Lovely warming winter food if you ASK me!...

Now being a local blogger I do go out of my way to stay as independent as possible in the face of quite a few attempts for me to become, let's say, a bit more commercial in my approach. A fair few restaurants and hotel groups in particular have offered me weekends for two and meals as their guest. For the most part I say "no thanks" but last night I'm afraid I succumbed to temptation after a particularly nice invitation to eat out at ASK in Tonbridge High Street. I've mentioned before that the new manager there, Eric, seems to be a very likeable chap and, perhaps it's his half Brazilian, half Italian charm which makes him bubble over with enthusiasm. I rather like ASK anyway and Eric has introduced a few changes to the menu and talks about supporting the Cottage hospital and other local charities, so how could there be any harm in accepting his invitation?! But do you know what the real driving force for me going along last night was? Nothing to do with food at all. Previously I may have mentioned that the boiler at home has conked out on me completely and we are waiting for a replacement one; so the thought of a Friday night huddled around a small electric heater wasn't all that great versus an evening eating lovely hot food in a WARM restaurant!
My girlfriend and I arrived at around 8pm and we were greeted by the assistant manager; alas Eric had had to go home early so wasn't around for our usual chat. I wouldn't say we were treated like royalty but I sensed that we were getting a little bit of extra special attention. I'd love to be in Michael Winner's position (with his food critic hat on that is as opposed to his Death Wish one!) and be able to go to any restaurant where he is always paying the bill, that way he can say whatever he likes good or bad. But, being honest, based on last night's meal there really isn't much bad that I could say about the whole experience. Our waitress, a lovely polite girl from the Czech Republic was very attentive even before she knew we were the manager's guests. She was always willing to stand and talk about various menu options, she seemed to have tried most of the food herself and therefore was able to make informed recommendations. Similarly the assistant manager helped me choose when I started being indecisive about which main course to plump for. Of course we had to have a an aperitif didn't we and some olives and garlic bread as nibbles (well I don't get out much these days!) For starters my guest went for the Prawns al Piccante and I opted for the Mushrooms al Forno which, as the names suggest, one was spicy hot and the other was just piping hot. The piccante was absolutely superb, judging from the tiny taste I had, but a little too piccante for my taste buds so it took me several mouthfuls of the mushrooms to really appreciate the flavours. When they did finally come through they were a wonderful mixture of different Italian cheeses, garlic and pesto (in fact my mouth is watering at the mere thought of it!) Nice bottle of Moltipulciano D'Abruzzo which was not at all cold, which you do sometimes get with reds this time of year, so more points scored there; although, if I'm honest it was only the house wine and maybe I should have been slightly more daring and gone for a Chianto Classico or something. I do like to drink Italian wine with an Italian meal but maybe that's just me. My girlfriend had already chosen her main course the Rissotto Frutti Di Mare which I didn't get to taste so I'm guessing it was very good! I was torn between the Terrina Mediterranea or the Polpette al Forno and, on the manager's recommendation, went for the first choice. Again nice prompt service, not too rushed but not leaving us hungry inbetween courses. By now my feet were nice and warm for the first time all day and the wine and the beer were taking effect and the conversation was starting to flow. It was turning out to be a really nice evening. It got even nicer when I took my first taste of the Terrina Mediterranea. I'm so glad that I decided not to have the usual safe bet of a pasta or pizza dish which I often tend to go for in this type of restaurant. It sounded good and it tasted even better. What a superb fusion of flavours there was with tender chicken, king prawns, tomatoes, olives, white wine, butter beans and garlic; it was just divine. Heaven in a casserole dish! and just the right choice on such a cold night. Desserts were Tiramisu for my guest and Apple Rustica, a sort of apple crumble Italian style, for myself. A was able to get a little taste of the Tiramisu which was lovely although just a tad rich for my liking so I was glad and felt a bit smug that I'd made the right choice again. Although, I must say that the Chocolate Nemesis did sound awfully tempting! I rounded off the meal with a filter coffee which, to be truthful, was a little weak for my liking (but I said nothing in true English style! and frankly, if that was the only negative thing I could say about the whole meal, then I'll settle for that) and a small but fortifying grappa to warm me up for that long walk home back to my freezing cold house. We stopped off at the P&J on the way for a quick half pint of Hobgobblin beer and a malt whiskey chaser, which was very welcome, but I'll save that for another time....

Is Tonbridge H A P P Y????

So is Tonbridge a happy town? There's a debate going on at the moment in government circles about whether or not happiness can be measured. So what do you all think? I sometimes feel like a grumpy old git and do my fair share of moaning (often on this blog as you may have noticed!) but I wouldn't say that I'm unhappy. In fact, deep down, I'd say that I'm very happy the majority of the time. But I couldn't be sure about it as my mood changes from one day to the next. If everyone is the same what use would a survey be? Lots of comedians and people who, on the surface, seem bubbly and fun to be with end up being the depressed ones, even sometimes suicidal ones. Shouldn't we all just get on with our lives or is there anything in this assessing happiness lark?...

Moan of the week....

Generally speaking I can't complain too much about the post service BUT I am getting quite fed up of all the gumpf they keep delivering. Junk mail is one thing but the increasingly large pile of rubbish that the postman (actually woman but let's not split hairs) keeps handing me in my shop most mornings is becoming irritating. The ones pictured here, I'm not kidding, are just one day's worth. Why bother? It goes straight in the bin I don't need a pizza, sky movies, a new web hosting package or some craft materials. If I did I'd probably look on the internet or in the Yellow Pages not on some tacky leaflet that falls on my doormat. So Royal Mail: Please stop this abuse of your position and continue doing what you do best ie. delivering letters and parcels....

Sofa so good!...

What the heck was going on in Tonbridge the other day? If you saw the surreal sight of a couple on the sofa on the pavement near Botany you'd have been forgiven for thinking that you'd gone round the bend. Sounds like a cushy number to me! Actually I think they were filming for some sort of market research but being a bit laid back about it all. Pretty neat idea though and it certainly grabbed my attention....

New look Sarah Mayhew in Tonbridge....

TonbridgeBlog has noticed that Sarah Mayhew has opened up a new shop on the High Street near the corner of Bank Street. They've merged their two shops into one impressively large new one which is complete with treatment rooms, manicure desks and hairdressing chairs. It looks very state of the art and it's right in the heart of Tonbridge and they're not even paying me to say all this! I'm going in there right away for a chest waxing!...

White Christmas in Tonbridge?...

Will Tonbridge look like this by the weekend?  Well I for one could do without it, so please God can you save it until over the Christmas holidays as I've got a dodgy boiler at the moment and it's already pretty cold!...

All your Christmas shopping in Tonbridge....

It's nearly that time folks. We can put it off as long as we dare. We can pretend it's not creeping up on us. We can wait to see if the sales start early again this year, but that can be a dangerous game to play and you might end up grovelling around for the scraps at the eleventh hour. So my tip for this year is do it early, get your shopping out of the way and then just enjoy December. But when and where to do one's Christmas shopping?! What a quandry! Or is it? Tonbridge blog's guide to Christmas shopping in Tonbridge is designed to save you time and probably money. Cheaper thoughtful pressies can often be much better appreciated than more expensive things. But remember, if in doubt, chuck money at it. But better to plan ahead and save yourself some wonga. You can do all this in an afternoon or two if you put your mind to it. Start at Quarry Hill and work you way down the High Street. Actually thinking about this (with my commercial head on for a second) start at the Ivy House and walk towards the Tonbridge Railway Station; that way you'll have more to spend at Mr. Books at the start of your shopping spree! Try these:
Salon quality hair and beauty products from Sarah Mayhew or Retro Blue. Seriously also you really could do worse than poke your head into Mr. Books which is stacked full of alternative gift ideas such as local history books, signed first editions and other gems (but I won't go on about it and make this post sound like an ad for my shop!) then walk across the road and you have the shoe repairers and key cutter (has Tonbridge Blog lost it?!) where you can actually buy more than just shoe laces and polish. He sells, for example, silver and pewter cups and tankards which he'll engrave for you on the spot. Then a couple of doors on there's Bronsons newsagents where you might want to buy someone a box of chocolates, all your Christmas cards and they even stock a nice range of Havana cigars and weird and wonderful looking pipes. Over the road there's Silvermans Jewellers who do lots of nice things and can also make bespoke jewellery if you give them enough time. Gift Box do all sorts of trinckety type girly gifts, costume jewellery, bags, scarves and hats. Most of the restaurants do gift vouchers if you can't think of anything else. The new independent offie has a massive range of fine wines, world and local beers and malt whiskies to choose from. All this and we haven't even got to the town bridge yet. Then there's Waitrose for nice food and drink produce, Monsoon for chic and slightly hippyish accessories. Michalef jewellers for all manner of shiney things and those bafflingly popular charm braceletts. Then there's Sweets and Shakes who do jars of sweets and other gifty type confectionary at this time of year. Obviously there's Boots and WH Smiths for more conventional gifts. Keep walking and you've got another row of shops on Quarry Hill Parade where you'll find more hairdressers (think hair and beauty products, Wild Cherry, the tatooist, for a really off-the-wall present idea and, over the road from them, Beat n Track the music shop with a great choice of stuff from key boards to ukeleles and the finest selection of guitars in the wider area. If you still have time there's the Saturday Market for a range of stocking fillers and your Christmas fruit and veg. Have I missed anything? So you see it is possible to do all your Christmas shopping in dear old Tonbridge so why on Earth go through all the hassle of getting parked in Tunbridge Wells or Black Water?...

Tonbridge Blog is back....

Tonbridge blog has been left unmanned for the past few days but there really was no need to worry about my safety or, for that matter, my sanity. I wasn't stuck in the tunnels under the Castle whilst looking for hidden treasure, nor was I ill or injured. There were teenagers in Mr. Books over the weekend, but hopefully keeping the business going and not partying (I'll have to have words maybe!) It's nice to see so many comments being posted while I was away; perhaps I should let you all just write the whole thing and be done with it! Actually the reason for my absence was my attending the funeral of a family friend up North and I decided to make a weekend of it and stop at my Mum's for a few days. The funeral was for Ron 'Canonball' Cockerill who no one in Tonbridge has probably ever heard of; but in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area, let me tell you, the man is a legend. He was a great servant of Grimsby Town Football Club from about 1958 to 1969 and got the nickname from his extremely powerful boot which was used to great effect in a number of free kicks during his early days at the club. He was also a gent off the pitch and a great inspiration to the younger players. Grimsby are now playing in the Blue Square Premier League but, during Ron's day they played the likes of Chelsea, Man City, West Ham and the other top sides. They were never a massive club themselves but they were certainly a formidable force back then. His funeral was like a trip down memory lane with all the players I remember watching as a kid in the late sixties and seventies in attendance. Among them was ex England manager, Graham Taylor, who played for Grimsby Town from about 1962 to 1968 as a fellow defender with The Canonball. Graham gave a moving tribute to Ron during the service at Grimsby Crematorium which left everybody present wiping a tear from their eye. It was a great testament to the man that there was such a large turn out of so many ex players and friends. But to me Ron will always be my mate's dad who tried to teach me to kick a ball with my left as well as my natural right foot on the school field at the back of their house. I never did quite master it but that was probably my fault and nothing to do with the coach!

Tonbridge Priory tunnels from the Castle????

A lady just came into my shop to ask about the framed print in the window. It's a hand coloured 1735 print of Tonbridge Priory and it's just reminded me of this mostly forgotten part of the history of the town. For those who don't know the Priory stood for around 750 years on the area roughly between the Sainsbury's petrol station and the railway tracks; of course I don't think Mr. J. Sainsbury's ancestors had set up shop yet in the year 1100 and certainly the railway hadn't been thought of! All that's left of it now though, of course, are a few clues in street names such as Priory Road, Priory Street, St. Augustine's old people's home, Priory Vetinary Clinic etc. The most intriguing part of it's history for me is the bit we don't know, the bit that's just folklore and rumour. I read a book a few years back called Tonbridge Legends, written in about 1890, which has a short tale in it about a man, fuelled by drunken bravardo talk in a nearby hostelry, discovering tunnels under the castle and finding some treasure and also something so unspeakably horrific that he had to leave town right there and then, never to return. But surely that was just a made up tale with no grain of truth in it whatsoever. Wasn't it? Then I read an old guide to Tunbridge Wells, compiled in 1814, with a section on Tonbridge, or 'Tunbridge' as it then was, in it. In this section, written some 76 years earlier than Legends, it too mentions the folklore about tunnels running from the Castle to the Priory. I quote: "It is said, that there was a subterraneous passage carried under the bed of the river, from the priory to the castle, in order to supply the garrison with the necessaries in the time of distress; but I can find no warrant for this report except the uncertain voice of tradition."  That's all it says and clearly it's by no means conclusive but, nevertheless the seeds were sown in my mind that there might, just might be something in these tales. It's so frustrating that there doesn't seem to be anything else about it in any other books on Tonbridge; certainly there hasn't been in any that I've read and, believe you me, I've searched them. When I wrote the Tonbridge Community column for the Courier I mentioned this same story and, afterwards, a number of people came forward with their own version of the legend and tales of other secret tunnels emanating from the castle.  Can anyone throw any light on this lovely Tonbridge mystery....

Give us a K....

Waddaya got? So that's it then West Kent College's long awaited name change is K! Well we're all glad that we hung on long enough to witness that aren't we?! The students must have been up all night thinking that one up. Cynicism aside though sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and, after all, what's in a name? At least it wasn't KKK! Now that would have been a PR disaster. When companies are thinking up new names for themselves for their brands it's, more often than not, a case of working out which names they shouldn't or can't use than which they should. The most famous example I've ever heard of is that the French opted not to use Toyota's MR2 car model when it had been highly successful in other countries. Pourqois? Because MR2, when said with a French accent, sounds too much like merde and means something quite different in their lingo! Big companies therefore often use computer generated, none offensive names for their new products. A quick check would have revealed that there is a K Shoes brand, a lager called K and, not forgetting Special K breakfast cereal. If you watched The Apprentice this week then maybe they should have gone for Teach o nators or maybe even Octo Teach to show that they mean business and that they are multi taskers! At the end of the day though it will be how good they are at teaching and coaching their students and staff which ultimately determines how successful K College is not how good their logo looks.... 

The Perfect Scrambled Eggs....

In an idol moment this morning I read this piece on the Guardian web site about how to cook the perfect scrambled eggs. The simplicity of this favourite breakfast dish didn't stop the writer calling on the expertise of a number of top Michelin Star and TV chefs. Perhaps surprisingly each of them had their own magic version of the meal. Even more suprisingly none of them used any milk, preferring instead to opt for creme fresh, cream or nothing at all. I was moved to send in my own recipe as this is one of the very few things that I pride myself on being able to get pretty much spot on every time. I thought I'd share my version with you.... 

  

      Scrambled Eggs a la Richardson      (Serves Two Adults and two hungry kids on a Sunday Morning)

9 (yes 9) free range large eggs (Two each and one for luck)
A glug of milk (as Jamie Oliver would put it!)
pinch of salt and pepper
knob of butter
tomato ketchup

Mix ingredients except butter into a bowl with a fork just enough for it to be mixed well together. (No whisking please.) Heat up a large frying pan (with enough room to really spread out the mixture on a highish heat; add a knob of butter and watch it start to bubble. As soon as it does add in your mixture from the bowl. Leave for a minute or so until it starts to solidify a little. Then turn over with a wooden spatula (not spoon) so you can lift it easily from the edges of the pan. At this point turn the heat down to about half way down and keep lifting the now fluffy eggs from the edges and bottom of the pan. Turn the heat down to low to control the speed at which it sets and keep lifting eggs off the pan. Meanwhile make your toast and and coffee and get your daughter to get off facebook to make your breakfast bar look pretty. Lashing of butter on toast and cut two slices for each plate, laying them at angles across each other to look nice but also to stop them going soggy on the plate. Season more if you really must and serve.

That's it. Simple isn't it but also simple to mess up.

Lest we forget....

Despite the appalling wet weather I can reliably inform you that the cannon at Tonbridge Castle still works as I've just nearly jumped out of my skin twice actually. It's let off to mark the beginning and the end of he two minutes silence for Remembrance Day and it gets me every year! It's probably not a real cannon but, more likely, a firework but it's certainly loud enough to stop you in your tracks and make you think....

December Issue of The Tonbridge Insider Out Now....



November Issue

 I may have mentioned that Tonbridge Blog has a magazine cousin called Tonbridge Log in The Tonbridge Insider. It's new, it's glossy, it's ever so slightly controversial, it's fresh, it's a spread and it's out now! They also have an online version of it where you can read it as if you had the magazine in your hands using the rather nifty adobe reader if you have it....

Where to buy cd's in Tonbridge?...

Where the heck can you buy a cd from in Tonbridge these days? You remember them; they are the small circular plastic things which came before ipods! How about Woolworth's? We all know what happened to them. Bionic Records on Botany? Nope they closed about two years ago. Alright then good old WH Smith's? Them neither as it seems they have now stopped stocking them altogether. So where then? Well, apart from a patheticly small top forty-type display in Sainsbury's, absolutely nowhere. Certainly nowhere where you can find decent selection of records other than the charts stuff. I tried to buy a couple the other day and quickly realised that I'd have to make a journey to Tunbridge Wells since they have both an independent record shop, Ape Records, and also HMV megastore in the Victoria Place shopping centre. But should the people of Tonbridge have to go to TWells just to buy a cd? Shouldn't we be able to buy these fairly basic items right here in our own town? Actually, it gets worse because, to finish the story, I couldn't get any of my selection in TWells either. They said that I could order them and I said I don't come to TWells that often and not to worry about it. By now of course I'd already hatched a plan for where to obtain them. I could just save myself the bother of shopping altogether and just download them onto my ipod touch which I bought quite recently but actually, call me old fashioned, I do still like to have something tangible for my money instead of just a track listing on a screen which could crash and be lost at any time. (At least that's my fear!) Anyway it's just as easy, once you have the cd, to rip it on to i-Tunes and then I've still got the cd to play in the car and on my stereo at home. So then there's good old Amazon. I hate doing it but they've surely become the biggest trusted brand in the whole world; they seem to have everything and indeed they had all three of the cd's I wanted with free delivery. Total cost was around £18 which, by the way, would have cost me £32 if I could have found them in HMV (plus the cost of the wasted trip.) I'd still rather buy them locally if I can but it does make you think doesn't it. That said don't go buying all your books there will you!...

Fab photos from Hillview Dance Platform....



Fabulous silhouette



The Hillview School Dance Platform, held during the Tonbridge Arts Festival was a massive success (scroll down to earlier post for full details.) Tonbridge Blog has just been sent some fab photos from the event. Alas they were not taken by TB but by a professional photographer who just happens to be on the school's PTA and was attending the event. Claire Dominic Family Photography is a studio that many of you will have already heard of but she certainly deserves a big plug.




Just like watching Slumdog Millionaire!

Here are just a couple of them and you can see more in next month's Tonbridge Insider magazine, for which I'm now writing a regular page. I'm sure if anyone wants to order any of the pics from the night Claire will be happy to oblige....

Sky High rents in Tonbridge High Street??..

According to a commercial property web site 48 High Street was let to The Childrens Trust (Tadworth) for £23,000 a year and the same agent let unit 10 Angel Walk, the old John Adams bookshop for £27,500 to the Barnados charity. I'm actually a bit surpised that this information is in the public domain; you'd think that it would be a guarded secret so as not to effect their future negotiations but there you go. Now you may think that these rents are fair enough I'm not really passing comment on that. I am a little amazed though that charities, in the first case quite a small charity, can afford these rents but they must be able to sell enough stuff to make it work or I guess they wouldn't be in business. I know one thing though: I wouldn't be have a viable business if I had to pay those costs or anything like it or perhaps I'm missing a trick....