Are Tonbridge car drivers getting ripped off at the petrol station?...

The price of petrol has always been a real bugbear of mine. Maybe it's because, at heart, I'm a tight Yorkshireman (by parentage at least) but, ever since I've been old enough to drive, I've noticed the differences in prices from one petrol station to another, from one area to another. There never seems to be any logic to it. For example up in my home town area around North East Lincolnshire there are several major oil refineries on the Humber Bank nearby so you might therefore expect the price to be lower; actually it's usually significantly higher. Now according to a certain Gordon Hill who has been in contact with TonbridgeBlog it seems that Tonbridge is one of the worse hit towns when it comes to the price at your pump. Think about it: 5p difference per litre equals two quid every fill up. Some motorway service stations charge well over 10p more than the usual price. With petrol prices pushing £1.20 a litre that's no joke. Why do we put up with it? Because we're naive? because we have to? because it's more convenient not to go out of our way? Who knows but it could be time for Tonbridge motorists to make a stand....

Apple shop for Tonbridge?....

Being a bookseller I should be anti i-pads and i-phones shouldn't I? They are, after all, likely to help cause the long and painful slow death of the printed book aren't they? So why did I find myself in the i-store (or should that be i-bore?!) shop in Tunbridge Wells yesterday eyeing up the sexy looking pieces of kit. (Why does Tun Wells get all the good shops?!) I spent a good twenty minutes or so in there fiddling around with touch screens, i-stores, i-pod touches, wireless keyboards and mice, looking at the compatible Bose speakers with their i-docks and a multitude of cases and other accessories for that highly necessary electronic device. It's hard to be cynical because the truth is that Apple have just taken the world by storm with these gadgets and, as if I needed convincing of that, as I stood fiddling with an i-touch, whilst standing at the counter three i-pads were sold. Now, at an average £499 a throw, that's a very lucrative twenty minutes in anyone's book and at least as much as Mr. Books takes on the average Tuesday morning! Personally I think I'll wait for the new i-pod touch rumoured to be launching soon with extra bells and whistles; far more portable than an i-pad although a little fiddly if you've got large hands. Is Tonbridge ready for an apple shop I wonder?...

Let the bells ring out....

Just had a chirpy lady in my book shop a few minutes ago who was said she was feeling happy and excited about the fact that she was on her way to go bell ringing at the nearby parish church for a wedding. How lovely I thought, what a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Even nicer I can now hear those bells ringing out across the whole of Tonbridge....

Tonbridge Civic Society new programme out now....

The Tonbridge Civic Society ain't such a bad thing you know. I've been actively involved with them for around six years now both just as a member and, for three years, as a committee member and I can only see good in their heart. This sounds a bit corny in a way but sometimes it's easy to be cynical about some society's and charitable organisations. The philosophical question being: does anyone do altruistic things with no gain for themselves even it it just makes them feel good? Sadly most of the time not but I genuinely believe that the Civic Society (at least ours in Tonbridge) is run and attended by residents who care very deeply about the town in which they live. Their aims are pretty simple really: "...to care for the history character and beauty of Tonbridge and it's surroundings.... preservation, development and improvement (for) general public interest.... high standards of architecture and town planning in the Tonbridge area." to quote the society's latest membership card. Easily said but not so easy in practice. In fact, in my experience they need lots of understanding of the detail, particularly of planning applications, and more than a good deal of patience. Don't forget that, since most of the society's members are made up of people past retirement age, for the most part they are fighting Tonbridge's corner for the good of future generations. The A21 dueling project for example is many years away from completion even it gets the go ahead in the current parliament. So the society's heart is very firmly in the right place and all you have to do is go along to one of their meetings at the Angel Centre and listen. The first will be from 7-30pm on Tuesday September 21st with a talk on Bewl Water by Tony Lloyd; there's always a coffee and a chat first and it's very friendly. Try it....

Book Search....

Quite a few customers search high and low to the ends of the earth, often spending years looking for an illusive title, when they should just come to see Mr. Books instead. He'll sort you out in no time at all. Thanks to regular TonbridgeBlog reader, Richard, for the pic....

Abolish school holidays!...

Tonbridge school kids will hate me for saying this but I cannot wait till the end of the holidays. They seem to be a magnet for dreary weather although, obviously, I realise that this can only be an irrational argument. Or is it? Look at the forecast for next week. It's been pretty 'orrible now for most of August, including my two weeks in Cornwall, it was nice before that and now we are set for some glorious weather for the next week or so just when some schools are starting their terms and the others are gearing up to go back. I know we Brits whine and winge about the weather but haven't we got reason to. I defie any Australian to stay here with us winging Pomms for more than a week without beginning to winge themselves! Not only that but I always feel completely thrown out during the school hols. The rest of my family are still in bed when I leave the house, which means I'm normally running late, I feel out of sinc, no one does normal things during August, business doesn't get done, you can never get hold of anybody you need to, bills don't get paid. Abolish school holidays I say or maybe just let them have a couple of weeks in the summer like the rest of us. It'll get kids used to what it's like in the real world! Only joking kids! Or am I?...

Wake Up the Town....

Watching the Lennon Naked excellent drama documentary last night on BBC 4 got me thinking what the hell has happened to Tonbridge's own resident fab five, Bareface. Tonbridge Blog hasn't heard a peep out of them since July, before that they'd spend a month or so shaking the walls and jangling the souls of the neighbourhood as they practiced their blend of post punky, urban inde-rock-with-shades of-the-Beatles White Album in a disused old office building. They're obviously either off gigging at various rock festivals up and down the nation, or else they're taking a break writing their new album on some far flung beach resort. Come back boys it's been very quiet in sleepy old Bank Street!... (By the way you can have the suggestion for the title of your album from me for free. Anyway I nicked it from Paul Weller's excellent latest album Wake up the Nation!)

Best of Tonbridge....

While the dodgy, supposedly, summer weather continues to sweep in from a South-easterly direction over poor Tonbridge newspapers all over the land have very little to report on these traditionally slow, back end of the holidays, news days. In the style of some of these scraping-the-barrell-type stories Tonbridge Blog asks: What are the top five best things about our town? And the top 5 worse things? Best things might be The Park, the river, the castle, the shops (ok not the shops!) Worse things? That's easy: Traffic wardens (especially since they became Civil Enforcement Officers which really gets under the skin!) parking charges, parking restrictions (oh come on there must be something that doesn't involve parking!)

70% chance of precipitation in Tonbridge....

Well I think we may as well all pack away our shorts, vests and T-shirts for another year as it seems that the woeful weather is set to continue. More unsettled and rainy weather for Tonbridge on the way next week and perhaps into the bank holiday weekend. Barbeques are looking very iffy so don't bother shopping for those burgers and chicken wings just yet. How damned depressing can it get? I'll never moan about heatwaves in June ever again probably....

A great holiday read....

A great book to read on holiday was something I was pondering over before my recent trip to Cornwall. Well I did find almost the perfect book as it happens. I wouldn't normally have chosen it but I learnt that Daphne Du Maurier's romantic tale "Frenchman's Creek" was set in the very area that we had planned to start our holiday. Apart from being a great old fashioned story about an eighteenth century posh lady falling in love with a dastardly, but dashing and daring, pirate who was causing havoc around the coves and harbours of the South of Cornwall it provides the reader with wonderful descriptions of the beauty of the Helford river. In fact I did become more than a little obsessed with visiting the places which are described in the book and trying to guess which paths and roads the characters must have travelled along. We went to Gweek, Porthleven, Helford Village, Helford Passage, Constantine and other places mentioned really just because they were mentioned. My family went along with my obsessions for the most part including a six mile trek along a woodland path which takes you right along the Frenchman's Creek itself. Later on we hired a small boat to explore the Helford river and sailed right into the Creek; at high tide we were able to explore pretty much the whole inlet. I imagined, just like the character at the beginning of Du Maurier's book, a beautifully colourful, yet camoflaged, sailing ship, La Mouette, (not pictured) anchored there hidden in the trees, awaiting its next mission, a daring raid of a ship in Fowey Haven further up the coast. Like I said I did get a little carried away but it did make for one of the best holiday reads I've ever had....

The last remnant of Tonbridge's thriving printing industry closes....

The Whitefriars Press was founded in Tonbridge in the 1820's on Medway Wharf Road. It printed Punch for many years and by 1950 was printing around 2 million Penguin paperbacks a year. When I moved to Tonbridge I remember seeing the derelict buildings nesr the lock gates which once housed the great presses and where around 350 Tonbridge folk made their livings. Always sad but, I guess a necessary part of progress. The Whitefriars Social club on Avebury Avenue was the only thing left and at least kept the memory alive for past workers and their families. Now, so I hear, due to ever dwindling members, sadly even that has closed it's doors for the last time and is to become, wait for it, a Chinese restaurant! Soon only records kept in local history books and at the library will keep account of the fact that there was once a thriving printing industry in the town....

Tonbridge breathes sigh of relief!...

I know you've all missed TonbridgeBlog's irreverent observations and rants over the past two weeks or so but, you see, we all need a break from time to time. I've just had mine in a mostly rain-soaked Cornwall (camping as well!) but still thoroughly enjoying it. I am quite knackered though as those tents have very thin walls and sleeping on an airbed can be pretty uncomfortable at times. I must remember next time to take a blindfold so that I don't get awoken by the blinding sun at 5-30 every morning. I did take ear plugs but prefer to be able to hear the noise of owls hooting and cows lowing to lull me off to sleep. Too often though I heared the noise of other people talking, laughing and playing music and of dogs barking. I will miss warming myself around those amazing camp fires and gazing up at the star-filled night skies though I must say. Anyway, as they say, you need a week to get over a good holiday and I'm part way through mine. Thanks for all the comments coming in while I was away I did get the chance to have a read during a stolen half hour I spent on a computer in Falmouth library (so far have resisted the temptation to buy a smart phone but may have to succumb soon.) The picture is of the sun setting over The Lizard but, don't worry, I won't inflict any more holiday snaps on you!...

Talk amongst yourselves for a bit...

Holiday reads....

Now I don't want Tonbridge Bloggers to go thinking that TBlog has turned into a beer blog so let's talk books. Holiday books, books for the beach, flight, hotels room or wherever else you find yourselves relaxing in August. I am putting my little pile together which includes The Siege Of Krishnapur by JG Farrell and, this year's Booker Prize winner, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I'm reliably informed by several customers of Mr. Books that they are both well worth a read. I'm working on a third book to read and would welcome any suggestions. It's odd, being a bookseller who is surrounded by books every day that I actually don't get tha much time to read novels any more. I tend to read books that just take my fancy, be it a local interest book or a military history book, and that I can just dip into and not necessarily read the whole thing in one go. So every year, about this time I make a point of reading novels which I just wouldn't get around to reading any other time....

The quest for Tonbridge Blonde Ambition goes on....

Well last night I went out on a quest for the Holy Grail! Having heard a rumour that the Man of Kent near East Peckham may be serving that illusive of beers, Tonbridge Brewery's Blonde Ambition. It's a lovely looking pub The Man of Kent is at a tiny hamlet charmingly called Little Mill. It's next to an old bridge over the river Bourne and, looking out from the patio area of the pub, which had a spot light on the water, I noticed some large fish swimming against the flow of the river but appearing perfectly still in the shallow waters below as if being curious to know what the humans where up to above. (of course what they were really doing was eating the flies which had been attracted by the spot light.) I'm not a fish expert so I'm not sure whether they were trout, carp, bream, pike or what; perhaps someone out there knows more? Anyway I walk in the front door of the pub and realise that this building has either sunk down into the ground or else was built for the rather less well nourished people from medieval times. I'm not exaggerating if I say that I almost had to bend double to get to the bar such was the low height of the beamed ceiling of the main bar. Definitely a pub for petite landladies and bar staff! Charming at first, but you really do have to watch your head when you stand up otherwise it wouldn't just be the beer which gave you a sore bonce the next day! So then on to the beer; well here's the disappointing bit: no Blonde Ambition! They only have it as the occasional guest beer. Damn it! My quest goes on for this Holy Grail of a beer! Despite the sign outside proudly proclaiming that they served Larkins Ale, another local brewery, it turns out that there was none of that either so, instead, I had to make do with the guest beer which was Doom Bar from Sharp's Brewery of Rock, Cornwall. I a way this was quite appropriate as I do tend to go to Cornwall on holiday most years and I'd never tried it on draught before. No bad, but I've definitely tasted alot better. They also had Adnams Bitter which was only alright and, my favourite for the evening, and a bit predictably, Harvey's Sussex Bitter. Now I normally find Harvey's a bit too hoppy for my liking but, for some reason, last night really enjoyed the half pint I had. Maybe my taste buds are opening up to new possibilities. All in all a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a mid summer evening but disappointing that I didn't get to try the beer I went there in search of....

Tonbridge beer in a bottle?...

Ever since the SIBA South East beer fest, which was held at the back of Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club a couple of weekends ago, I've become semi-obsessed with real ale. I've come to realise that I've drank alot of very rubbish beer over the past, what, thirty odd years. I've always known when I like the taste of a beer so things aren't that bad but, since I drink a fair few bottled beers at home I should have known the differnce between a bottled conditioned beer and a brewery conditioned one shouldn't I? But, I have to confess that, until by recent acquistion of the CAMRA Good Bottled Beer Guide, I did not. Much to my shame. (Not quite the summer reading you'd expect to see in the hands of a bookseller I'll grant you, but there you go!) Had I known the difference I probably could have avoided the sampling of some very mediocre ales and concentrated on the better ones, the ones with real character. I've tried a few already and the difference is quite marked, the difference almost between those beers in out-of-the-way country pubs where they serve 'guest beers' from wooden casks and a gassy pint of ordinary brown beer from one of the top breweries. Workmanlike, reliable, but nowt special. Which leads me to ask, since I didn't get to try Tonbridge Brewery's Blonde Ambition at the recent beer fest does anyone know if they are planning to do a bottled conditioned version of it or, indeed, what pubs locally serve the stuff on draught. I may be disappointed but I would like to try Tonbridge's only beer. If it's anything like the selection from Westerham Brewery, like British Bulldog and Scotney I'll walk as far as Hadlow if I need to....

Five Ohhhhh!...

OMG I'm nearly fifty! The rounds of fiftieth birthday parties has begun already as I friend invited me to one last Friday night in Tonbridge; and I've always thought of him, and you'll like this Antony, as about 34, 39 tops but no, it turns out he's even older than me! Maybe it's just that, when you get older, the people around you look younger. Most probably it's your own vanity and lack of a grip on reality kicking in. That's it: I'm in denial! It doesn't seem like yesterday when I was celebrating mine and a whole bunch of my work colleagues and close friends fourtieth birthdays. Now, as if I've been in some surburban time warp, a decade has almost flown by and those same friends are planning their half centenary celebrations. The trouble with me is that, as a kid, I'd always thought of the millennium as some magical date in the dim and distant future, I knew that I'd be 37 when it came around but, the trouble is, that I'd never really planned much beyond that! I should get a grip on myself as I'm only just turned 48 but I find myself occasionally daydreaming and already starting to think where, or whether, I should hold my big FIVE OHHHH party. A small, low key, drinks party at home? A massive weekend in Barcelona or Magaluf? A live band and comedy night at the Tonbridge rugby club? Or maybe just stay at home, read a book and get a takeaway and wait for the day to go away! The last options sounds the most appealing as I sit here now....

Tuesday markets in Tonbridge....

Just found this information in an old agriculture book on Kent which some of the more nostalgic among you may find interesting: Market days were every Tuesday in Tonbridge (the market entrance was right opposite Mr. Books shop in fact) Now I'm not talking about a bit of fruit and veg, some dodgy batteries and t-shirts; I'm talking about a proper thriving livestock market. In fact the numbers of livestock which moved through Tonbridge market in a typical year are recorded, up to the early 1950s, as being 4,500 cattle, 3,000 calves, 18,500 sheep, and 11,000 pigs; a total of 37,000! They would have all been herded from the railway station and later from lorries along the main streets through the town. Now that's a lot of crap down the High Street to clear up on a Tuesday evening! Whatever happened to these traditional market days? Why did they suddenly disappear? Wasn't it better in those days? Can't we bring them back?...

Festival of Music in Tonbridge tonight....

It's the annual musical extravaganza this weekend at the Castle. So expect the heart of Tonbridge to be filled with the super sounds of the sixties, seventies and eighties from around 7-30 this evening. I've never actually been to this event and feel as though I might have been missing out. Tonight, so I'm reliably informed by one of the security staff who's just been into Mr. Books to pick up some bargain paperbacks, it's Motown, then tomorrow is Eighties Night and I'm not sure about Sunday but I'm sure there's bound to be another tributy-type band playing. I think I'm right in saying that one of the nights always used to be a classical/opera type affair but they dropped it due to unpopular demand. One thing I will say is that it certainly seems to attract the crowds every year. Anyone going along or been to the event before? Hey Mr. DJ just Bung New Order on will you!...

Six whole weeks! But what to do with it?...

Well kids (and teachers) you've earned your long summer break. Make the most of it though because, before you know it it'll be one year higher and another year stretching ahead of you. The Back to School clothing ads have already started just to really depress everyone. So don't fritter your time, your lives away sitting in front of a computer every day for 16 hours, get your faces out of facebook and get off your phones (I nicked that line from Paul Weller's new song, "Wake Up the Nation") go down the park, play tennis, football, go swimming, running, read a book, go to the zoo, learn to play guitar, climb some rocks, go to Penshurst on your bikes, get a part time job on a farm fruit picking, anything but sitting at home saying: "I'm really bored!" Life's short children and young people of Tonbridge so make the most of it. Let's hear some more ideas of how not to be bored in the summer holidays....

Stinking Tonbridge....

There's a good piece in the Telegraph today having a moan about how complicated rubbish collection has become. TonbridgeBlog couldn't agree more. Chucking your garbage out used to be so easy: you'd fill up your kitchen bin and, when it piled up to over flowing and you simply couldn't stuff any more in you make one of the kids go out to the wheely bin and throw it in. Nowadays you need a degree in environmental science! You have to file the rubbish according to whether it's plastic, cans, paper, vegetable, books, textiles. Excuse me but isn't life busy enough without all that? Can't the council invest in some machinery to do most of that for us? In the meantime, for our inconvenience of all this unnecessary work, our reward is that our main rubbish bin only gets emptied once a fortnight. Not so much of a problem, though bad enough, through the winter but in a hot summer like we're having, let's face it the bins stink to high heaven! They reek, they pong, they pen and ink, they are deeply unpleasant, even a hyena wouldn't go near most of them. They attract ants, flies and probably a whole host of other poisonous pests. The bins should be emptied every week without fail, it is our right as council tax payers; at the very least Tonbridge and Malling Council (I'm speakng to you now) can't you collect the black bins every week during the summer. There's no wonder the rat population of Britain, and almost certainly Tonbridge, has surged in recent years to the point where they now outnumber people. Please stop this terrible stink before diseases spread....

SIBA Beer Festival report....

And speaking of Hops I wandered along to the SIBA South East Beer festival which was being held at the back of Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club over the weekend. The cheeseburger was excellent! Oh and the beer wasn't bad either. Gosh what an amazing selection of varied beers all from independent breweries, mostly fairly local. Entry was free unlike, I'm told, last year when there was a charge of a fiver. I say free but you had to purchase a glass which cost £2 as you walked into the main marquee (where all the ale was) unless of cause you were tight enough to bring along your own half pint glass or else you wanted to drink beer out of your cupped hands! Frankly it was a kind of entrance fee but no one (not even me) was complaining about that, especially since it was also a souvenir of the festival. Having obtained my special half pint glass with the SIBA logo on one side and the TJ's on the other, and my beer tokens, which were £1.50 a time for each half, I was off in search of my first choice to sample, what else, but Tonbridge Breweries Blonde Ambition? Alas though, even on this Saturday evening only half way through the event, not a drop of this was left. So, spoilt for choice, I had to ask for the bar man's, who incidentally were all volunteers, recommendation. He suggested Quiver Bitter from Bowman's Ales and it was a great first choice; not too strong at 4.5% and gloriously rich golden in colour and with a wonderful mown grass aroma... full of complex flavours. At least that's what it said in the festival guide book. I'm not sure about all that but it certainly went down a treat after a hard day selling books in Mr. Books. Within a very short space of time, about four gulps really, it was time to move onto to sample number two. Walking around the site I spoke to several people I recognised, and a few I didn't, about what their favourite choices were. So I tried one of them called Incubus by Hopdaemon Brewery. This one I did find tasty but a little on the bitter side for my liking, obviously I manage to force it down without too much trouble so that I could move onto choice number three. Now I know that these were only half pints but it did occur to me at this point that, if I tried as many as I wanted to, at this rate, with no food in my stomach, I'd be pretty well sozzled after another three or four of the little beauties. I quite like a slight hint of honey in my real ales and noticed that one of the speciality beers, from 1648 Brweing Co. was called Bee Head. Sounded perfect. According to the guide it had a delicate touch of honey which you could taste if you looked for it. Well actually I couldn't and found this a little on the bitter side again. One of the girls from the ladies rugby team who was serving at one end of the bar saved my day by telling me that we were alowed to try a small (two fingers) sample first before committing to the full half. A tip which I put to good use; in fact, truth be told, I'd have been quite happy to just try a small taste of every one of those hundered different beers. But that might have been against the spirit of the festival so I just tried a few before making my selections from then on. There were loads that I didn't try, including all of Whitstable Brewery's Kent beers and all of Westerham's with names like British Bulldog and Pearl of Kent. I spotted on of the organisers when they were taking down the marquee yesterday after the three day event and mentioned to him that I'd like to have tried more of the ales to which he replied "that's why you need to come every day!" If I had it probably would have taken me three weeks to get over it! The whole thing was well organised, well attended and a really friendly, trouble free atmosphere, it was a real pleasure to be there. The fabulous summer weather helped as well. If only they could have the festival every Saturday night?! My favourite then? Of the ones I tried on the night it would have to be very first one: Quiver from Bowmans; it was the only one that I went back for a second half of so that's as good an indication as any I guess. One thing I do intend to do is to track down some of the beers in the guide and find out were I can buy the beer from, either on tap or in bottles. I'll stock up on those winter warmers....

Paddock Wood turns into a War (and Peace) Zone!...

Paddock Wood yesterday was like going back in time. Lots of WWII Jeeps and armoured cars around carrying quasi military-type personel dressed, mostly, in combat clothing. It's not very often that you drive into a petrol station to be confronted with two men sitting astride a camoflaged gun turret on the back of an American Jeep. One side of me thinks that this is all a bit sad but, on the other hand, where's the harm in it? Basically these enthusiasts are being nostaligic, longing for the days when life was simple, when you knew who your comrades were and who your enemies were. Food was basic but wholesome, the music of the day was big band swing, ladies were feeling more and more liberated, the Yanks were over here and over paid. At the very least these were exciting times, a time of great social change. If this is your thing then you'll be able to join around ten thousand like minded folk at the War and Peace show at the Hop Farm from tomorrow until Sunday. I'm hoping to see a few of the visitors around Tonbridge as, whatever you think of blatent displays of militaria, their vehicles make an awesome sight driving down the High Street. Hopefully one or two of them will show their faces in Mr. Books, perhaps even buy a book or three!...

New crap restaurant for Tonbridge!...

I'm thinking of opening a toilet-themed restaurant in Tonbridge along similar lines to the chain (geddit?!) in Hong Kong and Taiwan featured in this Telegraph picture gallery. Turd themed chocolate ice creams, toilets for seating, baths for tables, urinal shaped serving bowls and this is not a hoax. Apparently the kids absolutely love it. I'll put one at each end of the town (that'd be convenient!) I've just thought of a brilliant name for it as well; french sounding to give it a European twist: Mr. Merd!...

South East beer fest on tonight....

I might go along to the South East Beer Festival over the weekend at the back of Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club to kill a few brain cells er, that is to say, sample some of the delights from a variety of the area's breweries! Over a 100 different beers on offer from a multitude of independent brewers. Barbeque and good company on a summer's evening. What more can a man ask for?!..

Three lifetimes would be nice....

A lovely old lady, probably in her eighties, in my shop just said "I could do with another three lifetimes to read all the books I'd like to read." To which I replied "wouldn't we all!" How nice it would be to be full of the same zest for life and learning at that ripe old age. If only the body would keep up with the mind!...

War and Peace be with you....

I'm having 4,000 flyers, which is a heck of a lot for me, photo copied at Susan Adams for the War and Peace Show, which starts at the Hop Farm on July 21st. (Scroll down for earlier posting for details.) The flyers are just for the welcome packs for exhibitors and trade visitors to the show! My God, or should that be Meine Gott, how many visitors are they expecting?! Anyway I thought I'd give it a go as, in previous years, quite a few, who just happened to be staying in Tonbridge, have stumbled across Mr. Books in the sleepy little corner of old Tonbridge; so I figured quite a few more would be interested particularly in the military history, aviation and transport books I have in the shop just waiting for new homes! As I'm offering a juicy 15% discount off these books, as an incentive, there's even more reason for them to come. And as it's only a short hop (geddit) from the War and Peace Show at Paddock Wood to Tonbridge then they'll be made very welcome, especially if they're coming to spend large wadges of cash!...

Pavements safe to ride on for sensible cyclists....

Interesting piece on the front page of this weeks Courier about a clamp down on Tonbridge cyclists on the pavement. Not sure whether the story is front page-worthy but that's a different matter. Apparently there have been a number of people cautioned and fined which reminded me of when I was a kid and was nicked for riding on the pavement and without lights in the dark. I tried to reason with PC. Cox (I still remember his name as his daughter was at my school) but he was having none of it, he marched me home to lecture me in front of my parents. I still say that I was only doing the safe sensible thing for a nine year old; after all I had no lights and therefore it would have been doubley dangerous to ride on the road! These days it's much more dangerous on the roads; they have become hugely more busy and often clogged up. That certainly discourages me from letting my kids cycle say across the railway bridge near the station, which they'd have to to get to the cycle lanes around the park area. On the subject of cycle lanes someone was quoted, in the Courier article, saying that pedestrians are always walking on the cycle half of the footpaths. You can't really blame them for that when the cyclist signs are virtually all faded off the paths and too far spaced. What was the point of spending all those countless thousands of council (and therefore our) money on developing cycle lanes in the first place if they are not going to be adequately maintained. In these times of austerity isn't it time to adopt what some Scandinavian and Northern European towns do already: that is, quite simply, to let cyclists ride thoughtfully and respectfully on the pavement. If there are people on foot they go slower or, if it's too crowded, dismount altogether; if there's no one about then they can pick up the speed a bit. There'll always be some people who abuse this, just like some people run along the pavement with disregard for others and some walkers barge you out of their way as if they own the pathway. The vast majority of runners, cyclists and walkers though respect each other. When my children were younger I used to ride with them on the pavement, often right past the Police Station in Tonbridge. Was this dangerous? Come off it: following a kid on a bike with stabilisers for an experienced bike rider does not present a menace to the walking public although, of course, technically I was breaking the law. So what I'm saying then is, like everything, there are times when it's safe and times when it isn't but, on the balance of things though, except on busy town centre pavements at peak times, there isn't usually a problem.
The other question, and allied to this whole topic, is how come there is no cycle path linking Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells? Many school children would be healthier and probably happier if they could safely cycle between the two towns. Some already do of course but, unfortunately, they are riding illegally on the seldom used pavement between Quarry Hill and Southborough. Surely at least on semi rural pavements like this one it should be made legal since most, in my view, sensible cyclists do it anyway. Sometimes it's the public who make the laws by doing the safe thing which, over time, becomes the norm. I've a feeling that cycling on pavements will be one such case....

Punk Shockers update....

The noise coming from Bank Street Punk Shockers I've now discovered is from local band Bareface who have occupied one of the empty buildings (owned by one of the band members dads, that's nice. Not very Punk but cute! ) Here's a link to their MySpace page if you want to investigate their curious mix of Clash inspired, Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious-esque vocals (and, as I said previously, with a bit of Beatles White album weirdness thrown in for good measure! Hard to imagine yes but actually it's quite a unique sound which has grown on me (like cancer? no nothing like that!) Anyway I've also discovered from my new mates in Bareface, lovely lads as you can see from the pic, that they are shouting, er I mean performing at some big festival over at Canterbury tonight and are also sometimes to be seen at the Forum in Tunbridge Wells. Shit I forgot to ask for a freebie ticket or two. I'm going over there now....

War and Peace Show at the Hop Farm....

Now I've never been to the War and Peace Show which is held at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood every July but I understand that it's quite phenomenal. That is if you like tanks, weaponry, swing music and every piece of military memorabilia you could imagine. A few of the visitors and exhibitors have been known to pop into Mr. Books in Bank Street, Tonbridge when they're over here and Boy do they know their military books! They come from all over the UK to visit the show but also from all over Europe, especially from Holland and Germany, often bringing their armoured vehicles with them! The show runs for five days from July 21st-25th. One of these years I'll take a stand selling books at the War and Peace Show; I've probably missed a trick as the organisers claim aprox 10,000 visitors through the gates every year. My God that's almost an invasion force!...

Punk Shockers attack ears of genteel Tonbridge folk....

For the past two weeks or so there's been a band practicing in the vacant, even derelict building, almost opposite Mr. Books Bookshop. It's thought that the building may have once been the first Bank in Tonbridge and therefore effectively named the street, Bank Street. What sort of music is been played in this genteel corner of Tonbidge old town? A bit of Vivaldi's Four Seasons perhaps, or a brass band to remind us all of those lazy summer days spent on the Castle lawn? No I'm afraid not. The nearest I can get to describing the musical genre they belong to is Post Punk Soft Rock with some Beatles White Album shit! Someone once said that there are only two types of music anyway: Good Music and Bad. Don't get me wrong, in the right place after a few beers chilling out, I would quite like to listen to them, be entertained by them even. By the way, if you're reading this lads, it definitely was not me who called the boys in blue the other day. Some neighbours, who clearly thought we were being invaded by Johnny Rotten and Public Image and feared for their daughters very beings, did it. Two police cars arrived on the scene to hear their sounds blarting out of the building, two burly coppers knocked on the door several times but apparently no one upstairs could hear them! So off they toddled. It seems that the lads are not committing any crimes as they have permission to use the building. It would have been much more Punk if I could tell you that they'd broken in and started squatting in the derelict bank building but, the truth is that they have a key from one of their dads! They ought to have someone stand outside with a camera to see the genteel folk passing by the building when the band are in full tilt to capture the look of sheer horror and shock as they try to imagine what monsters, what creatures of the dark, the excruciating racket is coming from. For surely nothing, they think, of this world could produce such an ear splitting din! I've never even seen any of the band yet but I really do feel like I know them all intimately. The drummer especially I'd say is pretty competent, he packs a great beat as they say; as is the guitarist who seems to like going off at the odd weird tangent (thus the reference to the Beatles White Album) and I cannot yet decide whether the singer is a bit flat, really crap or quite good but being deliberately flat and crap! Believe you me there's alot of difference. Actually I'm confusing myself! So it's not that I think they are useless and untalented it's just that when you hear the same songs over and over again and then bits of the same songs over and over again it starts to gets right inside you head. In fact I even woke up this morning humming one of their catchy tunes. (And I wish I was exagerating but it's true I really did.) I am going to find out what they're called (suggestions please) and where they are playing though. I think they owe me a couple of freebie tickets by now for all the rehearsals I've had to endure, er I mean enjoy listening to!...

Every little helps to kill our town centre!...

Has the world gone absolutely mad?! First the big super market giants like Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's start selling cheap best seller books and car insurance and now Amazon, who have already turned one traditional market (books) on its head, want to sell groceries online. The internet retailer, who already has a turnover of over £16 billion (yes billion) wants even more, it wants its share of the food market. Amazon is no longer content with just selling books, electricals, toys, white goods and cosmetics it now wants to sell washing powder and tinned beans along with around 22,000 other food and grocery lines. How much extra dosh does it hope to make out of this expansion venture? No one seems quite sure, although if Ocado, the Waitrose inspired online business, is anything to go by they ought to be making a profit in around nine or ten years time! In the meantime probably quite a few small retailers will have gone out of business due to their, almost certainly, fierce price competition. What chance for the small independent grocers? Certainly no chance on price; so that only leaves convenience and service; but I've a sneaky feeling that shoppers will always, in the end, vote with their pockets. If the book market is anything to go by, and I'm sure it is, small independents cannot even buy wholesale what Amazon sell at retail in most cases. That makes life very tricky if you want to compete on price. Having said that surely service, a sense of community and convenience is more important than saving a few quid here and there. Will we see the day when there are no High Street shops left at all, when we all sit at home in front of a computer, on our ever-plumper arses, browsing fewer and fewer, larger and larger online retailers like amazon and Tesco Online who have taken oever the known world. That's if the Chinese business giants haven't muscled their way in by then! Is this what we all want? No bakeries, no local butchers, no fish mongers? No book shops? No stationers, not even clothes shops? Because that is the way it seems to be going from where I'm sitting on this bright Thursday morning in Tonbridge town centre. People of Tonbridge: it is in your own hands; get out to those farmers markets, green grocers and butchers. Don't buy everything online go into town instead, it's much more fun and you actually get to talk to real people, you might even see someone you know....

FIFA: Take a leaf out of Rugby's book for football's sake....

An old mate of mine who I used to work with is from Ghana and although I haven't seen him for a couple of years I really felt for him last night. Watching the World Cup match against Uraguay convinced me that sometimes there is no justice. If you didn't catch the incident it went something like this: in the dying seconds of extra time the two teams were locked together at 1-1 then, after a goal mouth scramble, a Ghana player headed the ball and Suarez, the Uraguay number 9, blocked the ball on the line, saving the goal and his country's certain exit from the tourrnament. Nothing wrong with that? Well I did leave out the fact that he blantantly used his hand to stop the ball, thus resulting in his own instant sending off and a penalty for Ghana which, as it turned out, was the very last kick of extra time. High drama, very entertaining, gripping even, yes to all of these. Then the penalty and Gyan, having played out of his skin in all their matches, having become the hero of all Africa and beyond, misses the penalty handing Uraguay a reprieve which they took full advantage of in the penalty shoot out and thus progressed to the semi finals. I ask you Roland, for that is my Ghanaian friend's name, where's the justice in this? I really am gutted for you. How can the rules allow for such obvious and open cheating to prosper? You can't blame the ref for he interpreted the law to the letter and could do no more than send Suarez off. What should be done then? Well all I'll say is that, if it had happened in a rugby match, where it is usually harder to interpret what may have happened had the cheating not occurred, then a try would have been awarded anyway and Ghana would have been playing Holland in the semis, Suarez would be a disgraced cheat instead of a national hero and rightly so. If FIFA had anything about them they'd reverse the outcome of that match, allow Ghana through and ban Uraguay from the next World Cup, now that would be justice. Come on Holland make sure you beat them now for Africa's and football's sake....

Ten ways to keep cool in the hot weather....

(1) Drink ice cold orange juice
(2) Dive, er sorry, step carefully into Tonbridge Swimming Pool (it's actually cooler in the inside pool at the moment believe it or not!)
(3) Hang around the chilled foods section at Waitrose all afternoon pretending you can't find the Venezualan goats cheese.
(4) Put you head next to a fan while dabbing you neck with a wet flannel
(5) Take ice cold can of Fosters lager from fridge roll around on neck, face and other body parts, pull ring pull, pour into pre-cooled glass, sit down in shade of a tree in garden, and enjoy! (no this is not an advertisement for Fosters)
(6) Sit with your feet in The Shallows of Tonbridge (oh actually you can't do this since they built the Leigh Flood Barrier) For those old enough to remember they were once a very popular summer picnic beauty spot. Now we have the dog crap ridden Haysden Country Park in their place. Never mind eh!
(7) Stick ice pops down you shirt/blouse
(8) Probably too late to buy an air con unit but you could try. I'm sure that Homebase and B&Q on Cannon Lane will stock them.
(8 and a 1/2) Buy a book (it won't keep you cool, unless of course it's Ice Station Zero or maybe Pingu, but I had to get it in somewhere!)
(9) It's just too hot to think of any more so
(10) that's it....

Beer in the evening...and the morning...afternoon...and night!

For anyone who likes beer and, let's face it, who doesn't?! there's another chance to sample lots of different real ales at the South East Beer Festival on the 16th, 17th and, if you can still stand up, 18th July at the back of the Rugby Club. Now I know the event attracted quite a few fans of the brown stuff last summer but there were alot who thought, probably due to the location, that it was just for rugger boys. Well it's not so tell your friends all about it; and, what's more, it's free entry with, I'm told, very reasonably priced ales. I'm sure that local ale enthusiast, Paul Bailey will have more on his beer blog about it so I'll leave it for him to provide us with more info or at least a link to his site. Last year there were a few negative comments (not mine) on this blog saying that the festival was encouraging people to be be irresponsible drink and too much but, surely, this is nonsense. Better to sample various different, lovingly brewed, beers from independent breweries than to neck seventeen pints of nondescript lager in the Castle Inn before jumping in the river (as I noticed a few lads were after a recent England game.) What is it about hot sunny weather, football and continental blonde beers?! Mind you England's performances at the World Cup were enough to drive even the most sober of people to drink, drugs or drowning but that's a different story....

That goal....

I was down on Tonbridge Park the other day just on a walk and happened to stumble upon a lively looking football match. Only a Sunday afternoon match between a couple of rival pub teams but, nevertheless, a fiercely fought tight dual. The team in white shirts had taken an early two goal lead, but the reds had come back valiantly to 2-1. Then the incident happened: the reds shot from the 18 yard box, a superb strike, and whacked the cross bar. As the ball spun off the cross bar it appeared to go well inside the goal behind the goalie, but then a strange thing happened. The ball then, still in a spin, came back out of the goal and into the goal keeper's hands. All the red team (and most of the whites, but they were staying quiet) knew it was a clear goal as did the small crowd on the touchline nearest the goal. But the referee was having none of it and the linesman had got a fly in his eye just as the ball was banging against the bar. Luckily one really keen spectator had videoed the whole incident so that he could show it to his drinking buddies later on as it was the captain's birthday. (The captain was a bit of a quiet bloke but a brilliant footballer which made up for it.) The crowd were so incensed by the injustice of the ref's decision that they shouted for the amateur film maker to replay the incident. So they all gathered around and waited for him to get to the right bit of the tape and watched as the evidence became all too clear that they'd been robbed of a goal. The ref was a sensible man and knew that he had two choices: stick to his decison based on what he thought he'd seen (and according to the rules of the game) of be pragmatic and thereby avoid a riot. As he watched the, by now, red faced fans beginning to match the colour of their red shirted team he knew that there was only one course of action. After all he could see the evidence right there in front of his very eyes. Because the camera man had a swanky new dvd digital cam corder he was able to freeze the image at exactly the point at which the ball had, so plainly, crossed the line so there really was no problem in him bending the rules to avoid a major crowd control problem. Now if only they'd had that kind of technology available to them for the England Germany game....

Mr. Books is to close....

Mr. Books will be closing it's doors for good not in 2027, as had been originally planned, but instead it will close a year later in 2028. What's he banging on about now? I hear some of you saying. As the meercat says: It's simples! Nick Clegg, George Osbourne, Iain Duncan-Smith and Co. are conspiring to raise the age at which you can claim the state pension from 65 to 66 which means another year of sitting here in my Tonbridge bookshop reading books when I could be sat at home, er, reading books. Apparently we are all living too long and have no right to have more than our fair share of happy workless and stress free days. So, if I only get me three score years and ten in, that's just 4 years that the mean sods will have to pay out. However, if I live to 103 then I'll be laughing all the way to Tonbridge Post Office, that is if my mobility scooter will fit through the doors. I'd actually like to make a sensible suggestion, if you'll allow me to. David Cameron I hope you are listening: Why not make the pension age partly dependent on whether or not you actually want to retire, some will but lots won't, and also allow people with poorer health to be signed off at 65, or perhaps earlier, by a doctor so they can receive their pensions. That way only the fit and really healthy over 65's end up working longer and, since they are the people who will probably want to then everybody's happy. The trade off might be that the longer you are in work then the bigger pension you get when you actually take your well earned retirement. Worth a thought?...

That budget analysis in full....

What a relief! VAT on books was one thing I was dreading for obvious reasons! Hopefully I'll be alright for another four or five years at least....

Football, betting, beer and books....

I'm not a betting man particularly but this morning, as I rode on my bike past William Hill's on Tonbridge High Street, I had a mad urge to go and have a bet on England winning the World Cup. To be honest I was thinking that the odds on this would have gone right out to about 50 to one or at least 20. But no 8 to 1 was still the best price which, if you stop to consider it is pretty crumby. Unless of course they know something we don't. Perhaps the two, at best, mediocre performances by the England are all part of a Fabio Capella and Mafia betting scandal, an elaberate way of increasing the odds on an overall England victory. (Obviously goal keeper, Rob Green, is in on it as well!) Anyway, I thought better of it and decided to keep my tenner bet and spend it on beer and books instead....

For The Queen, England, and St. George....

TonbridgeBlog asks: Will England be playing in the red shirts today? What's the significance? You may well ask. Call me superstitious but England wore the famous bright red strip when they won in 1966. That alone should be enough to inspire the team, to motivate them to play out of their skins. Forget nerves now boys The Queen, England and St, George need you to play the best god damn game of football you've ever played in your whole lives ever ever ever! Which only leaves the question of where to watch the game? Let me think. Option number One: close shop early go home so I can crack open numerous cans of Fosters lager, be undisturbed and be able to shout at the TV. Bit saddoand lonely though. Option Two: watch on computer in my bookshop. This could be disastrous if (a) computer and/or internet crashes and (b) a railway books enthusiast with no interest in football wanders in mid way through second half and wants, quite understandably, to talk about his area of interest! No this cannot be the option. Which, as it's too late to catch a flight to Johannesberg, only leaves going to the pub to watch with like minded people on a biggish sports screen. But where in the centre of Tonbridge is the best spot? I watched some of the last World Cup games in the Slug and Lettuce but felt a bit out of place there being older than twenty; so what about the Rose and Crown outside bar? Or there's the good old Chequers or maybe the Ivy House. Then there's the Somerhill at the other end of town. Come on help me out here....

Where would you cut wasted spending in Tonbridge?...

As new Chancellor, George Osbourne, lines himself up for possibly the harshest budget in recent memory Tonbridge Blog asks how will this effect Tonbridge? Where will the cuts fall, how deep will they be and where should they fall? What would you do if you were in charge? For example would the new Government have allowed the extravagant new Gateway building at the castle council offices? What about cycle routes? Are they worth maintaining or a waste of time and money? Will the axe fall on the A21 dualling project? What about the Cottage Hospital? How safe is its future? What projects are crucial enough to ring fence? It's likely to effct us all in varying degrees so let's hear some views....

False alarm!...

Just went along to enjoy an hour at the Slade School fete and discovered that it is, er hum next Saturday. Do I feel a berk?! Anyway put it in you diaries for a week's time....

Slade summer fete starts about now....

Lots of school fetes on today no doubt. I shall be finding time very shortly to have a look at the Slade School one. You know the sort of thing: tombolas, penalty shooting, coconut shy, burger/hot dogs, flower stall, bric a brac, throw a wet spunge at the teacher etc. etc. Their theme for the fete is, er hum, the World Cup! In fact it starts at 12pm (till 2-30 I think) so I might toddle off there right now. That queue of people outside Mr. Books will just have to wait till I get back!...

Has Mr. Books finally been locked up?!..

Has Mr. Books finally completely lost it? Is it him being bundled into the back of a riot squad Police van? Many of you, no doubt, would like to think so wouldn't you! No in fact the story as far as can be told with scant information is this: Friday night and all was quiet when I shut up shop for the night around 5pm, (honest guv.) The World Cup was getting into full swing and there was not a hint of any trouble just an average evening in the middle of June. When suddenly.... I wasn't around to witness any of it, in fact I only heard about it this morning but, luckily, a keen amateur snapper and fan of TonbridgeBlog was on hand to bring us a couple of decent pictures of the, let's just say, altercation right outside Mr. Books Bookshop around 6pm. Apparently some travellers had been in trouble with the boys in blue for illegally setting up camp in a field near Barden Lake by cutting a gap in the hedge. How one of them ended up being chased all the way to Bank Street in the centre of town is a mystery but apparently this young thick set fellow wasn't at all pleased and wasn't initially prepared to cooperate fully (or in fact at all) in getting into the van. By all accounts it took several burly coppers to eventually bundle him in. An ugly scene for our fair town to witness I think you'll all agree. Some people have even said that the characters of the childrens' books in Mr. Books window display were covering their faces in sheer terror! Let's see if we can gather some more reliable information. Anyone care to fill in the details....

Tonbridge Carnival in pictures....

Tonbridge High Street was lined with people three deep on a gloriously sunny Sunday afternoon as they gathered to see this year's carnival procession. These pictures, taken with my trusty little Sony Ericsson camera phone, are not the best photos in the world I'll grant you but, I think you'll agree, they do capture the spirit of the day. Stewarded as usual by the Tonbridge Lions, local theatre groups, martial arts groups, schools, hospital leagues of friends, clubs and societies and, not forgetting those twirlers had all made a great effort to entertain us all. I'm sitting here in my shop missing out on all the fun of the fete going on on the castle lawn right now but I'll be putting in an appearance there soon. Marvelous to see such a brilliant turn out from the good folk of Tonbridge who are clearly determined to have a good day in spite of all the economic gloom....

Tonbridge Carnival....

If you missed the Tonbridge Carnival procession then no need to worry some pictures will follow very shortly right here on Tonbridge Blog. It's still possible to see the carnival fete at on the castle lawn which is just starting around about now....

Tonbridge Carnival is tomorrow....

Don't forget to come into Tonbridge tomorrow for the summer carnival, now you wouldn't want to miss those Tonbridge Twirlers now would you?! The procession starts at 1pm (I think) and then there's a fete on the castle lawn all afternoon following it. Will we be celebrating England kicking off their World Cup campaign with a win or will we be biting our nails as those USA boys do us again (just like in 1950 if there's anyone out there old enough to remember?!) Oh and Mr. Books, unusually fo a Sunday, will more than likely be open so you can buy some good novels to read in the times between all the football matches....

Come on England giz a goal....

Football mania hits Tonbridge! What an opening ceremony that was. What? You didn't watch it! Then you missed a treat as the world watched a celebretion of, not just football, but all things African. Will England beat the USA tonight? (anyone know what time the kick off is by the way?) will they win their group (they certainly oughta) will they become torunament favourites? Will Wayne Rooney go on the collect the golden boot for the most number of goals scored across the four weeks? Will John Terry be able to resist the temptation of all those Cape Town girls or has his wife hired a PI to keep an eye on him? Will Dizzy Rascal and James Corden get to number One or will we see a return of Meat Pie Sausage Roll Come on England Giz a Goal? Please God nooooo! The England team must be nervous and excited, but surely they will have no trouble beating the US of A. Will they? But then we remember the 1950 England World Cup match against the amateurs of the States, who, against all odds, managed a flukey 1-0 win and sent our boys home with their tails between their legs? (or was it 1952?) Don't be too on edge boys and remember you can always read a good novel to calm your nerves....

In at the deep end....

Reading the Tonbridge and Malling Council glossy rag, Here and Now, I noticed that the swimming pool down by the river is 100 years old this year. Well, they are stretching it a little as the lido, build in 1910, bears virtually no resemblance to the current all mod cons one. Apart from the fact that it is on the same sight and there's water in it! What struck me reading this article was the fact that that they actually had first and second class bathing meaning that the first class bathers didn't have to mix with the poorer folk even though they shared the same water, they had there own cublicles by the side of their bit of the pool and paid more for the priviledge. It tickled me to discover that a woman, who was joining in a Daily Mail backed national campaign, mounted the diving board to protest about mixed sex bathing and was promptly pushed into the pool below, fully clothed presumably, by another bather. I wonder what she'd make of modern day lycra bikinis and banana hammock speedos! Anyway, apparently Duncan Goodhew will return to the pool on July 10th to mark the centenary of the pool with a family outdoor party. (Is he a Tonbridge man or something?) So now you know....

Recharging my batteries in Hay....

Well it may not be everyone's idea of a relaxing few days off but it is mine. From Sunday to Wednesday I was "detoxing" at the Hay on Wye Festival. I say detoxing because that is what it feels like: you're surrounded by authors, actors, famous people who are just sitting all around on deck chairs, in the cafes and bars just like you are. Then there's all the talks, which are mostly fairly cheap (between £4 and £8) and sometimes free; you learn that some authors may be great on paper but boring to listen to (Anthony Beevor, Helen Dunmore for example) and that others are just a delight to both read and listen to like Simon Armitage and Andrea Levy. Sometimes you realise that you are becoming part of that days news when you hear, as I did, Sir Ian Blair (ex-Commissionaire of the Met) giving his first hand opinion of the shooting of the innocent Brazilian man, which partly led to his own sacking by Boris Johnson. And then there's the town of Hay itself, with it's thirty odd bookshops (one of them a converted cinema housing over 200,000 titles!) then there's the street food: home cooked curry, crepes, smoothies from stalls in and around the Castle; the music, the comedy, the weird and wonderful people milling around the narrow streets. You look up and you see the wonderfully picturesque scenery all around you as the Brecon Beacons beckon you to walk up them, to breath all that lovely fresh Welsh air. My first visit to Hay gave the inspiration to open my bookshop in Tonbridge so every year that I can I try to make it along there for a few days of recharging and detoxing. A kind of working holiday but actually, for me, more enjoyable than most normal breaks....