FROM HANSOM CABS TO ELECTRIC TAXIS: How regulation, technology and design shaped the taxi trade from the 17th century to the electric era The modern UK taxi industry is the product of centuries of regulatory control and repeated waves of technical change. From horse-drawn hackney carriages to plug-in hybrid black cabs, each shift has al...

FROM HANSOM CABS TO ELECTRIC TAXIS: How regulation, technology and design shaped the taxi trade from the 17th century to the electric era

#taxi #taxicab #blackcab #blacktaxi #hackneycarriage #iconic #london #cabbie #theknowledge #kol

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Tom the Taxi Driver Hi I'm Tom, a London Taxi driver and tour guide. My aim is the preserve and protect the rich heritage of London taxis. Getting more men and women into taxis, both as drivers and passengers! -Tom

“One day you’ll look back and realise how hard it was, and just how well you did” Charlie Mackesy

So true, if you’ve ever gone through “The Knowledge” and become a London cabbie

www.youtube.com/@tomthetaxidriver

#taxi #londoncabbie #blackcab #london #iconic #londontaxi #hackneycarriage

Early morning on the Royal Mile; black cabs, cobbled streets, and gothic silhouettes.

#royalmile #edinburgh #scotland #sunrise #goldenhour #hackneycarriage #blackcab #churchtower #silhouette #cobblestones #oldtown #streetscape #cityscape #travel #travelphotography #photography #photographersunited

[1788 Edition] Miss K-lp-n, Ludgate Hill. ----- We cannot pretend to say where this curious oddity lives, that being a circumstance she carefully conceals; and what is more extraordinary, she never can be prevailed on to go into taverns or other houses with a gentleman. If you walk on the right hand side of the way, from the corner of Cheapside along St. Paul's Church Yard, and thence to the bottom of Ludgate Hill, just after sun set, and meet with a beautiful woman about twenty, tall and finely shaped, with fine black eyes, and hair of the same hue, that floats in curls down her back, and worn without powder, and a be witching dimple in each cheek, you may give a shrewd guess you have found Miss K-lp-n. We have not said she will deny entering one of them with you; that is if she likes your person and conversation. And here let us add, no frothy coxcomb, no male adonis, conceited of his own dear person, no shoe stringed effeminate puppy, no insipid empty chatterer, can hope to succeed with her. We have rather enlarged on this lady, on account of the singularity of her disposition; and what will add to your wonder is, that she never will receive any money, but take the offer as an affront. These circumstances make us conclude that K-lp-n, the name she has assumed sometimes, is not her real name, and that she is not a woman of the town, but some married city lady, who takes this method of getting home deficiencies supplied abroad, and, as she is cautious of her character, uses these precautions. We have been told that the undulating motion of the coach, with the pretty little occasional jolts, contribute greatly to enhance the pleasure of the critical moment, if all matters are rightly placed. ----- Images: Miss Smithson – Rose Emma Drummond (1819), A Harlot’s Progress [Plate 2]– William Hogarth (1731), Trade card of T Bryan - William Newman (c. 1800), Interior of a stage coach - William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)

About Her: Miss Kelpin: ‘Miss Kelpin’ is a pseudonym used by her to hide the fact that she is a married woman soliciting clients behind her husband’s back. She often refuses payment, doing this for the sake of an affair. 20 Years Old: Born in 1768, Miss Kelpin uses Hackney Coaches for her affairs, both for privacy and for pleasure and she remarks how the turbulence of the carriage improves the ‘pleasure of the critical moment’. She’s described as Tall with black eyes and hair. She dresses incredibly well: wearing a pale blue or black silk dress with a large satin cloak trimmed with brown fur. She wears a blue hat made from beaver pelt and adorns it with white feathers.

Her Surroundings: Hackney Coaches: The precursor to the modern black taxis of London, Hackney coaches or carriages first appeared in the late 16th and early 17th centuries with parliament regulating the number on the streets in 1654. Even so the number of coaches grew over the 18th century with around 1000 legally registered in operation in 1770. Hackney coaches were the preferred method of getting around London before the building of the Tube in the 19th century, especially since the pavements were often lined with mixtures of mud and horse droppings. “But you may say, when found, of what service is it, when she will neither take you home with her, nor go into any house With you? A little more patience, sir, if you please, though she refuses to go into any house with you, are there not hackney coaches on every stand?”

[1788 Edition] Miss K-lp-n, Ludgate Hill. Those formal lovers be for ever curst, Who fetter'd freeborn love with honour first; Who through fantastic laws, are virtue's fools, And against nature, will be slaves to rules. #georgianera #18thcentury #hackneycoaches #hackneycarriage

My pic of a London Hackney Carriage with St Paul’s Cathedral dominating the background 2023 #NikonD750 #StPaulsCathedral #HackneyCarriage #BlackCab #Taxi #CityOfLondon