Ferrets at Buckingham Palace, swearing at Wimbledon and the real-life incident that inspired Del Boy’s fall through the bar – it can only mean that our trivia tour of London’s postcode areas has reached SW…
The Clermont was the first hotel in London to have lifts. The ‘ascending rooms’ (as they were known when the hotel opened in 1862) were powered by water pressure. Back then the five-storey building, next to Victoria station, was known as the Grosvenor and was a favourite of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So much so, in fact, that he included it in ‘The Final Problem’, the short story with which he first tried to kill off Sherlock Holmes. The detective and his sidekick Watson stay at a Swiss hotel whose owner speaks ‘excellent English, having served for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor hotel in London’. Rooms from £202; stay@theclermont.co.uk
The lifts at the Clermont
During the 1992 men’s singles final at Wimbledon, Goran Ivanisevic was warned for swearing – but only after a TV viewer rang in to complain. The Croatian was blaspheming in his native language, which the umpire didn’t understand. Ivanisevic told the umpire that the complainant was ‘probably some Serb’.
Quiz question: the men’s singles trophy is inscribed ‘the All England Lawn Tennis Club ****** ****** Championship of the World’ – what are the two missing words? They were included to specify a particular type of play, as not playing that way used to be seen as unsporting. (Answer below.)
Some of the TV cables at Buckingham Palace for the wedding of Charles and Diana were installed by a ferret. The cables had to be fed through a very narrow underground duct, and conventional methods had failed. So the ferret was fitted with a harness and placed at one end of the duct, while a piece of bacon was placed at the other. Lured by the smell, the animal scuttled through, dragging some light but very strong wire that was attached to the harness. This was then used in turn to pull the cables through.
Buckingham Palace [Alamy]
Still at the palace, when Frederick Chiluba, president of Zambia during the 1990s, visited Britain, he was granted the honour of a state banquet. Chiluba realised as he sat down next to the Queen that his wife Vera, who was from humble origins, would be baffled by the extensive array of cutlery in her place setting. Thinking quickly, Chiluba asked the Queen if he might be permitted to say grace in Bemba, the language of his people. Of course, replied the monarch. So while everyone assumed he was saying ‘For what we are about to receive…’, Chiluba actually said: ‘Listen, Vera – the round spoon is for the soup, the funny-shaped knife is for the fish, and the spoon at the top is for the pudding.’
SW is the only London postcode area to span the Thames.
Putney Bridge [Alamy]
In 1909 the Royal Albert Hall staged an indoor marathon. The Italian runner Dorando Pietri competed against Britain’s C.W. Gardiner on a circular track covered in coconut matting. Its 90-yard circumference meant they had to complete 524 laps (clockwise, since you ask). Unfortunately Pietri’s new running shoes gave him blisters and he had to retire on lap 482.
Indian restaurant the Cinnamon Club sometimes receives books in the post. The restaurant occupies the old Westminster Library – its walls are still lined with books, and card-holders (or more probably their relatives) occasionally return volumes that are, shall we say, somewhat overdue. The restaurant (so popular that they once had to turn away Mick Jagger because they were full) graciously waives the fines. info@cinnamonclub.com
The Cinnamon Club
When Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, he deliberately wore two shirts. Knowing that the January air would be cold, he didn’t want the crowd to mistake his shivering for fear.
John Sullivan, the writer of Only Fools and Horses, based Del Boy’s legendary fall through the bar on a real-life incident he’d witnessed in a Balham pub. At the George (now the Avalon), a man leaning on the bar stood up to get a light for his cigarette, but before he leaned back down the barman came out and left the flap up. Sullivan had wanted to use the idea for years, but had to wait until the episode in a trendy wine bar – it couldn’t happen in Del Boy’s local the Nag’s Head because ‘he knew every inch of that place’.
James I used St James’s Park to house leopards, crocodiles and elephants – the latter allowed a gallon of wine a day each to get through the English winter.
St James’s Park [Alamy]
Gavin Williamson can’t even resign properly. His letter telling Rishi Sunak he was quitting as minister without portfolio got 10 Downing Street’s postcode wrong. Williamson wrote SW1A 0AA, but that’s actually parliament’s postcode – the PM’s home is SW1A 2AA.
At Ronnie Barker’s memorial service in 2006, the Westminster Abbey vergers paid tribute to the comedian’s most famous sketch by carrying four candles.
Quiz question answer: the missing words are ‘Single Handed’ – two-handed play was seen as unsporting.
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