Apothecaries are the ancient forerunners of modern pharmacists and, as such, generally held alongside witch doctors, voodoo high priests and snake oil salesmen in the pantheon of medicine.

We don’t get a say in how we ‘meet our maker’ but if we did, people in London’s Fitzrovia did so in the most spectacular fashion. Oliver Reed and Keith Moon would have doffed their hats to them. They literally drowned in a tidal wave of beer!

In this era of climate change, of melting ice caps, vast chunks of icy continents drifting into new territories and stranded polar bears, you’d still doubt London has ever seen a giant white arctic mammal fishing in the River Thames. Or has it?

The expression ‘to get a handle on something’ has perhaps never had a more literal example. Long long before the Game of Thrones character or the England fast bowler, there was another John Snow, and this one probably saved many lives.

A child and his cute, playful, tame tiger, or an innocent little boy about to have his head swiped clean off his shoulders? One view is the stuff of children’s fantasy books, the other of lifelong nightmares.

London. It’s one of the most famous names in the world. And in terms of cities it is arguably the most famous - though I expect Paris, Rome, New York would have something to say about that… But where did the name come from? Why ‘London’?

Cleopatra’s Needle - so called because it is not Cleopatra’s and it is not a needle, but when did such details matter?

The circus has evolved over many years and captivated generation after generation. And the home of the ‘modern’ circus is not China or Russia, but London, England…