In this episode, which is No. 9 of Danny Hurst’s history-based tour of the London version of the Monopoly board, we arrive at Whitehall. Home to the earliest Renaissance building in Britain, the executioner´s scaffold, and today, many of the UK´s most important political ministries.

Listen to find out about the street´s surprising connection to Guy Fawkes, Harvard University, the IRA, and the singer James Blunt, as well as why the term Prime Minister started as a derogatory term.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Two royal palaces went up in smoke, including Whitehall.
• Downing Street, which is just off Whitehall, is hard to miss due to the high number of armed police officers and soldiers.
• The walls of Downing Street were painted black in the 1960s to cover up pollution damage.
• The cenotaph is not the only war memorial on the street, there are several others.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The area has remained the centre of British government for almost 500 years. ´

‘First Lord of the Treasury is the official title for the Prime Minister.’

‘Is it even possible for anyone to actually own property in Whitehall since it´s all government buildings?’

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, 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…