Set in the ground on a busy corner in Russell Square, right outside a bank, this must be stepped on, or over, by hundreds of people every day. I wonder how many of them look down as they hurry by and are surprised or puzzled by what they see.

There is no Arcade now, and no Turkish Baths. Just this battered sign set into the pavement, serving as a faded clue to what used to be.

I think it’s referring to the Imperial Turkish Baths that used to be part of the old Imperial Hotel in Russell Square, but that hotel building has gone now and in its place (built in the 1960s I would guess) is a hideous concrete monstrosity of a hotel, sans Arcade and Turkish Baths.

Today, a few yards from the sign stand a hair salon and a Chinese herbal medicine shop.

A very poor exchange, if you ask me.