We've all read about Perfect Platters closing down after about ten years trading super size sandwiches next to the Police Station, and the shop unit, which was formerly the insurance brokers, has lay vacant for quite some time; but I'm also hearing other bad news for the South end of town. A reliable source tells me that Graham's hairdressers is about to shut it's doors for the last time, the guitar shop is thinking the same way and even the cop shop itself is rumoured to be closing in about three years time. Don't arrest me for suggesting the last one but that's what Tonbridgeblog has heard on the grapevine. How it would be possible to effectively police the town without a proper station is beyond me. Mind you they already close at 8pm for the evening which also defies all logic to me so I suppose illogical decisions happen all the time. Perhaps the police chiefs in their ivory towers have worked out a way of keeping all crime in the daytime by asking burglars to politely refrain from their activities after dark! I digress, because we were talking about shop closures weren't we.
On top of the recent closure of Homebase, I also hear that B&Q are closing soon enough. Now you'd think that, in the absence of the local completion, the DIY chain'd be raking it in (no pun intended!) but apparently not. By all accounts the store is screwed! (Pun definitely intended!) Even Halfords, it is rumoured, are also considering wheeling away from our fair town. I for one will be devastated if this happens as I am a frequent visitor to the bike hut there and find the staff incredibly helpful on all matters bikey. On the bright side though we are getting a drive through McDonalds so we can all console ourselves by sitting on our backsides in the Drive Thru and going large!
