News round up - 11th Jan

If you've been reading the local news of late you'd be forgiven for thinking that Worcester Park is a hotbed of criminal excess.

First off was Harry Sullivan's court appearance in relation to his pre-Christmas BMW disassembly effort when he crashed in into a lamppost in Weybridge whilst nearly three times over the limit. His punishment was a two year driving ban with a 100 hours community service and £145 costs, though I doubt that the latter will genuinely cover the expense.

Alan Banks will be spending a heftier 18 months inside after admitting a post-halloween attack on a man outside a KFC in Surbiton in 2014

The attack by Banks, who was wearing a pink tutu, black tights and ballet pumps at the time, was initially said to be a homophobic attack, but this was heavily disputed by Banks and led to the homophobic element of the charge being dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Lastly there was a "crash and dash" last week in Worcester Park when a car crashed through a garden wall but the occupants scarpered before anyone could do anything about it. If you have any more information on that I'm sure the Police would be keen to hear it.

Beechdean Motorsports - Brands Hatch 2011

Hopefully you'll have seen from my recent posts that the newly-opened Nonsuch Pantry has taken on a range of Beechdean ice creams so in probably one of the most tangentally connected posts you're likely to read on a blog I went to watch the 007 car of Beechdean Motorsports compete in the Brands Hatch round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.

The Beechdean Motorsports car is a black and yellow six-litre Aston Martin DBRS9 capable of 0-60 in under 4 seconds in the GT3 class with ice-cream company director Andrew Howard and professional driver Jonny Adams behind the wheel. Things were looking promising after a good run in qualifying but on an alternately sunny and rainy day in Kent it'd be fair to say that they had a bad day at the office. Starting from 4th on the grid an early spin dropped them down the field and a later puncture, slowing them to a crawl for an almost complete lap of Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit, and a couple of trips into the gravel meant that it was not going to be their day. They finished the race in a disappointing 20th and will be hoping to regroup before the next race in Spa, Belgium in three weeks time.

Nice car though. And nice ice cream.

*n.b. They don't sponsor me and didn't get me into Brands Hatch. Promise!

Two car crash on Central Road

As I made my way home up Central from work yesterday afternoon I came on the scene of an accident. A large BMW, driven by an elderly gentleman, had uprooted two very sturdy metal bollards from the pavement and he was seated in a chair waiting for the arrival of an ambulance. I noticed that his airbag had deployed so it must have been quite some whack to set that off and uproot the bollards.

Slightly further down the hill at the bus stop there was another car, with a young man in attendance, showing damage to its front left and seemed to have been involved in the accident, but I couldn't quite work out the chain of events. Any ideas anyone?

Mr Fog

Our beloved internet has thrown up an amusing story* from a Worcester Park resident who relates the tale of how he (allegedly) attracted the attention of the Police whilst taking his pride and joy for an early morning spin on a gloomy day:

Policeman: You were driving far too fast for the conditions, what would you do if Mr. Fog came down suddenly?
Me: I would put Mr. Foot on Mr. Brake.
Policeman: Let me say that again... more slowly. What would you do if mist OR fog came down suddenly?

*I know it's old but it's still good...

Pictures of the Brinkster Clan

As a recognised parent blog I know some of you have been wanting more pictures of the Brinkster Clan so today I though I'd oblige you with some candid shots of the family at play.

What is parenthood for if not for getting small children to hurtle around tarmac on a tin-framed incendiary devices on wheels? Friday morning saw the Clan arrive at the hidden gem that is Surbiton Raceway, which should really be called Worcester Park Raceway if location is anything to go by, just opposite the Hogsmill and with much excitement Miss Brinkster and Brinkster Junior donned overall and helmets and headed for the junior track. After paying a surprising amount of attention to a short safety briefing they took to the track for fifteen minutes of petrol-powered pleasure and as she swept past Miss Brinkster could just be heard exclaiming "I am mini-Stig!"

Time completed and adrenalin well and truly pumped we headed down the slope to the main track and Surbiton Raceway's real treasure.... the two-seater kart. This enabled me to take each of the small Brinksters around for a few laps and judging by the whooping and broad smiles it was a big success. We spent the rest of the day at Chessington World of Adventures and they still preferred the go karting.

Of the two tracks the Junior track is more technical and interesting though with the main track the big challenge is keeping your speed up and not scrubbing it off in the corners, particularly the higher speed corners. It's not a particularly cheap hobby, but then how many are, but if it's the kind of thing that takes your fancy and/or you want to introduce your kids to it then Surbiton Raceway is a great place to start.

Pardon the music. I thought it'd be better than background chatter and kart engines

Surbiton Raceway
http://www.surbiton-raceway.co.uk/

Lots of news

No Friday laughs I'm afraid.

For those who haven't seen the Sutton Guardian alliteratively headlined article instigated by the Worcester Park Blog's recent post, and subsequent debate, about Sutton Council's advice on feeding foxes then I've scanned it and made it available if you click on the image below.

Or read it here

In other news the carnage on the A24 London Road continues. In the last two weeks we've had the fatal hit and run which claimed the life of William Buckingham and unintentionally led to a string of accidents at the site, one which led to a cyclist being airlifted to hospital. Mrs Brinkster saw the North Cheam junction closed at one point last week and now there's been another hit and run involving a car and motorcycle.

To take a quote from the Guardian
”The helicopter has been here about four times in the past couple of weeks. It’s shocking, something needs to be done about this stretch of road - it’s a death trap. Its a 30mph zone but cars come flying along here at about 70mph. We need a zebra crossing or some speed cameras at the very least.”

The Guardian has also run an article about Sutton Council's proposal to change transport arrangements for special needs children in the borough where the Council stands accused of using dubious "research" to support the measure by suggesting that there's a direct correlation between special needs and obesity. One person told me that Stanley Park High School, recently in the news for expelling three pupils for sex attacks on girls, is now being investigated because of reports that some pupils were waiting for the special needs children to get off their transport and then insulting and bullying them which, if true, doesn't go far to inspire confidence in Sutton's provision for those families with special needs children.

With £5.5 million of Sutton Council's money caught up in the Icelandic banking crisis I anticipate we'll hear more stories of proposed cuts before too long......

But if you want to see a really, stupidly extreme example of poor research and special needs (don't get me started on the MMR/autism debate) then consider PETA's (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) latest misinformed advert which has now thankfully been pulled from the billboards:

#

Gah!

Driven to distraction

Lots of car-related news this morning, starting with the Worcester Park Blog's post on the flaming car at the end of Washington Road, complete with photo. Next up is a story from one of my neighbours about an incident on Saturday where a Range Rover by the WH Smiths crossing on Central Road trying to nip past a bus on the outside only to come head-to-head with a car turning out of Longfellow road, with the bus then joining the accident moments later. The local Guardian reports that a snoozing driver with an over-developed sense of irony demolished part of an optician's shop in Cheam at 4.30am on Saturday and lastly, but most sadly, there was a hit-and-run incident in which William Buckingham, 21, was killed on the A24 London Road by on the hill up passing Nonsuch Park at 1.15am on Sunday morning. We passed the scene shortly after the road reopened in the afternoon and there were a huge number of floral tributes in place. Ironically, on the return journey it was itself the scene of a multi-car shunt where someone appears to have been preoccupied with the floral tributes on the roadside and not with the brake-lights of the stationary traffic in front....

On an entirely different note The Drill is hosting the Dave Markee Jazz Band on Wednesday night so for a mere £5 you can see the former bass-player for Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading and Faith Hill do his thing. I'd recommend it!

Fallout and Ferrari foibles

The local Guardian has published its account of Monday night's council meeting and some of the comments fill in parts of the meeting that I missed, and it seems as though it wasn't just the bit I was at that was stormy.

In other Worcester Park news the Press Association reports the following :

A Ferrari owner will be looking for a new set of wheels after the car was seized in south-west London and sold by the authorities for displaying an out-of-date tax disc.
The £30,000 F348 was spotted in Ruskin Road, Worcester Park, in April, bearing a disc that expired four years ago, and towed away.

When the owner failed to pay the fine and storage fees, the car was sold at auction for £18,000.

Today's blog has been brought to you by the letter 'F'

Potentially awkward moment

There are some conversations that you never imagine you might have and due to a strange combination of circumstances I had one of those on Sunday with Mrs Brinkster.

On Sunday we decided to get over the depressing news that yet another charity shop is opening in Worcester Park on Central Road by heading off into London into London and indulging one of my occasional TV pastimes, that of motor racing. The A1GP tour had closed off Lower Regent Street and the kids were entertained by "Roary the racing car" and by seeing their faces 30 feet high on the enormous jumbotron screen while I tried my hand at the pitstop challenge and gawped at the cars.

More gawping was going on around me though as many men present took advantage of the curious and illogical penchant of motoring manufacturers thinking that the best way to showcase the modern motoring marvel that is a racing car it to surround it with women in provocatively unsuitable clothing (comment here). As a result men of varying age and physique were lining up to have their photos taken with the "Grid Girls" in a display of almost unabashed drooling.

It was as we reached the Canadian car that the lady (above) seemed somewhat familiar to me and when she spotted me she smiled broadly, stepped forward and planted a peck on my cheek. I introduced her to the Brinkster Clan and we chatted animatedly for a while before I led the Clan off in search of more entertainment, at which point Mrs Brinkster said.................

....."And......errr........ how do you know her exactly?"

(she was a member of our party on Wednesday night [see previous post])

For the record, my pit stop challenge time didn't win me a prize [boo]

Some news, apparently bad

After my earlier post I'm sad to say that Worcester Park 6-a-side cricket team didn't win the ECB Indoor Championship, being bested by last years champions Blaydon. Seems like it was a big competition though so I feel that commiserations and congratulations are due in equal measure for making it to the semi-finals.

In more general news the newspapers today are filled with obituaries to such famous names as Arthur C Clarke, Anthony Minghella, then on to the fabulous Squadron Leader Ken 'Hawkeye' Lee and the like, but I would like to draw your attention to a lesser known name who graced the TVs of 'those of a certain age' for many years......... John Hewer. He trod the stage with the likes of Julie Andrews and his screen credits include The Great Detective and the TV mini-series Nicholas Nickleby but he will always be best remembered for his stalwart role in the-bits-in-between-the-programmes as .......... Captain Birdseye, obituary here. RIP Captain.

Lastly my periodical trawling of the web for all things Worcester Park related turned up this gem of a photo showing how not to drive an Aston Martin DB9, on the green right by Worcester Park station:

Quite how he/she got it on top of those railings I can't imagine...... Likewise I can't imagine what their insurance payments are like now as it's £65K+ to buy a second-hand one.