A week's a long time.....

....in Worcester Park.

Is it really a week since my last post? I had so much to write about but got overtaken by a variety of events. One of the more relevant was listening to the recording of the local council meeting of 29th April where two of Worcester Park's fine Councillors stuck it to Mr Forghani from the road planning dept who wanted to implement a right-turn ban at the bottom of Lynwood Drive. His argument was that out of the nine reported accidents three had involved right-turns (no banning the left turns tho'?) and that TFL had been promised (as a sweetener for the recent road "improvements") that accidents would be reduced at the spot. Councillors Jerome and Roberts pointed out that those statistics dated back to 2004, since when there hadn't been any accidents reported at the junction, probably because the traffic now moves too slowly, so any ban would be pointless. After the vote it was, Councillors 1, Mr Forghani 0!

That scoreline is probably going to be a reflection of what happens to the Dutch tonight when myself and a few cohorts will be cheering the Oranje on to probable defeat in a local hostelry in Worcester Park. I'll let you know how we get on (the pub, not the game). I've got a work leaving-do to go to beforehand so may be struggling my way through the Wilhelmus by kick off!

Moving laterally onwards the Brinkster Clan's recent trip to the low countries did provide one jaw dropping moment in the kind of place where my jaw, or anything else for that matter, is incredibly unlikely to be found dropping.

In the small, provincial town of Tilburg (think of Sutton in the country) we drove into the first car park that we came across only to find it was some subterranean parkers dream. It had different neon lights for each row, shiny concrete instead of cheap tarmac and shaded bays instead of white lines. Compare/contrast with any car park in Sutton or Kingston at your leisure. Taking photos of car parks...... [shakes head].

Back to the subject of the local council we've taken advantage of Sutton Council's latest offer of a free compost bin and taken delivery of our 330 litre behemoth. I'm not sure I know exactly what to do with compost but I'm never one to turn down a free offer and if you also live under Sutton Council's kindly gaze then head here and folow the instructions.

If anyone wants a second-hand Dutch flag it'll probably be available by next Wednesday.......