Earl Grey has had a hard time at the top of this monument. During World War Two he was struck by lightning and his head fell off and onto a tram. A witness at the time flew across the carriage and his uniform was set on fire.

We tweet about the coffee we are drinking, this poor guy was attacked with a giant flaming head and had no social media to tell the world of it. I’m sure it will be remembered much more than any skinny latte.

It sounds like a far fetched movie scene, but this really happened! The below photo of his new head being carved is from this article from The Chronicle.

Today, he is a regular toilet stop for birds. Can you see the white substance covering the top of his head? Yeah, go figure.

Nature doesn’t care about incredible human achievements. It doesn’t care if you have a tea named after you. It treats us all equally, and there is a beauty in that. At least he takes the hit so we don’t have to, providing a service as he did when he was around, the reason he has a monument in the first place.

And what a great monument it is.