Taxi Noir: Behind the Silk Curtain
It’s fair to say that food plays a central role in my life. My working day is planned around meal times, and when I’m not working, I’m either eating...
Taxi Noir: A Legend in Your Own Lunchtime
I’m not surprised to hear home workers complaining. The pleasures of working from the comfort of your own home can quickly become eroded by boredom. The social aspect of...
Taxi Noir: Equal Opportunities
Cab driving in London is one of the most democratic occupations known to man. How many other occupations allow you to start training with no qualifications, and then offer...
Taxi Noir: A Drive Down Memory Lane
A business start-up in the cab trade is easy: on the day you’re licensed you arrange to rent a taxi, learn how to stop and start the meter, and...
Taxi Noir: Remembering Lebanon
The devastating explosion in Beirut last month was one event in a long line of traumas that the city has had to endure. The civil war seemed to bring...
Taxi Noir: Gaining the Green Badge
I spent a lot of my adult life in the London taxi trade; studying for the notoriously difficult Knowledge of London examinations from the spring of 1985, to finally...
Taxi Noir: Solitary Man
Taxi Noir: Solitar Man For a good proportion of my adult life I worked alone as a London taxi driver. Not everyone who comes into the cab trade is...
Taxi Noir: Drinking for Britain
What a mad few months it’s been. A lot has happened, and a lot of things have been turned on their heads. For instance, kids could go to Primark...
Taxi Noir: Going Back to Prison
I’m sure many of us are fantasising about re-visiting our favourite pubs, restaurants and hotels. I know I am; I can’t wait to get cracking. I’m particularly looking forward...
Taxi Noir: A Brief Perambulation around Fleet Street
People think that because I drive my taxi around London all day I know all the best places to go, or know all the history. I don’t. I haven’t...
Taxi Noir: Scraping the Barrel
Since the Covid-19 lockdown I’ve vowed to support local businesses wherever possible. In the semi-rural area around my home in Leighton Buzzard I can buy milk direct from the...
Taxi Noir: Black Sabbatical
As the lockdown continues I’ve been thinking a lot about how time is used differently by different people. Some folk have an abundance of time while others feel there...
Taxi Noir; Surviving the Aftermath
Indications are that a hard rain’s gonna fall this summer: recession, redundancy, and businesses going bankrupt. We’ve been here before though. The media have compared the current crisis to...
Taxi Noir: The End of the Big Black Beetle
A hundred years ago prospective London cab drivers looked forward to a career involving a horse, and a bale of hay for fuel. Apart from a switch to the...
Taxi Noir: Heroes & Villains
As the virus continues, there’s untold pressure and uncertainty for every working person in this country – and around the world. Well before the lockdown came, work in the...
Taxi Noir: A Brief Perambulation around Fleet Street
People think that because I drive my taxi around London all day I know all the best places to go, or know all the history. I don’t. I...
Taxi Noir. On Your Bike
Welcome to London, and the wild West End. Last summer there was an epidemic of people whizzing around London on motorised kids’ scooters. They were getting in everyone’s way...
Taxi Noir; Identity Crisis
Transport for London’s re-licencing rejection of Uber highlighted the practice of their drivers swapping ID. Passengers were being driven by people who pretended to be someone else – 14,000...
Taxi Noir: Brewing Up a Storm
As I sit at my PC typing this, the wind is howling outside. We’re advised not to venture out unless our journeys are essential. The port of Dover is...
Taxi Noir: Back 2 Skool
I’ve been trying to get out of the cab game for some time. To this end I’ve been working towards becoming a Health & Safety Adviser. I gained the...
Taxi Noir: Billionaires Row
I occasionally find myself driving my cab along one of London’s most upmarket streets; The Bishops Avenue. Some people say it’s in Hampstead, others Highgate. While it’s close to...
Taxi Noir: The Truth about Cats & Dogs
I joined the B-C-ing-U team half way through the year. When asked for the favourite article I wrote in 2019, I’d probably go for the light-hearted one about carrying...
Taxi Noir: Boris Johnson’s Channel Bridge
So, Boris Johnson has been mandated to govern the UK for another four years. I shan’t be drawn into making value statements on the outcome of the recent General...
Taxi Noir: Save the Trees
I hate working this time of year. I love Christmas, but I hate driving around London in my cab. I dread that moment in November when I’m stuck in...
Taxi Noir: Great British Pubs – The Bartons Arms, Birmingham
As an aficionado of traditional British pubs it’s always a pleasure to visit the Bartons Arms in Birmingham. This stunning pub presents an outstanding example of classic pub...
Taxi Noir: The Truth about Cats & Dogs
I’ve spoken a bit in recent articles about the passengers I pick up in my taxi, but not all our passengers are human, of course. We are obliged to...
Taxi Noir: Celebrity Passengers
One category of person that I didn’t talk about in my discussion of taxi passengers was the celebrity. People are always fascinated hearing about the famous people we pick...
Taxi Noir: Y Viva Espana
Many of us enjoyed a week or two away this summer. As ties with our European neighbours have become a bit strange with Brexit looming I was sensitive to...
Taxi Noir: Cab Passengers
This week I’m going to talk about relations with the passengers I get in my taxi. I’ve talked a fair bit about the Knowledge of London and the part...
Taxi Noir: Starting Out as a London Cab Driver
Cab driving in London is one of the most democratic occupations known to man. How many other occupations allow you to start training with no previous qualifications, then offer...
Taxi Noir: The Knowledge (Part 2)
Welcome to Part Two of a run-through of the Knowledge of London, the training that London taxi drivers have to go through to get licensed. The first part is...
Taxi Noir: The Knowledge
Last time I promised to say more about the training that prospective London taxi drivers have to go through: the Knowledge of London. Right, fasten yourself in, it’s going...
Taxi Noir: An Introduction
I offer a warm welcome to anyone about to read my first introductory piece – and of course a big Hello to my fellow contributors. My name is Chris...