Get along to your Tonbridge Farmers Market....

A date for your diary especially if you like cooking seafood is the Tonbridge Farmers Market on Sunday February 10th. I can't believe that anyone hasn't yet been to this wonderful monthly market but, if you haven't, it's held on the second Sunday of every month on the car park area at to the back of Waitrose. Quite simply it's a foodie's delight. Here's the latest press release about "Scollop Sunday!" That's me calling it that not them but I don't mind if they nick the idea!

"Scallop Special

The market is always a great place to get your fresh local produce, but this time of year, with the cold water around our fabulous coast line, there's no better time to try our local sea food.

With this in mind, in conjunction with Enterprise Fisheries we are having a Scallop Special.

Gary Copeland from Enterprise said “Although most people are aware of the fabulous sea food we have it amazes me how few have cooked or eaten this fantastic Mollusca.”

To start the new season Gary will have an extra stall by his normal stall selling and giving advice about this local delicacy.

The market kitchen will also be serving up some wonderful dishes that will centre on this fantastic seafood. "

Of course if you don't care for seafood there will be around 59 other stalls to choose from. You'll probably find me over at the cheese of real ale stalls sampling their delights. If I'm honest, even for someone as supportative as me of local events, I do find the prices on some of some stalls a little on the pricey side but I think we sometimes forget just what work goes into proper food production and preparation. So actually, all things considered I don't mind paying the extra once a month because you simply cannot compare a lovingly produced, award winning pot of Seville marmalade with one bought from a well known brand at Sainsbury's. The branded one would no doubt be okay, alright, so so, average, passable but the other would be simply sublime and make you taste buds explode. Yes I'm talking about Kathy's Great Preservations stall again as partly I love her marmalades and also I love the name which has a distinctly literary flavour to it. It would be like comparing Maxwell House coffee granules in a jar, which might be quite pleasantly drinkable, with an espresso using freshly ground Arabicca beans and prepared by an experienced barista in a time honoured fashion, who knew precisely how finely to grind the beans, how evenly to tamp them and the exact moment to pull a perfect tasse. In other words no comparison....

Prince Harry, Doctor Who and Fun in the Snow....

It's been over a week since my last blog here, although not elsewhere, so I guess I'd better keep things going in case you all lose interest if you haven't already switched off or over to those other tame Tonbridge blogs. Stuff in the news at the moment? Now there's a topic if ever there was one. Any thoughts on the diplomacy of the lovely Prince Harry?! I enjoyed watching his candid interviews on BBC and Sky News but couldn't help thinking that his reference to X Box games, and him being handy with his thumbs, when talking about killing the enemy was more than a little tactless. Those were my thoughts but what about yours?
More local issues: did anyone attend the Jane Austen talk last night at the Angel Centre? I intended to go but couldn't make it in the end. Did they prove beyond doubt that Ms. Austen lived and breathed in our town? Or does it remain just frustratingly highly likely that she was here but no actual proof? If only I had a time machine!
And speaking of which I received my 11 ft Doctor Who style scarf yesterday in the post just in tie for another cold walk home. So if you think that you've seen Tom Baker walking along Tonbridge High Street, looking 30 years younger, it's probably just me. The best thing about this scarf, other than the sheer quality of it, is the supplier's name is Timelord Knitwear! Actually they supply lots of Doctor Who societies around the world and generally their scarves are 15 ft but I thought I'd go for a more manageable length.
The snow can be fun as I witnessed on my Sunday walk over to Lambs Bank near the back of Mabledon Farm. The sledges, boards and even sheets of cardboard were out in force as children and quite a few grown ups hurtled their way to near death collisions with the fence and stile at the foot of the hill! My kids are far too cool and teenager-like to bother these days so there was a side of me that felt quite sad and nostalgic as I watched the fun. I've pretty much had enough of the snow though now. Well not so much the snow as the slush and ice which go hand in hand with it. You see we just don't seem to be able to cope with it not being used to the cold weather and all. I for one feel very nervous driving anywhere in these conditions as most places off the beaten rack are like driving on an ice rink. The main roads are pretty much clear but what's the use in that if you glide into a neighbour's car while trying to get out of your own street?! Think I'll stick with Shank's Pony for a bit longer....

Looks a bit Saucy: Mr. Books window display #5

I don't normally go in for blatant advertising on this blog but worth mentioning that Mr. Books has another, potentially award winning, window display which, rather bravely, has a mannequin in it sporting a silk bra Shock horror! The girl from the chinese takeaway next door was tickled by this and asked me, jokingly, if it was Superwoman! (Which sounded very funny the way she said it.) But no it's actually part of a Haberdashery-themed window which was an idea my wife spun me. I must admit that I wouldn't have necessarily gone for this one without a little gentle persuasion on her part but, now I see it, I do think it's another triumph! (that's a bra joke in case you're a bit slow today!) I'd love to bring you pictures of this needleworking masterpiece but, alas, Google blogger is experiencing problems with picture uploading this week. Maybe you'll have to come along for a proper live look instead. I dunno, perhaps even buy a book or two while you're here! There's up to 50% thousands of books for another week or so as well....

Music to someone's ears in Tonbridge....

Will this shop unit ever open up again as a going concern?

HMV closing doesn't directly effect Tonbridge High Street you'd think, I guess other than the question of where now to go to buy a real music cd. Not that HMV were exclusively selling cd's. No, indeed they were selling all kinds of things the last time I looked in there. I actually went in to buy a couple of particular records if they had them; they were the sort that you'd have expected to find in a bigger record shop. But, oh no, they could order them in for sure. But then what's the point of that. In that case I may as well have sat at home and ordered it rather than have to raipse all the way back to Tunbridge Wells again. They did have a selection of music books, lots of chart dvd's, a headphones section, even some i-pods. I didn't realise that they stocked all those other things and it might have been handy if I'd needed any of them. But I didn't. In fact I left the store feeling a little let down and thinking that here was a once great store who seemed not to have a clue what its identity was. I'm not saying it was easy for them to survive in the current economic environment but those where my observations a few weeks ago. As far as Tonbridge is concerned though I'd say that HMV's troubles present someone with an opportunity. There's no record shop in the town since Bionic Records closed a couple of years ago and, surely, I cannot be alone in wanting an actual physical cd, rather than downloads, to play music with. I no longer want to rely on the dreaded amazon since finding out their position on payment (or, more accurately, non-payment) of British taxes so where do I go? You see, it's like books, many people still like to go out, shop and browse for their music. It's all about that moment when you find something you weren't expecting, a record you didn't necessarily go to the shop for, which strikes a chord, brings back a memory. You buy it and come out feeling good that you've obtained something which will give you hours of pleasure. I'd suggest a similar kind of business to the one Bionic had in fact as I know that they didn't close through lack of customers but, more, through not wanting the mill stone of having the shop around their necks for another five years of the lease; after 30 years in the business who can blame them? But for some twenty or thirty something with a love of music, who has a bit of a nose for trading (because you'll need one) I'd say give it a go. In fact I'm open to giving the right person a bit of advice and perhaps even backing the enterprise so convinced am I that it would be popular in Tonbridge. You wouldn't even have to call it Mr. Records alhough, I must say, it strikes the right note with me!...

Things are looking up despite Jessops closure....

No time for last minutes bargains to be swept up

Okay, I admit, I usually struggle to get going in the new year. It seems to take me a few weeks to get over the anti climax of the festive season and just get back into my normal stride. There's still loads of mince pies and Christmas cake left over and enough malt whiskey to last until the next general election. Come to think about it that may be sooner than we previously thought so I better get drinking! One thing that seems to never change though is the contsant threat of imminent shop closures. The latest of course being Jessops, the photographic retailer which was established in the 1930s. I remember buying my first proper camera from their New Oxford Street flagship store in the 1980s when I worked in that area. How proud I was of my Olympus compact and it rewarded me with loads of stunning prints. But in the 25 or so years which have passed times have changed for ever and customers seem to be happy to let household names go by the way side to let the new age retailers on the interweb take over. I passed Jessops this morning on my way into work because I felt sad for them, sad for the High Street in general and sad for the employees whose livelihoods are being effected. I also admit that a small part of me wanted to get in the shop and buy that Canon EOS 600D SLR, at a large discount of course, which I've been pondering over for far too long. It seems that I haven't been alone in my pondering; camera usage has increased dramatically over the last five years but this increase has largely been with inbuilt cameras on mobile phones and, more recently, so called smartphones. I'm afraid I am guilty of this and have thought how nice it would be to have an SLR but, then, would I have got my £600 worth of use out of it? Probably not, so I held off buying one until I could easily afford one; that turned out to be too late for Jessops. That said the recession clearly paid its part in the store group's sudden closure. Some of you may find it surprising that I'm ever the optimist though. Yes I really am. For what my opinion is worth, and this is based partly on my day to day observations of shoppers over the last few months compared with other years, I think we have seen the worst of this recessionary period. Shoppers are fed up with the doom and gloom and won't hold off buying things forever. Eventually you have to replace the dishwasher, the leaking kettle and the garden fencing. Then you'll go out and treat yourself to that pair of designer jeans or Nespresso coffee machine because, as economists say, in the long run we're all dead! So my predictions for New Year are: the economy will grow around 2%. Retail sales will be markedly up on 2012 full year by the end of 2013. The stock market, led by another tech shares surge, will rise by at least 20%. House prices will start to show a steady increase as more new buyers decide that they need somewhere permanent to live. Finally the printed book will make a resurgence as people realise that kindles and other electronic tablets are a souless way to read a beautifully created story. Well I can at least live in hope on that one!...

New Year Resolutions....

After a very refreshing New Year break on the beautiful wild Lincolnshire coast Tonbridge Blog is back in the Garden of England feeling enlivened (if a little hung over.) It wasn't all partying for me though over the festive period, oh no I won't be accused of that. In fact I worked for most of it. I also did alot of visiting of family and friends as is right and proper. Oh and I also dug deep and did quite a few grueling 4 or 5 mile runs. Actually rather pleasant ones along the seafront. That leads me on nicely to mention a couple of events for the diary this year. The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon is on Sunday, February 24th and The Tonbridge Half is later in the year on September 22nd. Having lapsed a little in the second half of last year, I'm starting to train for these now although I'm not sure I fancy the TWells one as it is more than a bit hilly in places. The course record is just over 4 minutes but I'd be pleased if I cracked two hours. So New Year for me is about setting a few fitness challenges and personal goals and actually meaning it and setting an action plan in order to achieve my realistic objectives. On the other hand I might just go down the pub! Here's to you all meeting your own personal goals in Tonbridge and beyond . Realise your dreams in 2013. Hey, that (almost) rhymes....