This is a photo story of day 1 of The Organised Explorer's Monopoly Tour of London.
Check out this blog for details of the route that these photos illustrate. Please take time to appreciate the incredibly British weather that was experienced over a single day in August!
First things first, you need playing pieces to play Monopoly, so we needed to collect some. The first stop was therefore The Boot Pub in St. Pancras. The image used on this sign looks so like the little silver boot that moves around the board, I had to use this location.
The second stop was another playing piece, the Boat. Personally, there was only one option for this and it was HMS Belfast on the River Thames.
Next it was on to a piece that I had forgotten about, the Wheelbarrow. This must have been lost out of our very old version of the game many years ago. After a bit of research, I found the pub 'The Barrowboy and Banker', so combining two ideas with one location we checked in with our Banker and collected £200!
The final piece to collect before we could begin play was the Iron. This location took the most imagination: Would a launderette be suitable, or was there an iron sculpture that could be incorporated? After a bit of research I found the Flat Iron building near Borough Market.
Now, with pieces to play with and cash in our pockets we headed to Go! The perfect location to start the game was Lambeth North Underground Station. The reason... it is geographically half way between Mayfair and Old Kent Road, exactly as it sits on the board.
We all know the next location, it was on to Old Kent Road.
The next stop was the first board square that isn't a street or station- Free Parking. This location needed to be promoted from its normal order on the board, as it is such a rare thing in London. Free Parking was a real challenge to find and you need to head out from the centre towards the Old Kent Road area before it is even a remote possibility. So we head to Lidl on Massinger Street where you can park for 90 minutes without charge - Free Parking!
The second street was Whitechapel Road.
Then on to the first Railway Station, Kings Cross. This was a perfect stop for lunch as there are plenty of concession stands with choice for everyone.
Kings Cross Station is conveniently located on Euston Road, so you can check off two locations in one as the street sign is located on the station building.
On to The Angel Islington. This location was a little tricky. Although it is a street on the board, there is no street in reality. The Angel, in Islington, was actually a pub that was frequented by the board developers and included for that reason. So we headed to the location of that pub. It is now a Co-Op Bank but the building is very impressive.
It was then across the street to Pentonville Road. One of the most conveniently located street signs and the only one at street level. Much easier for photos!
The next location on the board is 'Just Visiting'. The only prison in central London is HMP Pentonville, so it was off there for a brief visit.
Pall Mall was the next location, so we headed south.
The pink locations are all very conveniently next to each other, so within a couple of minutes we arrived at Whitehall. This location probably has the highest street sign placement (how inconvenient for photos!).
Northumberland Avenue is around the corner so we stopped there next.
Whilst we were in the Whitehall area of London, we stopped by New Scotland Yard to 'Go to Jail'. This was another location where I was torn between a couple of ideas. Is a police station more appropriate, or the High Court? In reality, the Courts sentence you to prison, but the little picture of the police office blowing his whistle on the board made me decide to go with the famous spinning New Scotland Yard sign.
Again in the Whitehall area, Income Tax is able to be checked off with a visit to HM Revenue and Customs. We might have been the first people to choose to have our photo taken in front of this sign, but it is very conveniently located!
As my friend put it, 'this will be another weird photo' as we walked further around the building to take a photo for Community Chest. The Community Chest cards are usually financial and largely beneficial to the recipient. Therefore I chose the Department of Work and Pensions. We were probably the first people to choose to have our photo taken in front of this sign too.
After checking off these additional squares on our route, it was then a little journey out to the second Railway Station, Marylebone Station.
We next headed south of the River Thames for our final stops of the day. The two utilities, the Electric Company and Waterworks, are able to be covered by two very appropriate locations near to each other. The Electric Company was Battersea Power Station.
Whilst the Waterworks was the Thames Water Pumping Station.
Then for the final stop of the day, another playing piece is able to be captured in Battersea Park. There is a Dog Statue located just outside the picturesque Old English Garden in the Park.
A long but very enjoyable day concluded with this little dog statue. We covered areas of North, East and South London and clocked up around 37000 steps, so it was off for a meal and drinks to celebrate and prepare for Day 2...
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