In pictures: Learning the Knowledge

Tucked away inside the nondescript walls of a multi-storey car park between Caledonian Road and King's Cross, the family-run Taxi Trade Promotions, better known as Knowledge Point, continues to provide prospective black-cab drivers in London with an education in what is named - quite simply, yet somewhat ominously - the Knowledge. 


Photographer Alexander McBride Wilson stepped inside to meet the current batch of recruits.
A proud and noble tradition dating back to 1865, the Knowledge is a rigorous and in-depth study of the streets, routes and notable locations of London, which a hopeful driver must master before they are deemed eligible to enter the ranks of what is one of the oldest land-transportation services in the world.

Malcolm Linskey opened up Knowledge Point in 1985. Having completed the Knowledge himself at the age of 23, and after spending a few months as a driver, he became more and more interested in the trade as a whole. Using his previous experience in print, he started a trade magazine, which, in times of cash-flow problems, he funded by selling Knowledge material.
"It's a job where you're going to be guaranteed a wage. You're your own boss and you work the hours you want to work. There's no better job that can do that.
"Say you've got bills to pay and they need to be paid by the end of the week, you can go out there and earn that wage to pay them bills. Maybe it'll take you 15 hours one day to go and earn that but it's out there to be earned."

In order to earn a licence as a black-cab driver, students of the Knowledge must know by heart the location of every street, theatre, pub, sport venue, embassy, hospital, tourist attraction, intersection, even traffic light, as well as a staggering 320 different routes or "runs" that lie within a six-mile radius of the centre of London.
According to cabbie lore that is not, as many might think, at Charing Cross, but rather more specifically situated underneath the posterior of Charles I's horse just in front of Trafalgar Square.

A true test of mental resolve, the average time it takes to learn the Knowledge is three and a half years. Unsurprisingly, about 75% of those who embark on the course give up.

Pat Linskey, Malcolm's wife, has been working for the company since 1987. "I came to help out on a Friday afternoon to type up the 320 different runs on an old typewriter. We actually drove them on weekends - I've done them all."

Ten days before Knowledge Point was planning on packing up for good, London Taxi Company, a business that deals in selling and maintaining new and used taxis, offered it space in a small unit within a taxi garage so that it could continue trading. Up until that point Malcolm and Pat had been planning on retiring.

Originally a plumber by trade, Tahir was looking for a fresh start. Now, having been studying for three years, he says doing the the Knowledge is the hardest thing he's ever done.
"When I have an exam I work seven days a week. It's very hard - it's a constant thing. Sometimes you dream about it."

Image copyright Alexander McBride Wilson

To learn London's roads, students spend countless hours driving through the city on mopeds - going through each of the 320 runs.

Having completed the Knowledge at the school back in October 2008, Peter Allen takes some time out of his cab each week to pass the trade on to new blood.
"For me [being a cab driver] is a way of life. I could earn more money in a cab than I could teaching this, but I really want to get the emphasis out about the real pride we have in our job, and to get these people out feeling like proud cab drivers and proud to get this badge that they've worked so hard for."

Image copyright Alexander McBride Wilson

Training is done in pairs and often the partners will go through the entirety of their course working together and supporting one another.

The school becomes a second home for future drivers, with the days spent studying often lasting long into the evening. "I don't really have a social life - even at weekends. I used to go out every weekend but now I can't really go out because I know I have to plan stuff for the following week. It has to be full-time," said Jack Cawley.
"There's a geezer who didn't let it affect his social life and he's been doing it 18 years. If it doesn't take over your life then I don't see you doing it properly. I don't see any of my friends no more - only my Knowledge friends.

"My old man says people you do your Knowledge with will be your friends for life because you spend every day with them," he adds.
"It's just like school in a way but the difference is that this is for you. There's a massive end result - the pride and the financial side. It's a massive tradition in this country and to be part of that is something to be proud of as well."