BOB’S FARE CITY GUIDE IS A LITERARY HIT
26 January 2006 - LTI Vehicles

A city guide intended as a bible for taxi drivers in Edinburgh has proved to be a runaway hit with readers across the globe.

Edinburgh taxi driver Bob McCulloch was prompted to write My Fare City by a friend and fellow local historian who died soon after suggesting Bob should collate his local knowledge in a book.

It tracks the history of the Scottish capital and gives information on local landmarks and people, making it a useful reference guide for taxi drivers carrying tourists and tourists themselves finding their way around the historic streets.

And the book is being snapped up by local residents as well, anxious to find out more of the fascinating history of Edinburgh.

“The process started years ago but it was only when a friend of mine said I should write a book as he was too old – and then he died – that prompted me to write the book,” said Bob, born and bred in Edinburgh and a black cab driver there since 1979.

“It was very much a case of collating a lot of information and then checking the facts.

“I wrote it with taxi drivers in mind so there are lots of sound bites about places they can reel off to passengers and is split into different sections.

“There’s a section on the famous characters, things about the castle and tours that drivers can take people on with information about the places they go past.

“Sales have been going up and up since it was launched and it is booming at the minute. I think people must have bought it as a slightly different Christmas present.

”The response from other drivers has been really impressed – though I’m not sure whether that is about the content or the fact that I wrote a book!”

Among the diverse and colourful characters mentioned in My Fare City are Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Sean Connery, Graeme Souness – and Gail Porter!

Matthew Cheyne, Sales and Marketing Director for LTI Vehicles, which makes the iconic London taxis, said: “The book gives you a whole new perspective on Edinburgh and is essential reading for visitors to the city.

”I am sure drivers in our cabs in Edinburgh also find it incredibly helpful when asked questions by passengers about local landmarks, history and legends.

“We would like to congratulate Bob, a long-standing customer of ours, for the success of the book.”

Bob is still a cab driver and city tour guide as well as teaching new drivers at the Edinburgh Taxi School. He also produces Thompson’s Street Wyse, an annually updated concise street directory and pocket-sized guide for taxi drivers.

My Fare City – A Taxi Drivers’ Guide to Edinburgh by Bob McCulloch, published by Serendipity and priced £9.95, is available from good bookshops or on-line at www.amazon.co.uk

http://www.lti.co.uk

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