 Mike will never forget that day in Haymarket! When Mike
Holleyoake (M06) joined Dial-a-Cab some 12 years ago, he was
most impressed with the way he was greeted. Not only was he given
the call sign prefix Mike, but also the number 6. |
Mike, DaC and a football legend! |
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couldn’t be a bad set up!" With coincidences on the agenda, keen football fan Mike told Call Sign about the time some years ago when, over breakfast, he read in his morning newspaper that the legendary Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas was visiting London to promote a book on his life. "Now that’s someone I’d really like to meet," he had confided to his wife who was far more interested in finishing her ironing than hearing about another football player. "I told her of his legendary status, that he was captain of the Hungarian national team in the 1950s that were known as The Magnificent Magyars and how they beat the previously unbeatable England at Wembley in 1953 with a 6 goal thrashing! I told her that he left Hungary after the 1956 uprising and played for Real Madrid, but she remained unmoved," said Mike! "He was probably one of, if not the finest player of all time," he |
enthused to DaC’s mag. Later that same evening while out working in his taxi, he was driving down Haymarket towards what was then a sports venue called Football Football (now Tiger Tiger), when he was asked to take two men to the Cumberland Hotel. "Imagine my amazement when one of those gentlemen turned out to be none other than the very person I’d been telling my wife about earlier in the day!" With almost a tear of respect in his eye, Mike repeated it to us in case we never heard… "Imagine, Ferenc Puskas and his interpreter, right there in my cab!" Mike’s hero didn’t speak any English, but he understood his cab driver’s request and Mike is the proud owner of a Puskas autograph! Sadly, Ferenc Puskas died in November 2006, but according to Mike, his name will live on with all the great legends of football… İCall Sign Magazine MM9 |
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Did you know that about London? |
Taxis: More emission cutbacks? |
| The person who
published the first Geographers A – Z book of London maps
in 1936, was Phyllis Pearsall. She did so by walking every
street in London, rising at 5am each day setting out from her bedsit
in Holloway Road and allegedly walking until midnight. In total, she
walked just over 3000 miles. A – Z now publish guides for over 300
cities from their Grays Inn Road offices…
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At a
recent Mayor’s Question Time, in addition to confirming that the
6-month mid-year check has been confined to history, Boris Johnson
also said in response to a question from London taxis new public
enemy number one, Murad Qureshi, regarding cleaner air: "TfL is actively pursuing initiatives to reduce emissions from the black cab fleet. It is my intention to reduce CO2 and other emissions from all vehicle fleets over which I have any control or influence. By summer 2008, the almost all London taxis met Euro III standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. I will shortly be producing my Air Quality Strategy for consultation with the Assembly and Functional Bodies. This will include further proposals to reduce emissions from taxis and other vehicles. In June 2008, I announced TfL’s Public Carriage Office’s Carbon Reduction programme, with funding of up to £1 million to trial low carbon technology in London's taxi fleet and promote smarter driving among licensed drivers. Reductions in fuel consumption by taxis will lead to correspondingly reduced exhaust emissions." |
