Free Parking

Ever since I started the tour I have been doing some conscious and some sub-conscious head scratching, wondering how the heck I was going to cover the Free Parking square. Other “odd” squares had been quite easy, I mean Electric Company, all you needed to do was think of an Electric Company in London and bingo, pretty simples, but (as was pointed out to me by Nate Dawg) there is no free parking in London, unless there’s some little old man who rents his drive out for goodwill somewhere. I could of course have tried to visit one of the luxurious NCP Car Parks, but that wouldn’t have been fulfilling the “free” part of the quest would it?

As these and other thoughts (the other ones usually being  about beer and women (not necessarily in that order)) were tumbling around in my minuscule head, it dawned on me that the week when Free Parking was due to be ticked off was also half-term holiday week. I’d already booked this week off work, ostensibly to spend some quality time with the children, but in reality I was looking forward to a week of watching Jeremy Kyle in my pants eating ketchup sandwiches. And anyway all the children are of that sort of age when spending any time with me is hardly a major pleasure in the first place, or at least that’s how it appears as they clock up another 24 hours without leaving their respective bedrooms.

So with the best will in the world I set about arranging a visit to London in conjunction with the Monopoly Tour trying to cover the Free Parking square as best I could. There are loads of books about free things you can do in London, highlighting all the best possible ways to spend a day out without spending two arms, two legs and half your head, so perhaps if I could focus in on the “free” element the “parking” part would also fall into place. And then, like a falling piano, it hit me!

What are some of the most famous free things in London? Things that are world renown and the envy of other capital cities? The answer? The Royal Parks of course! And there you have it, problem solved; it would be a day in London taking in some of the free Royal Parks, making a day of “Free Park-ing”! Geddit? I would be going around the “parks” and not paying a penny, so I would be “park-ing for free”! I thank you and good night, my work here is done!

And just to top my feeling of being more chuffed than a Xmas robin who’s been given a scarlet waistcoat,  as well as dragging my youngest, Reubot, along the middle one, daughter Han-Ban, also actually amazingly wanted to come along too, as long as best friend (very best friend) Lizstock could accompany of course. I’m sure they were only fleecing me for the cost of the train tickets and lunch money so I set them a challenge to see how much free stuff they could get!

Dad, dad, there's a lady on the 07:42 from Charring Cross who fancies you!

 

Luckily the weather gods were smiling and it was a pretty glorious day as we set off from the station, first free thing was captured was a copy of the excellent Metro. Once again I scanned it to see if I was included in “Rush Hour Crush” but alas no such luck, so perhaps I need to up the anti on my new pocket squares and make sure my new Lord Grantham suit is looking especially good. Of course whilst the weather gods were on our side, the train gods were in a right old pissed off mood as delays and cancellations led to a jam packed train and it looked like every earnest half term parent were taking their kids into London, but hopefully not for some “free park-ing”! (Copywrite, all patents pending!)

Hamleys - Apparently they do not use an apostophe

 

Han-Ban and Lizstock did indeed escape from us at Oxford Circus, after securing £20 lunch money of course, leaving Reubot and me to retread some of the steps of my evening on Marlborough Street as we took the short stroll down Regents Street to the famous Hamleys toy store. Now Reubot had especially asked to visit and I was only too happy to comply as firstly, a visit to Hamleys is free and secondly it’s a well easy way to entertain kids for an hour or two. The shop is littered with staff demonstrating (i.e. showing off!) some of the more popular toys and generally clowning around with the visiting children.

They look better in lego, at least this lot are free too!

 

Now I have to admit, this would be quite possibly my worst job in the world, having to do this forced enjoyment for the benefit of others, but I’ll give the staff their due, they genuinely seem to really enjoy what they are doing and it wasn’t that much of s surprise to hear Reubot announce that he’d like to work there one day. But although we had a good old time trying out all the various toys (I was especially taken with a rubber sucker crossbow being demonstrated by a blonde skin-tight black attired “gadget girl”) we were on a free day, and the prices at Hamleys definitely aren’t free.

My plan was to continue down Regents Street and cut across The Mall to the first of the parks but both of us agreed that even though it was the early side of midday, a stop for something to eat would be the right thing to do. As if by magic, we were just crossing Glasshouse Street and I spied TheLeicester Arms, another Taylor Walker pub, so knew it would be Cask Marque a-ok.

Family resemblance? I have NEVER looked this glum by a pub

 

It was probably a good idea to eat slightly early as the place was just ticking over in terms of customers and we easily got a table and ordered some suitable grub. The pub was fully bedecked ready for Halloween; cobwebs across the lamps and windows, plenty of creepy posters and some brilliant skeleton toppers for the beer pumps. I also continued the spooky theme by ordering a pint of Bath Ales Dark Side (which was darkly delicious – maybe made more so because it felt a bit naughty drinking so early in the day) and when I came to pay I noticed a sign advertising 10% off real ales for all CAMRA members. As quick as a flash, I produced my membership card only for the barmaid to try to swipe it through her payment machine – now it that had worked that really would have made it a free day!

Ooooo, spooky!

 

I had a good search around for the Cask Marque certificate but could see it anywhere and I reckoned asking the barmaid might have left her so confused she’d have tried to use the till as a cash point machine, so it will be down to lovely Trevor at Cask Marque Grand Central Station to add the scan if he’ll accept the photo of Reubot rather than the one of me!

St James's Park - Apparently they do use an apostophe

 

I’ll not bore you with the walk through Piccadilly Circus, through Waterloo Place across The Mall and into St James's Park (oh I just did, well now you feel exactly as Reubot did – honest I could take that boy to the Serengeti, show him a pride of lions feasting on freshly killed antelope and he’s still just shrug) but we’d made it to the first of our Royal Parks and at least the sight of a squirrel every 2 yards seemed to cheer him up.

 

After tripping over a pelican we found ourselves by Buckingham Palace (with the flag up no less) but it was no time to stop for tea and iced buns as we turned left to go up Constitution Hill whilst taking in a small part of our second free park, GreenPark.

At this point I’d like to just mention a couple of memorials we spotted which seeing as it’s almost Armistice or Remembrance Day (take your pick) made them seem all the more poignant in the chilly autumn sun. At the Buckingham Palace end of Green Park there’s the Canadian War Memorial, a beautiful item of simple peaceful reflection which is the exact opposite of the powerful and “in your face” force of the memorial to the Royal Artillery at the top end of Constitution Hill by the Wellington Arch. But possibly the most effective is the Australian War Memorial (also by the Wellington Arch) which is so clever in its construction and design it makes the effect all the more, well……..effective.

Detail from the Canadian War Memorial

 

By now we’d reached our third free Royal Park, Hyde Park and unfortunately for us we couldn’t do much more than skirt the outer ring as our destination was Kingsbridge and the museums.

Hyde Park Corner

 

A drink was called for on the way of course and tucked into a corner just off the main Knightsbridge road was the Tattersall Tavern, another Taylor Walker house. It had also obviously received the Taylor Walker Halloween decoration pack, as there were more cobwebs hanging off every available light, lamp and picture, including one that went right across the Cask Marque certificate but by the power of Scooby Doo, it didn’t stop me managing to scan it. A quick half pint of Adnams Ghost Ship (see, still continuing with the Halloween theme) and a J2O later we were on our way past the majesty of Harrods (“Is it all one shop?” asked Reubot) and into the Science Museum. I have to admit, this wasn’t our first choice, but neither of us fancied the long long queue by the Natural History museum and with no queue whatsoever at the Science Museum there really wasn’t any competition.

Idiot fag-woman has her head over the Cask Marque plaque

 

Again, going back to the original plan, I’d hoped that after the museum we could walk up to our forth and final park, Kensington Gardens and maybe take a early evening meal in another pub, but hours of waiting and standing around in the Web Lab had knackered us both in so in agreement it was but a short tube ride back round to Paddington and the chaos of fatalities on the tracks and more delayed trains. We made it home finally and apart from the fact I had a stranger’s buttock on my shoulder for the journey to Reading all was ok, especially as we claimed a final “free” thing when the Costa’s lady charged us the take away price of the muffin and we ate it in store. That’s 30p to you and me – makes you almost tempted to change it into pennies and throw them at Starbucks!

Number of Cask Marque Pubs visited = 104 (with one to come)

How much free stuff did Han-Ban and Lizstock get?  = Useless! A big fat zero!

Differences with this visit = I got home and could remember every minute of the trip!

Next Stop = Strand

Vine Street

Now the journey to Vine Street had been approached for some time with a nice frisson of anticipation as it’s the nearest square on the Monopoly Board to our offices; which stand on the north bank of Tower Bridge. It’s also another one of the odder Monopoly squares in that is doesn’t seem to have any notable features or historical factors which would explain why it was included in the game in the first place, it’s also a frequent headache to those trying to complete the Monopoly tour as it has no licensed premises anywhere along its length.

The most boring street in London? BGC doing his best street-walker impression.

Luckily for us who are not burdened by such details as actually drinking on the specific street we can take the chance to move just one street to the east and hit The Minories, which has no less that two Cask Marque accredited pubs contained within its length. In fact there are a few more but seeing as these are so nearby to my workplace it’s no surprise to find that places like The Minories (at the Tower Hill end of the street) and TheStill and Star (at the Aldgate end) have already been visited and scanned. Somehow though, I had so far not visited the two pubs in the middle of the street; the independent Peacock and another Fuller’s pub, (or rather hotel) The Chamberlain.

Because this was going to be a “home match” for us with no tube travel involved, I’d tried my hardest to get a maximum attendance for tonight’s visit but alas certain things had gone against me. Tour stalwart Buddy Rob was also otherwise engaged and at first we thought that Charlie (who was away on business in Durham (although to be fair he did research to see whether there was a Vine Street in Durham – turns out there is)) would also miss the jaunt but he did make it back in time. I then managed to coerce Mags back for a return visit and tour novice Niresh also made his first appearance - so by the end it was a well respectable 8 of us that made the very short walk in the drizzly evening past Tower Hill tube station and up the Minories, pausing only long enough for a quick snap-shot of the Vine Street sign (really, this street has got nothing in it) and then sprinting across the road to the first stop of the night, The Peacock.

Ma Peacock, cock, cock, cock.......etc

 

The first thing that greeted us was the Cask Marque certificate perched on the wall by the end of the bar, the second thing was the landlord explaining the origins of the three cask ales on draught as I was squinting at the labels. Alongside the well-known Best Bitter from Ringwood were interesting looking offerings from Deverell’s and Ironworks Ale. Once again I seemed to be the person in the electric chair as everyone (apart from Mags (Amaretto – fruit based drink for the lady) and Ed (Stella – mass produced euro-fizz based drink for the boy band member) said “we’ll have what Rich is having….”

Which is fine, but only to a point and that point being three sips into the drink when they all pull facing and say “oooo, I don’t really like the ales, it’s a bit too bitter for me.”

So it was with something approaching doom laden preconception that I ordered a pint of the Deverell’s beer called Redemption, which I chose first only due to the fact that there was a scantily clad devil lady on the pump clip – who says that sexist marketing doesn’t work!

Pint of naked woman please......

 

Once we’d got the complaints about the beer out of the way we retreated to a back table and assessed the pub. It was certainly a “locals” pub with a real community spirit about the place especially as it seemed to be darts night with hoards of players descending on the place with much good natured joshing going on. I can’t say the place is particularly salubrious, indeed there was a certain rough at the edges charm about the joint, but there again I like pubs like that, I feel I fit well in!

We're smiling cos we're so full of crisps.

 

Seeing as we were on a go-slow tonight with only the two pubs involved a second drink was called for and the some of the BGC sheep did decide this time to drop out of the drinks suggestion box but Aussie Pete and Charlie stuck with my new choice of the Ironworks Ale and No-nickname Michael remained with a second pint of Redemption. The second round was well timed to coincide with the arrival of another newbie to the tour, Elleni who announced her attendance with a pint of Fosters shandy and treated all 8 of us to a bag of crisps…….that’s right one bag between the lot of us!

 

One crisp later it was time to move across the road to TheChamberlain, which is not really a pub but a Hotel but that said, seeing as it’s a Fuller’s Hotel the hotel bar is pretty much like a pub. Nice shiny beer pumps and nice polished tables and bar. There was also a nice shiny pretty barmaid wearing sexy glasses* and only too happy to serve us pints of Bengal Lancer, Fuller’s very fine IPA.

Shiny bar pumps. Note sexy barmaid, note sexy glasses......

 

I think I’ve mentioned before how when asking for the certificate many a bar staff have directed us to the Cask Marque plaque which normally sits outside the pub, well the pretty barmaid did exactly this but in The Chamberlain the plaque is on the inside. We explained further about the certificate which led us to a discussion with the burly bar manager, a nice Polish chap who would have loved to have helped us but unfortunately didn’t have a clue where the certificate was. He even offered to phone his boss but we decided that was far too much trouble, especially when we can rely on Trevor to add the scan from Cask Marque HQ.

We started to look towards the bottles for inspiration on our next round and Fuller’s absolutely gorgeous London Porter certainly ticked my box, Aussie Pete again followed suit but Charlie started ploughing his own furrow with a bottle of Sierra Nevada. Thinking I was doing New guy Micky a favour by getting him a bottle of Discovery (he was seriously struggling with the Bengal Lancer) I hadn’t realised that he’d asked Pete to get him a whisky instead – ah well Micky you’ll just have to pretend the Discover is a very big dram.

It was about this time that the night’s strange story happened as during a visit to the Gents I was just on the final shakes when another chap stumbled into the toilets and pronounced loudly “I’ve been looking for a shirt like that for ages, will you sell it to me?” Unsurprisingly I was rather taken aback by the suggestion; I make it a rule never to buy or sell anything in the toilet, and didn’t quite know how to respond. In the end I made my response a quick escape from the loos, just in time to get a new round of unusual bottled drinks (Chimay Blue for Pete and me) whilst Ed was trying his best to corrupt the others with some nasty Jägerbombs.

This was just before the "twisting incident" - she looks like butter wouldn't melt but note devil's eyes!

 

The corruption certainly worked on Mags who I blearily remember painfully twisting my nipple at one point. Whether this was part of some group based S&M practice that she does will everyone or something specifically aimed at me (or perhaps she was also after my shirt?) I’m not sure, but it did hurt and could only be salved with the final random bottled beer of the night, Fruitesse from Brouwerij Liefmans which whilst definitely living up to its fruity claims was also sickly sweet and felt very manufactured. Aussie Pete tried to tempt me back towards Tower Hill and the lure of KFC but I stuck to my Paleo guns and instead headed up to Aldgate with Niresh. The final memory of the night was being shushed in the quiet carriage…………..as Derek Jameson might have said “Did they mean us, they surely do(n’t)………”

* - Aussie Pete later discovered the sexy barmaid was Italian. I have to say she was far more impressed with my Italian of "il cucchiaio" than Pete's awfully clumsy "una cioccolata per favore". If anyone can correctly suggest why I would know this random Italian word I'll buy them a pint............and a packet of crisps (between the two of us)

Number of Cask Marque Pubs visited = 103

Drinking Advice = Don’t mix your drinks, even if they are all beer!

Fashion Advice = At least see how much he was offering for the shirt………..

Next Stop = Free Parking

Whitechapel Road

You may have gathered from the last entry that I was determined not to repeat last Friday’s “Jonny-no-mates” routine again, so in a desperate effort not to appear to be a social pariah I asked a group of work colleagues whether they would like a “swift one” after work this Friday. Luckily the next square on the board, Whitechapel Road is only a brisk 10 minute walk away from our offices and as such I wouldn’t need to put this gallant gang of volunteers through a forced march to get to the pub.

Quick word about the Whitechapel Road in that it houses the infamous Blind Beggar pub which most Monopoly tourists use as their stop for this square. Unfortunately not a Cask Marque pub this didn’t fit my criteria but it worth mentioning this place not only for its links to the Krays but also as the place that William Booth made his first sermon, which led to the creation of the Salvation Army. And if you want one more interesting beer related fact, it’s also the former brewery tap of the Manns Albion Brewery where the first modern Brown Ale was brewed. Now you too can be a pub bore……………………

The nearest Cask Marque pub is the Aldgate Exchange just 50 or so metres down from Aldgate East tube station. I’d previously been in this place and been unable to find the Cask Marque certificate so I thought it might be a prudent step to visit somewhere else on the way.

The Brown Bear

My selection was The Brown Bear in nearby Leman Street which caused one work colleague to squeal with both delight as this is apparently one of her favourite pubs and then groan in agony as she couldn’t join us due to other commitments. So it was with somewhat of a spring in our collective steps that 5 of us entered the pub on an early Friday evening. The pub is a traditional centre bar affair with nice wooden shelving atop which stands the proud statue of the Brown Bear. Beers on offer were Fuller’s London Pride, the ubiquitous Sharp’s Doombar and Marston’s EPA. Only the Pride and the Doombar had the Cask Marque tag on the handpumps which perhaps should have given me a clue as the EPA was rather warm and woolly (and also served in an Adnams Glass (Grrrrrrr)).

BGC at the bar of the Brown Bear

With the pub just starting to fill up and Andy Murray just losing the 3^rd set in his semi-final, like a bunch of wannabe tabloid reporters, 3 of my colleague all made their excuses and left, citing “busy days tomorrow” and “friends coming round tonight”………………….lightweights to a man!

This left me with spiky haired Ed.

Spiky haired Ed is a curious creature, presenting the attractive face of IT with his chiselled jaw, fresh complexion and gymnasts physique he’s very much the eye candy for the office girls. Where as I present the slobbish side of IT with my stupid fat face, binman’s physic and most of the office girls having exclusion orders against me so I don’t get within 5 feet of them.

Anyway, as a modern day “odd couple” we strolled up to the junction of Aldgate High Street and Commercial Street and took a swift jaunt up the Whitechapel Road to record the visit for posterity.

Well at least you can read this sign!

It was then back to the Aldgate Exchange for a rather nasty pint of Adnams Southwold bitter (not served in an Adnams glass (Grrrrrrrrr)). I had always presumed that this place was another Weatherspoon’s pub (based on the style of the outside signage) but it turns out it isn’t. I’m not sure if it is a Free House as they claim but it’s another open plan pine floored warehouse with not a great deal going for it. The staff were friendly and the manager was more than happy to fetch out the Cask Marque certificate which wasn’t on the wall. “How did you like the beer?” he asked as I scanned the code. I went all English and didn’t want to make a fuss, “Oh, very nice” I lied.

One (fat) man, a man-bag and a sign in misleading typeface.

Spiky haired Ed and I were now on a roll, putting the office to rights and deciding who was probably overpaid (everyone else) and who were underpaid (spiky haired Ed and me) so we decided to continue the journey across the road at The Hoop and Grapes, a Nicholson’s pub where apparently the Great Fire of London stopped just 50 yards away. The best pint of the evening was the 4.2% Merlin’s Ale and it was only a pity the visit to this very nice pub was spoilt by them not being in possession of the new style Cask Marque certificate with the QR Code.

Handpumps at the Hoop and Grapes

Before things started to become maudlin Spiky haired Ed and I called it a day and bidded each other a good night. Him, back to his boy-band lifestyle of hair gel and pegged jeans and me to onion rings on Reading station. Cheers!

Number of Cask Marque Pubs visited  = 37

Target for the visit = Successful!

Things I know now that I didn’t know before this visit = According to Spiky haired Ed, I have the best voice in the office? (Should this make me worried?)

Next Stop = Income Tax!

Community Chest #1

When I initially thought about doing this game  I thought it might be an extra challenge to not do just the property squares but try to include the other squares, like the Electricity Company or The Jail also. What I hadn’t really thought about were the Chance and Community Chest squares.

Now to cover the Chance squares there’s plenty of scope for some sort of random pub destination decision making but on the other hand, the Community Chest? What does that even mean? This might prove more of a problem.

Well, and to spoil any anti-climax, in fact it didn’t turn out that way at all. A quick Google of the words “Community Chest London” produced a link to the Cripplegate Foundation which runs the “Islington Community Chest”. These good people have their offices at 76 Central Street, which is just north of Barbican tube station, a place I travel through every working day.

So thinking that the journey to this location would be a damn sight easier than the last one I thought a quick stop off on a Friday evening would be a good idea. At first things went well, a quick stroll up Old Street and the offices of the Cripplegate Foundation were found, right next door to one of the more energetic games of 5-a-side I’ve seen for quite a while.

The first card from the top of Community Chest deck.

It was then time to move onto the nearest Cask Marque pub which turned out to be another Weatherspoon’s, this time the rather oddly named Masque Haunt. A vast, soulless monstrosity of a corner pub this place was just where I didn’t want to be on a busy Friday evening. The service was fast and friendly and the range of 10 ales was by far superior than The Rockingham Arms (see Old Kent Road) but I came to the sudden crashing realisation that when on your own a full, crowded pub isn’t a good place to be. Some people can oh so easily strike up conversations with strangers, and whilst not a shy person, faced with pockets of well acquainted people I shrunk further into my shell. The pint of Adnams Gunhill was fine but I couldn’t get out of the place fast enough, so fast in fact I didn’t find the Cask Marque certificate even after a close scan of all the walls.

Someone talk to me!

Not wanting to completely waste the evening I made my way back to the tube via Bunhill Row knowing that another Cask Marque pub lay in this direction. Fuller’s Artillery Arms is another corner pub but couldn’t be more different than the Masque Haunt. Traditional, cosy and with a fantastic square bar plonked in the middle of the room, the teaming Friday night crowd were falling out of the door to drink along side the cemetery opposite. The Cask Marque certificate was propped on a table by the window and although I can claim to have stood manfully waiting to be served, I gave up and slunk away with a scan but not a drink drunk.

Must come back to this place - Must also take better photos!

Number of Cask Marque Pubs visited = 35

Target for next visit: Speak to someone! = 0

Apologies to Gash Man = No opportunity for knob gags

Next Stop = Whitechapel Road

Old Kent Road

Ask anyone to name a square on the Monopoly board and there’s a pretty good chance they’ll name the Old Kent Road, the very first square on the board and the one which yields the least amount of money when an opponent lands on it. It’s also the only property that lies south of the river Thames. In fact, it not only lies south of the river but in comparison to how the other properties are all clustered around the square mile, it lies a long bloody way south of the river! To make matters even worse, checking out the Cask Marque website it would seem that the nearest Cask Marque pub is the Kentish Drovers which is even further away, another kilometre or so south on Peckham High Street.

As any regular visitor to London knows the south isn’t served very well by the Underground with only a couple of the lines venturing under the river. The nearest station to the Old Kent Road is the Elephant and Castle and it was one Tuesday evening that I found myself wandering the labyrinth of the subway that weaves its merry way underneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout. Seriously, no matter how good your sense of direction you seem to pop up nowhere near where you were heading!

Pink Elephants but no Delirium Tremens.

Upon venturing above ground the first sight that greeted me seemed very familiar but was one I couldn’t out my finger from where I knew it. The sign said “The Charlie Chaplin” but it was almost as if I was seeing a photograph in real life, ah well perhaps it would come to me later on.

In order to get my bearings I checked the Cask Marque app and discovered that whilst the Kentish Drovers was near to the south end of the Old Kent Road, just off the Elephant and Castle roundabout was another pub, the Rockingham Arms which is about the same distance away from the Old Kent Road as the Kentish Drovers but this time from the north end. Deciding that this would be by far the more sensible of the two to visit I made a quick dash down the New Kent Road to the very start of the Old Kent Road, took a photo to prove I’d been there and then dashed back again to the Rockingham Arms.

If you look very closely the sign does say "Old Kent Road".....honest!

The Rockingham Arms is part of the Weatherspoon’s chain and whilst I have much respect for the great work they have done (good ranges of cask ales, fantastic value and keeping many a run down corner of the high street trading) they can also be awfully identical, impersonal and pretty bland. The Rockingham Arms was always going to have its work cut out anyway. Housed in what I’ve learnt from the Weatherspoon’s site was the former HQ for the Department of Heath and Social Security it looks like something that been transposed from 1970’s East Germany. This has to be one of the ugliest buildings ever. The large plate glass frontage has all the style and welcome of a carpet salesroom and the interior décor (which looks like a cross between a run down cinema and a run down amusement arcade) does nothing to improve this.

That said, it was clean and far from overcrowded although there was the perennial Wetherspoon’s clientele that seem to always be there no matter what Wetherspoon’s you visit. The range of beers was pretty basic with only Greene King Abbot Ale, Ruddles Best and London Pride on draught, and when you see London Pride being described as a Guest Beer (in London no less!) you do have question whether this pub needs to ask their supplier a question or two.  Service though was lightening fast, I reckon my meal came within 10 minutes and the pint of Ruddles Best was actually very nice, and a £1.85 a pint can you really complain?

Return to Stalag Luft III

 

Bar at the Rockingham Arms, Cask Marque certificate on the right.

Final word on the pub was a visit to the gents which felt like wandering the corridors of a cruise ship before you could do your business…………perhaps the former employees of the DHSS were only allowed limited comfort breaks?

Keep going for the loos............

With the proudly displayed Cask Marque certificate snapped I was on my way again, via the slow train from Waterloo to Reading which seems to stop at every village and hamlet on the way. If you’re ever on this train, check out the recorded announcer’s voice when he calls the station names. He obviously hates the journey to the next place, but loves arriving. “The next station will be Ascot” and the voice is all sad and depressed, whereas “This is Virginia Water” is yelled with a high rising inflection that would make an Aussie blush. Ah well, kept me awake……..just, and then I realised where I’d seen Chaplin’s Bar before! Page 72 of The Rough Pub Guide by Paul Moody and Robin Turner, which says it should have been pulled down in 2010. Perhaps the demolition crew are lost in the subway?

Number of Cask Marque Pubs visited = 34

Number of amusing people seen = 0

Next Stop = Community Chest?

Setting up and reading the rules.......

OK, I like drinking beer. I like drinking beer in pubs. And because I’m a bloke with a potential smattering of OCD, I like lists and collecting. How then to combine all of this.

Well, the good people at Cask Marque have made a start by launching their very own smart phone app called “Cask Finder”. This app allows users to locate nearby pubs which hold the Cask Marque accreditation and then upon visiting the pub, the user can “scan” the QR code on the pub’s certificate and log their visit with the Cask Marque database. Like all good “collection schemes” there are wonderful prizes to be had, for 25 visits you get a bottle opener, for 50 visits; a T-Shirt, but before you decry these prizes seemingly stolen from the set of Blankerty Blank, for 100 visits you become a Cask Marque Ambassador (worthy prize enough!) but you also receive a brewery visit.

Lucky enough to work in London, there are literally hundreds of Cask Marque accredited pubs located in the city, but having visited all the ones most local to where I work I needed a plan to search further afield to claim some more scans.

I’d heard about a trail around London which tries to take in a pub on every street that features on the Monopoly Board. There are some amusing web sites that describe various people’s attempts at doing this, which normally try to achieve this feat in one day. Most of these attempts exclude the Water Works, Electricity Company and the jail, but even so, with 26 stops along the way, this is not something for the faint hearted.

Thinking there would be some mileage in combining the two events, I wondered if I could also drink around the Monopoly board but find a Cask Marque pub as near as possible to the street or board feature (yes, lets try to include every square!). Obviously I wouldn’t be able to do my attempt in one day, but it would still be fun to have a direction in which to take my search for more Cask Marque scans.

So here we go, let’s lay out the board, choose our pieces (I’m the iron by the way so you can’t choose that!) count out the money and roll those dice……….in my rules we don’t need to go round once without making a purchase!