Booky Marky blog

.....it'll probably come in weekly instalments, a bit like Charles Dickens used to do with his part works contained in those lovely Vict...

...As Elton John once sang. I'm still attempting to sell books and it still beats working in an office! Have a great Christmas everyone...

How times have changed since this wartime government backed poster. I just chanced upon it in a book I got hold of recently and was stru...

Okay, apart from the fact that I'm called Mark and work with books, (well, let's make that books are my life shall we!) it seemed li...

Snowy scenes in the village Moon over the houses Wood for the fire. It's nippy up north! Chopping logs is the new ...

Here's a photo of a seal and its pup at Donna Nook, which is a lovely place this time of year, on the NE Lincs coast. The seals think th...

I'm now living in exile in North East Lincolnshire in a small village. Whether the quiet eventually drives me insane remains to be seen....

That's it then. The last day in Mr. Books is almost half over as I write. Lots more on Twitter about this for anyone interested. I'...

And now the news you've all been dreading.... Tonbridgeblog will be moving up north very shortly. By the end of July for good and in dri...

This curious fellow I met in Chiddingstone didn't have a lot to say for himself!   Funny who you meet out in the countryside!

I bought one of these at the Tonbridge Farmers Market from a chap who claimed that it was made entirely from recycled materials and that it ...

Sounds like the title of an old fashioned book! The view from Chiddingstone Castle. Imagine sitting here for breakfast every morning!

Taken at Bough Beech Reservoir visitor centre.... Nice landing Mr. Blue tit! Chaffinch? Someone help me out with identifying this co...

The bluebells were quite striking out around Bough Beech Reservoir yesterday....  Bluebell wood...   Everywhere you look there...

Out for a drive yesterday with my camera. Here's a couple for you.... St George flag proudly flying over Chiddingstone Castle

Nice piece in the Courier last Friday with one of my favourite photos of me of all time I think. The snapper did a great job in capturing me...

Sorry to drop this bombshell on you all this morning my loyal Tonbridgeblog die hard readers who've stuck with me through thick and thin...

Okay not the most exciting photo but some people like trains and I was on the railway bridge when it went under so....

The Medway from the Town Bridge The river can look quite stunning from the bridge early in the morning on the right day. Here it was rec...

This shop unit on the railway bridge has seen better days. Next door isn't doing much better. Dodle turned out to be, well, anything ...

Last night I had the great honour of saying grace, addressing the haggis, and reading, nae performing, some Robbie Burns poetry at the Auld ...

Without wishing to go all arty on you all, I love the way the morning sun accentuates the colours in this glass sculpture at the entrance to...

See if you can guess the time of day this photo was taken!...

I hear that Robert Masters, Head of Judd School for many years is stepping down. According to a report in the Kent and Sussex Courier recen...

Happy New Year everyone. Being a bookshop owner I'm naturally drawn to the arts in general. In particular it would be good to see more l...

Enjoyed a lovely seasonal biscuit from Bakehouse at 124. An edible reindeer. Get your teeth stuck into one!

See if you can spot TBlog during BBC This Week's TWelfie sequence. If you don't know it this is the Andrew Neil hosted late night po...

Okay, quite a bit going on in Tonbridge at the moment. You can read all about the opening of the new M&S Food Hall on the front page of ...

Walking past Tonbridge Police Station about 8-30pm last night I couldn't help but notice that there was a huge mound of dog shit right o...

Apples are a regular feature throughout the walk. (We never scrumped any officer!) There are some open stretches across windswept fiel...

Well, that's it then, summer is definitely over now. The Met Office declare it over at the end of August but that's just for admin p...

The view from my balcony on holiday in Cornwall

Fuggles have the go ahead. By all accounts it is now public knowledge that they have been granted planning permission for what is currently ...

If the rumours are true, and they appear to be, the old Bonner's building near Church Lane is to become a Fuggles Beer, Wine, Whiskey an...

...why are most drivers still ignoring the 20mph speed limit along Tonbridge High Street? Are the signs clear enough? Tonbridgeblog suggests...

...and the much anticipated pictures of the town, taken with my new and fabulous camera will follow at some point but, in the mean time, her...

Here she is, after 17 years service to the town, the community and the school as Head Teacher at Slade Primary School, Vivienne, yes I can f...

        I've bought myself a new camera so watch this space for quirky snaps of Tonbridge street scenes. In the meantime here's...

They're nearly finished. Only took 'em 8 months!...

A little birdie has told Tonbridgeblog that the High Street won't now be fully "regenerated" until at least the end of May. So...

I see Tonbridge finally has a new newspaper. The Courier probably had it coming to them as they seem more and more Tunbridge Wells centric s...

The Post Office are at it again. No amount of customer friendly counter can prepare you for the outrage of being charged over ten quid for 0...

A few mornings a week I tend to grab a free coffee from Waitrose on my way in to Mr. Books. Sometimes I also grab a sandwich for later and v...

To paraphrase Winston Churchill: Never have so many done so little for so few!...

B&Q is closing down. It's official. The huge advertising van parked outside Mr. Books as I type gives this away. "Everything mu...

Tickets for Roundel Poetry Night at the Old Fire Station in Castle Street on Wedns March 16th are now on sale at Mr. Books, 142 High Street,...

Pop up restaurants, celebrity chefs, beer cafes, pop up car showroom and now this. Here's a poem I should read out at the event which i...

This is the third flood warning that I've seen this winter and I'm going to look pretty foolish if villages are effected like they w...

Well, it's that time of year when all the newspapers talk about how few calories we should all be consuming, or how many miles we should...