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Former Dial-a-Cab driver, Bob Woodford, writes a regular column for Call Sign from his home in Languedoc, France… CALL SIGN EN LA BELLE FRANCE |
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The Bean Machine... anyone
for coffee? It’s a great passion of mine – you can buy some really good stuff at the little bars and cafés in the south of France – the perfect start to the day! But every time I have a mooch around the City of London these days, I am staggered by the explosion of seemingly endless new chains of coffee bars opening up all over the place. It seems that you cannot turn another corner without glimpsing yet another Starbucks, Costa or Caffe Nero. Let’s face it, all these places provide overpriced weak coffee, yet they are in your face every which way you move. Of course they are convenient for the addict, and that probably includes many taxi drivers who get snared in the ever-growing habit of patronising these places. I got used to drinking really good coffee along the Mediterranean |
 and if you really want a decent cuppa in London while pushing the droshky around, then in my experience you won’t do better than to grab a takeaway from The Expresso Room in Great Ormond St or the Monmouth Coffee House in Stoney Street. But the next time you are gagging in the City, take my advice and hang your Cab up on either the Sweetings rank or Temple of Mithras rank, both inn Queen Victoria Street and walk over to The Bean Machine. When I first glanced over at the mobile coffee unit sponsored by Illy parked up outside St Mary |
Aldermary Church, I didn’t
really give it much of a thought at first, but as usual I gave
it a try. Stuart is the name of the guy that has ‘taken a punt’
– having spent a small fortune on the kit and then asked the
vicar to rent him a pitch. He now provides what in my opinion is
one of the best cups of coffee in the square mile. If I wanted a
double shot latte from Costa in Bow Lane it would set me back
Ł2.65, the same drink with Stuart not only tastes hugely better,
but only costs Ł1.90. Don’t just take my word – give him a try. He’s there from 7am till 6pm, making the short trek each day from his home in De Beauvoir Town. Mine’s a large latte – no sugar, thanks! Vive la café… Bob
Woodford (Ex-P49) |
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Taxi Overhauls at SGS NEW ADVISORY NOTICE SYSTEM |
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A new warning system is to be trialed by SGS on behalf of LTPH. This will allow some ‘fail’ notices on taxis that do not involve safety, to be replaced by an ‘advisory’ notice for the owner to get the work done. The Director of Taxi & Private Hire, John Mason, told Call Sign: “One of the key objectives for London Taxi and Private Hire is to ensure that we apply a consistent, common sense and reasonable approach to all our licensing activities and ensure drivers and operators comply with the relevant rules and regulations that govern the licensing of vehicles as London taxis. To this end and following extensive discussions with various members of the taxi trade, TfL is pleased to announce the implementation of an advisory notice system for taxi vehicle licensing inspections.This new vehicle advisory system will commence on 24 August, providing a formal and consistent approach for LTPH when making decisions on the roadworthiness and condition of taxis. Vehicle inspectors, working for our vehicle licensing service provider (SGS), will now be able to use the electronic inspection system to |
identify whether certain failure items should be classified as a
“pass advisory” or a “failure”. The selection of the “advisory”
option for certain (non-safety related) failure items during a
licensing inspection will result in the issuing of licence
plates accompanied by an advisory notice. The notice will inform
the vehicle owner/driver of the defect, which may require
attention and rectification within a reasonable amount of time.
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inspection manual, which incorporates the new system can be found on www.tfl.gov.uk/tph. The components and system areas that have been amended to allow the use of the advisory notice option are: We will keep this new system under review and amend or adjust if necessary. We hope that drivers and operators will welcome this new approach to annual inspections and are happy to receive and comments or suggestions regarding it via tph.enquiries@tfl.gov.uk.” John Mason Director, Taxi & Private Hire |
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