Notes and queeries

• Frankie Howerd’s home has recently been opened to the public. On display are not only the comedian’s wig and false teeth, but also his walking stick, hollowed out to allow it to be filled with gin.
• Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) was asked by the Cardinal of Santa Lucia for permission to practice sodomy during the three hottest months of the year as it was less tiring than heterosexual intercourse.
• Omar, star of the Channel 4 documentary “The World’s Biggest Penis”, was spotted by a Nottingham Evening Post reporter in the Valley Road branch of Tesco. “Every little helps” is perhaps not the appropriate slogan in this case.