In this episode, which is number 14 of Danny Hurst´s London Monopoly board history series, he takes a look at Vine Street. It is one of the law-and-order squares, so it is associated with some really strange goings-on, including a 1791 case that involved auto-erotic asphyxiation, and a haunted police station. The street also has an odd connection with one of The Pogues' songs and The Marquis of Queensbury.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It is the only square on the London Monopoly Board that does not have a pub.
• Crime was so high here that one of the passageways to Regent Street had to be gated off.
• The Police station in the street was closed but had to reopen because of the crime rate. It is now demolished.
• The adjacent Free Parking square is a reminder that surprisingly there are still quite a lot of free parking places available in Central London.

BEST MOMENTS

‘People on the Monopoly pub crawl have to drink around the corner on Swallow Street now. ´

‘Vine Street is the most expensive of the orange cards on the London Monopoly board.’

‘The adjacent Free Parking Square is enough to make most people snort derisively.’

 

EPISODE RESOURCES

Shop for all official versions of Monopoly here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/785DC233-0A69-4DF8-98E9-4F50CC50A59E

HOST BIO

Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can.

CONTACT AND SOCIALS

https://instagram.com/dannyjhurst
facebook.com/danny.hurst.9638

https://twitter.com/dannyhurst 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-hurst-19574720

Podcast Description

"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." James Joyce.

That was me at school as well. Ironically, I ended up becoming a historian. The Unusual Histories podcast is all about the history you don't learn at school, nor indeed anywhere else. Discover things that you didn't know that you didn't know, fascinating historical luminaries and their vices and addictions, and the other numerous sides of every story.

We start with the Monopoly Series, in which we explore how the game came to be, the real-life connection between the cheapest and most expensive properties, the history of each location, how proportionate the values were then and are today, what the hell a "community chest" is and whether free parking really does exist anywhere in London. 

If you love history; or indeed if you hate history, this is the podcast for you…