P Off Joke....

I hate to start the day with a moan but, waiting 25 minutes at the swanky, newly refurbished Post Office in Angel Walk, when I was running late anyway, really isn't acceptable. They have a "greeter" on the door like it's some sort of conference hotel or something, they have a new take-a-ticket when you walk in system, it all looks lovely, you can sit down while you wait instead of queuing. It all sounds great until you realise that there are still only 3 counters out of 9 staffed. It's Saturday morning for Pete's sake! I feel a little sorry for the staff who seem almost embarrassed about the new "system" so I didn't give them too much of a hard time. If only though, I told them, they'd spent the thousands of pounds that must have coughed up for the refurb, on more staff. It's no laughing matter but it is a joke....

A Pretty Penny Spent....

It's come to something when someone is willing to pay £120,000 for a couple of public loos hasn't it. £120k? Yes that's right. Now that's a pretty penny to spend isn't it! That's, apparently how much the toilets on the Ridgeway and Lambert's Yard went for at auction last week when the council sold them off. What are the developers going to do with them one wonders? Open a WC museum? Or maybe a laboratory (or should that be lavboratory?!) on new flushing mechanisms, or soft wipes? No, I suspect that the answer is somewhat less amusing. It's likely that the Lambert's Yard lav, next to the Scout Hut, will become a retail unit or office; and the Ridgeway bog, which I never knew existed, it's probably very fragrant and ex-directory being at the posh end of town, will be turned into a couple of small dwellings. The passing of the public loo, it seems to me, is a very sad trend indeed. Let's hope that the good visitors to our lovely town aren't caught short before they can get to the loos opposite the Railway Station, which is far enough from Lambert's Yard but, I fear, just unrealistically too far to grimace and hold it in all the way from the Ridgeway. Except of course I've just remembered the sanctuary of the latrines by the Castle. Now there's a relief! At auction? Now they would fetch a pretty penny!

Sorry but I just couldn't resist quoting that famous bit of graffiti which no self respecting public lavatory wall would be without:

Here I sit broken hearted
Paid a penny but only.... (that's enough of that, Ed.)

Pedestrianisation....

The High Street is back to normal and there's been an immediate uplift in trade at Mr. Books. Could just be the weather or Spring being in the air but I reckon it's more than a coincidence....
btw keen observers will note the spelling of "Pedestrianisation" or should that be "Pedestrianization" Look I run a bookshop so surely I can indulge in a little pedantry now and then!

Not sure Tonbridge town centre ready for pedestrianization....

So how is everyone enjoying Tonbridge's temporary one way system? I personally have got quite used to it. It's a lot more quite, that's for sure, and it feels less polluted, although I have no proof for that other than not choking so much as I walk along the High Street. Unfortunately what goes with that is that trade in my shop is massively down, which could be the weather, the recession or several other factors but generally when it's this obviously, sudden and dramatic then it's something out of the ordinary and the road works causing the one way system are the only thing I can think of. The only period that I can compare it to was when I had scaffolding outside Mr. Books for about six weeks and suffered a similar fall off in trade. The perception of shoppers seems to be that the town centre is a place to be mostly avoided at the moment if they can help it. So shoppers are maybe waiting for normal road conditions to be restored before shopping in Tonbridge again and, most probably, that means that they are spending their hard earned pounds elsewhere by going to The North Farm, Tunbridge Wells, London or Bluewater.
So to those people who are campaigning for Tonbridge High Street to be pedestrianized Tonbridge Blog says "Hm, not sure."

Doctors Appointments....

Is it my imagination or is it much harder to get a Doctor's appointment these days? The receptionist in my experience, has always been the, sort of, "blocker" when it comes to seeing your family doctor but these days it seems almost impossible. Not that long ago I wanted to see my Doctor about something fairly minor (as it turned out) but it was worrying me alot before I knew that so I deemed it necessary to see him. Now I reckon that I've been to the Doc's, for myself, not counting for children's ailments, maybe six times in the 25 years I've lived in Tonbridge so I'm not exactly a drain on the NHS. So when I was standing at the Doctor's reception ( tact and diplomacy prevents me from naming the practice) asking to see my doctor any Monday in the next month or so I was expecting to just put a date in my diary, perhaps even be seen there and then, or that afternoon maybe. "No." I was told flatly. "Well then, what about next Monday?" I replied. "No we can't do that...." said the receptionist "...we reserve Mondays for appointments made on the day by telephone." By now I'm starting to feel like tearing my hair out whilst calmly explaining that Monday was the day when my shop is closed and that I really didn't mind if the appointment was several weeks hence. "Sorry you'll have to make the appointment by phone, I'm afraid." She was quite adamant. "But I'm standing here now!" Came my last desperate appeal to her sense of reason. All I got was a shrug of the shoulders. Essentially, rather than make the appointment whilst standing right there in front of her, the Doctor's receptionist was telling me I had to go home, and telephone, which, by the way, generally takes ten minutes, minimum, to actually get through to find out if I could get an appointment. There was no online system or email appointments system. I'm not knocking doctors and medical staff but this system just seems farcical. So is it just me? Or a sign of the decline in the NHS?...

How to teach blogging to kids....

Slade School have asked me to do a session on blogging for an IT group of children. Do I know anything? Come to think of it, I've never really tried to analyse it before now. I just sort of start writing and either vent my spleen or say something funny, depending on what mood I'm in. Keep it short and funny and eye-catching is my first thought by way of advice. But do I even take heed of my own advice? Why do I want to teach an army of school kids to enter this murky world we call the blogosphere?! I'll do my best for them!...

Body found in Medway....

I saw on the Meridian TV news last night that a body has been found in the Medway at Tonbridge. Sadly it looks like this is that of missing person Kieron Knowlden as this link to Kent Online seems to confirm. It was looking like this would be the case but I'm sure it's still devastating beyond belief for Kieron's family. It's not like Tonbridge Blog to go all sentimental but my heart goes out to them....

Hall's Bookshop welcomes Adrian Harrington as new owner....

On Sunday I heard a rumour that the famous Hall's bookshop in Tunbridge Wells has been bought out by an even more famous bookseller. So yesterday, since I was in our upstart daughter town, I went along to Hall's to investigate. As it happens both the current owner and the next owner happened to be there and were able to confirm it. So it is true Hall's is being taken over by Adrian Harrington's, currently of Kensington Church Street in London. Apparently Mr Harrington has been looking to move out of Town for sometime now and one of his key employees also happens to live out T. Wells way. So cut your overheads, move your books over and come and enjoy the life out in the sticks. All seems to make perfect sense to me. I tell you it'll be worth visiting the new Hall's/Adrian Harrington's in a few weeks, once they've set up, just to marvel at the beautiful books they'll have in there. I've visited Harrington's in London, quite recently actually, and some of the individual books on display there would almost certainly be the value of my entire stock. Seeing really is believing. Perhaps Mr. H will want to come along to Mr. Books and stock up on some cheaper books that he'll need for the passing trade he's probably not used to. Perhaps he'll buy me out in, let's say five years time. Asking price about £250,000 or, to him, a set of signed Ian Flemings!....

Hall's Bookshop
Adrian Harrington

The good old interweb....

Blimey I've been quiet on here of late but don't worry my twitter fingers have been quite active so, if you want to see what's up in Tonbridge you can always take a look there @tonbridgeblog is of course my handle. Is that right "handle" or is it name, or feed or something edgey and internetty perhaps like i-name or e-name?? Anyway have a butchers there.....