ALL ABOARD (GAME!)

ONE of the conundrums faced by many households during the coronavirus lockdown has been how to keep the kids entertained.

In the first few weeks, before the movement restrictions were eased, families were spending virtually all their time confined within the four walls of their home, so it is not surprising the traditional family board game has undergone something of a renaissance during the last few months.

It's certainly true of the Boyd-Hope household, where board games such as Cluedo, Scrabble and Monopoly have been extracted from the top of wardrobes, had the dust blown from their boxes, and regular 'game nights' become a weekly norm.

It was during a Monopoly session at the end of May that my eldest daughter posed a question to me, which ultimately led to this article being written. You see, it has always been a tactic of mine to acquire the four stations on the board first - King's Cross, Marylebone, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street - which would often result in me winning. However, the others in the family have subsequently wised up to this approach, and will all now try and beat me to the stations if the opportunity arises.

During the game in question my daughter had just pipped me to Fenchurch Street and, after rubbing my nose in the fact she now had two stations to my one, she asked: "Why Fenchurch Street? Why not Paddington or Euston? King's Cross is there, but why not any of the other well-known ones?"

Astute

It was a very interesting question, and quite an astute one from someone who claims