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?...