The sport of kings: Mornington Crescent

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

Good morning, all. What better way to begin the long weekend than a new game of the ineffable Mornington Crescent? All are welcome - veterans and newbies alike.

To set the tone, I will start with one of my favourite moves - a double shunt to

Kew Gardens

A long time has elapsed since anyone moved to Collier's Wood. So I move there.

Seven Sisters, it has to be, I think, considering the Bettelstein Link.

How delicious! That allows me to play…

Baker Street

Excellent! Just about enough space for a Tyrolean Vault. Named, I believe, after the infamous Soho establishment, not the charming Alpine region.

Back in the day, when Soho really was Soho, and not for the faint (or pure) of heart. I have heard that at least one eminent player disappeared in mysterious circumstances...

But, back to the current game
Dagenham Heathway

Moving west from the east to Stepney Green. Apparently there are people getting excited about some new trains on the Piccadilly line. Hopefully with maps inside that help newbies understand some of the options when playing the game of games.

I believe there was a push, about 25 years ago, to flyer the London underground and the subway in Glasgow, among others, to try to pull in more players. It was quietly dropped though. The grapevine always maintained that it was due to an incident in, I want to say Drumchapel, when some of the flyers ended up in a place where a flyer very much shouldn't be. Whatever the truth, the local picture framers shut down shortly afterwards and the owner went off to the Canaries with no fixed return date.

A rightwards levade to Kilburn Park

I recall something about that @LittleBitofBread but the details were always somewhat sketchy!

Waterloo.

They were indeed, Muse, although the Helensburgh sub-committee's secretary was a major voice on that grapevine and was always known for having her ear to the ground. Among other things, but saying more on that would be ungallant.

I think I have to say Moorgate, although that does mean I forfeit my Sexton's Chance. Hey ho.

Indeed. Ear to the ground, nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel and back to the wall - she was quite the contortionist.

Westminster

@LittleBitofBread I thought the Drumchapel incident was an urban myth and thank you for correcting me.

Sloane Square

Maud, she was always very popular.
Llyn, it is one of those things so strange that you can only conclude it must be true. Some of the small details… well, if someone had made those up one would have some questions about their well-being.

I'm going to go for an Eigermann en dehors to Harlesden

An oblique, faintly nostalgic and patriotic saunter to Much Binding in the Marsh if I may.

Sorry for the delay, I was finding my smelling salts. Much Binding in the Marsh?!? After what the county moderator said about moves like that at Farmington last spring?

I don't know what to say. Apart from Oval, and we'll say no more about it.

That move was a Rajasthan Two-Turn, by the way, and therefore safe, before someone comes on and tries to invoke the Marling ruling.

Polo-adjacent I see, @LittleBitofBread! Nicely turned.

Edgware Road. District line, obvs.

Whatever else one thinks of the Raj, it made a highly valuable contribution to the game of games.
Not least in the figure of the superintendent of one of the smaller wards of Delhi, and his addition of the Leftmost Marque when faced with problems regarding the Central line.
That's saved my bacon not a few times, I don't mind telling you.

Thankfully there's an easier move available this time, if I've calculated the gradient correctly in relation to the District & Circle:
Hammersmith

Rather enjoyed that brief ellipse to Much Binding in the Marsh - put me in mind of that lovely picnic where the curate and the lady harpist delighted us all with their prowess on the croquet field, and so much more.

Putney Bridge

Oh, I heard all about that picnic (I couldn't attend, sadly – or maybe fortunately).
Kew Gardens, I think, invoking the Beckettian Slip.

Yes, it was quite the, err, event, although we still don’t know what became of the second-best thermos flask or, indeed, the clerk to the parish council.

St James’s Park

I thought the clerk turned up in a new job involving hospitality and food? Some whispers said the Delaunay, others spoke more of a Lime bike and a high-vis.
The thermos I have not heard about, but now you mention it I saw what I thought was a rather nice one on the bric-a-brac and household stall at the church's last charity drive. Chic dark blue?

West Ealing, anyway.

Surely tartan is the thermos colour de nos jour?…

Bounds Green seems apposite at this time…

It is true that tartan is the pinnacle of thermos decoration. Indeed, the best thermos flask is resplendent in the official MC tartan, as designed by the wing commander in his Highland phase, before that sad business with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs required him to relocate overnight to Antigua.

Turnpike Lane

Whisper it, but I like a fake Burberry check for a Thermos.

I'm using an Extended Fotheringay to take us to Marylebone

Au choix @LittleBitofBread!

Temple. Only possible with the rare combination of the previous 2 moves. I haven’t seen it in sequence since ‘81, in Hartlepool. The Railway Hotel was absolutely jumping that night.

Ah, Hartlepool. It has not recently hosted the game of games - probably because the proprietrix of the Grand Hotel was brought to the edge of bankruptcy (financial and moral) by the ‘81 tournament and banned several venerated players for life - but those games of yesteryear will never be forgotten.

With an inverse shunt:

Tottenham Court Road

Grand Hotel in Hartlepool, was it not converted into dwellings where the canoeist faked his own death? Certainly he could not have played the game of games given the error that led to his being caught.

Holland Park