Mornington Crescent?!

[Eggsbutnobacon]

Will somebody please please explain to me what this is all about?

Well, I guess we all have a relative of whom we're slightly ashamed, so we'll let bygones be bygones. I'm taking advantage of the mild weather to go to

Brindisi

And now the weather has cooled down a bit I return to Holland Park just in time for the station's reopening.

Perkins' Proviso is in force so we are off to Dunkerque.

Which reminds me Pingu - I bumped into the Arcbishop yesterday and took the chance to correct that vicious rumour that MummyPingu has lined up her next six husbands. I told him it was only three and that 7 and 9'are the same chap. He was pleased to hear it and promised to mention it in the next edition of the Ratcatchers' and Brie Lovets' Gazette.

We agreed that 8 is a very lucky woman!

From Dunkerque, you say? In that case, I shall play General Melchett's Conundrum to

Waterloo

Waterloo following a Perkins? That means the Full Station Finagle can and indeed MUST happen. I'll throw in a nifty double-header with

Kings Cross St Pancras

Double-headers on the last day of the month, forced or not, lead across the Border - so let's do it properly. Invernessit is.

Down the west coast I hurtle, changing at Watford Junction and Willesden Junction, where with the aid of the London Overground rule to Brondesbury Park

There's not much hurtling on the West Coast line on a Sunday, Saints, more like a gentle crawl.

Your train is in fact stuck at Coventry. Which is a grim thought.

Saints, I salute your momentum and joie de vivre. i've been stuck at Coverntry many a time and it's almost lead to a very jolly time at

Milton Keynes Central

make of that what you will!

Well, if it's joie de vivre you're after, it can only be a pint of creme de menthe and a bag of pork scratchings with MamaPingu and her latest gigolo friend at

Watford Junction

Nobody lives near Watford Junction - they just exist. Poor buggers.

Wallingford

Fair point. So let's alight at the joyful place that is

Willesden Junction

Oooh, the chance for a Lesser Spotted triple Junction! i've never been able to resist temptation when it comes to the Rule of 3!

Clapham Junction

I think you'll all agree that leave play open in many exciting directions, although I'm sure no-one is silly enough to head towards Victoria, not with the moon in it's current position

The only good time to go to Victoria is on 31 June in a leap year ending in 3.

But you are right Pingu and as Oscar Wilde said during a break at Montreux [18]82 - the one they had to take when the maire of the commune (who under the laws of the Third Republic had the right to take part) played Newhaven and it took hours to clear up the mayonnaise from the altar-cloth - the only solution to temptation is to give way to it.

So: Woolwich Arsenal. And hoggings are retrospective this month!

The only move that can follow that, Andrew is

Woolwich Dockyard , we've a lovely story about that in the Pingu family. or rather, Mummy Pingu does. It's where she and Husband #4 met one romatic, moonlit, South East London night. I'm sure we can all relate to that. I mean, who hasn't met a spouse or two in a station? (Sometimes it's even one's own spouse - but rarely so for Mummy Pingu, bless her!)

A romantic moonlit South Eastern London night?

Yeah, sure. And it was drizzling the milk of a male unicorn, and Shergar was mating with the Yeti while NASA flew Princess Di and Elvis to the Moon Mars.

Littlehampton - where else?

Oh, and tell MummyPingu that Husband3 sends his regards and says he really enjoys being President and what a pity he has to quit next January 20.

You're protesting a little too much, Andrew... I know exactly what happened between you and the Countess in Penge the night of the equinox. In fact, a copy of your touching tribute to her left eyebrow is still in my possession.

Obliquely, to Oval

You're playing hardball now
Theydon Bois
(and from chat to other subjects, to avoid a de-training)

Theydon Bois Olivia? I fear that re-training is long overdue (you mean retraining in the fine art of MC, no?) . One may never play an Essex station following Zone 1 or 2 between Summer and Winter Solstice when scuddings are retrospective.

Dear lord, what are they teaching the young ladies in Finishing School these days?

A sprightly ton levé to Arnos Grove before anyone notices the dreadful faux pas

You're being unfair, Pingu; it's quite obvious to anyone who's read the latest edition of the Almanac that Olivia is using (or 'rocking', as I believe the young people say) a Brexit Brigantine, which renders those old Essex rules entirely inoperative.

Inspired by her example, I shall skate nimbly to

West Ruislip

Oh, crumbs. So this inspired and inspiring game has been subject to a lateral veskins out of Chat and into Other Subjects, so will be available to students of MC for posterity and won't vanish into ether like its predecessors? What a stirring thought.

Taking my lead from Olivia, and as hackings are suspended until after the Olympic closing ceremony,

Boston Manor

I think that the freight only line rule must come into play with the aid of a ladder from the Piccadilly line. Clambering down carefully I board a freight train which kindly lets me off at Clapham High Street, via the interchange to the Northern line and Clapham South it is.

Eek! I didn't foresee that.

Wood Green

With the buggering around of the Northern Line this week the only way is Chadwell Heath, isn't it?

Irene It wasn't the equinox, it was the solstice, and it wasn't the Countess, it was her mother-in-law the Marchioness, and it wasn't her left eyebrow, it was her right . . . no, Andrew. Stop. There are some mysteries over which the veil must remain drawn.

I call foul, Andrew! Everyone knows the Marchioness entered a silent order a good 5 years ago, eyebrows and all! We all love your penchant for the dramatic, but do try to keep one foot or the other on the ground!

Chancery Lane