I see that after my comment the other day about the number of vans parked in Brinkley Road someone has posted a note of protest onto the windscreen of one of the vans, pointing out that it's been parked there without moving for six months, which is a fair hing to point out in anybody's book I'd say.

It's not technically illegal as the van's taxed but it's certainly inconsiderate.

A new drive thru?

Is there a new drive-thru in Worcester Park? After my observation of the Porsche outside KFC the other night I took this photo of an elderly couple enjoying their fish & chips in their car parked on the kerb outside the Ocean Fish Bar!?!?

I guess you can't eat in and although the view's not much at least it's getting out!!

A landmark ruling

I see that the Sutton Guardian has started a campaign to find a landmark to compete with the Angel of the North and asks the question:

"...if Sutton had a landmark to rival that of the Angel - championing and symbolising the town - what would it be? "

Hmmmm.... "Championing and symbolising" Sutton. That's a tough one. A list of notable Sutton-ites is suggested and Adrian Short points out John Major as a significant Worcester Park resident but other than that the list's fairly thin with Harry Secombe and someone from S-Club 7 getting mentions. I'm not quite sure about how serious the Guardian are about the whole thing as you'll see if you view their mock-ups of an Eiffel Tower and and Angel of the North in Sutton (see link below). It's hard for me not to be cynical about the stated desire to give Sutton High Street a cafe-culture feel as it seems to me that the only way to do that would be to get rid of most of the people and ship in some new ones...

Now, if I had to symbolise Worcester Park?!!? That's a real challenge! Suggestions please!

Sutton Guardian - Landmark campaign
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/topstories/4381278.Sutton_town_centre_needs_a_landmark/

Things that go "ding-dong" in the night

I woke up this morning to read, through blood-shot eyes, the Parkerilla's post from yesterday about the crashed UFO in Green Lane and the breach in The Matrix spotted in The Midas Touch and the general level of eerie events in the Worcester Park. On a normal day I'd write that off as the fevered speculation of someone who's spent too long breathing in the fumes on Central Road but after last night I might give it some thought.

After crawling into bed around 11pm last night for some much-anticipated, and some might say much-required, beauty sleep I anticipated being disturbed by nothing more than the possible consequences of an overindulgence of artisan cheese. Not so. At 2.05am I was awakened by Mrs Brinkster getting out of bed, with my initial thought being that Brinkster Minor's cold was keeping him awake, but when she said "Someone's ringing the doorbell" I became aware of the rapidly-repeating 'ding-dong' and my brain attempted rather half-heartedly to kick into gear... then stalled... then rotated violently around it's axis before spewing out random thoughts. Doorbell? 2am? It's going to be a bad thing. What kind of bad thing? Too late for Jehovahs Witnesses. Robbers? Police? Drunken oafs?

It turned out it was our next door neighbour who "had heard a tremendous crash, followed by groaning" and was convinced that someone in our house had fallen down the stairs and was lying in great agony to the extent that he'd called the Police, who'd advised him to ring the doorbell. He'd apparently spent some time at our door with a torch trying to spot the injured person but, as we assured him and a quick check of the house proved, there was no injured person and nothing had crashed.

I can't be cross with him though as if it had been a real situation that's exactly the kind of reaction I'd want from my neighbours, though it's interesting to me what he could have possibly heard that was so convincing, knowing that he's not prone to flights of fancy, as it wasn't just a single sound that he reported but two entirely different types of sounds.

Any more strange goings-on in the neighbourhood that you know of?

The Parkerilla - A Chilling Warning
http://theparkerilla.blogspot.com/2009/05/chilling-warning.html

Please don't step in the politics

Politics is a bit of a dirty word at the moment but many of the issues in the Sutton part of Worcester Park can only, to a lesser or greater extent, be changed by either engaging with Sutton Council directly through the Councillors or at the very least by taking an interest in who you decide to vote for in the local elections. Apart from the historical issues surrounding garden waste, the Sutton Life Centre, yet another plan to renovate Sutton High Street and more there are a variety of other things which go on all of the time that you can get yourself heard on. Sutton Council do have consultations on certain issues but these haven't been well-responded to leaving the Councillors free reign to interpret the results in the way they choose but spending a few minutes a week to participate can make a huge difference.

If you look in the sidebar on the right-hand side I've introduced a section for Council Blogs with a couple of LibDem ones and a Tory one in there to get started but if you know of any more good local politics sites then do let me know.

Recently local blogger Adrian Short has taken the Sutton LibDems to task for their latest election pamphlet in a post entitled "With lies like these I’d rather the LibDems fiddled their expenses" and uses words such as "misleading" and "sordid" to describe it. If you're even thinking of voting in the upcoming European elections then do take some time whether your chosen party really is the right one to get your vote, and you might want to start by looking at Adrian's post.

Adrian Short

http://adrianshort.co.uk/2009/05/15/418/

It's all about Worcester Park

Another perfect Worcester Park moment on Wednesday evening when I was trailing back from some late socialising in the City I spied a Porsche Boxster parked just outside KFC with it's lone male occupant tucking into a bucket'o'something. I don't know whether to congratulate him for being immune to class-consciousness by bringing his Porsche along to KFC or whether to point out that he was still class-conscious enough to eat it in the car outside and not mix with the regulars.

Ryan Gate, apparently under new management, has had a mini-refurb with some plastering work done in the cafe area and some nice new chairs and tables have appeared in there too. I haven't been in there since meeting the WPB to do our Santa photos so I'll have to go back soon.

Is it just me or has there been an increase in vans being used as on-street storage? We've got a few in Brinkley Road, one of which hasn't moved for months, and the owners just seem to appear periodically and take a few tools and then go off again. It's annoying because it does end up having an impact on parking in the road.

Monday night is the meeting of Worcester Park Residents Association at 8pm and there are a multitude of pressures on Worcester Park from air quality to the Hamptons, from planning decisions to leisure facilities so if you're interested in going then take a look at the website below or check out the details on the tree outside the Police Station on Central Road (or the numerous signs in Central Road shops).

Worcester Park Resident's Association
http://www.wpra.org.uk/WPRAMeetings.htm

Buddha of Suburbia

No, not the book, movie or anything related to Hanif Kureishi's original creation but I'm talking about the Buddha (buddharupa for the pedants) in the window of the closed down TV repair shop on Central Road. I paused to photograph it in passing the other day and then, it being early and my brain not yet being fully wired for the day's activities, my mind wandered off into pontificating about the metaphorical significance of having a plastic-wrapped deity in the window of a disused Worcester Park shop. Is it a sign that no matter how bad the financial situation on Central Road might get he's there to watch over us and guide us benevolently towards contentment and abundance, or is it that he's merely attracted to Worcester Park by the idea of having his shiny pate waxed at one of the many beauty salons? Being rather sadly enshrouded in a plastic bag does seem to suggest certain limits to his deity though and why he should choose the deserted window of a TV repair shop rather than that of,say, Model Road & Rail is indeed a deep mystery that I shall ponder until at least my next cup of tea.

In other news it looks like the Brazilian-run cafe run as part of Cafe Piccolo seems to have closed with the big "Closed" sign on the front door being the main clue and the lack of tables and chairs combined with the removal of their Brazilian flag from the window as supporting evidence. Someone mentioned the other day that the proprietor of Cafe Piccolo was looking to sell and move on though I haven't had any kind of confirmation of that but it'd be a shame as our encounters with him have always been pleasant ones. Could it be that the two-for-one offer that Pizza Express have been touting recently has had a bad impact on his business?

Rose Spa 2 go

After a busy weekend of Stuff™ we came home to find our doormat adorned by a leaflet from the Rose Spa saying that they now have a mobile service called "Rose Spa 2 go". That means that I no longer have to leave the house to have my underarm wax (£10.50) and should I be feeling hirsuite enough to warrant the Brazilian (£19.00) or the frankly mind-boggling Hollywood (£36.00) I can be pampered in the comfort of Brinkster Central rather than having to slog the few hundred yards down to Central Road.

You can contact them on 020 8337 5348 or check out their website (details below) and apparently they also treat women.

The Rose Spa
http://www.therosespa.com/

P.S. to Simon. Hope you enjoyed the impromptu tour of Brinkster Central!

Do you feel like Chicken Tonight?

And all year??

If you love eating chicken then the Harvester at the Plough has an offer for you. According to the "thisislocallondon" website their recent revamp has opened up the position of "Chicken Taster" so anyone who feel qualified to regularly pass judgement on the quality of their chicken offerings is invited to apply before the May 11th deadline.

"The winner and a partner of their choice will get to sample succulent chicken meals for a whole 12 months, with a complimentary visit to the restaurant each quarter.”

To submit your CV by applying for the role of official chicken tester, email contact details and the name of the Harvester to testers@harvester.co.uk
Applicants’ names go into a draw with one lucky winner announced after the closing date, Monday, May 11.

I think the expression "partner of their choice" is a dangerous one though as I don't think they intend it to sound as though the Harvester will set up adulterous trysts over a chicken dinner. Partner of my choice? If we couldn't find a babysitter it would be Stephen Fry or John Simpson.

This is Local London

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/4330347.Chicken_taster_wanted_for_boozer/

Yet another Friday update

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Brinkster household and this weekend promises more of the same but I just had to pop by and point you in the direction of the latest Worcester Park Life magazine, which you can pick up from selected outlets in Worcester Park, as it contains the "Directors Cut" of my recent post on go-karting and The Noble Savage's excellent first article in there. You can find mine on page 18 and hers is on page 22 though if you can't find a printed copy you can browse the pages online at the website (details below).

I hope soon to be able to regale you with tales of The Midas Touch, a review of my new camera (Panasonic DMC-TZ7) and my recent journey on the X26, to name but a few.

One thing I've been hearing is that some of the Hamptons residents are suing St James Homes because of the poor build quality of their homes. Before I put anything else in print do you know more?

Worcester Park Life
http://ourkt4.com/

The Noble Savage
http://noblesavage.me.uk/

The Brinkster's go-karting post
http://brinkleyroad.blogspot.com/2009/04/surbiton-raceway-karting-surrey.html