In this episode, of Danny Hurst´s Monopoly history series, you get to learn the role Charles Dickens played in making The Angel, Islington famous. The building and the area surrounding it have a long and chequered history, which is why this episode is so interesting. That history involves sheep, Hogarth, Thomas Paine, Charles Dickens, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, and a murder, as well as a cast of arty types with the odd fictional character and a 20-year-old bike thrown in.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Angel Islington is said to be the only property on the London Monopoly board which is an actual building. Danny explains why that is not entirely accurate.
• It was once called The Sheepcote Building.
• When it was a coach house Hogarth painted it. A picture of it, that is … Hogarth was not much of a decorator.
• The Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Sex Pistols played at The Screen on The Green, just a short walk from The Angel.
• Islington was gentrified early, so some homes cost millions.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The site has been known as The Angel since the 19th century. ´

‘It (Angel station) has the longest escalators on the London Underground.’

‘Everyone smells of beans and marijuana.’  (Crap Towns)

EPISODE RESOURCES

Shop for all official versions of Monopoly here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/785DC233-0A69-4DF8-98E9-4F50CC50A59E

Crap Towns - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crap-Towns-Returns-Unpopular-Demand/dp/184866222X

Crap Towns II - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crap-Towns-II-Nation-Decides/dp/0752225456

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…