Museum curator finds ‘Holy Grail of board games’

THE curator of a museum devoted to board games believes he has found 'The Holy Grail' of rare games.

Tony Boydell, curator of the Museum of Board Games in Newent, was handed what is thought to be the only known copy of Stop and Go, a pre-production prototype of a road safety game produced by Pepys in 1947 that was never manufactured.

The previously unseen game came to light when Heidi Gibbs found it in an attic in a box of toys while clearing out her late grandmother's house and showed it to the museum, which has since bought it.

Tony posted after purchasing the game to go on display at the museum: "Just had quite the day collecting the rarest game I have ever come across for the museum.

"No one had seen a copy of it until it surfaced in an attic clearance a month ago – it is, perhaps, the only copy of this 1947 Pepys game in existence.

"Thank you to all our patrons for your continued support and if you’re not a patron please consider becoming one to help us secure more treasures like this for the future!"

Tony described it as "the rarest Pepys game by a mile", as it was known about but no one knew of an existing copy, even Rex Pitts, who wrote a book about the history of the company.

"It became very clear that this is something of a Holy Grail, it's a real treasure," he told BBC Gloucestershire.

The dice game sees players race to the line by choosing whether to obey the Highway Code or take a chance, with the game possibly binned on the basis that it may have been seen to have been encouraging risky driving.

"For a small museum, to be able to get hold of something unique within the history of the games of a major British publisher is really unique," he added.

Heidi, who comes from Norfolk, is unsure how the game ended up in her grandmother's possessions, but posted on the museum’s Facebook page: “So pleased we have found it the best home! If only the game could tell us its journey over the last nearly 80 years! Glad its finally surfaced for all to enjoy.”

She told BBC Gloucestershire: "It looked very old-fashioned, but in a very good condition as well.

"I contacted someone to do with Pepys board games and he had a look at it and said, 'obviously that is the exact game that is missing'. I thought it was absolutely amazing."

She said she has sold it to the museum because she wanted board game fans to be able to "see and appreciate" it.

Founded in 2021 by former game designer Tony, The Museum of Board Games based in Newent’s Shambles Retail Village, holds more than 600 vintage and historic board games and card games spanning the last 200 years, with items dating back to the early 19th century.

Admission is free, and it is open on Friday, Saturday and Monday from 10am-4pm.