Bridge Trust retires from retail.

Once upon a time the Bridge Trust had a furniture sales warehouse in Tonbridge, a charity shop near Tonbridge railway station and a charity shop in Tunbridge Wells.  The Tonbridge shop rarely made a profit but the other outlets were profitable.  It was decided to close the Tonbridge shop as there is little point in running an operation at a loss.

The furniture warehouse premises had to be vacated.  After much searching it reopened in premises in Paddock Wood. Sales fell substantially so it was decided to close the warehouse.

In Tunbridge Wells the shop in Camden Road was small so it was decided to relocate to larger premises on Camden Road closer to the town centre.  It was decided also to open a further outlet in Grosvenor Road selling clothes.  Both Tunbridge Wells outlets have closed.

Health Update

An appointment at Pembury Hospital for my pacemaker to be monitored.  Working well and doing its job.  No 'murmers'.

Next day a visit to my GP surgery for blood test results.  My cholesterol is back within the range of normality and my diabetes is under control.  Must keep taking the pills.

More Liberal Democrat hypocrisy

Dr Bullion has had a letter published in  The Times of Tunbridge Wells in which he criticises a Tunbridge Wells Borough Councillor who has moved to Norfolk and continues to represent his ward, travelling to and fro for meetings.  He is a Tory councillor.

Before Dr Bullion started throwing stones he should have considered the damage to  the Lib Dem glasshouse.

See below:

https://kentcommunityactivist.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/

Dear me.  Nothing like cheap political point scoring.

Twerp of the year award

It's that time of year.  Many potential winners but this year the outstanding candidate is David Lammy who is a serial performer in the stupidity stakes.

Overpowering 'music' at Rusthall Fireworks

Most enjoyable firework display this year.  Only downside music blasting out from the loudspeakers used for public address.  So loud one could hardly hear the bangs from the fireworks!

A sad sight

A letter received today from NHS informing me that my eyes are nor affected by my diabetes.  Then off to Southborough for an eye test.  All well.

However Southborough is a sad looking place.  No banks, a big void where once the council offices and theatre stood, closed pubs.  All very depressing.

However the most depressing sight was the notice in the window of the erstwhile Cafe Bliss.  Premises to let. The cafe was a community asset but when shove came to push the support of those prepared to bask  in the glory in better days was not to be found when the going got tough.

In happier days:

Health Update

Had a blood test earlier this week.  Results in.  I have type 2 diabetes.  Ah well, more diet changes.

Worsening bus services

From 27 July the 402 service between Tunbridge Wells and Bromley will terminate at Dunton Green.

Some time ago the Tunbridge Wells - Ashford service was cut back to Tenterden.

This year the 6A route between Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone was terminated at West Peckham.  The loss of two buses an hour between Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone is compensated  partially by the provision of an extra bus on the route between the two towns via Tonbridge.

Pacemaker Update

An appointment with the heart failure nurse today elicited the good news that my heart is working towards the bottom of  the 'normal' range for heart activity, an improvement of over 100% pre my medication and pacemaker implant.

Pacemaker Diary 3

A year ago today I had an angiogram. Two months ago  I had a pacemaker/defibrillator fitted.  I am making good progress and the heart failure nurse is hoping to discharge me from her care next week.  the care I have received at Pembury and Maidstone hospitals, the heart failure  nurse and my GP has been excellent.

General Election 2017

How will the results pan out?  A few suggestions:

1.  The UKIP vote will collapse

2.  The Conservatives will win an overall majority of between 80 - 100 seats.

3.  Labour will lose seats.

4. The Liberal Democrats will win a few seats.

5. The SNP will lose some seats.

Update:  3 out of 5  :)

Two casual vacancies

Rusthall Parish Council has nine members.  However two have resigned creating casual vacancies to be filled by the remaining councillors choosing from people who apply rather than have the expense of a by-election. Will there by a mad rush of applicants?  I have my doubts.

Pacemaker Diary 2

Coming to the end of my course of antibacterial pills - 4 of one type and 3 of another per day.  Hopefully they have worked.  The dressing over my incision comes off tomorrow.  It itches, but no pain.

What is a pain is not being permitted to drive for a month. Dressing, undressing and combing my hair is difficult as I must not raise my left arm above shoulder height.

Pacemaker diary

I had a pacemaker fitted on 2nd. May 2017.  The device is called an ICD as it has a defibrillator function as well as the usual pacemaker function.  Fitting the device was at the end of a long road that commenced in November 2015 when I visited my GP with symptoms of breathlessness and very rapid weight gain caused by water retention.

I have received excellent service from the NHS: from my GP, the heart failure nurse and staff at Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone hospitals.

Now for the next steps.  I must not raise my left arm above shoulder height for 6 weeks and I am not permitted to drive for a month.  In June a further visit to Maidstone hospital has been arranged to enable the settings on my device to be changed should It be deemed appropriate so to do.

Early days.  I walked to and from the polling station today to vote in the county council elections.  No adverse effects, indeed I felt far more comfortable than I have for some time when walking a similar distance.

My diet has not changed.  I am limited to 2 grammes of salt per day and two pints of fluid and I have to continue taking the pills.

Election literature

Two clear days before Kent County Council elections. So far only the Labour candidate's election address has been posted through my letterbox.  Come on Greens, Lib Dims and Tories: where is your literature?

UPDATE:  Conservative leaflet received.  Have seen better, much better election literature from the Tories.

Bureaucracy gone mad.

Rusthall Parish Council  has nine members. It has also the following committees or working parties: allotments, finance, planning and highways. The council has an office and a paid part-time clerk.  The  council precept takes £72,000 out of the pockets of residents and for what?

The traffic calming measures have not been successful, indeed at least one of the signs has disappeared. I have never seen the 'speed gun' in action.  The Rackliff Centre is not needed.

The Rusthall electorate did not have to vote at the last parish elections as only nine people stood for election. Apathy reins.

The Labour candidate for my county council division trumpets that she is vice-chair of the parish council and a member of the newly formed highways committee.  That should lose her a few votes.

Big day this Friday

This Friday I shall be at Maidstone Hospital to have a pacemaker/ defibrillator fitted.  Cannot claim to be looking forward to the experience but the benefits for me far outweigh my mild anxiety.

UPDATE: postponed to next Tuesday.

General Election 2017

So, 8th June it is.  The Tories are going to the country with a  massive lead in the opinion polls.  Should Mrs May return with a  large majority she can claim a further mandate for Brexit legislation.  Labour is in disarray and will fight the election on an anti-austerity prospectus.  The Left will not be able to deselect sitting MPs in the time available.  I expect the Lib Dems to pick up some seats on a pro-EU ticket not withstanding the oaf of a leader.

Bad news for UKIP given their current internal strife.

Kent County Council elections 2017

When the election was contested in 2013 the English Democrats fielded a number of candidates who either did not exist or had not consented to stand.  One of the leading lights of the party was jailed recently for his part in the farce.  This time round there is not a single English Democrat candidate.

In 2013 UKIP ran the Conservatives a close second.  The UKIP bubble has burst and as a consequence the Tories can feel confident of retaining control of the council.

In Tunbridge Wells the long serving James Scholes is not standing for re-election. One interesting snippet. Terry Cload, a former Conservative borough councillor, was expected to stand as a UKIP candidate in Tunbridge Wells West.  In fact he is standing as an Independent in Tunbridge Wells East, the only seat UKIP holds in Tunbridge Wells.  A plot to split the Tory vote?

New rails

The DfT news of improvements to the rail system is welcome.   The key criteria for the works are better connectivity between and within regions and acceleration of services.

The eye-opener is the re-opening and electrification of the Bedford-Northampton line. Thameslink services will be extended from Bedford to  Rugby.  This, together with the building of the eastern section of the Varsity Line between Bedford and Cambridge, will open up new travel opportunities between the West Midlands and East Anglia.

In the East Midlands the Erewash Valley line between Trowell and Trent will again see regular express services between Sheffield and Leicester as  attempts are made to reduce journey times between Sheffield and London.  London-Derby services will not continue to Sheffield.

Preliminary work is to commence on re-opening the line between Plymouth and Okehampton to provide a diversionary route to the coast route via Dawlish.

No progress has been made in the attempts to re-open the Uckfield-Lewes line.  The negative report, commissioned by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has not helped, nor the news that consideration is being given to developing a fast service between Ashford and Reading via Tonbridge, Redhill and Guildford. However, there is talk of a private consortium prepared to meet the cost of the proposals for BML2.  What would happen to the Spa Valley Railway?

On a more positive note, the go-ahead has been given to the reinstating of passenger services between March and Wisbech.

Finally, the biggest beneficiary is Chiltern Railways.  It will take on the franchise for the Varsity Line services and also will gain running rights on the line between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton.  The latter will enable the operation of a through service between London Marylebone and Chester without having to detour round the outskirts of Birmingham.  Chiltern will also take on the operation of the NUCLE route from Nuneaton to Leamington Spa via Coventry as a precursor to the development of a London-Leicester service via this line.  To deal with the problem of capacity at Marylebone it is proposed that the line from South Ruislip be reinstated to enable some services to terminate at Old Oak Common and thus provide an interchange with HS2 and Crossrail.

Wheels coming off?

It has been a bad few days for Robin Tilbrook, chairman of the English Democrats.

One of the party's leading lights has been sent to prison following conviction on nine counts relating to nomination papers for the 2013 Kent County Council elections.

Tilbrook complained to IPSO about the use of the words 'far right' to describe the English Democrats. He lost. The link below is to the IPSO ruling.

https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=14258-16

Poor Uncles: confused as ever.

Between his conviction and sentence Steve Uncles published this tweet.

Ah well, probably cannot tweet from jail.  However Uncles published this in 2015:

I "was about to be exposed on your Anna Cleves 'joke'."

Well I wasn't as there was nothing to be exposed.  At the trial the judge stated that there was no April Fools joke.

Let me put the record straight for the benefit of Uncles and his followers.

In April 2013 I was perusing the list of candidates for the Kent County Council elections.  I have had contact with many officers and councillors in the course of my activity in the voluntary sector and was keen to know who was standing for re-election.  Something looked 'odd' about the names of a few candidates in the Tonbridge & Malling area so I arranged to visit the offices of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and inspect the nomination papers.

Later an article appeared in the local press on 26th April 2013:

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/police-probe-english-democrats--a53478

I contacted the police on 30th April to inform them of my concerns.

Yes!!!

Steve Uncles to serve a prison sentence and pay £1,000 costs.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/far-right-activist-jailed-for-cheating-122138/

Joy unconfined!!

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/politician-facing-jail-for-cheating-121205/

Improving railways.

Four trains an hour off-peak to London, two trains an hour off-peak to Hastings and that is the sum total of passenger services from Tunbridge Wells for most of the day.

Good service should London be your destination but woeful should you will to travel to Croydon, Bromley or Brighton.

Croydon involves a change at Tonbridge and then an hourly service to Croydon via Redhill or a trip via London Bridge.

Bromley can be reached by changing at Orpington, but not all London-bound trains stop at Orpington, so an additional change at Sevenoaks It is possible to reach Bromley by changing at Sevenoaks and then heading out to Bromley via Swanley. Miles further and slower.

To reach Brighton there are three routes all of which take about  the same time.

1.Via St Leonards (change) and along the line to Brighton.  You might be lucky and catch a through train - otherwise change at Lewes.

2. Via  Redhill.  Change at Tonbridge, Redhill and Gatwick.

3.Via London Bridge.  More expensive than the others

Well, he would say that wouldn't he?

One of our parish councillors has written the following gushing guff.

'Finally I do hope that readers of Rusthall Life appreciate the work the parish council does in the community and realise that it has made a significant difference to the life of this lovely village.'  Bilge.

The village has acquired a hall and council office and pays for a clerk.  All quite unnecessary. Back in 2011 this particular councillor was keen to reopen the public conveniences.  Has it happened?

Smashing New Year

No sooner had the fireworks stopped than there was a bang, a whooshing sound followed by a skidding sound and finally a metallic clunk, all accompanied by a police siren. A car, driven presumably by an idiot, had hit a wall, careered down the road, over the green and into the side of a car.

Cue for one of the people in the car to leg it up the road at some speed before vaulting over the six foot wall into the pub garden!

Six police cars and vans arrived and the occupants began a search of the pub garden, but to no avail.