The Elephants in London

The London Elephant parade will be upon us from the merry month of May. Remember those painted ceramic cows a few years ago, that were dotted around London? Well we are soon to see Baba the elephant and chums dotted around London. The map above shows where some of the elephants have been placed so far. They appear to be the brainchild of Mark Shand, of the charity Elephant Family and they will stand in prime locations across London for two months before their auction in July. Some have already been bought for £5,000 and the proceeds will then go to 20 wildlife charities actively working to protect the endangered Asian elephant — the smaller, forest-dwelling cousin to the better-known African — in India and across the continent.

I first came across Mark Shand when he presented a lecture at the Royal Geographical Society about his adventures whilst travelling through India on an elephant, named Tara. I have read two of his travel books, Travels on My Elephant and River Dog and both are ripping good reads. His older sister is also the Duchess of Cornwell, although I had no idea about this fact until I read about it in the London evening newspaper. I wish this venture well and I would love to see a large amount of money raised for these charities. After all do we Londoner's not have a love affair with the elephant? We even have an area of London named after these magnificent creatures, The Elephant and Castle. The rumours about the area being so called comes from a corruption of "la Infanta de Castilla" referring to any of a number of Spanish princesses connected to English history including Eleanor of Castile, Catherine of Aragon, and Maria, daughter of Philip III of Spain. However, there is no trace of the informal name before a reference of 1765 when the Court Leet of the Manor of Walworth met at met at "Elephant and Castle, Newington" on 21 March 1765. If the pub had had a different name, then because of its prominence on the principal routes, the area likely would have been called by that name.

Details of the parade here.