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Manchester Evening News

National

Helena Vesty

Salford's very own version of Monopoly might be the best thing to come out of lockdown boredom

Salford now has its very own version of Monopoly thanks to one man facing lockdown boredom.

Ray McCormick, 28, was stuck at home in Langworthy looking for things to keep him busy during lockdown.

Browsing for board games to buy, he instead decided to grab his felt tips and make his own, featuring a socially distanced jail, 'pay uni fees' penalties, and the promise of collecting your local pub quiz winnings.

The result was a Salford-themed version of the stuck-indoors-classic - Monopoly.

It includes some of the boroughs most famous landmarks including Salford Shopping City, the Old Pint Pot pub, Peel Park and the Lowry Theatre.

And the four train stations you would normally find on a Monopoly board? They are now the four chippies of Salford.

"I put local businesses in the game as well as Salford Shopping City - the Hilton hotel of Salford!" (Ray McCormick)

Ray told the Manchester Evening News the heartwarming story of how creating a Monopoly board for the special city of Salford has helped him through his struggles with work during the coronavirus crisis.

He said: "I came up with the idea of making it to keep me busy. I had recently lost work due to what’s going on and landed a temp job at Sainsbury’s to get me by.

"But that has now finished so I needed to think of ways to keep me busy and motivated during these times.

"I’d normally made fancy dress outfits out of cardboard before but with nowhere to go I thought I’d try something new.

"I was looking at board games to buy when I thought, 'why not make my own game of monopoly?'"

Ray took the opportunity to showcase some of Salford's small business that he knows and loves. He included the University of Salford after moving to the city from Liverpool to study there and gave the most expensive spot on the board to his workplace - Media City.

The board is divided into shops, restaurants, nightlife spots and parks.

"I’ve lived in Salford for seven years now and wanted to showcase the area I live in within the game," Ray said.

"So I put local businesses in the game as well as Salford Shopping City - the Hilton hotel of Salford!

The board is divided into shops, restaurants, nightlife spots and parks (Ray McCormick)

"I tend to do a lot of walking around the local parks which I thought would be great to add, the pubs I wanted to reflect the different ones around Salford.

"I’m normally found in The Hope on a Thursday doing the pub quiz with DJ Gary so I wanted to add that into the game.

"Most of places are where me and my housemates would visit usually. I wanted to add the element of us being competitive and wanting to snap up the four chippies - normally the train stations."

"I’ve lived in Salford for seven years now and wanted to showcase the area I live in within the game," Ray said. (Ray McCormick)

It turns out there is an exact science to where exactly the Salford landmarks landed around the board.

"I did the rankings by how I see the prices of the places.

"Obviously Fulton's and Heron being cheaper shops I put them at the start of the map.

"Then for the final row and most expensive I used Media City and The Lowry because they they are the most luxurious parts of Salford."

The game proved a vital opportunity to take care of his mental health during long days in lockdown which have proved difficult for many of us.

Ray said: "It’s definitely helped me keeping me busy on long days with not much to do which I think is important now more than ever for your mental health.