h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A quick trip down memory lane, apropos of not very much.

Back when I was a nipper, before everywhere became accessible by motorway, we used to play a game to liven up holiday journeys.

You split into two teams and each take a side of the road. When you pass a pub on your side of the road, you get a point for every leg - so The Pelican or The Duke of Wellington get you two points, The Red Lion four. The Rose and Crown scores nowt.

When there's a plural, you get two of the thing - so The Fox and Hounds is one fox and two hounds, 12 points, while The Cricketers is four points.

I think our biggest winner was a pub called The Commonwealth, which we figured had to be worth almost 2 billion, mostly thanks to India.

Nice game. Of course you could always turn it around so that the person with the fewest legs wins, but that might cause a few arguments over The Pickled Newt, which everyone knows has four legs, but is also leglesss.

A good variation on the Spot a Make of Car game. Waaaay back when, I was trounced by my school pal when we drove under a railway bridge which was being crossed by a transporter train loaded with several hundred of his Car, the Ford Anglia. Mine, by the way, was the Morris Minor.