This Baker Street establishment in Marylebone owes its name to its connections with wartime volunteers.

But which war? CAMRA say the pub takes its name from Royal Marylebone Volunteers formed during the Napoleonic Wars to fend off a potential invasion across the Channel.

But it’s also suggested the pub’s name is owed to its service as a recruiting station during World War I and II.

Maybe both are correct.

Located just a couple of doors down from 221B – the “home” of Sherlock Holmes, the building in which the pub is housed dates back to around 1815 when it was constructed as part of the Portman Estate. It is now Grade II-listed.

It apparently stands on the site once occupied by a mansion owned by the wealthy Neville family.

The house, with the exception of the vaulted cellar, was destroyed by fire in 1654 and the entire family is said to have been killed in the blaze.

That story has been linked to rumours the property is haunted – there has been talk of flickering lights and the sighting of a well-dressed man in a surcoat and breeches, who some have suggested was family patriarch Rupert Neville, among those who died in the blaze.

The pub is located at 245-247 Baker Street. For more, see https://www.thevolunteernw1.co.uk/#/.