A fictional college at Cambridge. There is no record of a St. Cedd’s at Cambridge; therefore, Watson must have covered up Leo Vitale's actual college. However… St. Cedd’s was a name used by Douglas Adams in both his Dr. Who episodes and his "Dirk Gently" series, so perhaps there is an older tradition, unknown to us at present, that caused Dr. Watson to hide Leo’s real college by using this name. Adams supposedly based St. Cedd on his own college at Cambridge, St. John’s, pictured here. St. John’s and Trinity are traditionally rivals, since Henry VIII (founder of Trinity) had the St. John founder (Saint John Fisher) executed. It is said that the older courts in Trinity have no “J” staircases for this reason. When Holmes examines Dillie’s dressing table, he notes that personal grooming items are missing. Both men and women regularly used pomade to keep stray hairs neatly in place. Victorian ladies used it to tame and shape small curls around the face. Many people made their own (or presumably had servants to do so.) Some pomades were lard-based, others vaseline-based, but some used beeswax. Most were scented delicately with rosewater, citrus, or lavender.

Long before the advent of air conditioning or electric fans, the men and women of Holmes’s time suffered mightily during a heat wave. Denizens of the tropics employed elaborate fanning systems, such as these large hanging contraptions called punkahs. This picture shows a British couple at dinner in India in 1880. Punkahs were operated by servants, but not at 221B Baker Street, of course. One famous soother, Godfrey's Cordial, was employed by adults. This cordial contained ginger, rectified spirits of wine, oil of sassafras, tincture of opium and Venice treacle—the last being a combination of drugs used in the Middle Ages for the plague which contained opium. So in this book Holmes behaves uncharacteristically in taking on numerous cases. Cases I might add that lead nowhere in the main story and act as a “ what the hell has this got to do with the story” kind of theme or indeed did I start to read a different book. This left me very unsatisfied. These cases act as a complete worthless distraction, but you immediately know they are going to be linked very tenuously. Ultimately they could be and should be left out completely and the novel would not suffer as a result.

Find a Locksmith

Simmer honey and beeswax together for some minutes, then strain, add the oils, and stir the mixture till cold. This is what was sitting on Holmes’s chemistry table. The Ruhmkorff coil is an early transformer which uses a low voltage direct current to produce high voltage pulses. This technology, in development at the time of this adventure, eventually led to neon lights and x-rays. The glass tubing is a Geissler tube, the precursor to the neon bulb. Different gases would produce different-coloured glowing lights. That good Italian restaurants existed at this time in London is undisputed. One in Soho is described in The Dictionary of Victorian London as: "Here osso-buco, and minestrone and spaghetti were to be found as undiluted as at Savini's in Milan, and washed down with such productions of the vine as Chianti, Lacrima Christi, and Capri." Link to The Woodmen: https://www.archerylibrary.com/books/badminton/docs/chapter15/chapter15_1.html

Men’s pyjamas were introduced in Britain in the seventeenth century. They originated in India, where they were worn by both sexes, but were initially called “mogul’s breeches”. They did not gain wide use until the 1870’s and even through Holmes’s time, men primarily wore nightshirts (the illustration shows Holmes wearing this rather than pyjamas). They were a fashionable, slightly “hip” choice at this time, and flamboyant ones in silk would have had a certain risqué quality to them—surprising stuff to find in the Deacon’s wardrobe. It may be that Watson’s Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century readers were not ready to embrace a gallery of strong, assertive women who transcend the roles and constraints assigned them in Victorian England. (Watson, while he lived, allowed his readers a glimpse of only one such creature, THE woman, Irene Adler). As the name suggests, the Forest Drive takes visitors past three lochs, Reòidhte, Drunkie and Achray. As well as enjoying the views of these picturesque lochs you will love the wider landscape of the Trossachs, including forest, hills and mountains.Thanks to its sheltered location Loch Achray is popular with swimmers and anglers. The loch is home to brown trout as well as pike, perch and salmon. Look out for woodland and water-based wildlife, too, such as red and roe deer, red squirrels and maybe even a red kite flying above or an osprey fishing on one of the lochs. The same passion for the Middle Ages that fuelled Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary efforts, and indeed the whole Gothic Revival in art, architecture and decor, ignited a passion for archery, one of the few sports in which women were welcomed quite early. Royalty’s passion for archery since the late Medieval era gave the sport even more cachet. Some think Anne Boleyn’s archery skills helped her gain the unfortunate attention of Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth I herself was an archer. Despite their common goal of providing higher education for women, Girton and Newnham were quite different from each other. Newnham started as a house for five students in 1871, and its administrators encouraged students to study “traditional female subjects” such as English, Literature, and History. They very much did not encourage them to compete with men. Girton, founded in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Boudichon, was a residential college with leaders who intended to achieve the same status as the universities, and to bestow university degrees. They were immediately denounced in the Quarterly Review by Oxford history professor Montagu Burrows: “The one thing men do not like is the man-woman, and they will never believe the College or University woman is not that type.” Obviously he was mistaken, and you can trace the rise of women at Cambridge here: https://www.cam.ac.uk/TheRisingTide

The club has just over 11 miles of fishing along the Grand Union Canal. this part of the Grand Union canal is considered by many to be the best canal fishing in the country in fact it has appeared in many of the angling magazines and newspapers and has been featured on many DVD's and TV shows. The book starts with a note from the author about how a mysterious ‘Lydia’ delivered a cache of previously unpublished tales written by Dr Watson – setting the tone for what’s to follow.

Be inspired

Thanks to the passion for “Orientalism”, these tables were all the rage in Victorian sitting rooms during the last two decades of the 19th century. You’ll see them in nearly every Holmes representation on film. There would very naturally have been one at 221B. Here’s a very fine example, offered by FirstDibs at an exorbitant price. Holmes realised that the scars on Atalanta’s forearm indicated that she did not wear an arm guard for archery, as seen in this illustration: Infants of working women were often given soothers to allow their mothers time to work in the fields or factories. The general public did not recognise the danger, and medicines were not regulated as they are now.

It is another regret of mine to not see more of the good doctor reflecting upon his childhood life to re-examine the causes of his family tragedies, knowing that such tragedies are supposed to feature heavily in the book (though, understandably, with how fast things develop it is hard for Watson to spare much time on this). And lastly the biggest thing is that I would also have really loved to see more of the Holmes!torture stuff that, frankly, was my very favourite when reading the previous books (yes I'm a monster :)). An utterly fascinating article on the history of painted statue theories and research, including an animated reconstruction of the layers of paint on the "Treu Head” in the British Museum, can be found here. It is likely that, just as varying degrees of talent went into the carving, so it did with the painting as well. Some modern recreations of painted statues are so garish and simplistic that they give the impression of vulgarity to our modern eyes. But the Treu electronic recreation from careful scientific studies reveals layers and layers of paint, with many subtle variations. The author uses Victorian Society to show us how men had so much control over the women in the lives, foe example Madam Borelli designs all of her husbands illusions bet he takes all the credit for them and often abuses he for his faults. It is also shown how a young girl is nothing without a man and the lengths one must go to to like their own life.The precise restaurant located on Dorset Street (presumably the Dorset Street nearest Baker Street) is unknown, but a wonderful small Italian restaurant can be found there today, namely Anacapri, one of the author's favourites, pictured below with tables set out al fresco in the warm weather.