Mornington Crescent rides again

[Andrewofgg]

Maida Vale. Just to make it difficult.

I think that we should begin to head back towards London. It has been a sad day with the deaths of Stephen Hawking and also Jim Bowen, may they both rest in peace.

Via Birmingham I go to Oxford, Mr Hawking's birthplace.

We may be ready for London but I doubt that London is ready for us.

Enough of seats of learning; let us go where there is no such thing to be seen; even unto Cambridge.

Oh dear, oh dear. You sound a little sensitive, Andrew. Shall we visit your alma mater in

Neasden?

Surely as the originator of the game of games London is always ready for us?

As for the line formerly known as the Bakerloo line, perhaps we should move to Willesden Green.

I quite agree saints. All of this footling about in the sticks is irritating for the purists amongst us. I play the little used Gartingdon's Groupage to pull us all together at King's Cross for a new round.

And I remind everyone that when the jeu de jeux began the capital of this realm was not that trading post with a bridge over the Thames but Winchester.

And then we must take a pivot to

Kingston

You mean of course upon Hull..

Newcastle under Lyme

Moreton in Marsh

Oh, well played, Irene. I fancy a Miller’s Merger to

Heathrow Terminal 3

maud I think playing a Miller's leaves you open to a Shamrock shunt, playable only on St Patrick's day and thus putting you in Nidd!
Keeping the Saints theme, I play St paul's

Oh drat! I knew I’d overlooked something.

Maud, my dearest, you told me that your great-grandfather's brother-in-law, although not Irish, was born when the ship carrying his parents to New York put in for provisions at Cobh - well, that's Irish enough to get you out of Nidd on 17 March - especially as I am given to understand that an Irish sports team has achieved some sort of success today. I cannot find any news of how their MC team is doing but that's the narrow interests of the media, isn't it?

St Neots calls.

Oh, Andrew, you're such a sweetheart and that's a wickedly cunning (or do I mean cunningly wicked?) ruse to spring me from Nidd. I haven't been so grateful to anyone since the Chief Scout and the Papal Legate clubbed together to pay my library fines at the Malmo play-offs in '77, when an unfortunate chain of circumstances meant I was a trifle late in returning the Annotated Compendium of the Rules and Strategems of MC, with Codicils (1678 edition) to the chained library.

But, I digress.

Denmark Hill

hmmm, that would be the edition with page 4,782 missing perhaps?
They never did find the culprit although the finger of suspicion was pointed at the player who then came from nowhere to topple the Champion with an obscure move to which no-one could find any reference. '77 was a good year for you, wasn't it maud?

I play a long-haired dog-leg to barking

One of several good years, dementedma, one of several. Another was '54, when I finally mastered the Swingleton to

Raynes Park

Funny thing, I haven't seen a Swingleton since that outrageous business in '67 when that ass of a bishop forgot which young lady he had brought to the semi-finals of the local MC qualification round. It would not have mattered if his wives had not both been there or if he hadn't insisted on using the mustard of his choice which was that of Dijon.

The bishop choosing Dijon mustard was indeed a terrible slight on the finest mustard which is English mustard. That was the real 1967 outrage, worse than the devaluation of the pound.

The TGV is useful for helping us get out of this mess and takes us to Lille Europe

Let us now return to England - and the nearest point to Lille is Calais - MC obviously does not recognise the cession of that city to ceux qui mangent les grenouilles from whom it should be reclaimed in course of Brexit.

Really! Must we keep flitting round the continent like day trippers?
I prefer the original version of the beautiful game when to play just a whisker beyond the city boundaries would result at best in a double Nidd and at worst, disqualification and rustication, with a visit to the Major General's office for a stern talking to and Thesaurus/largeBook/tome down the trousers!
I play an old fashioned Turpington's Trimble to take us safely back to Sloane Square.

Quite right, dementedma (my electronic apparatus wants to call you demented man, but that little contretemps at the customs house in Calais has at least shown that the cross-dressing rumours are quite unfounded)!

Billericay

Interesting news. Sadiq forgot to sign the order to extend the fourth proviso to Rule 234(3)(iii) so London Trams are back in play until noon today.

Gravel Hill!

Well, as Sadiq mentioned when I bumped into him at the Montreal qualifiers - he put up a pretty good defence of the Varley Variation to Penge West - he’s got a lot on his plate at the moment.

Beckenham Junction

It is a good job the eastern side of the tram rule was used as the west bit is shut because of a gas leak.

I will move to Loughborough Junction as no-one else has for a while.