If a tree falls in the forest....

Driving past the station yesterday I notice that one of the traffic lights on the station side (rather than the Green Lane side) has been quite comprehensively uprooted. I'm guessing that someone tried to play 'chicken' with it in their car or such like but if any of you know what happened then can you post a comment please!

Another week

Having had a busy week at work I haven't really noticed much on Central Road as it's been closed when I've been there but there have been some useful comments to previous posts, notably the prolific Mr Jones, that I'd recommend you look up.

My only excursion of the week was to see the new Simpsons movie on Wednesday which you will like if you're a fan. If you're not into The Simpsons I don't know whether you'll like it or not as my imagination can't leap that far but I'd nudge you to give it a try.

Boiling water

The great British preoccupation with weather is now well and truely in overdrive, and with plenty of justification as some awful scenes unfold across the country. Worcester Park was flooded but I missed it as I was in the City and by the time I got back it had all dispersed. I gather the bridge at the station flooded (pretty much guaranteed really isn't it) and I was hearing stories from neighbours of adjoining roads with water lapping at their doors from overworked drains. In Brinkley Road the gravel alleyway at the top of the road emptied itself down as far as number 24, which is a new record. In an example of Worcester Park spirit one kindly neighbour took it on himself to scoop up many of the stones and return them to their original location. The Brinkster Clan were all impacted by floods at their allotted educational establishments but on the whole we got off lightly, apart from the having to boil water thing.

If you have any photos or stories about the recent weather then please do post them in the comments!

One curious phenomenon of this sort of event is that it does tend to bring out the kind of person, often not from these shores, who insists on contrasting our weather phenomenon with that of their chosen country with the aim of belittling the UK in some way. For example if it snows someone is bound to contrast our train system with that of Norway which (probably) runs without any hint of delay after a 15 foot snowfall. The recent earthquake in Kent was greeted by "Yes, but it was only a little one" and tornado pictures in the UK get the same response. The flooding will no doubt be greeted with stories of "That's nothing compared with New Orleans.." and the fact that we haven't had a drought/heatwave this year has spared us tales of how they keep the tube cool in New York/Teheran/[insert chosen city here]. We may not have the most extreme weather in the world but is hard to match for variety..... maybe I'll point that out next time.

Incidentally I have been in range of a 7.0 earthquake

The Silence of the Wii

Sorry all. Had the good fortune to win a Nintendo Wii in a competition and since it arrived on Monday the Brinkster Clan has been held in the kind of hypnotic thrall that Paul McKenna could only dream of.

As a result I've entirely failed to blog about the lovely neighbour's bbq we went to last Sunday, the unmarked Ford Galaxys that appeared in Brinkley Road on Monday with lots of Police in them looking as though they were going somewhere local to enforce something, and the continuing work on 'The Rose Spa' and the sewing machine shop on Central Road.

Incidentally, has anybody noticed that the shop next to the sewing machine shop also has work going on? I don't think it's related but don't have any other ideas as to what it might be either.

Disappointingly there's no sign of action on the Bikehut front. Maybe nobody wanted to work there.......

Lights and sirens on Brinkley Road

When I got home yesterday I noticed that our bins hadn't been emptied, but that some of the plastic bags that had been out further up the street had apparently gone. Thinking no more of it I retired to my chair in the living room of Brinkster Central, where Mrs Brinkster related to me the events of the day.

Apparently (she having heard the story from a neighbour herself) the bin lorry had turned into the top of Brinkley Road and the bin men were going their allotted tasks. Somehow a new, but not much loved, resident of Brinkley Road managed to squash/crush one of the bin men between her car and a van. Apparently she just sat stock still in the car, not moving, while another neighbour rushed out and attempted to move the van to get the man free.

Cue traffic chaos and blues and twos with the Paramedics, Ambulance and Police arriving, then council supervisors surveying the scene and the bin lorry being removed as evidence. I don't know if this story will make the local press but it's certainly got the residents of Brinkley Road going.

Don't know what's going to happen to our rubbish though.

(This is brought to you via neighbour-speak so I can't prove that all/some/any of the above information is actually true)

Plus ca change....

.....plus c'est la meme chose

In casual conversation with one of the local constabulary late last night he was bemoaning the fact that he was still on duty half an hour after he should have knocked off, which he put down to a "busy evening at the Huntsmans". As regular readers will know I have mentioned the Huntsmans Hall once or twice before but it seems like the new management are having a tougher time than had been hoped for. Apparently most of the old-timers have moved on but it's the local "yoof" who apparently take personally the staff's enforcement of the drinking laws in respect to age.

Shame really as it would be nice to have a pub near the station that's not illuminated amphibian green.

On a sadder note the 6th July marked a whole year since worcesterpark's last blog entry. For those newer to this blog he was the original WP blogger and the one who christened me with the Brinkster name. Go on over to his blog and leave a note, in amongst the comment spam, and see if we can get him to relent from his blogging abstinence.

More bits

On Saturday I spotted some movement in the tiny menswear shop that closed down due to retirement recently and the sign outside now announces it as being the new location of Redgwell Sowing Machines, formerly of 15A Cheam Common Road according to Google. I have a vague recollection of seeing the shop up at North Cheam by Sunray Motors in the past so will assume it's the same place/people, unless you know otherwise. Interesting to see a North Cheam business migrating to Worcester Park.....

The new beauty salon that's under construction also has a sign outside and from memory it's "Rose's Spa" but I may be mistaken. It seems to be getting along nicely and may be ready for the middle/end of the month by the look of it.

Lastly there are plans to make Worcester Park station step-free, or at least more wheelchair friendly;

"In relation to step-free access, TfL has identified its next ten preferred National Rail stations for the third tranche of DfT-funded works to create step-free access between street and station. These are Ilford, Bromley South, Ealing Broadway, Edmonton Green, Dalston Kingsland, West Croydon, Worcester Park, Gospel Oak, Hampstead Heath and Camden Road."

I don't know when this will happen but it's be welcome news as the stairs are currently a nightmare for wheelchairs, buggies and drunken revellers alike.