In this episode, which is number 12 in Danny Hurst´s London Monopoly board history series, it is the turn of Bow Street. The first of the orange squares on the board, which all have a legal connection. 

Find out why a full-scale riot broke out there, how it became the location of the world´s first police force and its connection to My Fair Lady, Oscar Wilde, The Krays, and Casanova.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Bow Street is the home of the world´s first police force.
• A tradition of heavy gin drinking led to a crime wave in the area.
• Bow Street courthouse operated continuously between 1740 and 2006.
• Queen Victoria is behind the reason the light on the Bow Street police station is a different colour. Danny explains why that happened.
• Properties on Bow Street are currently selling for around £1,884 per square foot.

BEST MOMENTS

‘This disturbance becomes popularly known as the Battle of Bow Street. ´

‘Drunk for a penny – Dead drunk for two.’

‘This is the only police station in Britain to have a white light rather than a blue light.’

EPISODE RESOURCES

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/dannyjhurst
facebook.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, and 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…