Tonbridge Gateway....

Now I'm not one to just have a moan for the sake of it but.... You always know there's a big BUT on the way when someone opens a sentence like that. But I have just had a nose in the new Castle offices and tourist information and can tell you that they must have spent a pretty penny on the whole thing. Actually I'd like to know just how much. It seems particularly galling that the council, and by this I think I mean both our borough council, TMBC, and our county council, KCC, are spending this amount of council tax payers money on seemingly lavish new designs and desks, which no doubt they call "customer interface positions" just at a time when most people are cutting back severely or having the real threat of job losses hanging over them. This is what it says on the Kent County Council's web site about this new concept they are calling "Gateway" which they plan to roll out across the whole of Kent by the look of it:

"Gateway draws selected retail concepts into its vision for improving access to public services.
Today's innovative retail spaces deliver both an holistic customer experience and community ethos, not simply measured by 'consumer choice' or 'sales'. We aim to make Gateway a model that delivers public services, alongside any other transactions customers may wish to make...."

Retail concepts! And here's me thinking that the council were suppoosed to serve us the tax payer, it now seems that they want to improve their "retail" environment in order, presumably to extract even more of our hard earned cash out of us. I don't think I'd feel any better or worse about going to pay my council tax bill or parking fine in a spanking new office with a state of the art lift or the old oak pannelled one, I'm going in to pay a bill for goodness sake! One of the retail concepts that they site as justification for their revamped brand image is the banks spending of £100 million on branch refurbishments to which has been proven to lead to higher performance. This must have been written before the recent collapse of the banking system otherwise no one could have been paid to write this utter drivel. Another example they quote as having inspired the change is the Discovery Channel Store in Washington DC as having "breathed new life into museums." It beggars belief that they think that people want this kind of experience for our museums, let alone our council offices. Why stop there why not use the Disney Channel stores as further proof that the concept will work. What next? shall we replace statues of Winston Churchill with Mickey Mouse?! It's worth reading what they actually say on this:

"Discovery Channel Store in Washington DC creates a powerful social and educational experience. This 'social retail' revolution has breathed new life into museums making them accessible to wider communities around the world."

They have erected new signs everywhere around the castle and built a new extention to the thousand year old structure which, admittedly, looks nice but you have to say rather out of place with it's modernist architecture. The tourist information, apart from the new desks I've already mentioned seems smaller and devoid of, well, tourist information apart from a few leaflets on the wall like they already had before this multi million pound face lift. I think I've told you what TonbridgeBlog feels about all this and I'm sure that in an easier economic climate they could have got away with it unscathed, but surely I'm not the only one who feels that this revamp is totally over the top, totally badly timed, totally ill advised and a total waste of our money....

Tonbridge Civic Society: Seven quid well spent....

The Tonbridge Civic Society have published their 2009/10 programme of talks and visits alongside their latest newsletter. If you are a member you should by now have had one drop onto your doormat. If not you can always look on their website, although wait a few days as they don't seem to have updated it yet to include the programme. A temporary oversight I'm sure! TonbridgeBlog can tell you though that the first talk will be held in the usual venue of the Angel Centre Riverside Lounge at 7-30 (if you want coffee and a chat) for an 8pm start, Tuesday September 22nd, on the subject of West Kent College's new campus. Chris Hare, the college's Vice Principal, will be telling the society's members all about the progress of the new £85 million development and its likely contribution and impact on Tonbridge. Non members are welcome at all their meetings so, if you've ever wondered about what those concerned, mainly older folk of Tonbridge Civic Society do, then this is your chance. You might even be moved enough to part with the 7 quid annual membership fee (steady on now this is a recession you know!)

Tonbridge dog wardens: New fines stink....

I've just had a conversation with an outraged Tonbridge dog owner who has just noticed the new signs up at the park and he castle lawns warning that dog wardens can issue on the spot fines of £80 to dog owners caught with their dogs off the leash in these areas or indeed if they are caught letting them foul in these areas. He's hopping mad about the size of these fines, which let's face it to many people would be pretty significant but what does the rest of Tonbridge think about this? Being a non-dog owner I can see both sides of this argument; on the one hand it is a bit steep if you forget to scoop up the poop or haven't noticed the signs but on the other it will help clean up the parks and make for more responsible pet owners. A five or ten quid fine might not work but 80 quid ought to make most people be a bit more careful. It might depend on whether or not the wardens excercise any discretion or are they, like the parking attendants, on quotas. No dog jokes please....

A few weee facts for you....

On holiday in Cornwall I visited the the Eden Project, which is an amazing place where you can experience the world's climates all in one place. You can see tropical plants, see banana and coffee and rice growing and then walk into a different biome (that's the name they give those giant bubble wrap domes you may have seen pictures of) and see California vineyards and Mediterranean flowers. Now as most Tonbridge primary school children know there is also a giant sort of sculpture called the WEEE Man at the Eden Project which really did make me think. As you can see from the picture it is about 30 to 40 feet high and very skilfully made up of old bits of electrical equipment, everything from fridges and microwaves to laptops and computer mice (its teeth in fact if you look closely!) The amazing thing about the WEEE Man, which by the way stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, is that it represents the waste of just one person in their lifetime, a staggering 3.3 tonnes of it! And if you start to think about it it's true; we, or should that be weee, humans in the West throw away an amazing amount of stuff, often when there's nothing wrong with it. A washing macnine here that was more expensive to fix than it was to replace, a scrappage scheme car there because we got £2,000 for an old banger, a mobile phone because they were offering a free upgrade. You know the sort of stuff. I'm as guilty as most on this but the WEE Man brings home the sheer waste of it all in an impactful, and I might even say embarassing way. I tried to assuage my guilt in the shop on the way out of the Eden Project by buying a stapler which I now use almost every day at least a couple of times. The cool thing about this "eco-stapler" is that it doesn't use any staples. Yes that's right it is staple less! It works simply by punching a small hole in the sheets of paper and then folding a bit back in on itself. As it says on the packaging if everyone in UK offices saved just one staple a day that would be a whapping 72 tonnes of metal saved each year. And all of this is before we get started on food waste, on books thrown out, on plastic bags etc. etc. etc. Has TonbridgBlog gone all greener than thou?! Not really, well ok a bit, but just thought it was worth mentioning, interesting if nothing else....

Christmas Ice Rink at Tonbridge Castle?...

Seems a bit early in the year to be talking about Christmas but I did promise that I'd mention something on TonbridgeBlog so here goes. A Tonbridge resident, who can name herself if she wishes to, is lobbying the borough council to install a temporary ice rink on the Castle lawn over the Christmas period. Not a bad idea I thought when she mentioned it to me last week; might draw in a few shoppers and liven the centre of town up a bit. I'm pretty sure that technically it could be done as there are many examples of such installations. As I recall last winter was so cold we could have skated on the river but I wouldn't recommend it most years. What does the rest of Tonbridge think?...

John Adams really closing this time....

I understand that it's now official that John Adams bookshop are to close in September after a stay of execution which gave them another six months in business. So Mr. Books will, for a time at least, become the only independent bookshop in Tonbridge. Gosh, what a responsibility! No doubt this is a sign of the times with amazon, the internet and e-books snapping at our heels. I wouldn't envy anyone opening another inde new bookshop right now unless as a labour of love. There is a rumour though that a group of people are thinking of doing just that; good luck to them. You heard it here first. In the meantime a little known fact is that Mr. Books can order in any new books currently in print as well as all the rare and secondhand stock. In fact I've been doing more and more of that since Adams first announced they were closing in March this year. So don't just give in and buy them on amazon or from Sainsbury's. Help a local business to survive. What's that you say? You don't mind if Mr. Books goes the same way as John Adams. Well that's just charming isn't it!...

Lay off the Mr. Books bike....

Someone's got it in for the Mr. Books delivery bike! First some young lads were spotted riding up and down Tonbridge High Street, with one of them in the basket at the front, at 2 in the morning. Ok that was quite funny looking back on it and no real damage was done other than the lost pedal. Now some mindless idiot has kicked the back wheel so hard that it is buckled beyond repair. I now have to wheel it on the front wheel only whilst lifting the back wheel off the ground otherwise it sounds like an old tank coming down the road. What is it when young people get a drink inside them? They suddenly turn into thugs, vandals, hooligans and other names of old warring tribes I can't think of right now. Maybe it's related to the youth unemployment figures which, I understand are currently one in six. Surely it can't be jealousy I mean it's not exactly a £2,500 Marin mountain bike now is it? If I catch the little blighters I be delivering them somewhere, like the council tip where they belong!...

The last remaining Tunbridge Ware maker....

Some of you may have noticed a middled aged, rather laid back looking fellow walking around Tonbridge High Street and the park. Actually you more likely have noticed his fluffy white poodle. Peter Benjamin (I think that's his name) comes into Mr. Books in Tonbridge every so often for a chat on his way to walk the dog. Why do I mention him? Well it just so happens that Peter is the last surviving Tunbridge Ware maker and restorer in Tonbridge and he is a fascinating man to talk to particularly if he's talking about this secret craft of unique marquetry. Apparently the manufactuer of Tunbridge Ware did indeed start in Tonbridge to supply the growing desire for souvenirs which had developed around the Wells from the late 17th Century onwards. I believe I'm right in saying that the oldest and the biggest maker was George Wise who used to be situated on the north side of the town bridge about where Pizza Express in now. Later on there were manufacturers in Tunbridge Wells, Brighton and most probably Bath and every other place that it would sell. Then it spread to other towns around the world like Sorrento who tried to copy the tecniques which remain, to this day, shrouded in secrecy. Putting very simply indeed they string a load of different coloured woods together to make a pattern and then cut it into blocks so that they can repeat the pattern to enable them to make several similar boxes of pieces of furniture. It was, and is, a painstakingly process as the designs became ever more intricate. The early pieces are now highly collectable and worth, in some cases many thousands of pounds at auction. You can see a sizeable collection housed in Tunbridge Wells Museum if you wish to discover more on the subject. I'm not sure whether or not Peter has an apprentice but he certainly should as otherwise the craft may well leave Tonbridge forever in the not too distant future....

Mr. Books Cornwall branch?!..

Back from a wonderful trip to Cornwall. Very wet at times but that's the English summer for you! I did manage to get some surfing in at a lovely little cove called Porthtowan and some culture at the Minnack Theatre, which is carved into the cliffs near Lands End, and the Tate St Ives. Very relaxing and made me think I might yet open that Mr. Books Cornwall branch! I always get these holiday blues but don't worry I'll soon get over them. Pictures to follow unless at least five commenters say nooooo don't do it!...