Museum Geffrye Museum exterior by dusk.

Photograph by Steve Speller.

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Drawing room in 1870 at Christmas Past side viewPhotography: Chris Ridley.

Drawing room in 1910 at Christmas PastPhotography: Morley von Sternberg.

Living room in 1935 at Christmas PastPhotography: Steve Speller.

Living room in 1965 atChristmas PastPhotography: Chris Ridley.

With kind permissionof the Geffrye Museum.

In defence of theCycle Super Highway?By Gordon Brown – Group Chief Operating Officer

FOR EACH EDITION OF MVNI’m usually asked to write about a givensubject. This time, in the interests ofeven-handedness, it was to say somepositive things about the proposed cyclesuperhighways – something of achallenge given the industry I work in.

Ido have to confess to a couple of things whichperhaps make me more suited than most to have abalanced debate on the subject: I do not ride a bike

(bad sense of balance) and I don’t drive in centralLondon (I also don’t have the Knowledge and as aFinancial professional I love the sweat and relative costof the Underground).

So where do we start first? Well one has to agreethat there are a lot more cyclists on the road than thereused to be (apparently cycling has doubled in Londonover the past ten years and given the amount of writtencolumn inches and twittering on the subject of cyclistsversus drivers I can certainly believe that statistic).

There is also the view that they need to be protectedfrom other users – others may write about whetherthey should be licensed in some way and thepracticalities of that (training, mandatory safetyhelmets and high visibility jackets etc.) – and certainlyif they have their own lanes one feels that possibly itshould make driving a vehicle easier or at least lessproblematic, shouldn’t it?

Which brings everyone round to the nub of theproblem – more congestion and longer driving timesfor other road user?

A quick look at the (despised) TfL consultationdocument suggests – for the East-West route – that inthe morning, the times for Westbound journeys wouldgo up whilst Eastbound journeys would be 3 minutesquicker and in the evenings Eastbound journeys wouldbe 4 minutes faster but Westbound journeys would take6 minutes longer, so not too bad, assuming of coursethat you believe in the numbers that TfL has presentedus with?.

I have absolutely no idea how they model this andI imagine part of the saving they claim, comes fromnew traffic signal management which they insist can beintroduced albeit it isn’t necessarily related to the

superhighway.Incidentally there are a couple of comments that

are glossed over with no real statistics: they have lookedat journey times on the route itself and havecommented separately that journey times headingtowards the route will be longer – but they have notquantified by how much which is slightly worrying.Also traffic volumes in London have fallen (by 17%)over the last 8 years, but they have now stabilised – thismay be regarded as a trend, but it could also just be thatwe’ve been in a recession and now that we are (it isclaimed in some quarters) starting to come out of it,journey numbers are now likely to increase, adding tocongestion.

I know I’m supposed to be even handed on this butoverall, even as a neutral, in my view, I think thepositives look as though they are being accentuated andthe negatives as though they are being glossed over(politics by any chance?)

But (back on my even handed track) why not giveit a chance?– it is likely to happen in any case, maybenot next year but fairly certainly over the next 5 years?

The benefits to people cycling are quite simple:cheaper, greener and healthier and over time there islikely to be greater regulation.

How do you fight back in the taxi trade? –Well perhaps cheaper fares, Electric cabs andDumbbells for exercises in the back of the cab for thepassengers while en route… albeit one would havethought only one of those is likely to happen!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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GERRY GRAHAM who died a few months agoaged 84, was often known by his nickname as‘the Chef.’ Gerry was a “lifelong” driver onRadio Taxis for many decades probably as farback as from the 1950’s and 60’s.

He was also a regular despatcher “on the box” onvoice radio and very well known by both driversand customers alike for his nightly “menus.”

I first met Gerry when I was a knowledge boy, in 1972,more than 42 years ago. Gerry was a pal of my late father inlaw, Freddie Franks, who was a Radio Taxis board memberand it was Freddy who had encouraged me to give up myjob in the City, work on the night shift at Radio Taxis as atelephonist (actually the first job I did was empty the bins)and to do the Knowledge.

Gerry was a committed night man and he frequentlycame up to the office to help out by giving the despatcher abreak and sitting on the box* for an hour or two in the veryearly hours of the morning. (*Sitting on the box was theterm applied to a despatcher putting on the headset andacting as voice controller).

Gerry was a bright, breezy and good-humouredcharacter who had come from a family of Kosher butchers– his brother Norman Goldberg, was well known for hisbutcher shop and of course Gerry’s other Brother CecilGoldberg, was also a Radio Taxis regular, he was similarly adriver who often worked in the control room frequently onthe box. Cecil’s nickname was “Bald Eagle.”

Gerry and Cecil both had a great sense of humour andwere very well liked. Cecil died years ago after a period of illhealth.

Whenever I look back on times with Gerry it is withmuch affection, he was a lovely and kind man. That’s not tosay he didn’t have a fiery temper, he did, but he would calmdown as quickly as he’d got fired up and never ever seemedto bear any sort of grudge.

Gerry’s nickname of ‘the Chef ’, was because at about9pm at night when the work dried up a bit, drivers andcustomers would ask him to announce what he had“cooked” that evening for the staff in the control room.

Gerry would sit on the box and reel off a list of a CordonBleu menu, explaining like a TV chef, how he had made themeal with all its ingredients and its various courses.

What was the reality? Well it was just a humorous windup, but one that everyone liked!

Gerry never actually cooked for the staff; but he did eatout very often and was somewhat of a “Bon Viveur” alongwith his late wife Sheila (years later I did jury service andbecame good friends with Sheila’s late brother – businessman, David Fox)

So Gerry was familiar with fine dining and the driversloved it, not to mention the customers, who in the back of

the cabs, heard all ofthis and loved it too!Indeed many of themasked if they couldhire Gerry out fordinner parties!

I also knew Gerrysocially; he was alwaysgood company atthe many functionswe attended together,which included lotsof Masonic Ladiesnights.

Gerry always had a stock list of humorous phrases at theready, he would frequently say “that was really nice – A1 firstclass – as my Zeida* would say after a bowl of Chicken soup”(*Zeida is the Yiddish word for Grandfather and was alsoused as a slang word for a taxi meter).

Gerry’s language could, every so often, be quitecolourful and he was, on a regular basis, cautioned to becareful about what he said over the air on the box.

I last saw Gerry about a year ago or so at the funeral ofhis dear late wife Sheila, I didn’t know how ill he had been,he was there with his other pal Mo Freeman also aMountview Man (Freddy Franks, Mo Freeman and GerryGraham were lifelong friends and for me they stood foreverything that epitomised Radio Taxis)

At Gerry’s funeral, it was like a Radio Taxis, “All ouryesterdays,” alongside me and my Co Board member AlanFranks (who was a very close friend of Gerry’s) was DerekDiamond (former RT top voice despatcher), Gerry Chess,Len Collins (former company secretary) Stan Yellin(former Board member) Martin Rosenberg (former RTChairman) David Moss and of course hundreds ofmourners, former colleagues, family and friends. The largeamount of people at his funeral was a testimony to theesteem and affection in which Gerry was held.

Gerry’s daughter Angela and her husband and familylive in New York these days, Gerry I’m told would Skypeand talk to his grandson and to his daughter almost everyday. His son in law delivered a moving eulogy that broughta tear to my eye, recalling many of Gerry’s humoroussayings.

Our most sincere condolences to Angela and to herfamily, Gerry is a man that the world in general and thetrade in particular, has lost; he was warm, funny, kind andan altogether lovely man.

We are all the poorer for his passing and I will miss him.

Geoffrey RieselChairman and CEO of Radio Taxis Group.

Gerry Graham –‘The Chef ’...an Obituary

Roger Sligo on themysteries of hidden London

CuriosityCornerCuriosityCorner

The Arabian KnightMY MUST-DO LIST OF LONDON’Scuriosities, until recently,consisted high up there, of thetomb of a certain Sir RichardBurton (no not that one,) I referto Sir Richard Francis Burton,the foremost Victorian explorer,who travelled throughout theworld learning 25 languages. I’msure this must still be a record –he wrote of places such as Asia,Africa and South America.

His most famous deed was theEnglish Translation of theArabian Nights Entertainments,

the celebrated English languagetranslation of One Thousand and OneNights (the “Arabian Nights”) – acollection of Middle Eastern and SouthAsian stories and folk tales compiled inArabic during the Islamic Golden Age(8th – 13th centuries).

Sometimes trying to gather some ofthe curiosities, ticking them off my listone by one, can prove a little daunting,as in the case of Sir Richard Burton’stomb! My chance finally arrived in lateautumn with a job to Barnes, West

London. The sunlight was still good for photographic work, when I decided the chancehad arrived for my long overdue visit to St Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Mortlake.

After circumnavigating the surrounding graveyard wall, I could find no entrance.Walking to the front porch of the church I found a man leaving the car park entrance.I asked him how you get into the graveyard. He pointed to a little wooden side door andsaid; “through there – if it’s locked it means Father is out,” of course it was indeed locked.Pacing back and forth for several minutes and thinking what a waste of time I had spenton a fool’s errand.

Just as I was walking away from the church I noticed what appeared to be the “Father”walking towards me. Once I had explained my presence he produced the key and said hewould lock me in – I could get out by unlocking the inside latch!

Being locked in an empty graveyard by myself was a bit of an eerie feeling – but thetomb I was looking for was easy to spot, being a life-size stone tent complete with

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Sir Richard Francis Burton’s Tomb

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The Soho Grille

decorative moulded ropes and creases in pretendcanvas fabric. Walking to the rear of the tent I foundan iron ladder leading to a viewing window, cut nearthe top of the tent. I climbed up the ladder and thefirst thing I saw when looking through the window wasa mirrored reflection of me, which I must say startledme a bit. Once I settled down and had the chance ofhaving a better look inside, I found two coffins restingon foldaway beds, one containing the body of Sir

Richard the other his wife Isabel, with the lid of hercoffin slightly ajar. It was just as though the tent wasstill occupied and the occupiers had gone off to exploresomewhere! I must say I have visited a number ofstrange tombstones, including; “Tomb in the Sky” JohnClaudius Loudon (buried 50 feet in the air) – this wasfeatured in Curiosity Corner – December 2010(www.eviewmagazine.com) back issue. I am pleased tohave crossed another one off my long list.

If a passenger were to ask for Little Compton Street, mosttaxi-drivers would be baffled and most likely point outto their passengers that there is an Old Compton and

New Compton Street but no Little Compton Street – inwhich case the Cabby would technically be wrong.

A map of the area in 1868 shows Little ComptonStreet connecting Old Compton Street with NewCompton Street; before Crown Street was eaten up byCharing Cross Road and Little Compton Streetdisappeared completely, or did it?

On average I would think every London taxi-drivercrosses over Little Compton Street at least once a daywithout ever knowing it! The street is still connecting

“Old” with “New” ComptonStreet; although it is a few feetbelow present day street level, yetit can still be seen! If you were tocross Charing Cross Road betweenOld and New Compton you willfind a metal grille in the centreisland of the road and if you lookclosely down the grille you will seeon the wall the blue tiled streetname of Little Compton Street!

An iron ladder leads you to the view inside

The grille in Charing Cross Road

What you will see through the grille

The view inside

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MOST OF US DON’T KNOW THATthe Bakerloo Line probably startedbecause business men wantedto get to Lord’s Cricket Groundquickly, to get in a few overs beforeclose of play.

The line from Baker Street to Elephant and Castle wascompleted in 1906. The name was abbreviated from theoriginal Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. It was extended

to Queens Park in 1915 and to Watford Junction in 1917.Since 1989, following the introduction of the Jubilee Line in

1979, it has only offered a regular service as far as Harrow &Wealdstone. There have been a number of false starts with the ideaof extending the line and it is profoundly hoped that we are notabout to see another false dawn.

TfL opened a ten-week public consultation in September on aproposal to extend the line south through Southwark towardsLewisham, Bromley and Hayes. This is because the final route hasnot been decided on yet. It seems that the preferred route goesdown the Old Kent Road with two new Old Kent Road stations butit could also go via new stations in Camberwell and Peckham Rye.It would likely go on to Hayes eventually, with a further optionto have an extension to Bromley from Beckenham junction(See Map). The extension would be tunnelled to New Cross Gateand then be above ground on existing lines to Lewisham.

The extension would put South East London on the tubenetwork for the first time and provide useful links with theRailway connections and the DLR (at Lewisham).

The cost of extension, as far as Hayes is loosely estimated, atbetween £2 –3billion. As a return on capital invested, Boris Johnsonquotes a generation of £400m in annual economic benefits.

After the public consultation, the proposed extension will bereviewed, route options and possible station localities considered.There will be, of course, the usual environmental, planning andengineering studies and funding options to go through.The consultation report gets presented to Boris Johnson as Mayor ofLondon and then made public in the spring of 2015. If funding isidentified, it could start construction in 2023 and be opened by 2030.This funding depends on contributions from developers of newresidential and commercial developments along the proposed route.

We are always being told about the need to improve andmodernise the infrastructure especially with a projection offurther growth in both population and jobs in London.Better accessibility between housing and jobs creates both new

The Bakerloo By Robert MacDonald Watson,

housing opportunities andemployment.

The main area of suchgrowth is predicted to be in theEast and South East of London.The London Plan has a name fornew developments to meet thechallenges of economic andpopulation growth.

These are calledOpportunity Areas. In theLondon plan of 2011 for theSouth East, these weredesignated as Elephant & Castle,Deptford Creek/GreenwichRiverside and Lewisham, alsoCatford and New Cross. In 2014they added Old Kent Road,Canada Water and BromleyTown Centre.

South of Lewisham runs theexisting National Rail line toHayes and Beckenham Junction.

The National Rail Network isclearly overcrowded now,whereas the Bakerloo Line hascapacity. Switching some of therail traffic from the Hayesdirection, to the undergroundwould help.

Train times from Hayeswould be increased from 6 to 15an hour to Central London.Merely extending the DLR fromLewisham would not increasethe capacity on the National RailNetwork nor would it improve connections into Central Londonand to the South East Opportunity Areas.

In the London Infrastructure Plan 2050, Boris Johnson alsomakes a case for a £450m upgrade to the rest of the BakerlooLine by 2045, increasing its capacity by 33%.

What strikes you about all this is how long it will be before anyof us gets to use it. As usual, capacity reaches a point, which is all,but beyond bearable, that is before steps are finally taken to evenconsider what to do about it.

There is a serious gap after current projects already in

25

Line ExtensionGroup Company Secretary

the pipeline.Crossrail opens in 2018 and then the Northern Line extension

to Battersea is set to open in 2020. The upgrading of Thameslinkand the new capacity into London Bridge by 2030, hasn’t gotmuch to follow it. Let’s just consider the fact that London’spopulation is growing by around 100,000 a year and is already at8.3million. Even the Mayor’s office expects there to be a 25%increase in crowded Tube travel by 2030.

By comparison, in Paris, they are working on 200 kilometres ofnew lines to the outer suburbs by 2030 involving a lot of public

funding. Here the idea is to use the same model as Crossrail,which used developer funding. The taxpayer should be happier,but the commuter may lose patience. What is clear is, that it takesfirm leadership to support the project. Once they get underwaythese developments generally gather momentum as theopportunities become more visibly apparent.

My compliments of the season to you all.

Robert MacDonald Watson.Group Company Secretary.

LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP 2050

26

TO MOST TOURISTS, BAKER STREETconjures up scenes of Victorian Londonand the world’s most famous detectiveSherlock Holmes. The fictional address of221b Baker Street is famous the world overas the residency of Sherlock Holmes,created by an author who was a medicaldoctor, Arthur Conan Doyle (later tobecome Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

At the time when Doyle was looking for asuitable address for Holmes, BakerStreet was a high-class residential street

mainly of Georgian terraces, where the doornumbers didn’t go up as high as 221.

Doyle the Scottish born son of Irishparents moved to London in 1891 and rentedrooms first at 23 Montague Place,Bloomsbury and subsequently at 12

Tennison Road, SouthNorwood.

He opened amedical practice onlya few streets awayfrom Baker Street at2 Devonshire Place.Doyle magicallydescribed scenes ofVictorian London

with plenty of fog and HansomCabs; in fact you cannot imagine Holmeswithout him constantly using a HackneyCarriage.

Cabs were often described in the storiessplashing their way along the streets with thestamping of horses hoofs and the clatteringof the wheels on cobblestone roads. Even inthe recent BBC series filmed in modern dayLondon, staring Benedict Cumberbatchthere are plenty of TX taxis being used(never minicabs).

As taxis and Holmes are inseparable it ishardly surprising that my friends from theMuseum of London sent me an invitation topreview their latest exhibition; “SherlockHolmes the Man who never lived and whowill never die.” It is the largest SherlockHolmes exhibition since the Festival ofBritain in 1951. The entry for this latest

exhibition is through a revolving bookcase,as you walk back in time to the streets ofVictorian London.

Inside a display case is a single tatteredsheet of paper containing Conan Doyle’s firstthoughts about his characters with notes;“I have four hundred pounds a year – I am aConsulting detective.” Beside the sheet ofpaper is the priceless Southsea Notebooks,three cheap shabby notebooks with redmarbled covers, the earliest containing thefirst lines Conan Doyle wrote of a SherlockHolmes story. It was originally calledA Tangled Skein, but that is neatly crossedout and the new title, one of his mostfamous, substituted: A Study in Scarlet.

There also features the only known filmedinterview with Conan Doyle, recorded in1927, wherein he explains how his formerprofessor Joseph Bell, whose analyticmethod he admired, was the inspiration forthe Holmes character; “It is most certainly toyou that I owe Sherlock Holmes,” he told him.He also revealed how he hated detectivestories written before his own, which neverexplained how the crimes were solved – oneof the things he certainly made sure tochange!

I was introduced to Alex Werner, leadcurator of the exhibition who described it allas; “the holy of holy’s for true Sherlockians.”I asked Alex about the speeded-up scenes ofmodern London which are shown on a fewlarge screens, with the camera mounted onthe roof of what appeared to me to be a

“Doyle hated detective stories

written before his own,

which never explained how

the crimes were solved!”

Sherlock Holmes–ThLived and Who Will

Alex Werner

By Roger Sligo

©Museum of London

27

London Taxi. “You are absolutely right with that,”he explained.

“A family member is a London cabby and we put a filmcamera on his roof.” I said how nice that there are somany reminders of Holmes’s beloved Hansom cabs, notonly paintings but also the chassis of a Hansom in adisplay case.

Alex has put some puzzles into the exhibition forvisitors. One is to find a particularly significant postcardamid scores in a floor to ceiling case.

Clue: it was sent to Conan Doyle’s son, and the

message reads, “This is where the hounds were.”Looking as hard as I could with so many postcards

bunched together I had no luck finding it.There are photographs, typewriters, forensic kits,

he Man Who NeverNever Die

P. Stahl – A Hansom Cab

John Dollman – Les Miserables

©M

useu

m o

fLon

don

©Museum of London

©Museum of London

©Museum of London

©Mountview News

Welcome Akshay!(Sometimes we call him Raj)

28

SPECIAL OFFER!Radio Taxis and Mountview News has negotiated free admission*

with the Museum of London for all licensed taxi-drivers onproduction of their badge at the cash desk.

*Terms and Conditions Apply:Free entry is subject to one person on production of their badge.

From December 2014 until the final date of the Exhibition – 12th April 2015.Entry on walk up basis only – no pre-bookings.

*(Normal Charge for the Sherlock Holmes Exhibition without this special offer is £10.90).

magnifying glasses, tobacco pipes, maps, andwonderfully evocative prints. All in all, as Holmeshimself said: “The world is full of obvious things whichnobody by any chance ever observes.” This is your chanceto see and observe them all together.

And don’t forget if passengers ask you to take themto the Sherlock Holmes Museum, ask them if they wantthe largest and by far the best Sherlock Holmesexhibition for over sixty years at the Museum ofLondon.

SPECIAL OFFER for London Taxi-Drivers:

FREE ENTRYSherlock Holmes the Man Who Never Lived andWill Never Die. The Museum of London welcomesan exciting new exhibition, delving into the mind ofthe world’s most famous fictional detective; ArthurConan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

AKSHAY RAJ ANAND has joinedthe Mountview House marketingteam; his initial goals will be tobuild the Mountview companyprofiles on social media and tobuild the conversations that leadto new customers and to morebusiness.

Akshay brings a wealth of experience in socialmarketing from several sectors in the transportbusiness at Mountview House Group and he isan expert in the use of CRM (Customer

Relationship Management)systems.

You can already see hiswork in our Radio Taxisand One Transport Twitter feeds.

Living in the East of London, Akshay’sambition is to find restaurants serving excellentEnglish food made from English ingredients. I’msure he won’t be short of suggestions!

Follow our Twitter feeds:@Rtg _London and @onetransportto see what he’s up to!

29

MOUNTVIEW HOUSE GROUP LTD has been a memberof The London Transport Museum (Covent Garden) formany years. Membership helps support the museumfinancially and allows us access to the Covent Gardenbuilding facilities.

Aregular event that takes place throughout the year is theThought Leadership breakfast meetings. These meetingsare usually on London based transport issues but not

exclusively for London. Previous breakfast meetings that I havewritten about were about “Crossrail” and about the Mayorssuggestion of a “Boris Island” London Airport hub.

The meeting that took place in early October was on AutonomousVehicle Technology – the move towards “self-driving cars”. The two guestspeakers were Ms. Johanna Zmud from the Texas A&M TransportationInstitute and Ms. Michele Dix who is Managing Director of Planning atTransport for London. There was some consensus between the twospeakers, however, there was also a difference of opinion on the possibletime scales and how technology could be bestused in a congested metropolis like London.

The Texas Transport Institute believes thatthere will be self-driving vehicles in usesomewhere in the world by 2025. Transport forLondon thinks it may be nearer 2050; and that inplaces like Central London, possible never.

Technology in modern cars is developing at apace and many of the technological developments that enable “self-driving cars” will become standard in the cars that we will be buying overthe coming years. There’s a new term for a technology that I hadn’t heardof before called LIDAR (Light and Radar) which is technology thatmeasures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analysing thereflected light. This is being developed to enable cars to travel at fasterspeeds at closer distances on motorways and thus freeing up more roadspace. The theory is that LIDAR enabled cars would travel in a LIDARonly lane on a motorway and technology would keep them at a constantdistance from each other and at a constant speed.

One of the “Jargonese” phrases used at the breakfast meeting was“automation is a continuum” which means that there will never be anend to technological improvements. If you take this to the “enth” degreethen it isn’t a question of if “self-driving cars” are used on our streetsrather than when.

In the body of the “lecture” on autonomous vehicles, a series ofstatistics and benefits were thrown out to the room and this became partof the question and answer session later on in the meeting. For instance,in the United States 90% of traffic fatalities are caused by “human error”.With “self-driving cars” the environmental impact of vehicles can beimproved because, supposedly, they can be lighter in weight because ofless stringent crash test approval ratings, with us all benefiting from thenew “perfect driving” behaviour of the vehicles. There would beimproved mobility for the old, infirm and disabled as, in theory; theywould no longer need to physically drive the vehicle that they would betravelling in. Dodgy parking will become a thing of the past as thevehicles would Self Park.

Although this technology is evolving rapidly,with all new developments there are of courseboth good things and bad things resulting from the change.The downside of autonomous vehicles is that, again in theory, the“crash” economy evaporates or, at the very least, is very negativelyaffected. There are thousands of people up and down the country thatmake a living out of repairing cars. There was quite a lot of talk about thepotential disappearance of the “much loved” taxi driver as “self-drivingcars” apparently will not need anyone to help with luggage, give adviceon how the country should be run or who should be in the Englandfootball team!?!?

The current state of the technology being developed is interesting; ifyou believe what is being said. But the people doing the “saying” are theexact same people that want this technology to work as they have a lotinvested in it. Google have supposedly logged more than 500,000 milesof autonomous driving on public roads without a crash. Albeit, thesevehicles did have highly trained, able bodied, operators in the vehicles

who could take over in challenging situations.In the Q&A that followed the “lecture” a

couple of very interesting questions surfaced.The first was around congestion. Safer, smartervehicles moving in synchronistic waves may onlyfree up road space for as long as it takes otherpeople to abandon public transport and fill thespace that has been created by the autonomous

vehicle premium. A bit like new motorways soon fill up with traffic thatmust have previously used other routes, before the motorway wascreated. So the consensus in the room was that autonomous vehicleswould create more congestion in cities but with less pollution.

The second point was raised by a city planner who argued that one ofthe big “selling” points of a city like London was this very congestion.All successful conurbations are plagued with traffic congestion – it is, initself, a badge of prosperity. People are attracted to congested citiesbecause the congestion seeks out all that is good about a successful city.City Planners “budget” for such congestion when they do their work,congestion, hustle and bustle are the manifestations of a city that is doingits job correctly.

TfL are taking a “watching brief” on the technological developmentsthat are on-going around autonomous vehicles and their Keyperformance indicator will initially be a reduction in pollution thatemanates from vehicles so as to clean up the air that we breathe. This isbecoming a targeted problem with “Diesel” now being branded as thenew “leaded petrol” and a war is about to be waged on Diesel vehicles.I think we can all look forward to quieter engines in the front of taxisover the next 20 years, as they start to introduce financial disincentiveson Diesel fuel and when we are all likely to rediscover petrol.

The conclusion of this pleasant discussion was that the key messageis that “collectively” we must avoid moving too quickly to regulate thistechnology without better information about its benefits and costs.This information will come with more research, more technologydevelopment and policies designed to generate information. So don’t putthe “For Sale” sign up in rear window of the TX just yet.

Getting up early to seewhat the future looks like...By Peter Gibson, Group Strategic Director

30

WITH THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF PEOPLEvisiting the poppies at the Tower ofLondon this November, it was hardlysurprising that the 799th Lord Mayor’sShow would gather even bigger crowdsthan ever.

The morning began with an earlier start thanusual, as the Radio Taxis float was this yearpositioned at number forty, so up nearer the

front of the parade than last year. With fourvintage taxis in our group comprising of a 1952Nuffield, a Beardmore, a 1933 Austin Low Loaderand a 1956 Austin FX3 – these were followed bytwo of the latest taxis a TX4 and a Mercedes Vito –all of the cabs were decorated with Union flags andof course with poppies!

We were joined again this year by personnelfrom the Papworth Hospital Charity, made up ofstaff and former patients, who along with our ownRadio Taxis staff walked the three and a half mileroute. The weather was kinder to us this year thanin recent years, with only a passing shower justbefore the parade and a couple of spots later on.The larger crowds were cheering us on with happy,smiling faces, as they took our pictures and as thecrowd joined together with us both making

The Lord Mayor’s Show 2014

Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow

A TX4 at the show Papworth Power!

31

plenty of “hi-fives.”The outgoing Lord Mayor Fiona Woolf, who is

only the second woman in eight centuries to takethe position, welcomed the new incoming mayorAlan Yarrow, a member of the Worshipful Company

An old cab decorated with poppies

Radio Taxis lead the way

Santa with Radio Taxis’ Penny Cuckston

32

of Fishmongers with a career in banking.While the new Lord Mayor was being sworn in,

we took a well-earned break on the Embankmentnear Temple Place, before heading back through thecity. It was at this point, as we wound our way backalong the Victoria Embankment, that we noticed themuch larger crowds, several thousands watchingfrom both sides of the Blackfriars Underpass and allthe way up Queen Victoria Street. We concludedthat many of them must have drifted along from theTower after having visited the poppies, to enjoy whatis a most remarkable London event. Our thanks, asusual, to all of our drivers and all of our members ofthe Mountview staff – who had a long and veryenjoyable Lord Mayor’s Show Day.

Roger Sligo.

The new and the old

Poppies on the rad A Mercedes Vito in on the action

Michael Epstein with dogs

THERE’S RARELY A DAYthat passes withoutan article, online blog,radio or TV coveragehighlighting thevirtues of Uber. Lastyear the entire buzzwas around Hailo

‘revolutionising the taxi business’ but theyseem to have been overtaken by Uber,their deeper pockets and their bigger andbetter PR machine.

Before Hailo came along and all our lives weregoing to be miraculously transformed, it hadbeen Addison Lee hogging the headlines, as

they became the latest plaything of the Carlyleprivate equity group and world domination wasjust around the corner.

So what about poor old Radio Taxis – and theother ‘legacy’ radio circuits – surely our days, likethe ‘dinosaurs’ we are often portrayed as, werenumbered?

Don’t believe the hype! One of the positives tocome out of the influx of Apps and new entrants,many of which will inevitably disappear when theyhave “burned” through all of their developmentcapital, is that it has speeded up some of thetechnological developments that were alreadyunderway, or which were on our “to do” list.

Most of the technologies that are available, undera well-funded, hyped, bright new thing, are alsoavailable in the Radio Taxis stable. We do not have themulti-million pound marketing budgets that these newentrants have, but they do not have our service experiencenor do they have the professionalism of our drivers.

The most recent of the Radio Taxis technologyreleases is “The Black Cab Booker”. This new bookingtool is a first for licensed taxis in London as it offers upa pre-paid; credit card only, fixed fare licensed taxi.None of these other new entrants are able to offer this.Enter a postcode pickup and a postcode set down (theaddress database helps you arrive at the postcode if it isnot known), the distance is measured and thealgorithm calculates a driver fixed fare, it then adds amodest administration charge and then offers up a pre

payable fixed fare cost to the customer – this can be forASAP or pre bookings.

You, the driver, receive a fixed price account trip withany further information needed in the driver notes.Some of you will have carried out such trips withoutknowing how they arrived on your terminal. The numberof bookings is growing and we are putting together amarketing campaign as I write this article. Inevitably,developing a unique piece of technology needs a lot ofpromotion to inform potential users of its existence.

The fares for these trips are good for drivers undernormal conditions, but as always a fixed fare is a fixedfare. All of these trips will come with a destination and afare – if you take one of these trips you will be expectedto complete it. If any of the details change from theoriginal booking we have the right, in the terms andconditions, to reclaim any excess fare required from theoriginal credit card or the passenger may choose tomake up any difference in cash.

Last year Radio Taxis celebrated its 60th Birthday andwe’re not going anywhere! We intend to fight back

against these new entrants by matching thebasics of their offering ie; easy payment,surety of fare – improving it and then adding

in our special ingredient which is the RadioTaxis experience and expertise.

The Black Cab Booker – the best way to get around London.

A Merry Christmas and Happy, Prosperous,New Year to you all.

33

The Times they area Changing… and so are weBy Roy Hughes, Director of Commercial Development

34

Contest Winner for September 2014We had eighteen correct entries with theanswer: A. France & Son, Funeral Directors, 45Lambs Conduit Street, WC1.

Their most famous client was Lord Horatio Nelson with afull State Funeral and burial at St Paul’s, with mementos,which their showcase window still proudly displays.

The Lucky Winner picked out of the hat at randomduring our Editorial Meeting was: Paul Stableford, (N 168)who wins £50 of M&S Vouchers!

The Seventeen Runners Up were:Harvey Lester, (V103): Simon Holman, (Q170):Russell Simmons, (A167): David Styles, (H143):Darren Hart, (A222): Ron Turner, (E035):Dave Dowding, (W096): Jim Killington, (K027):Stephen Taylor, (F168): John Boca, (U059):Chris Hook, (J163): Robert Fisher, (D024):Grahame Moverley, (J081): Martin Griffiths, (K099):George Vincent, (A218): Kieran O’Leary, (Y168):Michael Smith, (K153). Well done to you all!

Where Am I?I am standing at the corner of a small lane in the Cityof London, looking at a curious artefact; for whatpurpose it once served nobody seems to really know.The relic was discovered when an adjoining wall wasdemolished just a few years ago. Could it have been a safeor an oven? An infamous baker in London’s history wascertainly working close by. Where am I?

Think you know? Then send your answer with your nameand call sign via Email to: mvn.editor@radiotaxis.co.uk orby snail-mail to: Where Am I Contest, Mountview House,Lennox Road, London N4 3TX. The winner who correctlynames the location of this contest will receive a *£25 M&SGift Voucher.

Roger Sligo asks:“Where am I?”WIN £25*WIN £25*

“Where am I?”“Where am I?”

Give your brains a reallygood work out!

HAVE A GO AT THIS ISSUE’SSUDOKU PUZZLE!

The object is to write in the missing numbers inthe empty boxes below. But to satisfy only

one condition: each row, column and 3 x 3 box mustcontain the digits 1 through to 9 exactly once.

What could be simpler?Hooked?

Well you can find many more Sudoko puzzles online FREE by going to: www.sudoku.cc

Jotting space

MOUNTVIEW SUDOKU

35

The Mountview Puzzler Page

???

CLUES ACROSS2. Nightclub (7)7. Endure (4)8. Monetary unit of Iran (4)9. Look for (5)10. Material in the form of a

tube (6)11. Short coat (6)12. Ogles (5)14. Sailing vessel (5)19. Slacken (6)21. Worn around the neck (6)22. Resume (5)23. Gloucestershire (abbrev) (4)24. Slender (4)25. Tanning place (7)

CLUES DOWN1. Die (7)2. Turn (5)3. Explosions (6)4. Rat-catching animal (6)5. Testimonial (7)6. Notice of an intended

marriage (5)13. One who views things as

they really are (7)15. Nun’s home (7)16. Large European chestnut (6)17. Citrus fruit (6)18. Merry (5)20. Humble (5)

Mountview News – Graphic design, layout, printing & distribution by DC-Graphics, Barnet: 0208 440 1155 | www.dc-graphics.co.uk