The St George's Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square yesterday were rather fun (right). They included a selection of classic music hall songs, enjoyable without needing any old irony.
Of course, the big problem with Trafalgar Square is the bike parking. There's none in the square itself. The few miserable racks opposite the National Portrait Gallery are always full, even the street furniture and trees (below right).
The handful of spaces behind the National Gallery often do have vacancies, mostly created by bikes being stolen off them.
Still, the music hall songs were a treat. But we think some of them need updating for 21st-century cyclists:• My old man said report that van
• Any old chromoly?
• If it wasn't for the cars parked in between
• My old Dutch bike
• Wotcher - knocked down on the Old Kent Road
• No bike parking down at the Old Bull and Bush
• A car alarm went off in Berkeley Square
• Let's all go down the Strand (next Critical Mass)
• It's a long way to Tipperary by the Sustrans route
And the most famous cycle song of them all, Daisy Bell, certainly needs a makeover. (I pontificated about this in detail in a recent column for Cycling Plus.) Here's a better set of words for the cycle-based relationship of today:Daisy, Daisy
Text me your answer quick
Last night's hazy
So is your Facebook pic
It won't be a stylish speed dating
I've got no credit rating
But have some booze
Show your tattooes
And we'll snog on our bikes in pub-lic
Bit of trouble with the last line, I'll grant you. But Marie Lloyd could've carried it off, no doubt.
Ironically, I went to the finish of the marathon yesterday and, to my surprise, found plenty of spaces on the Trafalgar Square Sheffield stands (well, outside the Texan Embassy - that's a restaurant or bar, I think - ie more or less on the square). Presumably because everyone assumed they'd all be full. And it was still there an hour or two later.
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