The examination to become a London cabby is possibly the most difficult test in the world — demanding years of study to memorize the labyrinthine city’s 25,000 streets and any business or landmark on them. As GPS and Uber imperil this tradition, is there an argument for learning as an end in itself?

That is a very long article. I skimmed most of it, then thought I better get back to some work.

My Dad used to be a London black cabbie.

I remember getting into a boiling hot cab in the summer with shorts on and burning your legs on the black vinyl seats.
Then there was the important (when you were a kid) job of spraying some kind of cold start spray into the engine during the winter, while my Dad turned the engine over. It would start with an almighty clattery shudder and throw a cloud of sooty diesel smoke out the back!

He had quite a few famous people in his cab; disappointingly, he said that Sean Connery was the rudest man he’d ever had the misfortune of taking the fare of.
Oh, and he ran a woman over who ran out in front of him from between two parked buses. Completely her fault and she was OK apart from laddered tights and scraped knees (oo-er). She was late for an interview, so my Dad gave her a lift there.

When he stopped (due to ill health) some bloke from Brighton came up on the train and bought his cab. Said he was going to use it as a private vehicle.

It comes in very useful for getting about town when down in London! Even almost 30 years since he last did it, my Dad can almost always give excellent directions of the best way to go to get to a certain place.
He even had to help a coach driver about 15 years ago, when we were coming back from a holiday in France. He was doing a drop off at Kings Cross but had no idea where he was going, so my Dad sat up the front and gave him directions.

I’d always figured being a black cab driver would actually be quite decent – given the conversations I have with them they seem to get loads of holidays. What does a cab cost?

EDIT – but not in London, probs Edinburgh or Glasgow.

surroundedbyhills – Member
I’d always figured being a black cab driver would actually be quite decent – given the conversations I have with them they seem to get loads of holidays.

Dunno about that – I think it can be an interesting job, you get to meet all sorts of people and to some extent you can choose your hours.
But, I think in reality, you can end up working long hours and not earn great money.
My Dad earned enough, but we were never that well off growing up. And to catch the busy bits of the day he used to head off very early in the morning and sometimes get home quite late. Plus, he’d often do weekends as well.
That was a long time ago though.

Good article. I’m in awe of people who manage to manage to do it, but much like memorising millions of digits of pi I don’t really see the point. It’s a skillset from a bygone age.

The weight of traffic now in London means getting a cab usually isn’t the quickest way even with the most experienced driver. Satnav routing is perfectly good for most journeys (arguably at avoiding traffic they’re a lot better now) and most people would rather pay half the fare for a minicab. The cabs themselves are a joke, such horrible uncomfortable unrefined things.

Can’t help but think they’re doomed to being a tourist attraction in the next decade unless something substantial changes – but they’re so pig-headed that they won’t.

I’ve got to be honest, after a recent trip to San Francisco, Uber is fantastic, I think it’s a case of evolve or die for black cabs as we know them.

He had quite a few famous people in his cab; disappointingly, he said that Sean Connery was the rudest man he’d ever had the misfortune of taking the fare of.

My Grandfather was the Art Director on From Russia With Love and was challenged to a game of golf by Connery. Grandad wasn’t the greatest player, or earning a lot from the very new Bond franchise, but Connery insisted on playing for money, and on winning insisted on Grandad paying up.

Grandad’s never liked him since, but oddly always thought him the best Bond. Roger Moore however he remained good friends with until passing away in 2011.

enjoyable read, thanks for that.