 Okay, I'll just sit down here, oh next, so yeah, you're able to do the work bro, no? Yeah, you're doing the expenses, I'll put this on, nice, hold on a bit, that's good isn't it? How did you do that? It's like you sneezed at yourself, yeah so um, I thought because my kids are going to ask me all these questions about years as a taxi driver in the 60s, I won't be able to answer any of it because I'll probably have Alzheimer's myself, but it's just sort of stuff that I didn't know about you know what it was like becoming a London taxi driver in the in the 60s, so all I know is that you were driving already, yes, because you were, are you driving from a film company, you're the Italian? Oh no, what it was we drive like a eight-seat, eight, no 12-seater van or box wagon that you could open, you know, open the sides up and you could put all the sound gear for whatever all the camera gear there and you know these film companies just hire stuff out, I mean it's pointless then buying a van or something like Italian television coming over here and just hire for three or four days and you were a unit driver for other film companies as well and we used to live movie rollovers or something like that, used to drive down Dean street pick these things up and deliver to companies all over London but some it was ideal because some days you were sort of leaving any work so you could take your moped and go and see all the points of set rules of London and that's when you're doing the knowledge, that's doing the knowledge yes and it was very very helpful because you're doing deliveries all over London that you certainly started to know your way around you didn't know the names of the roads but once you're doing the knowledge you could sort of pick the names up and you could pick yourself going along and it's only 18 months so when you were so you're driving already and then you you got the idea to get a taxi license yes because I've always skinned and never had any money and I think it was before two Christmases you know you just didn't have any money fuck it was a horrible feeling so you think well fuck a taxi license lease I could go to work and earn some money and keep me out the pub and when um can you remember what year this was rough yeah about the 3rd 4th of January 1967 went along to the carriage office and signed up and you get a pep talk and the fella says 90% of you will fall out of it I think he was right and you would say like so uh see sign art and then do they do they give you a book yeah it's just called a blue book which is white and then about 300 different runs that you do like man the house station to uh thongry thongry square and and you just got to well you just do it it's the easy way of doing it and and in the book do they list all of the streets and place that you've got to look up all of the places of interest hospitals police stations and you think there's an interest to London and um how long can you remember roughly how long they give you to your first because your your interviews are called appearances yes can you remember how long it was to your first appearance yeah in those days because they were shorter drive cab drivers it was 28 days right I think nowadays it's 56 days or even longer than that and then if you they didn't really nobody knew how it works but they sort of worked out if you did a run uh more or less spot on you got two points if you um coughed it and spluttered your way through you got one point I think when you've got 18 points or 20 points they put you down to fault fault nights all right well 20 points overall or 20 points in one appearance no more as I don't think they would let you do it in um less than 18 months all right so on each appearance could they ask you anything from the 300 and anything I remember my favorite one was they used to ask you the Institute of Meet to the Institute of Management and I've just fascinated me this one it was in Bristol Institute of Meet was in Bristol House and you said to get your bike and look at all the names in there and the Institute of Management was behind police station it's just a short run but it just fascinates me the uh it's 50 years on you still remember that that's why that's what I take it whenever you say um you because you don't talk much about the the famous people who've been in the cab but whenever you do so like Abba in the 70s you remember the rum that you do the fair still as well it's you know it's just strange these things stick in your mind what what were the appearances like what were they terrifying yeah because mum said you used to be like really I couldn't drink it oh yeah I couldn't drink a cup of tea but if my if I was out having a cup of tea before I went up there I used to throw up and I found what calmed me down I would walk from Harmwood Street to the public carriage office up the angel and off that helps but everybody was all the same there was all sitting there petrified I don't know why it's a form stage fright I suppose yeah because you know you don't know what they're gonna ask you and if you're doing it part-time you either money you just want to pass out actually get there and sit down and you just want to say no no no no I don't know it don't know it and get out but they were there to test your temperament you know one fellow if you went in there Mr Finley and do you understand there and wait till he told you to sit down if you sit down he would mark you you had to go back and come back in a month's time no they could bump you out that quickly oh yeah but it was all designed to yeah wind you up yes you couldn't call was it the QVM Queen Victoria Morville outside back on the howlism it's Nick Nick name was the um wedding cake but no way would you allow to you know if you ain't around you call it a wedding cake or the other story was if you get the tower bridge and the fellow said we'll keep on he said we'll tell bridges the bridges up and of course that didn't go down very well did they do it to you or you just heard about it oh this is so petrified I don't think I'm trying to yeah and when you when you were learning the the knowledge were you on a a moped or a bike moped with no crash helmet like a tailboard cheese cutter your head on it was sort of parked to the uniform and what like a clipboard yeah front yeah and would you write the stuff out before you went out or would you like tear pages out of the book no no you just right usually it was for runs you could stomach that or get it in your head if you went any more than that it was you know it was too much and the run was more or less all the roads you went through I mean I felt a finished knowledge and he gave me all the runs so and then some you could easy top of your head someone you stumbled and some you couldn't remember at all mine was all over south london and only like three piles now the easy ones not so easy ones and the hard ones and used to call it over with your girlfriend I just called over with Vera yeah wife so then you'd so you'd have them written out yes each road and it'd be that stuff like I don't know um is this how they used to say is it forward down agar grove left into your way yeah and do you like comply around about their left let's leave by things that belong as you saw when you knew which way you're going I think they fell asleep thanks for watching the chat continues on the link on screen here or in the description and thanks again for showing your love with a thumbs up or subscribe by clicking on my face or the button below now here's the next part of the chat with my dad