The Monopoly Series – Northumberland Avenue

For this episode, which is number 10 in Danny Hurst´s London Monopoly locations history series, he tells you all about Northumberland Avenue, the most expensive of the pink properties. Listen to discover the street´s connection with Alec Guinness, The Goon Show, The Beatles, Sherlock Holmes, and the Percy family (sadly not related to Lord Percy Percy of Blackadder fame). He also tells you about a floating pub, where the Hotspur in Tottenham Hotspur´s name comes from, why the street is so wide and its connection with London´s life-saving sewage system. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Beatles recorded more live sessions on Northumberland Avenue than they did anywhere else. There is a connection between the street and why the football team Tottenham Hotspur was so named. Property on today´s Northumberland Avenue is now cheaper than on the other two pink squares. In the 1950´s the Northumberland Arms was renamed the Sherlock Holmes. Find out why in the episode. BEST MOMENTS ‘On the corner of the bridge is a memorial to possibly London's greatest unsung hero. ´ ‘Numerous 19th-century figures… had their voices recorded here for posterity.’ ‘Northumberland Avenue has really gone downhill lately.’   EPISODE RESOURCES Comedians Theatre Company presents - Name Of The Game (Rehearsed Reading via Zoom, March 2021)⁠ Shop for all official versions of Monopoly here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/785DC233-0A69-4DF8-98E9-4F50CC50A59E HOST BIO Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can. CONTACT AND SOCIALS https://instagram.com/dannyjhurstfacebook.com/danny.hurst.9638 https://twitter.com/dannyhurst  https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-hurst-19574720   Podcast Description "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." James Joyce. That was me at school as well. Ironically, I ended up becoming a historian. The Unusual Histories podcast is all about the history you don't learn at school, nor indeed anywhere else. Discover things that you didn't know that you didn't know; fascinating historical luminaries and their vices and addictions, the other numerous sides of every story. We start with the Monopoly Series, in which we explore how the game came to be, the real-life connection between the cheapest and most expensive properties, the history of each location, how proportionate the values were then and are today, what the hell a "community chest" is and whether free parking really does exist anywhere in London.  If you love history; or indeed if you hate history, this is the podcast for you…