Thursday, November 15, 2007

Cabmen's shelters


Not so much for shedworking as for taxi drivers looking for some shedrelaxing, you can find more than a dozen of these historic shelters which date back to 1875 around London. This is how the Urban75 site explains their history:
"Because cab drivers weren't allowed to leave their vehicles when parked at a stand, it was difficult for them to get a hot meal while at work, so The Earl of Shaftesbury (God bless 'im) and a few philanthropic chums decided to create a cabbie's charity in 1874. Entitled the Cabmen's Shelter Fund, the charity set out to construct and run shelters to provide cabbies with 'good and wholesome refreshments at moderate price Between 1875 and 1914, a total of 61 shelters were built at cost of around £200 eac Because the shelters stood on a public highway, the police stipulated that they weren't allowed to be any larger than a horse and cart."
According to the site surviving shelters, now Grade II listed, can be seen at:
Chelsea Embankment - near the Albert Bridge
Embankment Place
Grosvenor Gardens - west side of north garden
Hanover Square - north of central garden
Kensington Park Road - outside numbers 8-10
Kensington Road - north side
Pont Street
Russell Square - west corner (previously in Leicester Square)
St George's Square, Pimlico
Temple Place (above)
Thurloe Place, Kensington - opp the Victoria & Albert Museum
Warwick Avenue - Clifton Gardens
Wellington Place, St John's Wood

No comments:

Post a Comment