Name dropping....

Just name dropping really: Big cricket book collector Carl Openshaw, President and ex-Chairman of Kent County Cricket Club was in my shop just now talking to rugby nut Mike Dobson, ex-Mayor (twice) of Tonbridge. It's amazing who you meet in this sleepy little back lane....

Earning your Sunday lunch....

Went for a little stroll over to Penshurst yesterday. At least that's what I thought it was! The others in my family plus the German exchange student, we have staying with us at the moment, thought it was some sort of nomadic migration. It is an easyish bike ride from the Castle to Penshurst; but it takes a good two and a half hours each way on foot. Still it was a lovely day, so, as we didn't have enough bikes to go around, off we toddled. I've done the trip several times on the bike, but never walked it before; there are a few boring stretches but on the whole it was picturesque and peaceful, once you'd got clear on that blot on the landscape that is the A21. In fact for much of it you're following the Eden Valley walk, occasionally following the cycle route, which is a little annoyingly busy on a sunny day. I'd promised the family and our German guest a nice traditional English roast Sunday lunch in an old English pub at the half way point. I must admit that even I was glad to see the welcoming doors of the Leicester Arms on our arrival in Penshurst. Two hours later we emerged, after roast beef and yorkshire pud, followed by apple crumble for the slow trek back to Tonbridge; still at least my wallet was a hundred quid lighter! I even caught a bit of sun and certainly feel healthier, if a little achey, today for it. Beats driving there and feeling totally stuffed afterwards in my book every time. My mum would be proud of me, we'd earned our Sunday lunch!...

Come on ye Angels!..

There's obviously a big match kicking off at the Tonbridge Angels ground this afternoon. In scenes reminiscent of Wembley Way in the 1970s (I exaggerate!) fans, I'm told, from Dover FC walked from Tonbridge Railway Station towards Longmead Stadium banging drums, rattling rattles, chanting songs, as only true footy fans can, and jeering at Tonbridge fans. All in good humour from what I saw. Come on ye Blues!!..

Putting the record straight on John Adams Bookshop....

I read that John Adams wants to get customers back! After holding a six month long closing down sale is it any wonder that many have drifted away to Amazon, WH. Smith, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and more than a few to my bookshop, MR. Books? Doug Jeffers, the London-based owner of the shop, by the way John Adams himself sold the shop 12 years ago, is now telling the local press that he's staying open at least for the time being. He told me a couple of weeks ago that he's extended his lease only for another six months and has had his rent slashed to £10,000. I'm pretty sure that he won't be able to keep the rent at £10k though, when the landlords want £32,500 for the new lease according to their agents. So Tonbridge Blog predicts that John Adams, or is it now called My Back Pages, as it says on the window of the shop, will only be open for another ten months tops and that's if he manages to get the lease extended again. I could be wrong but I'm willing to put money on it. I am aware that I have a vested interest in this one but Mr. Jeffers ought to be straight with the people of Tonbridge. I've been reliably informed that he's keeping the shop open only so that he can flog off all the stock that he couldn't sell during the lengthy "closing down sale." Also don't believe all that rubbish that they had difficulty getting hold of new stock because of Woolworths closing down. What rot! Betrams, who were part owned by Woollies, are not the only supplier of new books. Mr. Books Bookshop has been happily ordering new books in for customers, in inceasing numbers, throughout the whole of that period from another new book wholesaler, Gardners of Eastbourne, who John Adams also have an account with, so how can his story stack up? Come on Mr. Jeffers, stop miss-leading the people of Tonbridge, you are closing down soon so just be straight with us....

Jack Cardiff dies....

I bet not many of you knew that Oscar winning cinematographer and film director, Jack Cardiff, who died yesterday, lived the last years of his life in Sevenoaks and was often in the Tonbridge area. I had the good fortune to be invited to his house a year or so ago to assess his book collection and briefly met him. He had many rare art books for example and a few special signed first editions. The walls of his house were decorated with framed photos and film memorabilia. His books were all over the house so I had a great opportunity to nose around a bit and was particularly struck by one poster which was hung up on the wall of his study. The inscription underneath the photo of a glamourous blond film star read "I wish I could look as good as you make me look" Signed Marilyn Monroe! Needless to say, it wasn't for sale but just seeing it was something to remember....

Kentish Man????

The freebie magazine, The Tonbridge Insider, has a small piece in the current issue about the Men Of Kent/Kentish Men debate, borrowed from an earlie article by Frank Chapman of the Courier newspaper. First question is What about the women?! Then the next question is Why can't anyone actually tell me a defintitive answer to the age old puzzle? My son was born in Pembury Hospital, and at the time we lived in South Tonbridge. I think that makes him a Man of Kent, but I'm not sure. It's easy for me because I'm a Lincolnshire Yellow Belly and a Meggie, that is to say born in Cleethorpes, but that's not really relevant to this debate. There is of course a society called The Association of Kentish Men and Men of Kent which, if you're really that bothered and have plenty of spare time on your hands, you can join up and debate the issue till you're blue in the face. Their number, as mentioned in the article is 01732 833374, speak to R.G. Adams or by email on radams@aol.com he probably lives in East Sussex!

The winner of the Civic Society's Design Awards....

Tonbridge Civic Society held their Design Awards last night at Somerhill House. It was a glorious evening so the 100 or so guests were treated to delightful views as they sipped some very quaffable chilled white wine on the terrace. The food was incredibly good considering that the caterers were more used to doing the school dinners at Somerhill (which is a school for its day job) and especially considering the tickets for the whole evening, including wine, were only £12 each. On to the business end of the evening, the awards themselves, and this year they were interesting, informative and even at times entertaining. John Durtnell, of the main building contractor on the winning project, Durtnell's, in particular skilfully managed to fit in a three year, £11m project into a twenty minute presentation. Not quite the ten minute slot he was allocated but, nevertheless, some going! The winning project? Tonbridge School's Sports and Media Centre. Head Master Tim Haynes, sung it's praises in a short but very eloquent speech and informed the audience that the project had been decades in the melting pot and, due to the drive of the school's Director of Sport and the out going Bursar, Ray Hart in particular, it had finally come to fruition. It's worth going along to this event, which is held about the same time every year; its good to know what the main building projects in the town have been and to hear the builders and architects speaking about them and the pride that they give them. Someone told me today that Durtnells have been a local family business since 1591! If that's true then it's uplifting to know that such a comapny can survive this long by offering a great service and being involved in some major projects like this one....

Japanese visit Tonbridge....

Just had a really strange conversation about ex-libris book plates in my shop with a Japanese girl student visiting out fair Isles. You try explaining to a Japanese person, with only a very basic command of English, why you would bother to put a label on the inside page of a perfectly sound book to claim ownership of it. It is a little odd anyway if you start analysing it. Of course she bought them anyway, at £1.99 for 12 they were a bargain, and then we had the inevitable photo session of me outside the shop holding a pile of books for effect. Why do the Japansese want to do that everywhere they go? And another thing: did you know that the Japanese are obsessed with Winnie the Pooh? Bizarre I know but, curiously, true.

Tonbridge Blog just got juicier...

Come on then let's spice up TonbridgeBlog a bit. Post your local gossip below. The juicier the rumours/stories are the better. Let's stoop to the lowest level possible. Yes that ought to get the interest levels up a notch or two. Know anything about a well known person in the town? Has anyone been up to something they shouldn't. Is the Mayor having an affair? Does John Bartram of Allsorts, have a secret stash of Gollywog dolls in his basement? Do the traffic wardens enjoy playing fetishist games in the Castle dungeon home?! There are bound to be some unpopular neighbours you can rat on out there! Here's one to start the ball rolling as it were: Pampas Grass. What does this innocent looking plant mean when displayed in a front garden? Post anonymously if you prefer....

Amazing job....

Congratualtions to the council, police and workmen who cleared up, made safe and rebuilt the attic wall on the very old building above Silverman's jewellers which suddenly collapsed recently narrowly avoiding seriously injuring someone. It has now been completed, all within three weeks and looks amazingly good. With a few months of traffic dirt on it you won't even notice that it's not 16th century....

Follow Tonbridgeblog on twitter

No I'm not closing TBlog down or anything as drastic as that but if you want to follow my twitter updates, or "tweets" as they are known in the twittershpere the simply log on to www.twitter.com and search on Tonbridgeblog. Once you've found me you can "follow" me, hopefully not literally cos that would be stalking, and if I like the look of you I can follow you back; that's how it works. While your about it you may wish to follow more interesting people with lives like Steven Fry or Jamie Oliver or Jonathan Ross, all of whom are twitter freaks. The trick is to get your tweet into only 140 characters, which can be rather annoying at times, especially since I'm used to rambling on a bit....

Happy Easter Tonbridgians....

Yes the previous posting was an April Fool prank! Had some of you going though didn't it! Nothing much to report at the moment. My mind's been on other things. I'll try to resume normal service, if you can call it that, after the Easter break. And boy do I need one, break that is. Feel free to carry on without me in the comments. You could talk about anything you like really: the traffic chaos, how parking attendants/civil enforcement officers are ruining trade in the town, are we going to allow 2o storey tower block new developments in the town centre, has anyone spotted Kelly Holmes recently, or is she still "coming down" after having sat next to Mrs Obama, the First Lady, at the State Banquet, you know that sort of thing.

Tonbridge Castle to be restored....

Tonbridge and Malling Council along with a consortium formed by English Heritage, the National Trust and Kent County Council have today announced that the medieval castle at the heart of old Tonbridge is to be fully restored to it's former glory. The architects, Messrs. G.I. Raffe and Sons, who have been appointed to the project have based their plans on the original drawings (see pictures above) which were discovered in the archives at the British Library last year. For many years the castle has been thought to have housed Henry VIII's old crown jewels in its keep and to be one of the best kept Motte and Bailey castles of its type. The old curtain wall and the battlements are already being excavated ahead of the build. The tower at the watergate will be around 200 feet high, dwarfing even the parish church tower and will provide panoramic views over the whole of Kent. Mr John Showers, the planning director responsible for overseasing the project at TMBC, said that on a clear day visitors to the castle will be able to see right across the English Channel. "The people of Tonbridge are in for a treat..." Mr. Showers said "...of course the project won't come without its costs" he added "We intend the new Tonbridge Castle to stand for the next thousand years so it will be worth every penny of the extra £650 special contribution from every household in Tonbridge and Malling. Although the people of the town won't have a choice in whether or not they pay this one off tax, I'm sure that all will agree that it will be worth it." A spokesman for English Heritage also hailed the project as "the project of the millennium" and apologised in advance for the probable three years of disruption to Tonbridge that the building work and the re-routing of the River Medway would cause. This is sure to cause a stir in the town so have your say by posting a comment below....

Telepathy-based social networking is the future....

Telepathy-based social networking? Is the future? According a report on the Gwarniad newspaper website today. Are they 'avin a giraffe or what? I suppose anything's possible but TonbridgeBlog thinks that maybe there's an April fool prankster mucking around at the national paper's editorial offices. The Gwarniad, famous for its misspelling and much mocked by Private Eye, was was sticking to its story and said that not only that but the paper would soon become a "virtual paper" along the lines of Twitter. It has to be a joke surely; but roll on another twenty years and who knows; and then who'll be laughing?!..