Monday, July 3, 2017

Green Cab Shelters

Monday, July 3, 2017
Loretta reports from London:

Some while ago, I reported on hackney coach stands and the watermen who attended them. Comments on that blog post alerted me to the green cab shelters created in the Victorian era to allow cabbies to get some refreshment and take shelter from bad weather. I put these green huts on my list of things to look out for in London.

This one is on The Kensington Road, near the Palace Gate, opposite the Albert Hall. I've seen others while riding on buses--not the ideal situation for taking photos. But, yes, they are there, and as far as I can make out, given the way roads have come and gone in London, a number remain at their 19th C locations.

You can read all about these cab shelters here at Cabbie Blog (it's pretty wonderful, and if anything will make you loyal to these true London cabbies, who spend years obtaining The Knowledge, this will). Several times on our walks through London, we saw men on scooters with maps sticking up from the handlebars: They were learning the streets, gaining The Knowledge.



Please click on images to enlarge.

4 comments:

Hels said...

Many thanks! The cab shelters look super, AND useful.

They remind me of the Heritage listed MMTB trams shelters in Melbourne. I don't know the date of this Melbourne shelter, but our first cable tram line opened in 1885 and our first electrical trams started appearing in 1924.

https://railgallery.wongm.com/melbourne-tram-stops/F108_9683.jpg.html

Gavin T.D. Greig said...

I found out about these a few years ago, and suggested to a model maker I knew of that they might be worth modelling. A few months later I was able to buy one.

CabbieBlog said...

The Green Shelters are open to everyone during the Open House weekend:
http://www.openhouselondon.org.uk
As I wrote in my piece about these unique buildings you can get a coffee and food whenever they are open. Thanks for the mention.

Jenny O said...

I first read about these shelters on the exquisite Spitalfields Life blog (http://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/08/30/a-tour-of-the-cabbies-shelters/). Despite many visits to London I've never actually seen one in "person"! Cabbies and The Knowledge are such a fascinating topic.

 
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