Apparently the Head Honcho of the British Army was in town today. That's the top man himself who we all know is called, oh now what's his name? Is it still Sir Richard Dannatt or has General David Richards taken over yet? That is according to my inside sources, namely a burly looking copper, who'd been drafted in for the occasion, who happened to walk into my bookshop. No doubt he was checking for explosive devices amongst the true crime section! Only just now, a few minutes ago, and much to the annoyance of those Tonbridge workers who'd tried to make a quick getaway from their offices to be home in time for the Six o'Clock news, who found themselves sitting in their cars for 15 minutes while a parade of young boys playing soldiers marched by. Actually I was quite impressed with the whole thing: never in Tonbridge has so much been owed by so.... (now stop that nonesense, Ed.) I didn't hear the Red Arrows flying over, as had been rumoured, nor the Apache Helicopter for that matter but, nevertheless, it's not every day we see such a show of military mites in the town! (That's a play on words in case you didn't geddit)....
4 comments:
Perhaps I'm missing the point here, TB, but I can't quite see what the big deal was about the presence of the army top man in Tonbridge. I'm sure it had more to do with what Tonbridge School had to offer than the town itself. Unless of course they're short of volunteers, and the policeman that came into your shop was sizing you up to see whether you were worthy of taking the "Queen's Shilling"!
Paul Bailey: Surely the school is part of the town and it's not everyday that the army's top brass comes to Tonbridge. I suppose missing our bins was a small price to pay to help prevent a terrorist attack in our town. The event was actually to mark the CCF's (that's Combined Cadet Force) 150th Anniversary; the event was attended by schools from all over the wider district and not just the priveleged few at Ton School if that's what you are driving at. As for TBlog taking the Queen's Shilling these days I can just about manage to listen to Queen on the radio and that's about all....
TB, if we're talking here about Tonbridge School, yes physically the buildings are part of the town, but the school itself is light years removed from the type of lives led by the vast majority of the town's inhabitants.
I'm not saying that is necessarily a bad thing; but merely stating a fact. Like I said, the army top brass were visiting Tonbridge School, and NOT the town itself.
As for removing litter bins, surely that's a bit old hat now that Irish Republicans have turned their backs on the "armed struggle"; or are we talking about other extremist groups here? As a council tax payer I would be more interested in who actually picked up the tab for this operation? I would like to think it was the cash-rich Tonbridge School, rather than the over-taxed inhabitants of the town. Something tells me though that this may not have been the case!
I'd imagine that Kent Highways (ie. KCC) would have picked up the tab for the bin removal as they are responsible for the pavments as well as the roads. So at least we shared the cost with the whole of Kent, who were probably quite oblivious of the fact!...
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