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Beneath south London there are a series of tunnels. They lie directly under the Northern

Line and those that used them would complain about the early morning rumble of the trains

overhead waking them up. The deep level shelters were originally conceived as much-

needed air-raid shelters and there are sections at Clapham South, North and Clapham

Common station as well as elsewhere on the line.

These were huge tunnels, where bunk beds could house 8,000 people under each station.

They had their own ca...

Walking round on a Jack the Ripper walk, I am sure that most people would be wondering where all the victims of Jack the Ripper were buried. Even though most of these women were buried in common graves as their families either could not be traced or did not have the money to buy them a plot in a cemetery, it is still possible to find and visit their resting places.

Here is a list of all the graves that have been discovered up until now.

Martha Tabram - unknown but most likely common grave in th...

There are currently only 13 cabmen's shelters in existence, 12 of them are still in operation.

If you don't know what cabbie shelters are, they are the small green cricket-pavillion-style sheds dotted around London.

I have put together a map for you to see their location which you can share to your phone and use to find them for yourself. All of these remaining shelters are now Grade II.

It's perhaps the Embankment Place cabbie shelter many of you may have seen before. It's on the corner of ...

The name cab derives from the French, cabriolet, the popular style of carriage in the early 19th century two-wheeled French-style cabriolets which had an exposed seat on the top. They were known for their speed and comfort and eventually replaced the heavier and more cumbersome hackney carriages for the rest of the century. By the 1830s, the word “cab” entered the Londoner’s vocabulary.

But where does the word Hackney come from? Is it related to the area of Hackney?

The short answer is no...

According to the London Vintage Taxi Association, the first taxicab stand was formed in 1634 outside the Maypole in the Strand, basically between where Somerset House and Mary le Strand Church is nowadays.

Captain John Baily, a veteran of one of Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions, managed a taxi rank of four horse-drawn carriages, available for hire from the Strand. Baily's cab men wore a distinctive livery, and charged customers a fixed rate, depending on distance. The idea caught on and by the...