Sherlock Holmes walking tour

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I went on a Sherlock Holmes walking tour today, had a great time! The guide told a story (which I’d never heard before) about that scene in the Guy Ritchie film where Sherlock goes to have dinner with John and Mary. That scene was filmed in the Reform Club in London which is a private members club, and has a dress code. Men must wear a suit, including jacket and tie at all times ( it’s less restrictive for women but they still have to dress smart). Anyway they filmed there and everyone working inside not just the actors but cameramen,the sound, and lightning guys had to wear a jacket and tie while in the building.

Now if they were filming in winter it wouldn’t have been too bad. But they were filming in the middle of summer during a massive heatwave, with all the stage lights and everything the temperature was over forty degrees Celsius. They were filming for two days, but at some point ( the guide didn’t tell us when) Ritchie went to the manger and said the situation was ridiculous and it was too hot to follow the dress code. The manger said okay the men may take their jackets off, but the shirts must stay fully buttoned and the ties stay on. Which is still pretty ridiculous and assuming this story is true, those two days must have been hell ,for the tech and catering staff especially!

Another interesting thing was the bit about the Sherlock Holmes pub, Which was the Northumberland Hotel (which may have been where Henry Baskerville stayed when he was in London). And then the Northumberland Arms which was mentioned in the noble bachelor.

Then there was a Sherlock Holmes exhibition as part of the festival of Britain in 1951, which included items donated by the Doyle family,  when the festival was over, and the exhibit was back from a world tour, nobody really knew where to put it so the pub, knowing their Sherlock Holmes connections, purchased the whole exhibit, changed it's name to the Sherlock Holmes, and set up the study you can see on the upstairs floor. So some of the stuff there may have actually been Conan Doyle's!