Page 31
Call Sign July 2011
Most long-term Dial-a-Cab drivers will recog-
As Bob Ambrose heads off into retirement, he says thanks for
nise Bob Ambrose (V13) for his annual par-
the memories...
ticipation at the DaC AGM. No subject was off-
limits to him and if he didn't like something,
BYE BYE BOB!
he was never afraid to voice that dislike to the
Board. But just because he had offered criti-
cism at the meeting, he was still happy to
shake hands and discuss man-to-man his
intrigue, the power struggles, the fight for sur-
problem with any Board member.
vival and through it all a touch of class.
Of late, Bob has been dogged with some
It is a great circuit that uniquely still belongs
health problems and has now decided that this
to you, the members. Its fate is in your hands
is the time to hang up his driving gloves and
and it is worth fighting for. Don't let the little
head off into retirement. Bob told Call Sign:
people nick it!
"It was with a certain sadness that I sold my
Good luck to you all and thanks for the
old `steed' to K06 and began the long holiday,
memories..."
but at least `she' gets to stay on the circuit!
DaC Chairman Brian Rice told Call Sign:
Following 14 years of flying solo, I joined
"Bob has always been the perfect gentle-
DaC in March 1988. My only regret is in not
man, always asking questions at the AGM and
doing it sooner because it brought another
often at great length. However, Bob was never
dimension to the job. The camaraderie, the
personal and certainly never showed any mal-
characters, the wit of the dispatchers, the pio-
ice, he will be missed at Dial-a-Cab. We sin-
Bob speaking at an AGM
neering of data, its crash and then rebound.
cerely hope that his retirement is a long and
ing room only AGMs and again the wit, the
The fat years, the lean years, Call Sign, stand-
happy one..."
Success for Ger r y!
The May Call Sign reported on the CCTV PCN given to Dial-a-Cab driver Gerry Tobin (L32) for waiting
outside pharmacists John Bell and Croyden in Wigmore Street with his passengers a grandmother and
grandson while the child's mother had rushed in to get some medicine for her son. They were also in a
rush to get to Kings Cross Station so Gerry waited.
However, there was a queue in the chemist but Gerry was reluctant to move in case the mother couldn't find him. The result was a PCN,
which Call Sign advised Gerry to fight and which he did, all the way to Arbitration.
On May 31, Gerry explained his case, leaving the Adjudicator - Edward Houghton - in a difficult position because there was no doubt that
Gerry was waiting somewhere that he shouldn't have been, yet it was part and parcel of the job we do.
His decision was that Gerry's Appeal had failed but recommended that the City of Westminster should cancel the PCN under Regulation 7 (4)
of the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) Representations and Appeals Regulations 2007 because he was satisfied that there
were compelling mitigation reasons in the particular circumstances that Gerry found himself in in other words he was doing his job!
Westminster have now reconsidered Gerry's case and accepted the Adjudicator's decision. What a pity that all this time and money had to
be wasted before Westminster were made to see sense.
Also...
Call Sign will also be interested in the case of the Westminster Smart Car - complete with CCTV camera poking through its roof - that was
left illegally parked by its warden driver outside a Mayfair branch of Sainsbury's while the driver went shopping! The report in the Evening
Standard, together with photos showing the driver with the distinctive orange carrier bag exiting the store, makes us wonder whether he gave
himself a PCN???
London's busiest
Ashford Town: Manager stays, but
railway stations
what about the goalie?
Ever wondered which were the busiest
railway stations? Well wonder no more!
Although their season never really took off, it certainly
ended up in the clouds! Ashford Town's supporters had
These are the top London stations based
little in the way of excitement last season with the team
on exits and entrances last year, courtesy
never being close enough to chase promotion or needing
ORR...
to fight off relegation! But the Surrey Combination
Waterloo 83,397,666
Cup proved that the season wasn't a total let-down as
Victoria 70,224,543
the team battled their way through to the final where
Liverpool Street 51,596,155
they defeated Combined Counties Premier division team
London Bridge 48,723,068
Hanworth Villa by a Jim Mann goal to nil to pick up
Lee doin
Charing Cross 36,459,945
their only first team silver of the 2010/2011 season.
gs
es, but w tretching excer
Euston 30,068,092
More good news was that first team manager
cis
h
ing for n o will he be pla -
Paddington 29,104,198
Jamie Lawrence has agreed to continue with the
y-
ext seas
on?
Kings Cross 24,817,616
club for at least the next season, however, Dial-a-Cab
driver and Ashford goalkeeper, Lee Pearce (J71), who missed the last two
months with a knee injury isn't sure about whether he will still be with the Middlesex club next
Where's Woody?
season. He told Call Sign:
"I should be fit for the beginning of the new season and it all depends on whether I am first
The answer to Where's Woody in
team choice. I'm not getting any younger and after such a bad injury, I need first team soccer so
this issue's Call Sign en la Belle
if Ashford can't give me that, it will have to be with another team. However, I have to say that
Ashford have been very good to me throughout the injury and I've been very happy here."
France is the Evening Standard
However, Lee's previous team Bedfont Green, have recently sacked manager Dennis
vendor's stand outside Mansion
Bainborough someone who seemed to have issues with Lee and replaced him with Kevin
House station, Bow Lane.
Cooper, who the DaC driver has played with at BG. Could it be a recall is on the cards???
