The dark side of the Moon, a broken loo and a floating jar of Nutella: such was Artemis II. When Helen Sharman joined the Mir space station in 1991, becoming the first Briton to visit space, the appetite was rather for oranges. Not only were they ‘rare in the Soviet Union then’, Sharman recalls on a new podcast, but they lent the cramped space a reassuringly fresh aroma.

The Art of Adventure hosts an interview about a different exploration each week, from George Mallory’s expedition to Everest in 1924, to Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance, and Sharman’s space flight. It has been steadily climbing the charts, which is a feat in itself, given that it’s hosted by a shop, rather than the likes of Goalhanger. Arthur Beale, the country’s ‘oldest yacht chandlers’, have been outfitters of adventurers for half a millennium and so are thoroughly on topic. As far as I’m aware they are yet to venture into spacesuits.

D’Angeville took 18 bottles of wine, 26 roast chickens and a carrier pigeon to the summit of Mt Blanc

D’Angeville took 18 bottles of wine, 26 roast chickens and a carrier pigeon to the summit of Mt Blanc

Today, they sell hefty pullovers, thermals and beanies, but time........

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