Olympic Banners a waste of time? (and Money)

It's been a wonderful summer of sport but did we really need all that bunting and those dirty great banners draped across Tonbridge High Street to tell us that?! Or am I just being a miserable sod for having a(nother) dig at the council who, no doubt, spared no expense in putting up these things. Afterall the Olympics hardly needed advertising did they? So what exactly was the point of the banners then??..

Olympic Window Competition....

The winning window in the Tonbridge Olympic window competition was.... wait for it.... this by Country Gardens. In the words of the owner: I have been doing it for long enough so I ought to know what I'm doing! And she certainly seems to. There were lots of other great efforts. Apart from Mr. Books' 1948 style effort of course there was The Gift Box and lots of others. Not a winner but I particularly liked Bonners who had actually madea bit of carpet with the Olympic rings set in it. A bit of fun for traders and shoppers. We should do another one soon. Ideas? Best Halloween window. Bonfire Night. Christmas. Autumn and seasons. Any other thoughts anyone??..

Tonbridge Farmers Market Coming up....

Tonbridge Farmers Market 9th September and then......

Second Sunday of every month.

Sovereign Way, Tonbridge TN9 1RG

9.30am – 1.30pm

You know what they say: Use it or lose it!...

Surfing Scenes from Cornwall....

Because I'm still in holiday mood I thought I'd share this pic with you. It's certainly one way of beating the holiday traffic queues when you want to be first in the surf!..

The Facts about Tonbridge High Street Accident....

Car around 2-30 in the early hours blaa blaa crashed blaa blaa metal signpost. Blaa blaa police hot pursuit blaa blaa young driver blaa blaa drink? blaa blaa drugs? Heck of a mess blaa blaa road closures blaa chaos blaa blaa traders moaning blaa new sign blaa new road blaa blaa unanswered questions blaa blaa chunky police report blaa blaa forget about pedestrianising Tonbridge High Street blaa blaa huge repair bills blaa blaa who pays for that then? blaa blaa blaa....

The New Look Tonbridge Station

What does everyone think about the new railway station frontage? I'm yet to see inside the building but will report my findings when I do. Not sure it'll make the trains arrive any quicker but, hey, you'll have a nicer experience whilst you are waiting! (Right commuters?!) Naturally a picture should appear along with this post but I haven't got around to taking one yet. Just go and have a look for yourselves if you're that bothered....

Car-nage in Tonbridge....

This was the sorry scene that greeted me when I arrived at Mr. Books this morning. Twisted traffic lights, sand and debris strung right across the road near the Chequers Inn. Highways lorries and workmen clearing up the mess, police tape cordoning off the road, several police cars and an ambulance. Was this the Pedestrianise Tonbridge group taking direct action? I thought to myself for a brief moment! If so it was a pretty effective way of clearing the cars, buses and lorries from the centre of Tonbridge. Trouble though is that it was a scarey reminder of how quiet it would be without the vehicular traffic as it you could hear a paper bag blowing down the street. In fact is was almost as silent as the West End of London during the Olympics!

Apparently though it had nothing at all to do with Tonbridge activists and everything to do with someone careering off the road and into said traffic lights at around 2-30 this morning. The road is still closed off at the time of writing; so that's a heck of a long time to clear up some mess. I don't know whether or not anyone was hurt in the incident but an ambulance did arrive a few minutes ago. Come to think about it that's a bit of a delayed reaction if it happened in the early hours! Hope all is okay and that I'm not being too flippant if it was more serious than a traffic light being demolished....

Boogie on Down in Cornwall....

And for those of you who didn't guess from the photo that I was on holiday the last two weeks no prizes or points. Yes I've been off on my annual trip to my spiritual home of North Cornwall. I love the crashing waves that come off the Atlantic in that part of the country; they make me feel so alive. And, I can tell you I certainly spent a large part of my time there in them swimming and bodyboarding. If anyone thinks that that bodyboarding, or boogie boarding as it's sometimes known, is just for kids sploshing about at the shore then have a look at me in action on this YouTube clip. Good to be back of course although I'd be lying if I said that I couldn't have managed another couple of weeks there....