On the train on the way to work, as you leave London Bridge heading towards Waterloo East, there is an empty yard. On the wall of an old building someone has spray painted in large letters the words, “BIG DAVE’S GUSSET”. I have no idea who dave is or why his gusset was worthy of such proclamation.
Now In the Aquarium has solved one of London’s great mysteries, she has actually written a poem about this, and has been in touch with Big Dave himself. Here is the story behind Big Dave’s Gusset.
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Big Dave’s GussetIn June 2005 I wrote a poem that started with a piece of graffiti that I saw sprayed in a building on the train journey from London Bridge to Waterloo East. Its a great journey – over rooftops of ye olde London, interspaced with derelict signal buildings that would make great hideaways (typewriter laptop, kettle, perfect).
London Bridge to Waterloo East
Big Dave’s Gusset
sprayed on a derelict building.
Chimney pots of Borough.
A black cat sleeps
like a king
on a discarded sofa.
A platinum blond
watery blue eyes
fluffs her Marilynesque hair.
Sunlight golden on brick.Many people must have seen the grafitti and searched for big dave’s gusset out of curiosity for what it all means. No answers were forthcoming from my blog….
Until now. I have been emailing with Big Dave himself, I suspect because he must have come across my poem. And I am pleased to be able to splash the scoop of this little bit of underground London.
So I quote Dave:
I worked as an Engineer on the Jubilee Line Extension Project on London Bridge station’s expansion between summer 94 & summer 97. I was based in an office set up in the roof of the big shed you can see from the Southwark St railway bridge. Adjacent to this, at the end of the shed was a concrete batching plant which me & my colleagues in our little department were responsible for managing, it produced all the concrete that went into the structural linings of the tunnels. We also ran a materials testing laboratory on the ground level below our office, adjacent to this plant.
Now the concrete batcher was operated 24/7. 3 shifts of two men operated it so we had a responsibility to manage these guys where the quality control of the concrete was concerned. Working, as you do, with people like this, day & nightshifts, weekends etc some good friends were made and it was one of the batcher ops, Jason Gregory, who daubed the slogan ‘Big Daves Gusset’ across the end wall of the shed. There was an open gantry which he will have stood on to do it (it has been dismantled now).
The slogan was a homage to myself as I was known to some as Big Dave, or ‘The Biggun’ (that got a bit tedious actually but hey ho…) because I am a big guy & called Dave, and a placid even tempered character so very easy going and good for a laugh. The gusset reference was to my taste in underpants at the time. I had bought a job lot of Champion brand y-front style undies from TK Maxx and wore these most of the time. At the beginning and end of each shift we would change in or out of our civvies into our regulation orange hi-viz outfits and this is when folks caught a glimpse of Big Daves Gusset, it was often remarked upon as of course these trolleys weren’t the most fashionable, but comfort was the rule.
It was actually a mistake on my part that I bought these pants though as I had meant to get the same brand’s trendy trunk style however I realised I’d picked up 7 – yes one for everyday of the week – pairs of the Y-front style.
There you go. I’m loving this story. And this is what I love about blogging – all the coincidental tying up of loose ends. Fab!
November 20th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Hi,
I’m Big Dave’s big sister and our family have only just found out about our little brother’s fame in old London town. We are quite shocked that he was caught wearing a Big Gusset in private and now in public. But Dave wears it well as his blog testifies. Your task is now to track down the lovely Macham who wrote it. PS: Send us a t.shirt!
January 14th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
we’ve discovered this “Big Dave” stuff on line with mixed feelings. I noticed the legend some years ago, and took delight in showing it to my sons (wife and daughter didn’t get the humour)- indeed at one stage i would text them the “BDG” words every time I passed. They in turn told there mates-but it kind of remained our secret.
Now we discover it is all over the web (including a T shirt company for God’s sake!). Feel as if our secret joke has been rumbled.
But may I make a plea for accuracy. There is no apostrophe on the wall….
March 6th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Big Dave’s Gusset is no more.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Big Daves Gusset is alive and well and my daily comforter- everyone who sees it raises a smile; can we get it listed? Move over Banksy – here comes Big Dave!
July 1st, 2009 at 8:41 pm
your all sad its a frigging wall with big daves gusset on it you all need a life
November 11th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hi,
Just passed this sign again today and it made me smile. It’s nice to be part of the joke or ’secret’ without having to read about it in the paper.
I must get a T-shirt now.
Neil
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:54 am
Hi,
My dad pointing this out to me on the train up to london once as he comutes quite often and as he was saying it to me everyone else could obviously hear us and thought it was extremely funny and now everytime I go past it i giggle to myself and try and deliberatly make a song and dance out of it to try and make people laugh. Its also quite funny if you say it in a deep cockney accent and exagurate the gusset “BIG DAVES GUSSET”! Haha
Billy Yates
- English By Birth, Millwall By The Grace Of God -
December 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am
An extract from a much longer poem (Keeping the faith!)
Heh Cattermole!
Saw you hanging out with Foat
Its all bustle here
Emily Moxsom penned the Tropic Death;
now she is merely jetsam,
as transient as Big Dave
whose gusset is remembered in another place
on a more unlikely grave.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
“We’ll be on it in a minit
Its Big Dave’s gusset, innit!”
(Inspired by Billy)