Fancy a Cuppa?

Buy yourself a celebratory cup of tea at one of the thirteen surviving London Cabmen's Shelters - it's their 138th anniversary this February. They were set up in 1875 by newspaper publisher Sir George Armstrong to provide welcome refreshment at a time when London's cabbies rode on top of their horse drawn taxis, exposed to the elements whatever the weather. The shelters were set up on the highway to give cabbies a chance to get something hot to eat and drink without leaving their cabs.  Cabbies' mugs were for them kept at the shelter and looked after by 'shelter boys'. 

If you don't know what to look for, they are the green glorified sheds dotted round some of London's streets, often with lines of taxis outside. They are quite small - the size of a horse and cart - but squeezed inside is a kitchen, books, newspapers and tables and chairs for about ten cabbies.  

There are only thirteen left in London: Chelsea Embankment; Embankment Place; Grosvenor Gardens; Hanover Square; Kensington Park Road; Kensington Road; Pont Street; Russell Square; St George’s Square, Pimlico; Temple Place; Thurloe Place, Kensington (in the middle of the road opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum); Warwick Avenue; and Wellington Place, St John’s Wood.