Olympics. I go through these tunnels at least twice a day and as all regular drivers know, if you go just over 30mph you will get flashed. Yet dozens of buses and BMW’s passing by in the empty Olympic lanes were moving at well over 35mph without triggering off any of the camera’s – this should have qualified the drivers for at least a bronze medal, I would have thought! Yet again when the Paralympics began I detected few flashes in front of me on the first day. The vast sums of money it must have cost to remove all the Olympic Lanes, burning off the white road markings and removing all the signs, when only a couple of weeks later they were all back in place. I say this because since the Paralympics started all I could see everywhere were signs proclaiming “Games Lanes are opened to all traffic” we could even go through the “official Olympic traffic only” signs at Tower Hill, where
Games lane signage
we were supposed to have gone for a detour around the Minories; whatever was that all about? And why is there a no right turn at Tower Bridge and the narrowing into a single lane on the approach after detouring around Mansell Street just to cross over Tower Bridge? The amount of people that have said that hosting the Olympics is a “once in a lifetime” thing, although I was one month old during the previous one in 1948 – so in my case its twice in a lifetime; aren’t we all glad to know that? Paralympics action – Tower Hill
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KATIE GETS HER BILL Some of you might recall the article ‘Katie on the Knowledge’ from the March 2011 issue of Mountview News? It told the story of my niece Katie Chennells, who after doing the blue book runs for Katie Chennells about a year previously was just about to start her first appearance. Coming from a family of cab drivers, including her father; Katie is the first female in the family to obtain a green badge! On Monday 13th August 2012 she completed her suburbs and the following day was awarded her badge and bill. Nowadays it is more like getting a degree as you can take family and friends along with you for the presentation ceremony. A far cry from the days when you handed over the cash at the licensing kiosk at Penton Street, where a member of staff would push through the slot at the window your badge and bill without any pomp or ceremony and that would be that – you were out! Katie, who had a good education at a private school, the same school as another cab driver’s daughter the late Amy Winehouse, (Amy’s father Mitch worked on both Radio Taxis and Xeta for a number of years). Katie also obtained a university degree in media studies and became interested in cabbing whilst making a short documentary film “Knowledge Point” which can be found on You Tube. Now Katie has some teaching herself to do, as her boyfriend Liam is on the Knowledge full time too. Congratulations Katie, as we say in the trade – be lucky! THE PARALYMPIC MARATHON On the final day of the 2012 London Paralympics thousands turned out on the streets of London to see David Weir produced a brilliant sprint finish to claim Great Britain’s final London 2012 gold medal and secure his fourth victory at the Paralympics in the wheelchair marathon. Battling against one of the warmest days of the year, David won by just one second pushing Marcel Hug of Switzerland into second place, with defending champion Kurt Fearnley of Australia taking bronze, also one second behind Weir. Shelly Woods followed him home in style, with silver, in the women’s marathon; Britain’s last medals of London 2012. This takes the final tally for the Games to 120 – 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Although the London taxi trade along with many other businesses have suffered from the Olympics, it doesn’t take it away from how proud we all are of Team GB. Be Lucky!