I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Any advice really would be much appreciated,

Adam

"Adam Smith" wrote in message
om...
I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Good luck, Adam. Enjoy yourself - I worked in the City for a commodity
broker for 12 years and loved every minute of it (although I didn't live in
London)!

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm?

Central Line from Bank to Hangar Lane. You shouldn't encounter any problems.
Always look confident and be aware of what is going on around you.
Pickpockets etc. usually only go for the obvious tourist types who look
lost. Keep your bags zipped up, keep your wallet/keys/phone/Travelcard where
you can keep an eye on them (I always wear a fleece jacket with zip-up
pockets), get yourself an A-Z and get your bearings before you set out.
Don't stop and look things up in the street - it makes it obvious that you
are unfamiliar with your surroundings. Just basic common sense things
really. It isn't scary wandering around London and, tbh, I feel safer
wandering around Central London and the West End than I do walking home in
my local town. I've never once been in a 'situation' in London, which is
more than I can say for a number of other towns and cities!

Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

No idea, I'm afraid. A lot!

Any advice really would be much appreciated,

You're very welcome. Have a great time and make sure that you enjoy yourself
as well as working! ;-)

In message , Adam Smith
writes
I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Depends exactly where you are going but it should be somewhere in the
region of £30 to £40, but that is the same cost for 5 people as for one.

One major word of warning.

Do not be tempted to get in to a 'minicab' unless you have phoned them
first. Whilst there are more and more registered private hire vehicles,
any one that picks up from the street without a prior booking is NOT
INSURED, no matter if they have a a 'hire & reward' insurance, as this
precludes picking up from the street.

Each year there are some alarming figures for *reported* rapes and
indecent assaults by alleged 'minicab' drivers - and it is believed that
at least 5 times that number are not reported. Get a traditional 'black'
(mines red but you know what I mean) cab, make sure there's a meter in
it and you should be safe.

Any advice really would be much appreciated,

Adam

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 15:07:55 +0100, "Jack Taylor" Jack @Carney.co.uk
wrote:

It isn't scary wandering around London and, tbh, I feel safer
wandering around Central London and the West End than I do walking home in
my local town. I've never once been in a 'situation' in London, which is
more than I can say for a number of other towns and cities!


I'd endorse this: in central London and on most tube lines there are
going to be a lot of other people around at 11pm - far more so than in
many towns and cities elsewhere in Britain.

Martin

"Adam Smith" wrote in message
om...
I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Any advice really would be much appreciated,


This is just typical of the situtation in London these days - people with no
connection to the capital whatsoever are being offered jobs, and relocating
here, and indiginous Londoners are forced further and further out to find
work. It makes no sense at all.

Go to just about any office in London, and you'll find a ragbag of regional
accents, while unemployment (or economic inactivity) in the inner London
boroughs is sky high. This problem is *far* worse than any scaremongering
about asylum seekers.

And, yes, Bank to Hangar Lane is perfectly safe at any time, and is a very
easy commute. Single journey on the central line. Not ****ing
bus-tube-tube-intercity-cab like *my* journey into work.

BTN

Ben Nunn wrote:
"Adam Smith" wrote in message
om...
I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London
late(ish) at night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How
safe is the tube at about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a
cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Any advice really would be much appreciated,

This is just typical of the situtation in London these days -
people with no connection to the capital whatsoever are being
offered jobs, and relocating here, and indiginous Londoners are
forced further and further out to find work. It makes no sense at
all.

Hmm, nice welcome to our visitor. Are you suggesting that the
recruitment process was biased against Londoners? If so, on what
evidence?

Go to just about any office in London, and you'll find a ragbag of
regional accents, while unemployment (or economic inactivity) in
the inner London boroughs is sky high. This problem is *far* worse
than any scaremongering about asylum seekers.

Sorry, what exactly is the problem? That some people outside London
have had the courage and initiative to move in order to find suitable
employment?

And, yes, Bank to Hangar Lane is perfectly safe at any time, and is
a very easy commute. Single journey on the central line. Not ****ing
bus-tube-tube-intercity-cab like *my* journey into work.

Your choice, presumably. Still, you've apparently got a job that
enables you to take time off to access this NG, so it's not that bad.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

In message , Barry Salter
writes
On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 18:10:10 +0100, Mike Hughes
wrote:

Do not be tempted to get in to a 'minicab' unless you have phoned them
first. Whilst there are more and more registered private hire vehicles,
any one that picks up from the street without a prior booking is NOT
INSURED, no matter if they have a a 'hire & reward' insurance, as this
precludes picking up from the street.

Just to expand on this a little, whilst the majority of London's private
hire vehicles are now licenced (and to a stricter regime than
traditional taxis, as they have to undergo an MOT every 6 months at one
of 4 PCO-approved test centres), only licenced hackney ("black") cabs
are allowed to ply for hire without a prior booking.

Rubbish !!

It just goes to show how little you know of the licensed taxi trade.
Every taxi, even a brand new one, MUST be examined annually at the
Public Carriage Office for a *full* inspection before being granted a
licence. If there is the slightest fault, however minor, the taxi will
not be passed until it has been corrected. The PCO standards are higher
than that of a 'normal' MOT.

In addition every taxi is visually inspected by a PCO examiner an
additional 3 times a year - that's twice as much as a private hire
vehicle.

The TfL website has a searchable database of Licenced Private Hire
Operators and Drivers at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/ph_licensing.shtml

Whilst traditional taxis tend to be more reliable than their Private
Hire counterparts, they're also significantly more expensive (£35 in a
Black Cab compared with £13 in a Private Hire Vehicle [Minicab] for
Kings Cross to my house in Enfield, for example).

Then why is it that I've taken people to Enfield for £5 LESS on the
meter than the price they were quoted by a 'minicab' touting on the
street?

The only way someone could do a journey at the kind of prices you are
quoting is if they do not have a correct 'hire and reward' insurance and
are not maintaining the vehicle correctly. In any case, whatever
insurance they have, it is invalid if the fare is not pre-booked i.e.
you are not insured if they just pick you up off the street.

You may not value your life that much, but I'm sure your relatives would
and they would not like to be financially burdened in the event that you
are involved in an accident which could you leave you disabled in any
way. At least with a traditional London taxi you*know* they are insured.
If you are in any doubt the insurance certificate is in the front of the
taxi so that you can examine it.

Mike


--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

In message , Simon
writes
On 21 Jun 2004 06:45:36 -0700, (Adam Smith)
wrote:

I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Any advice really would be much appreciated,

Adam

Adam,

As others have said the tube is safe day and night (well as late as
they run). Just don't look like a victim. Most people on the last
few tubes in my days of working in central London were asleep either
because the were drunk (but harmless) or had worked mega hours. I
have been in both categories.

If you miss your last tube then call a good mini cab (private hire)
firm. I always used Addison Lee. They always got to my offices
front door before I did. They are not too keen on picking up from
pubs and clubs according to the drivers. My fare from the west end
to Ealing Broadway was £10. About the same distance but add for
inflation as this was about 7 years ago.

You're well out of date with your figures. Since the introduction of
licensing most of the Private Hire (minicab) firms are finding
difficulty in recruiting and keeping licensed drivers. The result is
that they now have to pay their drivers far more than the small wages
they did previously and prices have gone up.

A 'black' taxi will cost a *lot* from the City to Hanger Lane.

Took a far from Fleet Street to Ealing via 2 other drops in the city
last night. The whole fare came to just over £40. If you take out the
other drops it would have been about £30.


London is a very safe place except for a few well defined areas
where there is trouble. Your co-workers will tell you where not to
go late at night. Both the places you mention (City/Hanger Lane)
are safe. I feel much more worried outside London, even in the
midlands city I grew up in.

I am sure you will enjoy London and one day you will find the antics
on a midnight night bus almost funny. I suggest you skip the night
busses for a while if you are worried though.

Enjoy your lifetime in my adopted city :-)

Simon

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Ben Nunn wrote:

Go to just about any office in London, and you'll find a ragbag of
regional accents, while unemployment (or economic inactivity) in
the inner London boroughs is sky high. This problem is *far* worse
than any scaremongering about asylum seekers.

Sorry, what exactly is the problem? That some people outside London
have had the courage and initiative to move in order to find suitable
employment?

Well said, Richard. Having recruited IT staff for City firms over several
years, one of the reasons that jobs go to people from outside London is
BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT SKILL SET.

It doesn't matter a jot where someone comes from, if they have the skills
required to do the job then they will GET the job. I've given jobs to
Londoners and those from outside London (some of whom moved to live in
London, some of whom commuted). I've interviewed some bloody awful, bloody
inept Londoners in my time. One of the biggest problems I've encountered is
their appalling communication skills, whether or not they have the technical
skills for the job. Regional accents are not a problem, being able to
communicate clearly and express oneself is. That is a skill that is sadly
lacking by many of the 'Estuary English' kids as they 'um', 'ah', 'like' and
'yer know' their way through a sentence, whilst mumbling into their chests.
Likewise their ability to write a clearly understandable document, correctly
punctuated and phrased.

That's not to say that there aren't some very fine Londoners available -
simply that there seems to be more willingness by those from the provinces
to get off their backsides, go to college elsewhere in the country, then
move to wherever they can obtain employment (whereas many Londoners seem to
prefer to stay local, presumably for the excellent London social life). As a
result they have a much broader experience of life.

I have never consciously selected for interview or appointed any staff based
upon their geographical origins, simply upon their technical skills for the
job, their communication skills and their social skills. The latter are
important when working as part of a small team - it's no good appointing
someone to a position where they have the technical skills to do the job but
upset the rest of the team because of their social incompatibility.
Similarly, in safety-critical jobs, communication skills are paramount.
Where split-second decisions have to be made, that have safety implications,
it is no good having to spend valuable time trying to decipher a badly
written, unclear document.

"Ben Nunn" wrote in message ...
"Adam Smith" wrote in message
om...
I'm a student due to start my first job in the City next month (I'm
terrified, I've only ever been to London 5 times!!).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get around London late(ish) at
night? From, say, Bank station to Hanger Lane. How safe is the tube at
about 11pm? Does anyone local know how much a cab to the Hanger Lane
area from the City would cost?

Any advice really would be much appreciated,


This is just typical of the situtation in London these days - people with no
connection to the capital whatsoever are being offered jobs, and relocating
here,

Non-Londoners in London...heaven forbid!!!

and indiginous Londoners are forced further and further out to find
work. It makes no sense at all.

Well, actually it does if locals don't have the required skills.

Go to just about any office in London, and you'll find a ragbag of regional
accents, while unemployment (or economic inactivity) in the inner London
boroughs is sky high. This problem is *far* worse than any scaremongering
about asylum seekers.


And, yes, Bank to Hangar Lane is perfectly safe at any time, and is a very
easy commute. Single journey on the central line.

Ahh, you finally got to the point, thanks.

I would, however, like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for
their responses, you've all (ahem ahem, most^:-)^)been really helpful
and have certainly put my mind at rest. I can't wait to move in!!

Adam