Mornington Crescent - could there be fireworks?

[MaudAndOtherPoems]

After the very impressive conclusion to the last game, I have taken some time to reflect on how best to open a new game in a way that both challenges the old hands yet encourages the newbies. I think I have it - a reverse Elkington to

Westminster

Over to you ...

I was commemorating those who died in WW1 so I am sure my absence from the game over the last ten days is understood. Lest we forget.

So I move with the aid of the closed stations rule to the home of the SOE in WW2, Down Street.

How marvellous to see you again, Saints. You do look splendid in your uniform.

Seven Sisters

Ah, a place where I once agreed to meet someone and discovered there are two entrances.

With the aid of the London Overground rule, I move to West Hampstead.

... and still we are playing à deux. It adds a contemplative feel to the game, I feel.

Penge West

Contemplative seems appropriate for a move to West Dulwich for the local art gallery which I am sure the art critic Sister Wendy Beckett must have visited, when not living in the grounds of the contemplative order of nuns the Carmelites. The game of games would be appropriate for them to play as it can be in silence should they wish. Though how they would have coped should there be a repeat of the 1973 dispute over the inclusion of Heathrow T123 before its opening I cannot guess.

Please may I join?

I feel Tulse Hill would be a good move, if I made use of the Canadian rule if Velocity, it would make sense because they're geographically close but not on the same line. Also, The Orient Express goes through there - it doesn't stop, I think that would be a bridgr too far.

DerekTheWonderdog welcome, and the first use of the Canadian rule I have seen this decade.

The Orient Express must be following the route that was taken for a few years by Eurostar, prior to the move to the north side of the capital. A former work colleague and MC player took great exception to her journey into the metropolis being interrupted by said Eurostar. No chance of her playing the Eurostar rule at any point, though how to reverse out of Ashford International or that fiction known as Ebbsfleet, I did not enquire.

Moving nearer to the north, indeed straddling the river, I move to Blackfriars, in memory of a friend who passed away seven years ago who worked within a stone's throw of there.

Well, clearly you're hinting at the Undertaker Shuffle there, Saints, in which case of course the best course of action is Neasden.

Neasden. Undisputably the centre of the world, especially for anyone who has even played the game of games. The Poet Laureate John Betjeman immortalised it in his oblique reference to the game of games, Metroland.

Playing the late night extra stops rule, back to Dollis Hill we go.

Cripes, I wasn't expecting that. But then I suppose no-one ever does. I'm tightening my foundation garments and heading to Osterley.

I'm not sure about such matters as foundation garments. Maybe someone in Boston Manor can help me.

Yes, that's it Saints, before they moved it North.
Dollis Hill, Osterley and Boston Manor? That's a triple Chichester, unless I'm mistaken? I'm going to forge ahead under the assumption that it is a triple Chichester, so my only option is Woolwich Arsenal.

I cannot say I have seen a triple Chichester played for many years, though I heard of its use in the Suffolk tournament of 2002 which I managed to get past the first round in. I was not invited back owing to a misfortune aided by what my mum terms 'Southwold water'.

The DLR rule helps me go to West Ham.

You got into the Suffolk tournament! And got past the first round! That is truly amazing, well done. I dream of the Suffolk Tournament, even just to watch it.

The DLR rule to West Ham, very well played. As I now have the choice to go South or West, I'll go lazily South to Brixton and my first real gig - where I saw The Smiths at the Academy, along time ago.

My goodness, there’s been some challenging play here, combining classic moves in a way that is bold and innovative. The best I can manage in the circumstances is a double Windlesham to

Pimlico

Before a Sunday afternoon walk away from the shoppers, I think it is time to play a simple move to Sloane Square. I am surprised and disappointed that the Colonel's play about the game of games was never put on by the Royal Court Theatre nearby, or was this play actually never written?

I rather fear the Colonel’s play, like so many of the other achievements of which he is wont to boast, exists only in his imagination. Then again, with his propensity for strong language and full frontal nudity, the Colonel might just get a writing gig at the Royal Court.

Anyway, I need to make progress with my Christmas shopping, so on to

High Street Kensington

Shopping before Christmas can be a nightmare. There is a nice pub near Bayswater station, so I shall move there to get out of the rain.

Oh how pleasant this is. I do enjoy my customary pint of crème de menthe after an afternoon’s strenuous shopping. Let’s be adventurous now:

Loughborough Junction

Good gracious, I've stepped away from this thread for a couple of days and we appear to have encompassed full frontal nudity, creme de menthe and West Ham.

I'll attempt to restore some sense of equilibrium with St John's Wood.

Well that’s the way we roll, Face. I’ll see your St John’s Wood and raise you

St Pancras

Dash it all, let's cast off the shackles of conformity and perform a triple toe loop (Bulgarian version, natch) manoeuvre to Warren St.

Wow, Face. I admire your style. I haven’t seen the like since the Dubrovnik semi-finals in ‘76 and it’s probably best to draw a veil over how they ended - the Colonel spent 3 years in rehab. Anyway, let’s try a lateral splice to

Beckenham Junction

Time for the Tram rule- the Major would approve as apparently some of the trams were originally bound for Vienna, where he loved a visit to the Opera. Not an art form that ever interests me, which given it is never about the game of games, perhaps will not surprise anyone.

So the tram takes me to Addiscombe which is almost the first in the alphabet for stations.

Maud I used to live, literally, next to Loughborough Junction and although you've all moved on a bit, I'm going to use the Gladstone rule to Crystal Palace and walk around marvelling at the 🦕 🦖 .