This episode, which is the 16th in Danny Hurst’s London Monopoly board history series, is the turn of the world-famous Fleet Street. Danny explains how it became the centre of the UK´s newspaper industry and what its connection with the “Chance” square is.

It is home to what is probably London´s oldest statue, plays an important role in the capital´s sewage system and is where a popular type of cigarette was invented. In the episode, Danny tells you all about these, as well as sharing the street´s connection with Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer´s attack on a friar and Sir John Falstaff.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The street gets its name from the river that runs beneath it.
• In 1500, Wynkyn de Worde opened the first printing press on the street, kickstarting its long association with the press industry.
• One publisher remains on the street, and they print comics.
• The conduit that supplied the area once flowed with wine.
• We have Sir Christopher Wren (indirectly) to thank for the shape of British wedding cakes.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Because I am really old, it was the days before DVD players. ´

‘It's one of the few buildings in the city of London, which dates back to the before the Great Fire of 1666.’

‘Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is known for its nooks and crannies.’

 

EPISODE RESOURCES

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

Thomas Paine – The Rights of Man - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rights-Man-Thomas-Paine-ebook/dp/B09RZMW36Q

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…