I came across this rather nice
web-site: click here to
see it.
I particularly liked the
"Go to Sellafield" square. This got some of us talking and we wondered
what other changes we could make to enhance the Lakeland feel of the concept.
The suggestions included:
|
Change "Free
Parking" to "Public Footpath".
There's no such thing as free parking in the Lakes. |
|
What player tokens
would you use? The boot has got to stay but in a more high-tech styling; a
Meindl Nepal perhaps. Other possibilities are a border collie, a Herdwick, a
finger post, a bobble hat and a trig point. |
|
If you've got 4 tents
on a mountain, are you allowed to build a bothy? |
|
Alter "Community
Chest" to "Rucksack"
and "Chance" to "Weather
Conditions". |
|
Instead of the two
Tax squares, have George Fisher's and Rathbone's. The penalty is having to
buy an extravagant piece of gear. Fisher's will be the more expensive. |
|
If one remained true
to the spirit of Wainwright, the water utility would be the Manchester
Corporation Water Undertaking. You could even use 1930s prices like
Monopoly. |
|
Or, even better, have
pubs instead of utilities. This gives plenty of scope of arguing over the
two best walkers' pubs. I'll suggest the Kirkstone Pass Inn and the Old
Dungeon Ghyll to get the debate started. Anyone voting for the Old Dun Bull
in Mardale Green is clearly a smartarse. |
|
You can't possibly
have a banker. In deference to Wainwright, this has got to be renamed as the
Borough Treasurer of Kendal. Thus you collect £200 for passing Kendal Town
Hall, en route for the hills. |
It
was when we got to thinking about the Rucksack and Weather
Conditions cards that we realised that this is not just a piece of fun
but potentially it has a sinister aspect. The cards need an outcome which helps
or hinders in trying to win the game. But what do you have to do for win? If you
followed real Monopoly you would have to own all the mountains and charge people
for entering them. That has got to be anathema to us all. I’m with Ewan McColl
on this:
No man
has a right to own mountains
Any
more than the deep ocean bed
(The
Manchester Rambler)
What to do then? We came up with these options:
|
Bury the whole thing where no one ever goes. Like Mungrisedale Common before
Wainwright-bagging came into vogue. |
|
Change
the name to The National Trust Game.
Their strategy seems to be buying up all the spare land, turning it into car
parks and charging for their use. |
| Alter
the object of the game. The new aim is to lose all your money by spending
all your time walking rather than in gainful employment (with lots of
opportunities to buy Gore-tex, fleece and nifty little electronic devices) |
|
Convert
the game from Monopoly to Go (my sister had this game ages ago) In
this you follow your choice from a range of preset routes around the world,
collecting souvenirs. Convert this to map of the Lakes with major footpaths
marked; insert a sub-routine to show how you get from the start of one walk
to another (the equivalent of changing currency in “Go”). The winner is
the first person to climb all the Wainwrights. In “Go” disaster takes
the form of being shipwrecked to Heard Island, New Zealand. What would be
the equivalent here? Snowed off and spending an endless day in B&Q picking
wallpaper? (Miss 3 turns cos you’ll be putting the damned stuff up for
weeks to come instead of getting out on the hills) |
Rucksack
Cards
We did come up with a few:
|
YHA
Membership due: pay £x |
|
Get
stuck behind large, slow-moving party of Japanese tourists; go back 3
squares |
|
Friend
offers you lift to Wasdale: go to Scafell Pike |
|
Find
map case and NW Lakes map; take £y from Borough Treasury. (NB: the map case
is mine. I left it on Seat in 1996) |
|
No
signal on mobile phone: miss a turn (Alternatively: throw again) |
|
Tent
repairs due. Renew waterproofing: £z per tent |
|
Miss
footpath on Glaramara: take a Weather Conditions card |
| Caught
using GPS gadget: pay a fine. |
|
Wife
tells you she is pregnant. Go directly to Sellafield. In fact, get a job
there! Do not expect to finish the Wainwrights for at least 15 years. You
are the Meekest Gink – goodbye! |
| Wife
takes lover: collect one Mountain card from each other player. (Think about
it: you'll have no bother getting a pass-out to go to the hills) |
|