Anyone for (football) tennis?!..

Anybody wishing to make a comment about anything to do with Tonbridge can do so right here on Tonbridge Blog. You don't even have to wait till there's a relevant topic on the blog just say what's on your mind so long as it's clean and legal it won't get deleted  I promise you that. So, unlike as some have suggested, you all do have an opportunity to comment about our town right here. Failing that you could always go on that lesser known social networking site, Twitter!  One recent comment below questioned whether or not our money is being wasted on the resurfacing work being carried out at the Upper Castle Fields carpark, causing its closure for at least a week.
Funny enough I too couldn't help but noticed this. "Work" had started yesterday. Except the "work" seemed to involve the "workmen" playing a game of football tennis which was a game they'd invented with a makeshift court using a rope and plastic crates. Innovative and entertaining though it was I couldn't help but wonder how much resurfacing was actually going on and how much their game would have been costing the local tax payer! If only my camera phone hadn't run out of battery I'd have been able to capture this great example of British workmanship....

New book due out on Tonbridge....

Just had an author in Mr. Books who says he's writing a book about the history of Tonbridge. Robert Turcan has already written a successful series of Through Time books on other towns in Kent as well as books about ancient Rome (Come on do some research, that was another guy by the same name, Ed.)so I look forward to seeing his latest effort. He bought a number of postcards and a book for images of the town in days gone by; I also gave him permission to use pics and stories from Tonbridge Blog (What was I thinking? I should be charging for this stuff!) Tonbridge Through Time will be published in June this year. I'm working on him for the launch book signing event!...

The Last Bookshop....

If you've been reading this blog for a while you may remember mention of a film production company who visited my old shop a few years ago. They were a lovely bunch of guys who I could see straight off were passionately enthusiastic about the project they were working on. Within a few minutes they had persuaded me to not only do an interview about the state of the book trade as I saw it but also to have my shop featured in the film they were proposing. They were going to call the film The Last Bookshop which, in itself, was quite ominous when I come to think of it! It took, not far off, a couple of years from that point to the actual premiere of the film and it's only now that, at last, it's available for all to view on YouTube. When you watch the film, and I would urge you to do so, you might think that it's availability for internet streaming to be somewhat ironic but that's just a little aside. I've seen it three times now and each time I notice another clever bit that I hadn't on previous viewings. Without ruining it for you the basic premise is that a school boy is bored after his home holographic cinema system breaks down (I should have said that it's slightly surreal and a bit futuristic) so he is forced to go out into the great outdoors and, among the boarded up shop units he chances upon the last bookshop. And I mean it literally is the last bookshop, so it would seem, in the world. It turns out to have some wonderfully uplifting ingredients as a movie and, like all great films, also manages to be sad at the same time. I haven't even mentioned yet that my old shop, Mr. Books, when it was around the corner in Bank Street, is featured in the shop as are Halls in Tunbridge Wells and Baggins in Rochester as well as one or two others. On first viewing you would be forgiven for thinking that the whole thing was filmed in Halls as Joe, the boy in the Last Bookshop, walks in that door having stumbled across the shop. But those clever film editors have played tricks with the audience but putting together some of the best internal shots from the other shops and blending them altogether seamlessly. There are some great little touches like the stuff about the Gamazon Corporation not allowing the books to be sold because they own all the copyrights and the scene when Joe handles a book for the first time in his life and starts to try to scroll it and make it interactive like he would with his hologram machine. Bearing in mind that this was made around three years ago now some of the more far fetched ideas are becoming somewhat scarily close to reality. Whether we will ever witness the final days of the physical book and the actual last bookshop remains to be seen, and let's hope to God not, but The Last Bookshop, at the very least deserves to be watched, if only because it's entertaining. I'll have a bet though that it'll make you pause for thought on a possible scarey future I'm not sure even the darkest minds at Google and Amazon would wish for. I'm glad I agreed to take part in my own small way in the project and I wish those talented guys at The Bakery great things things in the future. Long live real books!...

There's more than a touch of Just William about the boy Joe in the film

Comparing meerkats....

You see these annoying adverts for price comparison sites where they say something like: "I went to Confused.com and I've just saved £270 on my car insurance!" Well I used to think that this must be a load of old tosh. That is until quite recently. It's fairly well known that you can save hundreds by switching your energy supplier. It's always a bit of a hassle doing this though so I usually just try and bluff my present supplier into giving me it cheaper which in fact they nearly always do. Over the weekend I opened the letter containing our renewal for our home insurance. We've been with Direct Line for many years and I doubt whether I've bothered checking this for at least four or five years and, needless to say, I was shocked to see that the premium had crept up to over £660 for home and contents. I could have just let the policy "auto renew" as they try to encourage you to do by the way the letter's worded and small wonder they do this judging by how much they stand to make by letting it roll on. So this time I decided to check online on that famous Alexander Meerkat site and within minutes I'd ascertained that I could save alot of cash. In fact the cheapest quote seemed to be around £140! I couldn't believe that there could be such a difference. The quotes did range up to about £400 for similar cover to Direct Line's. So, after a bit of tweaking here and adjustments there, I managed to get the best quote out of my present insurer of £357. A saving of over £300 on their original renewal quote for a ten minute phone call. The Meerkat didn't make any money out of me but he did help save me a packet so I thank him and I will be back.
Perhaps I'm being idealistic but it does annoy the hell out of me that you get nothing if you don't ask for it from companies who should know better and that, worst of all, you get nothing for loyalty any more. In fact, effectively, you get penalized for it. It could be too strong to say that they're ripping you off but one thing's for sure, something stinks to High Heaven about this! So my advice to anyone who's listening is spend the time reviewing your insurance and utility contracts because it really does save you a packet....

Where would you buy a house in Tonbridge?...

A lady in my shop earlier was asking me where the best streets and which are the areas to avoid in Tonbridge. She is thinking of moving here so that she's close to London and thinks it a nice looking town. This got me thinking which areas I'd look at if I were moving here again for the first time, only with the knowledge I have now. The Slade perhaps? Once a no go area it now seems to have become quite gentrified and certainly has some quirky and interesting cottages in it's little knot of streets. (Yes and, before you comment, I know that I've nicked the title of the book on the history of the Slade.)  The new houses by the River clustered around the Town Lock. Bit tightly packed for me but picturesque and handy for the station certainly. Dry Hill perhaps? With it's grand old Victorian semis no wonder that it's a very sought after area. Pembury Road? Too busy. Quarry Hill? Similarly too busy a road for me. Any other thoughts on favourite areas??..

Are things looking up for Tonbridge?...

I see that there's soon to be a new Turkish Restaurant opening at the north end of Tonbridge High Street. Not sure of the name yet but it'll be opening soon where ASK used to be. Grand Apetito opened recently to replace Antonia's/The Olive Room (not sure what happened there) also at the north end. In addition things are also looking up at the south end of Tonbridge with those entreprenurial folks who run the Avebury Avenue Fish Bar having recently opened a Mexican Restaurant next door ( El Mariachi??) I've heard good reports about that from a few customers. Then there's soon to be a Portugeese Restaurant and deli opening a couple of doors from the Mexican. Some people seem to have confidence that things are looking up. Let's hope that they're right. What I wouldn't mind seeing though is more places that do a fixed price menu. It's always reassuring to know what you're paying before you start eating. Or is that just me....

Mr. Books is the first of Tonbridge Blog's featured shops....

Now there's a suprise I hear some of you say under your breath! Here's a selection of some of the latest books on display (and for sale) at Mr. Books, 142 High Street, Tonbridge. The first in Tonbridge Blog's series of features on independent High Street shops. You can of course also go around the shop on a virtual tour via Google. Who should be featured next.....

007 at Mr. Books, Tonbridge!...

Here's the new James Bond themed Mr. Books window display. See if you can work out what that naughty 007 fella has been up to!...

How to survive in Tonbridge on a £53 a week budget....

So is it possible to survive on the £53 a week, which Iain Duncan Smith has suggested is possible, in Tonbridge? Well let's think what you could do. Here's a few tips:

Firstly: Do not be tempted to go to Tunbridge Wells or Bluewater. Too many shops and tempting, expensive junk food places.

Do go and buy a book from Mr. Books or a charity shop. This will provide your entertainment, if you choose wisely, for the whole week. You can then sell it back and get 50p towards next week's book.

Do shop at Lidl. They're not only cheap but often just as good as the other supermarkets in terms of quality. You just get less choice of brands.

Do feel like you can treat yourself to Fish and Chips at the Avebury Avenue Fish Bar. I can tell you that you won't get much better Haddock, Chips and mushy peas anywhere. And I've had a lot of fish and chips in my time! It's a very nutritious and filling meal and about the same price as a Mc D's.

Do shop at the fruit and veg stall at the arcade. Their produce is good quality and you're helping a small business and therefore the local economy. Same goes for the butchers.

Avoid Waitrose and Sainsbury's unless you are very disciplined. It's not so much that they are more expensive than Lidl and Co Op it's just that they're very crafty, devious even, when it comes to shop layout. It's easy to spend £53 on a visit even when you may have only gone in for a pint of milk! Beware!

Do make use of the park and Barden Lake/country park. Not wishing to be patronising but walking, running and cycling, even the out door gym on the park, are all free and very healthy at the same time.

Steer clear of gambling activities like the slot machine arcade and the bookies (excepting a small flutter on the Grand National this weekend obviously!)

Join a club at the Angel Centre. There's lots of them, from Tai Chi to Flower arranging and they're all pretty cheap to join.

Don't go swimming in the river. Although free and once a great source of enjoyment in Tonbridge, it's now seen as a dangerous activity and could lead to an earlier than expected death!

Take up photography and enter free competitions. There's lots of subject matter around Tonbridge from sports to wildlife, to river life and retail life. Great fun and most people have a decent camera these days with them all the time on their mobiles.

Make use of the library. Free books, free magazines and newspapers, free computer use. Nice and warm in there usually as well.

So there's just a few suggestions on how to survive in Tonbridge by not eating into your £53 a week budget too heavily. I'm sure they'll be more...

£53 a week, in Tonbridge? Are they 'avin a giraffe?!..

I see that Tunbridge Wells MP and rising star of politics, Greg Clark, has joined the £53 a week row. Work ad Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has got himself into hot water over suggesting that he could easily survive on that amount and now Mr. Clark is trying to soften the government's stance by suggesting that it would be very difficult especially for those used to a comfier existence. That bit I don't doubt so the question is whether it's possible to survive on 53 quid a week if you cut things to the bone. At first I thought this a ridiculous notion. Ridiculous until I learned that they are talking about the amount you have AFTER bills and rent/mortgage are paid. Admittedly the last family Chinese takeaway I ordered cost not far off that but then did I really need that meal. Couldn't I have chosen to shop wisely at Sainsbury's and gone for the Jamie Oliver £5 meals option instead. Of course the answer is yes. I think the £5 refers to a family so an individual's share of that is £1.25. Following that argument it would be possible to feed yourself on £8.75 a week. Add a loaf of bread, even a nice one, a few bottles of beer at £2 each (and it's possible to buy them a lot cheaper) a reasonably priced bottle of wine, fish and chips, meat and cheese for sandwiches and I still make that under £35. All of which would leave around £17 for other items. I know I'm stretching the argument to make a point but, based on this information, it would at least appear to be possible if rather uncomfortable.  But then there's household items, sweets for the kids, Christmas presents, cinema, computer games and all those other temptations that modern life throws at us.....