Why Do We Drive on the WRONG Side at The Savoy Hotel?

And lots of other curiosities in this small patch of London
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WHO AM I:
I’m Tom, a London Taxi driver of 5 years. I also have a keen passion for all things London whether that’s; history, geography or a good spot for coffee!
WHY DO I MAKE VIDEOS?:
To PROMOTE and PROTECT The Knowledge of London
And to PRESERVE the high standards of London Taxi Drivers
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Lincolns Inn Fields
01:34 - Hunterian Museum
02:50 - Old Curiosity Shop
03:53 - Square The Block
05:20 - Westminster Boundary
07:44 - RAF Church
10:25 - RCOJ
11:51 - Temple Bar Memorial
13:59 - Gringotts Bank
15:25 - The Savoy
17:10 - The Batcave!
20:00 - Abandoned Tube Station

[@Garysmith-yz9el]

You would make a great history teacher if the Taxi business goes south 😮

[@colinmaynard2879]

But Tom has gone south (of the river) 🤦‍♂️

[@bigjml]

Luckily the London Taxi Trade will never disappear Several hundred years of history and still counting

[@edblanc101]

I believe he is actually an accredited, London tour guide in the Camden area.

[@bigjml]

@@edblanc101 He may have a specific qualification for Camden but I am fairly certain he is a Green Badge Guide. A qualification you can only do after you have got your Green Badge

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

Green badge is specific to taxis. It’s not a requirement for the other guiding courses but it helps show you’re serious 👍🏻

[@SouthPaw1805]

Bit of trivia for you: The main reason for the Aldwych branch closing was that the lifts at Aldwych had reached the end of their life, and the cost of renewal was too high compared to the number of passengers using the station. After closure, the lifts were fixed in place at ticket hall level, so any filming that takes place requires the crew to carry all of the equipment up and down the 160 steps of the emergency spiral staircase. No doubt London Underground would consider this equivalent to a 15 storey building, because as we know ALL tube stations have fifteen floors. - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnO3p6Coh6yfmKc 😁

[@danielcahill6609]

You can't never not like an Only Fools and Horses reference! Liking the new style 👌🏻

[@Robslondon]

Superb video Tom- and I really appreciate the shout out; many thanks mate! Be lucky ;-)

[@Pedsdude]

Long time subscriber, first time commenter. Loved this video, was very interesting and would be keen to see similar videos in other areas of London. It's interesting to see a cabbie's perspective on things rather than it just being another London tour video!

[@redabitar]

Really love the format, You're full of facts and it's loads of fun to listen to you talk about things we see on a regular basis!!

[@ianrigby7027]

Loved this video Tom, would love to see more like this. You work is appreciated 👌👌

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

This is a great video! Lots of interesting knowledge points and great to see London so empty on a Saturday morning, too! Thank you!

[@splinterfire]

Love the format of these, it's like almost being part of a casual conversation about bits of London. Works well

[@Vickix1185]

I love this! Feels like you were in your element with this Tom - lovely to see! Have had to visit the area around the RCJ for work a couple of times for work so really interesting to learn about the area. Fun fact, because the Royal Courts of Justice are a listed building, English Heritage get final say on any changes and signage etc, so normal accessibility rules don’t always apply (no contrast edging on steps, old English fonts that aren’t easy to read etc).

[@Spermwhales93]

My brother-in-law works at LSE, I had no idea how much stuff LSE actually owned in London until you made this video!

[@justaddbricks5527]

Please do more content/videos like this! I loved it! Really fun content and knowledge - learnt a lot about places I’ve been by many times. Definitely a fun watch!

[@sheilam4525]

Enjoyed that different perspective, Tom and all the information you gave us. Well done👏😊

[@MSI2k]

Excellent video dude. As a Canadian, this is exactly I watch your videos. Just love the architecture and London vibes. Quite the tour. Thanks

[@voilatc1619]

I used to use Aldwych station quite a bit when I worked at No9 Kingsway and didn’t fancy the walk down Kingsway from Holborn station. Lincoln’s Inn was my usual lunchtime walk. Great video Tom

[@runningwithmarc]

So relaxing to watch your videos, Thanks for making them Tom :)

[@paulknight5018]

I quite liked this format, something a little different, thanks Tom.

[@turbotrax7004]

Love this new video feature style, keep em coming!

[@dorsettyke]

Great video! Thanks 🙂 👍

[@kphedges1]

I've done the Lower Robert St trick once with punters on board and it was closed, you feel such an idiot u-turning and back out to Strand. Great video, lots of stuff I didn't know.

[@charlottelanvin7095]

Great video again, thanks! Once on a cab ride, the driver took that Lower Roberts Street and I remember thinking "what is this underground cut through with loading docks and stuff? This can't be right!"

[@scott4393]

Excellent video Tom........... as a London resident myself, there is so much fascinating history I walk past on a daily basis - many places covered in this video..... Really enjoyed this one

[@ad4mpoole]

This was great, really opened up my eyes to some of the hidden gems I miss on a busy commute

[@sentinel80]

You covered many of my stopping points on my London tour. Yes the savoy private road driving on the right was so the Hackney cab from his lofty position could reach down to open the door to allow the ladies in long dresses out directly onto the pavement. That turning circle designed for the original Hackney cabs is still the turning circle of modern cabs today.

[@LordWarden76]

Great stuff Tom, keep them coming.

[@wendychiverton2779]

Morning Tom thanks very much for the video it was very informative, I forget living in London how many interesting places there are too see

[@welshykev]

Loved this type of video. Could you do more like this please.

[@Nooticus]

One of my favourite videos I’ve watched in a long time! This has truly made my day because this whole area is my regular stomping ground as a current student of one of the universities you mentioned!! Loved all the info! 2 things though; 1. Kingsway is already bouncing back, just like Fleet Street has! Give it 3 years and it’ll be back to how it was. 2. The Victorian-style buildings (and all the buildings) on the West side of Surrey street are part of Kings College London today. Also, the area of Kings College London and Surrey Street was formerly the site of Arundel House, which was said to have housed the possibly secret premiere of the world-famous 40-part motet by Thomas Tallis called ‘spem in alium’ in 1568 or 1569!

[@Kyxul]

Love these type of videos, need more.

[@juliusw1361]

Great Video Tom, please make more Videos Like this!

[@drummerboy1390]

Very interesting. The streets are so quiet.

[@foreignparticle1320]

I was in London earlier this year for the first time post-Covid, and found the decimation of businesses on Kingsway quite shocking. Such a shame, especially for such a prominent and useful thoroughfare. My first ever encounter with London was crossing Kingsway after emerging from the Piccadilly line at Holborn Station. I was jetlagged up to the eyeballs... but incredibly excited to be there. Great vid mate!

[@katrinabryce]

Oxford Street is in an even worse state.

[@Nooticus]

Kingsway is already bouncing back, just like Fleet Street has trust me. Give it 3 years and it’ll be back to how it was.

[@minixtvbox]

Tory scum austerity Britain

[@simonbaker5972]

Brilliant, absolutely love it. Well done mate. Really interesting.

[@Diamondphobe]

I really enjoyed that. I do hope you do some more similar videos!

[@dawsynmartone7798]

Been subscribed for a while now, really liked the format of this video!

[@simonpallister842]

Great video - as an Englishman living abroad for 25 years, love to see stuff like this

[@Matityahu755]

The history of London is amazing, your knowledge too, is amazing. But, the architecture of London's buildings is out of this world. Visitors to London (and it's inhabitants) need to look up, focus and soak up the outstanding architecture, it really is amazing what you'll see. Thank you Tom, for the trip around your city.

[@LPR579]

This video was wildly fascinating. Thank you!

[@markgreen6788]

Really enjoy the tours around London videos like these.. More please 🙏

[@Nimbydog]

Tom, this is amazing content. More of this please!!

[@jaypauseasmr8843]

Loved this thanks Tom!

[@rudeboystu69]

I really enjoyed this! I appreciate that you're Tom the Taxi Driver and not Tom the Tour Guide (although I'm sure the two overlap frequently), but I'd certainly be interested in more of these types of videos.

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

I actually hold 2 guiding badges in London 🤭

[@jonathansapier7574]

Love your videos Tom. I’m from Leeds but coming down next Thursday to have a day cycling around. If you’re anywhere near Brick Lane at lunchtime, I’ll treat you to a bagel! 😃👍

[@abandonedworldgermany]

Fantastic video, really interesting you're a great ambassador to London thanks for making this!!

[@eddiefara]

takes me back. My dad worked at the LSE when I was a kid/teenager so spent some time around all those LSE buildings.

[@draconianTL]

1:15 - for any skateboarders who were fond of Blueprint (RIP) - Paul Shier did an insane backslide flip from side to side of that sculpture. I think in Lost and Found.

[@stormi62]

As i live in rural lincolnshire and have a lot of history especially with a 1100yr old cathedral which is virtually perfect it is cool to see all the hidden history that London has and not just the usual suspects like Westminster etc etc. I’m always educating myself of my area and passing it onto my passengers. I think all cabbies should have some knowledge of their area. Keep up the great work Tom 👍

[@TigerP1]

Very interesting. Very cool. Thanks.

[@d8o8m8]

I really enjoyed this. Thank you.

[@yuchunchen8060]

Just back from the Hunterian museum 2 weeks ago, thank you for bringing me back😊

[@iandrew6347]

Very interesting video Sir love watching your videos

[@arvindersangha4381]

Love this format. 🎉

[@mtty1988]

13:24 same still happens in york at micklegate bar is where the monarch has to ask the city of york to enter

[@ttv2951]

Loving the new format 👍😎

[@JustJayme]

Awesome editing on this!

[@vetworker]

That was really interesting. Lots of stuff I didn’t know. 👍👍👍

[@TerraFirmaTyger]

So glad you acknowledged it was moved to Waltham cross for years. I remember being taken to it back in the day when I was in the scouts. Top man.

[@pault6599]

Nice format, would still like to see more driving videos but love this new format also!

[@dansanderson329]

This is all my area, unis and all. Love to see it on the channel

[@davebaker4620]

Same drive in/out on the right system at Lidl in Midsomer Norton in Somerset only because the entrance/exit is on a one way street and makes perfect sense thought feels a little weird 😊

[@sumwon7664]

So that's Savoy Court? I just read about it on Wikipedia and expected it to be bigger but it's still interesting. You are also the only person on KZbin that I could find that showed that road.

[@Kevin_Hones]

I like the new format - one of them every now and then would work well. 100% agree about upside down maps too - they are just plain wrong!

[@ZimowHD]

Just came back from a vacation in england and when I took a taxi I was holding my fingers to get into yours! Had to take a taxi from a train station in London to Northhampton since the trains was cancelled :(

[@timothybird4264]

Never knew rob was a cabbie, love his videos

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

Very busy guy, writes some fantastic articles for the taxi trade papers too!

[@Lifeofalondoncabbie]

Great Video Tom👍

[@anthonywhite721]

Absolutely love it & the only fools & horses clip 😂😂

[@ChristosLouridas]

Looked like a nice morning in London. Thanks for the London dose..

[@jonathanirons231]

Cracking content, Tom. Headcam takes some getting used to, but otherwise unique insights.

[@stevet9707]

Excellent Tom 👍

[@fuzzynutter8344]

Another great video. And loved your description of those cyclists 😂.

[@chrisfinch2807]

Great knowledge great video,

[@oneteaminbristolbcfc]

Thanks for this

[@sw01ller]

7:45 i could get married in that church as im an ex serving member of the RAF. i never will but its nice to know. surprised you didnt mention the song "oranges and lemons" as thats the church. the tiles inside are amazing. i had a week of touring london when i was serving and we had a tour of the church one day. it was wasted on me at the time, probably in about 2005ish, id love to have the same tour now.

[@jamie1744]

thanks Tom, as i have gotten older, i appreciate history more!!

[@Shyted]

Really interesting, thanks for getting up so early and going in London on a Saturday.

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

I think you can see the tiredness on my face, definitely not an early morning person

[@chrisamies2141]

The Broadway entrance/exit to Hammersmith bus station is also right-hand running. It seems to be because of the direction buses come in from and depart to.

[@queenpoppy5189]

Brilliant video. I looked up Lower Robert Street and learned that it was designed by four Scottish brothers, which is why the name Adelphi is connected. (Greek for brothers)

[@jacko2300]

Good vid would like to see you do a drive by tour of all the embassies in London

[@shorv]

That section of portsmouth st was converted to pedestrian only starting some time between summer 2019 and fall 2020, and was opened some time in late 2021 or early 2022

[@chrisstjohn9403]

Read an article about savoy place, because the fountain is off centre is easier to keep right.

[@darkwolfcz434]

im curious what bystanders thought when you pulled in the savoy court, opened the passanger doors to let noone out, and then proceded on leaving

[@oliverbrookes27]

Another fact about the "RAF Church", it is where Charles Dickens parents were married. I've also thought the reason London black cabs have such a tight turning circle is because of the Savoy entrance. With a horse and Hackney carriage tight turns are easy and reversing isn't possible, When the motorised cab was introduced it needed to be able to enter and exit the Savoy without reversing, so a tight turning circle was a pre requisite of any design.

[@stephendaniels721]

fantastic video

[@johnmangan6240]

A trip down memory lane for me. In Melbourne, Aus since 83''

[@RobertS1089]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Savoy court also the reason for London taxis to have a very tight turning radius?

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

Oooh! That’s coming in a future video, it’s often said but I don’t think it’s the official reason

[@mach1nefan]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was more to do with horses

[@thisisstuart7951]

The sculpture at Lincon Inn Feilds is dedicated to W.H Smith

[@TripsandFeasts1]

Australia House is a High Commission, not an Embassy. When a Commonwealth country has a so-called ‘Embassy’ building in another Commonwealth country, it is called a High Commission.

[@TripsandFeasts1]

Also, no 10 Adam Street is often used as a faux no 10 Downing Street.

[@lon3don]

You didn't mention the IET which was the IEE. The first BBC broadcasts were from that building.

[@Drdee1]

17:31 My office was in the Adelphi when I worked for ACCA. TV shows and films shot outside include Bodyguard, MacMafia and Wonder Woman.

[@dionlindsay2]

I worked at the Industrial Injuries Advisory Counil there in the late 1980s. The lifts were weird - they had full length mirrors opposite each other so you had what seemed an infinite reflection in a mirror, in a mirror, in a mirror...

[@zaphod4245]

It's actually "hanged, drawn and quartered". The past tense of hanging a person is hanged, not hung. You hung up your jacket, but you hanged a person. “Father had only gone out to ransom Petyr Pimple. He brought them the gold they asked for, but they hung him anyway.” “Hanged, Ami. Your father was not a tapestry.” - From ASOIAF

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

So the pub name is wrong?

[@MirkoC407]

Being both, a geography nerd and a passionate city tourist, I can say the upside down map is great. When I'm there and do not know the place, I don't want to know where north is. I want to know where to go to find my destination and that is easiest if the map is printed the way I am standing in front of it. Be it south up or be it turned by 137 degrees to the west. So that map is more help than annoyance.

[@aussiewheelz2538]

Such a cool video.

[@rdwoolf]

I like this concept of seeing what you see. But the shakiness of the camera and the uneven horizon made me a little seasick. I wonder if this could be fixed by using a 360 camera (like an Insta360) as it would hold the horizon perfectly. Then you could point the camera where you wanted (including at you talking) during the editing process. Something to consider…especially if you plan to do more of these videos…which I hope you do.😊

[@benjaminschwarz1]

I agree about the problems with the camera. Also, from the inside of the cab, the view is somewhat blocked by the rearview mirror, which doesn't happen in the route videos. The content, as always, is terrific--very entertaining and interesting.

[@timothybird4264]

Was amazed how many bbqs we’re allowed in Lincoln’s inn fields a couple of months ago

[@mohamedadan5842]

Tom mate what have done to me? I wait for your videos on a Saturday and I believe Saturdays won’t be the same without your videos. 😂 btw love you mate no homo keep up the great work 🎊 🎉

[@woutervanr]

4:30 Understandable though. There is a fence in the middle of the road. So it's for more through traffic, right? Few people like walking beside fast moving traffic. Also, the fence mean you can't easily go to the other side of road if you see something nice. It's like that famous picture where the roads are depicted as bottom less pits bridged by some small wooden planks. It just doesn't work as a shopping street.

[@michaeljohnson9421]

There's one other 'wrong side' road in London, where traffic drives on the right - although it's not open to all traffic. It's the approach to Hammersmith bus station, where the buses drive in on the right, circle the bus bays anti-clockwise, and go out on the right. It's done this way because the pedestrian access comes up from the underground station into the middle of the circle. In order for buses to stop with their doors alongside the inside of the circle, they have to go the wrong way round.

[@lccustoms99]

Do some more London food / coffee places

[@user-tn1oh3he8c]

Keep doing this

[@davidgoodfellow7977]

Don't know if I missed it but when did you film this? London looks so quiet mate! Love the vids keep them coming been watching since you started when I was thinking of doing my badge where I live

[@TomtheTaxiDriver]

Saturday morning. Approx 07:00-08:00