Monday 17 December 2012

North Cheam Festive event


As I tweeted on Saturday we headed off to the festive event which was held at North Cheam on Saturday to see what was on offer. As with the Worcester Park Christmas evening it was being run by the Outer London Fund and the most obvious thing different about the junction was the arty makeover of the derelict Victoria House, which made quite an impression on those present.

As far as the stall went there were a variety of stalls ranging from the professional to enthusiastic locals and while there were craft stalls there were zoomed in on the food stalls with jams, cheeses, meats and even sushi available. My star stall was the Giggly Pig stand with superb sausages ranging from the simple "Old English" on to "Rudolph's Revenge" with its chilli kick through to "Wow-Wow" which is an all out flamethrower assault on your palate. We took advantage of their "3 for £10" offer and absolutely loved them.

Brinkster Minor had his heart set on a mug that a "Young Enterprise" stand had on offer as a replacement for his recently broken one and the fact it came stuffed with chocolate didn't hurt his opinion of it so he parted with some cash in order to bag that.

We spotted local MP Paul Burstow in the throng together with his wife, Councillor Mary Burstow, and he was posting on Twitter as was Worcester Park Info though we must have just missed each other judging by our respective pictures.

As the event progressed various local shops decided to join in and put tables outside their shops and it had a really nice community feel about it

There was also a stand devoted to Victoria House and its impending renovation but I'm going to cover that separately so you'll need to stay tuned!




Tuesday 4 December 2012

SW Trains deliver early Christmas present

@SW_Trains
An announcement just out. For tomorrow three services from Worcester Park will get a special 'oomph' to help tired commuters kickstart their morning.


On Wednesday 5 December as a result of a speed restriction in the Wimbledon area, the following Epsom-Waterloo train services will not call at Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Earlsfield, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall:  0722 Epsom-London Waterloo  0752 Epsom-London Waterloo  0822 Epsom-London Waterloo 
 These services are all expected to arrive at London Waterloo on time.  Customers who would normally use these services from Epsom, Ewell West, Stoneleigh, Worcester Park or Motspur Park to travel to Raynes Park, Wimbledon, Earlsfield, Clapham Junction or Vauxhall should either wait for an alternative train service or change at Motspur Park. 
 Further details on alternative train services can be found using the drop down boxes at the top of this page.  We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to your journey on Wednesday morning. 
Message Received :04/12/2012 19:51
For more information go here http://www.journeycheck.southwesttrains.co.uk/ or follow their feed on Twitter - https://twitter.com/sw_trains

Friday 30 November 2012

That was the Worcester Park Christmas Evening - 2012

So did you have fun then at Worcester Park's Christmas evening? We heard Christmas carols, won cuddly toys on the tombola, drank mulled wine from Cheam Rotary club, got a goodie bag from Sean Hanna, chatted to Mis from The Vin Bin, didn't get a balloon animal of any shape or size (we left that to the little kids) and saw lots more besides.

Those who complained about previous Christmas festivities being overwhelmed by fairground rides had their wish come true and proceedings were dominated by local groups and businesses! I hope it worked out well for them and they put on a good show (did I mention the mulled wine?)

Mrs Brinkster was due to go out for the evening so we didn't make it any further up the road to see the Christmas shop or the pop-up shop so if you didn't make or, or did but can't remember much I've put together a short video!

Monday 26 November 2012

Sutton Christmas Lights go on!

On Saturday myself and the younger Brinksters went in search of Christmas cheer in Sutton, which will seem to some of you to be an unlikely prospect I know, but buoyed up by the promise of Christmas lights and entertainment we bussed our way into town with bags full of expectation. The Brinksters were expecting an awesome Christmas evening while I....well..... wasn't, but was willing to be convinced.

With the Christmas lights due to be switched on at 6pm we got there in plenty of time to rumble through a couple of shops before heading up the hill to where the stage was set up as the youngest Brinkster was keen to claim a spot to so that he was sure of a good view.

Saturday 24 November 2012

Big weekend - Free Grit and Christmas Lights!

@SuttonGrit Twitter logo
This weekend is the last chance to get 10kg of free grit from Sutton Council so that, should the occasion arise during the winter months, you can use it to make safe your pavements and pathways. The nearest place to go from Worcester Park is the Kimpton Park Way recycling from 10-5 today or from 10-2 tomorrow.
At Kimpton Park Way residents have to bring their own container for the grit, but you can log on to www.sutton.gov.uk/kimptonwebcam to check if there is a queue before you go
Kimpton Park Way Reuse and Recycling Webcam - Live

In order to claim your free grit you will need to bring your council tax bill or a current utility bill. And anyone who wants to help an elderly friend or neighbour, or residents without cars, can bring along one of their bills and collect the grit on their behalf.
Residents who currently receive an assisted bin collection can have the grit delivered to them. Simply call 020 8770 5070 for details.
While you're at it you can follow @SuttonGrit on Twitter for the latest  information over the state of gritting in the borough and inform them if one of the council grit bins runs low. For more information take a look at the flyer below or visit http://www.sutton.gov.uk/gritting

While the turning on of the new Worcester Park Christmas lights is a week away you can get a foretaste of what's to come as Mrs Brinkster tells me that they've got the same lights down in Sutton. The official page is short on detail but says
Sutton Town Centre will get the party started on Saturday 24 November when the Mayor, Cllr Sean Brennan, will turn on the lights, accompanied by Father Christmas himself.

The lights will go on at 6pm marking the climax of the day's entertainment which will start at noon and include music, dance and extracts from theatrical festive favourites.
Another council page provides a little more details, such as a starting time and location
There will be festivities in Sutton High Street from 12noon. The Christmas Lights will be switched on, 6pm at Trinity Square, by Father Christmas and the Mayor of Sutton.
 If you're going to go all I can say is "Take a brolly".... and have fun

Friday 23 November 2012

Tripping the light fan-plastic

One of the treats awaiting Worcester Parkers this Christmas is the new Christmas lights that we've been promised. The good news is that they're here and installed but instead of going for conventionally Christmassy theme such as angels, holly or even a snowflake they've gone for.... well.... take a look.

Apologies for the poor photo (I'm commuting in the dark at the minute) I'd have to call that "plastic and spiky" wouldn't you? If you can't tell what I'm referring to then I'm on about the things sticking out towards the top of the lamppost

Obviously they'll look better when they're actually turned on but I'm not persuaded that this is an improvement so far.

What do you think could make Worcester Park look more Christmassy?



Monday 19 November 2012

The Eyes Have It

I notice that a variety of traffic monitoring cameras have sprung up on Central Road which is hopefully in response to the appalling traffic issues that have been noted in the local newspapers and many other places, including here.

I don't know whether it's coincidental that they've appeared just as the Worcester Park Mosque plans come close to the end of their consultation but either way the information will hopefully go towards coming up with a long-term solution to the traffic issues, help feed some genuine traffic data into the Mosque planning decision, plus it will potentially give any local bigots and conspiracy theorists something to keep them occupied while the rest of us get on with our lives.

I'm not holding out much hope for a change in the traffic situation but I hope they do find something practical that they can do.

Brinkley Road flats refused again

A few weeks back I posted that Mr Hull had re-applied, from the safety of his million-pound mansion in Tadworth, to knock down number 34 and 36 and build a block of flats there. The decision is now out and the application has been refused, again, from the decision details shown on the planning website.
(1) The proposal, by reason of its design, siting, excessive bulk of the roof form and excessive parking area to the rear which does not allow sufficient space for landscaping and amenity areas, would represent an overdevelopment of the site which would be to the detriment of the character of the area and the streetscene and would thereby be contrary to policies BP12 and PMP2 of the Core Planning Strategy and Supplementary Planning Document 14 - Creating Locally Distinctive Places.

(2) The proposed development, by reason of its scale and close proximity to neighbouring property at 38 Brinkley Road would result in a loss of outlook through an increased sense of enclosure. The application is therefore contrary to policy BP12 of Suttons Core Planning Strategy, policy DM2 of the Site Development Policies and Supplementary Planning Document 14 - Creating Locally Distinctive Places.
My personal thanks to Sutton Council for defining Worcester Park as being a "Locally Distinctive Place" and hopefully that will be the end of it, though Mr Hull has been remarkably persistent so far....

Monday 12 November 2012

So what did you buy from the French market ?

I have to say that I immensely enjoyed the French Farmers Market on Saturday as it seemed to bring a bit of a buzz to Central Road with what seemed to be larger than usual number of people out in Worcester Park shopping. I don't know if that buzz rubbed off on any of the regular shops on Central Road so I'd be interested if you know whether it did or not.

As it was we shed a few shillings at the market as you can see from the photo with a couple of cheeses, one cute and one more 'adventurous' plus a selection of olives and some pickled garlic. It's all the kind of stuff we could have picked up from Waitrose but being caught up in the spirit of the occasion we wanted to support the stall holders, particularly as we know that the way they work is that they all get to vote on whether to return so if even one stall made a loss then they may choose not to come back. We'll see eh?

So what did you buy then?
Nice smelling things
A selection of mottled meats

Friday 9 November 2012

French Farmers Market takes shape

As I wandered down to the station this morning past the rows of stationary and grimacing car drivers I saw that the French Farmers Market was taking shape from the junction of Washington Road all the way down to WH Smiths. There are plenty of stalls but I do have to wonder whether the visiting "Farmers" may have been misled as to the amount of custom they're likely to get in a place like Worcester Park? We're a nice place to be sure but this is no Sutton High Street...

Customers or no they're due to be in Worcester Park from 9-5 today and tomorrow so if you have a desire for bags, CDs (do they GROW those?) and strangely mottled foreign sausages then you don't have to venture very far.

Thursday 8 November 2012

Transport woe, doom and gloom

As if commuting wasn't thankless enough the deities of the transport world have visited poxes and plagues upon the travelling folks of Worcester Park. Firstly the local Guardian reports on the horrendous traffic delays that drivers experienced on Tuesday
 "One driver took more than an hour to drive from Worcester Park to the Fountain roundabout in New Malden where traffic started to ease. Cars were desperately trying to take shortcuts through back routes to avoid the jam.On Twitter, 213 Bus Diaries said this morning: "Traffic simply not moving in Worcester Park. 500 yds in 40mins, nothing in last 10. Why is noone interested in schemes to ease these jams?"
Next there were train delays affecting trains through Motspur Park yesterday causing delays to services in the morning rush-hour and beyond,

"Emergency engineering works at Motspur Park means trains between Raynes Park and Chessington South/Epsom are running around 20 minutes late."
This morning I see from Radio Surrey that there's been another accident on the A3 and that traffic is backing up as a result:
TRAVEL: A3 northbound between Malden Junction and Shannon Corner, 2 lanes closed due to an accident. Queues from Hook.
I long ago gave up on jobs that required me to drive anywhere and leave at a time of the morning that usually means that I avoid most train delays, including yesterdays, but that leaves me in the fortunate minority.

Does anybody here love their commute?
------------------------------------

Find 213BusDiaries on Twitter here https://twitter.com/213busdiaries
Worcester Park Info here: https://twitter.com/WorcesterPkInfo
And My6Percent for train news and issues: https://twitter.com/My6Percent
Plus the official SW Trains feed: https://twitter.com/SW_Trains

Thursday 25 October 2012

Al Jenat supermarket opens

Walking home last night the new Al Jenat supermarket was open, or appearing to be doing a very good impression of being open at the very least. I didn't have the chance to go and pop my head in to take a look but perhaps one of you could nip in there today and let me know how it looks?

Hopefully it'll encounter more success than the immensely short lived "Worcester Supermarket" of a few years back that eventually appeared after a prolonged gestation then disappeared only a few weeks later with hardly a customer having passed through the doors. It met it's demise on April 18th 2007 according to my own blog and I managed to turn a phrase or two in its honour.

"I know you've been gagging for your latest installment of Worcester Park life, as gagging is frequently cited as a reaction to the content. Apologies for that but I've been poorly so haven't felt like it, but hopefully this will make up for it. 

Yes, it's over. When I went to work yesterday morning the counter of the Worcester Supermarket had gone, together with all the valuable stuff, and when I came home they were boarding it up. That has to rate as the shortest and most spectacularly bad business idea to grace Central Road in living memory and I can't say I'm going to miss it. Well, I could, but I won't. Mr Ink next?"

Fabulous lack of hope and foresight on behalf of Mr Ink then?

Monday 22 October 2012

It's another fogging Monday morning in Worcester Park!

Personally I quite like the slightly surreal glow of the lights in the fog as it momentarily makes me think I might be somewhere else....

....like work.... I'm going to be at work... oh bother....

Happy Monday wherever you are and whatever you're doing!

Sunday 21 October 2012

The crowds massed in Worcester Park

I've was passing Christ Church St Philips yesterday when the Boys Brigade Jumble sale was due to start and I couldn't believe the crowd that had gathered! For a minute I thought that Gary Barlow must be making a guest appearance or something and I've certainly seen smaller crowds at some "celebrity" book signings. Perhaps some people, taken in by the hypnotic lure of daytime TV and Antiques Roadshow are holding out hope of finding a lost Van Gogh or first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" or maybe there is some genetic attraction surrounding jumble sales that I am blissfully immune to. Certainly queuing up outside one half an hour before it's due to start is not something I'd have thought of before though some words were muttered about 'dealers' but that was apparently in reference to hunters of vintage clothing rather than purveyors of recreational pharmaceuticals.

Perhaps my immunity to jumble sales is a product of my upbringing. When I was a lot, lot younger my mother would help organise jumble sales in the local church hall and I would sit behind the row of tables and whilst she fended off the heaving mass of humanity who would attempt to strip the tables bare I would test the limits of my boredom threshold by trying to find out just how much fun can be extracted from a set of coloured pencils and a pad of paper. When questioned she didn't seem to know why people went to them either but then I was probably around four years old then so any meaningful answer she could have given me would have gone entirely over my head..

Are there any jumble sale regulars able to tell me what it is that's so appealing? Cost? Opportunity? Necessity? Chance to have a good rummage?

Saturday 20 October 2012

Al Jenat supermarket - an update!

A kind reader sent me an email after my last post about Worcester Park's new Al Jenat supermarket that's due to open soon and the accompanying demonstration of my complete lack of any talent in understanding Arabic.

"Al means the in arabic and Jenat also spelt jinnat means Paradise or heaven it also means garden. so literally it means The Garden. I have also seen one man inside the shop shelf stacking and was told it will be open within a week"

Thanks very much indeed for sending that in! Does anyone else know any more?

Friday 19 October 2012

Al Jenat supermarket due to open

So the mystery of the new supermarket from the earlier has become a lot clearer by the simple expedient of putting a sign up out the front. It's going to be called "Al Jenat" and due to the limitations of my education I'm entirely unable to tell you what that means and Google Translate wasn't much help either. If you do know what it means, and I note there are a few other food stores in the UK with the same name, then please do let me know.

Happily it's offering a 10% discount on opening so whatever it is they'll be selling will be temporarily cheaper, though how you'll be able to verify that I'm not quite sure as there won't be any point of reference. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though so I'm looking forward to buying discounted stuff just because I can... It's be churlish not to eh?

Regressing slightly if you have any interest in failed translations then I can do little better than to point you in the direction of "English As She Is Spoke", a Portuguese to English phrasebook from 1883 which became an unintentional source of humour because, it's generally believed, the Portuguese author wasn't familiar with English so created the translations by using a Portuguese-French dictionary and then dragging them through a French-English dictionary. This has left us such lovely phrases as "Raining in jars" (raining buckets) and the phrase I used above about looking a gift horse in the mouth comes out as "A horse bared don't look him the tooth" but  Stephen Pile's "Book of Heroic Failures", which introduced me to this august tome, picks it's most evocative favourite as "To craunch a marmoset", which sits alongside such mysterious phrases as "To buy cat in pocket", "To make paps for the cats" and invites you to "Dress your hairs"!

Friday 12 October 2012

Gas supplies cut in Brinkley Road

Back in the 70's T-Rex's Marc Bolan sung that "Life's a gas" but it certainly wasn't in Brinkley Road last night as there was a problem with gas supplies that could have been due to the heavy rain.

According to the gas man who arrived at Brinkster Central mid-evening to check our supply the problem occurred somewhere around 6.30-7pm in the evening and whether you'd retained your supply seemed to be dependent on whether your boiler was on at that time or whether it came on during that time.If it was the latter some kind of pressure back up drew water into the supply and cut you off.

This left households without gas supplies last night which for some meant no cooking, heating or hot water, which we can agree is some way the other side of mildly annoying. We were one of the lucky ones and didn't suffer any disruption but I'm sure we'll find out this morning how everyone else got on or you can let me know in the comments if you were affected and how good Southern Gas have been at getting your service back on line.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Nonsuch Mansion wins awards

It's no big secret that Nonsuch Mansion is one of my favourite places to go and I've been privileged enough to attend some events there so I'm pleased to be able to congratulate them on the three awards they recently won from Time & Leisure Food Awards.
Bovingdons catering manager Andrew Gray
receiving one of the awards

They were the winner in the categories for Best Service and for Best Coffee House then followed that up by being commended for Best Fine Dining.

Nonsuch Mansion really has come a long way from it's recent, and neglected past, so a lot of credit has to go to the team there for what they've achieved there and with the Friends of Nonsuch now having a fabulous model of the old Nonsuch Palace on show it makes Nonsuch Park a really special and unique place to visit.

If you've visited and enjoyed Nonsuch Park and Mansion then The Friends of Nonsuch would appreciate your help in keeping it in the fabulous condition that it now is.
Model of Nonsuch Palace


Wednesday 10 October 2012

Planning application to fall flat again?

About this time back in 2008 I blogged that a certain Mr Hull wanted to turn 34-36 Brinkley Road into 10 flats but he failed.
"A developer has twice proposed knocking down two bungalows in Brinkley Road and replacing them with flats in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to the new Brinkley Court, which replaced the disused church/factory for those of you who ever saw it. Having been turned down by Sutton Council for first 18 and then 14 flats they've returned to the fray with a proposal for 10 flats"
Undaunted he tried again in 2009 and 2010 but after a year off he's back with an application for 9 flats which is uncannily similar to his last application. For the record here are the reasons the 2008 application were rejected so if you believe that any of those, or objections to the later developments, still apply then make your objection to developmentcontrol@sutton.gov.uk

Bringing down the barriers

On turning into Brinkley Road last night I was greeted not by the familiar green railings of yore by some very sad little heaps of squishy tarmac, a few plastic barriers and some displaced bricks. It seems that the latest fad in improving the street environment is removing anything familiar in the somewhat obscure hope that changing something will give people the feeling they're being looked after..... or not.

Thank goodness we're not in Camden where they removed those horrid, ugly, yellow lines in the road and replaced them with little signs which, if you didn't spot them, meant instant parking ticket:
"The lines on the streets around the British Museum have been replaced by small signs saying restricted zone and metal studs marking loading bays as part of efforts to reduce street clutter."
Even a traffic warden was willing to provide an opinion to the Evening Standard
"The warden, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “People just don’t realise they’re in a restricted zone. They removed the yellow lines, which means if people stop or park on what they deem the carriageway then it’s an instant ticket."
 So what does Camden council have to say about it?
"A council spokeswoman said: “The removal of yellow lines and lines marking out parking bays is part of significant public realm and transport improvements in Bloomsbury. Yellow lines are removed to reduce visual clutter and to reduce the visual segregation of the carriageway and footway"
Heaven forbid anybody would suggest they're selling the metal for scrap to continue funding white elephants such as the Sutton Life Centre or anything but I think my public realm was fine just the way it was thanks....

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Something Ethnic This Way Comes

The former Nicholls Interiors furniture store on Central Road opposite the end of Brinkley Road vanished some time ago and only anonymous white pieces of paper have been left to mask the aftermath. I mistakenly assumed that nothing was happening but, tipped off to some activity by Mrs Brinkster, I stuck my phone over the top and the picture below is what I saw.

Taking the clue from the (apparently) Arabic (?) writing it looks like some kind of nicely turned out mega-Ryan Gate, though the location has precious little parking to its name so I'm not quite sure how the heavily laden are supposed to make off with their purchases.

I can't see any sign of a planning permission request for it so does anybody any more idea of who they are and what they're going to be doing?

Thursday 24 May 2012

Increased vigilance after attempted abduction

You may have read in the local or national news about an abduction attempt at a primary school in Worcester Park which is being linked with two previous incidents in the Kingston borough. Police report.that
"The third reported incident happened in a primary school in Worcester Park at approximately 15:15hrs on Monday 21 May. A man was seen on a push bike weaving in and out of cars parked in the public car park at the front of the school. The person who reported the incident shouted at the man and he rode away. This suspect is described as a white man in his early 20s wearing a woolly hat."

The description of the people involved is as follows:
He is described as white, with a tan, wearing a black jumper with a blue shirt underneath, blue trousers and a black woolly hat. It is believed he was accompanied by a woman who is described as white, with long black hair, of slim build, approximately 5' 6", wearing a red hooded top and red trousers
For more information you can read the Police report here:
Kingston police investigate alleged attempted abduction
Please contact the Police if you see these individuals or can provide any other information.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Scout Group Posters - We Have A Winner!

After my post the other day about the competing Scout Fair posters I had no expectation whatever that someone would come along and better them but not for the first time, as Mrs Brinkster would be only to happy to attest, I was wrong.

Along came a poster-related email today that brought a huge smile to my face. Now THIS is what Scout group posters should be all about!!

As you can see it's announcing the Cuddington Beer Festival which is organised by supporters of the 2nd Cuddington Scout Troop and is due to take place on 14th July, though the biggest challenge for me is working out which session to go to if I was forced to choose.

Rather than repeat the contents of the poster I'm only going to point out that you must buy your tickets in advance and that all other details, including sponsorship opportunities, can be found at www.scoutingforbeer.org.uk and having had a look at the site I'd say that they're very reasonably priced.

I also understand that they're putting up their posters with easily-removed cable ties, though if you're after souvenirs of last weekends scout fairs the posters were still there as of this morning...

Can anyone give me a lift home?

Friday 18 May 2012

Let Battle Commence

Leaving Worcester Park station last night it seemed that there was a battle taking place for the hearts and minds of Worcester Parkers as posters for two rival scout jumble sales adorned the street furniture. Both events take place on Saturday at slightly overlapping times and while not a head-to-head struggle on the scale of, say, Britain's Got Talent versus The Voice I like to imagine some kind of competitiveness taking hold with scout leaders fingering their woggles in nervous anticipation.

The two protagonists in this event are the 4th Worcester Park Scouts and the 1st Old Malden Scout Group so here's a quick look at the two.

If it was to be judged on the standard of the poster then 1st Old Malden would be the clear winners with their colourful poster sturdily mounted on card and attached to the fence by the station with easily removed cable ties.

4th Worcester Park would win on coverage though as it seemed as though pretty much every lamppost on Central Road seemed to be sporting one as I walked up the hill so there was little chance of missing their monochrome encouragements to part with 20p for the pleasure of perusing their wares. Rather than using the cable ties favoured by the 1st Old Malden, scrap merchants and innumerable club/disco nights the 4th Worcester Park have opted for transparent sticky tape so I'll be interested to see how well that comes off.

Timing-wise the 1st give the start and end time of their event while the 4th provide only the start time, presumably in the hope of encouraging an opening rush, and with the overlapping time you can go to both if you're so inclined. The weather for Saturday is looking to be warm and dry, if a bit grey, which will please the 1st as they'll be on Plough Green rather than in the cosy scout hut the 4th will be holding theirs in.

If you're free on Saturday and have already sampled the joys of the Cheam Charter Fair then head on down to either or both groups to pick up a bargain and show your support to these great community institutions.

The one remaining, and currently unanswerable, point is which group will do the best job of clearing up after themselves...

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Cheam Charter Fair In Full Swing

Photo from www.friendsofwhitehallcheam.co.uk
This week sees the Cheam Charter Fair taking place and while you've already missed the Traditional Cheam Charter Fair Day yesterday events continue on until Saturday with Whitehall in Bloom this afternoon from 2pm, a guided walk of Cheam and the Lumley Chapel tomorrow, Whitehall's own "Night at the Museum" until 9pm on Friday and concluding with the Special Cheam Charter Fair on Saturday with stalls down Park Road and at the Whitehall itself.

If you've never been there the Whitehall is a most amazingly preserved piece of history that has seen and survived more than its wooden frame could reasonably have been expected to when it was built around 500 years ago. If you want to imagine how hard that is try and think of what The Hamptons will look like in the year 2512!

For more information go to www.friendsofwhitehallcheam.co.uk and www.cheamcharterfair.org.uk

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Scam-tastic Updated

*** UPDATE ***

Thanks to an email from another Worcester Park resident we've been able to identify the person originally reported in the last post from a picture on the Sutton Guardian website and pass on the details to the Police to attach to the original crime report. The person identified has previously had a two-year ASBO for aggressive begging amongst other things so is known to the Police

Good result all round!

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Scam-tastic

I had an email from a fellow Brinkley Roadian about something that happened to her on Sunday evening which I'm passing on in the hope that it will be of help should you find yourself in a similar situation.

--------------------
Last night (Sunday 6th May) at around 10.40pm i reached the Kingfisher restaurant and a white male, approx 29 years of age, fairly well spoken, tall (approx 6 foot tall), black jeans and jacket approached me. My first thought was that he was going to ask me for directions. Conversation went like this:
"Do you speak English".
Me: "yes"!
Him: "ive just had a telephone call to tell me my girlfriend has been involved in a road traffic accident, the door of her vehicle is all smashed in. I need to get to the Mayday hospital urgently".

I realised at that point he was going to ask me for money so i told him i had no money on me, which i didn"t.
He appeared very much on edge and then he ran off, probably to ask someone else the same thing. I told my friend who works in the police and she said it sounded like a scam.

Just thought i should let you know and if you could pass the word around so other members of the community are aware. I mentioned it to my next door neighbour and she said the same thing happened to her when she was in sutton last year.
--------------------

Friday 4 May 2012

It's All Happening Now!

"What's this!" I hear you cry (or not). "3 posts in two days?". This afternoon's excitement comes from something that's going to excite Miss Brinkster when see finds out, not the ugly yellow skip obviously but behind it lies the promise of the imminent opening of a Sushi and Bento place in the row of shops by the library. It's one of her favourites so if it's any good I can see this costing me a fair bit....

Last Chance To Buy...

I see that the people at Nicholls Interiors on Central Road are having a massive "closing down forever" sale offering discounts of up to 75% off! The only problem I can see with this is that their chosen method of advertising these massive discounts is to completely obscure them from your vision so that even trying to peek between the cracks of their huge posters yields not even a morsel of useful information. It could be that the place has already been stripped bare by eager bargain hunters but I will never know as it's (almost) equally possible that there's a zombie army waiting inside for more unfortunate victims. Best not to risk it eh?

Thursday 3 May 2012

A touch too much?

As I came out of the station this afternoon there were some workmen outside the Midas Touch apparently in the process of fixing some broken windows at the front. Do any of you keen-eyed locals know how they were broken? Protest at a runny creme brûlée perhaps?

Thursday 19 April 2012

Head over wheels

The Sutton Guardian is reporting that a car flipped over in Caldbeck Avenue on Wednesday evening and ended up on its roof:

"A man has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving after his car flipped onto its roof in a crash last night. The 49-year-old driver was arrested after he collided with a parked car in Caldbeck Avenue, Worcester Park, just before 10pm last night."

Did any of you see it or have any more information?

From here

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Adventures in Travel - Commuting Style

When I got on to the computer this morning to check that the trains were running before I set off for work I groaned when I saw the red "Cancelled" signs and warning message indicating that there were problems after Wimbledon with delays of "up to 30 minutes", which is SW Trains code for "bring a toothbrush and shaving kit" from previous experience. My normal route is into Waterloo, on the Waterloo and City line to Bank and then a five-minute walk to the office. A quick check of the bus departures showed that I wasn't easily going to be able to get to Morden and onto the Northern Line to Moorgate (and a short walk) so I decided to take my chances and see if I could make it to Wimbledon, which would get me on to the district line to Cannon Street (and a long walk).

Happily when I got to the station there was an unscheduled train waiting, presumably the apparently cancelled 06.12, so I hopped on that only to find that it was going to terminate at Raynes Park and not take me to Wimbledon. When the doors opened at Raynes Park most people bundled onto a train waiting at the other platform but myself and a few others headed to the bus stop, probably veterans of  previous commuting disappointments who thought that the train wasn't likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. My plan was to get a bus into Wimbledon and jump on the District Line to Cannon Street but as a number 57 pulled up I realised that it could take me to South Wimbledon and onto the Northern Line to Moorgate! Yes!!

That all went to plan and I happily settled into my seat but was roused a few stops later when the guard announced that the train controller was redirecting the train via Charing Cross and not via Bank as advertised. Half the passengers hopped off that train and onto the next one and settled in for the remainder of the ride in the hope of a peaceful journey. But no... at Elephant & Castle we were told that Bank station was now closed due to a fire alert so the train wouldn't be stopping. While that wouldn't affect me current journey I breathed a grateful sigh as my normal route would have put me on the way to Bank station, or now more accurately into the bus queues outside Waterloo.

Finally I got to Moorgate and after a short walk was celebrating my micro-adventure with a cup of tea. What was the net effect of my adventures? I was ten minutes later than my normal arrival time. Result!

So how did you get on with the trains this morning fellow commuters? Anybody see my tweet before they set out?

Friday 13 January 2012

It's the BIG GAME!

It's the big game tomorrow! No, not Chelsea v Sunderland or Man Utd v Bolton. I'm talking about THE big game! Worcester Park FC against Guernsey!!

Guernsey are top of the table in the Combined Counties Division 1 with a 20 wins from 22 games with only one draw and a loss and they're used to playing in front of home crowds of over 1,000 whereas Worcester Park are in 9th place and have 10 wins, 3 draws and 9 losses. With Worcester Park having scored 4 goals last week in their win over Epsom & Ewell and Guernsey having a goal difference of +78 (that's an average of more than +3 per game) there should be a fair few goals to watch.

It'll cost you a couple of quid to get in if you're not a member but that then gives you access to the bar and freshly-cooked hot food is available all the way through. Kick off is at 2pm rather than the more conventional 3pm as Worcester Park don't have floodlights so make sure you get there on time.

Game on!!

Monday 2 January 2012

A Footie New Year

Happy New Year I you all! I helped celebrate mine by heading down to Green Lane today and watching Worcester Park FC take on the might of Cobham in the Combined Counties League with the two teams in 10th and 9th place respectively in the table. A lacklustre first half saw better play from Cobham but no goals though a nicely-priced cheeseburger and chips plus a cup of tea helped stave off the cold and liven the spirits. At the beginning of the second half the 50 strong crowd saw Worcester Park come out transformed and after a few good chances went begging they were rewarded with a lob that put both the ball and the goalie in the back of Cobham's net. After 15 minutes or so Cobham took control but failed to convert the pressure into goals and were punished for their failures when Worcester Park put in a second goal just before the final whistle. It's unusual to go to a stadium where the number of spectators decreases every time a train pulls out and it wasn't the greatest football I've ever seen but it was a good result, which should lift Worcester Park above Cobham in the table, and really nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Bank Holiday Monday.

EDIT: The score on the FA site says that it was 3 - 0 in the end so that must have happened when I took Brinkster Minor off to the toilet. Typical eh?