Zinc

The Victoria Hotel was built in 1839 and opened with a licence in March 1840. Situated alongside the railway station in Beeston, hostelries of this kind were primarily built for the use of the business classes like the commercial traveller. No longer a hotel, The Victoria is now a successful ‘real ale pub’ and restaurant.

In the early 1970s – an era free from the modern constraints of keeping exotic animals - an eccentric landlord established a mini zoo in the extensive outbuildings to the rear of the property. The collection included a puma, a lion and a leopard. There was also a bear and baboon, as well as a python.

The ‘zoo’ was eventually closed when a terrified elderly couple complained to the police after the baboon escaped, shinned up a drainpipe and tried to break into their bedroom window.

Zinc is a blue-grey metallic element, sometimes called spelter. It forms several important alloys. Foremost among these is brass, an alloy of copper and zinc.

The name is derived from the German, 'zinc', which may in turn be derived from the Persian word 'sing', meaning stone.

The human body needs it to survive. It is an essential mineral for human health and is the second most abundant metal in the body, after iron.