THE LONDON CABBIE

In 2017, children from two London primary schools worked with educational charity digital:works and the London Transport Museum to explore the history of the London cabbie.

There were workshops, talks and rides on a variety of old taxis with the London Vintage Taxi Association; but the main source of information was the taxi drivers themselves. The children recorded 26 interviews with cabbies, many of whom began their working lives in the 1950s and 60s. There are many stories: funny, sad and poignant; and, through these recollections, we get an insight into the history of the men and women who have driven the famous black cab.

There are also detailed descriptions of “doing the knowledge”: the appearances where cabbies had to memorise up to 25,000 streets and even more places of interest.

The meeting will explain more about how the project was conducted; we will show a film of some of the interviews and recollections. And we hope to have some of the taxi drivers who participated there, with their cabs, to answer questions.

The meeting will be held at Acton Depot on 20th July, starting at 1030.

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