cute name

One of my lovely listeners has said that Plumstead is a cute name and I tend to agree.


I've always like the name. It has a nice sound and comes across as friendly, almost as if it should be a little village in Norfolk..... what are the chances of that happening eh?

I love the study of entomology. No, wrong one, I meant etymology. Of course, Plumstead is so-called because it was once home to many fruit orchards. Similarly, Hampstead is a derivation of homestead and Chipstead was home to the nation's favourite fish accompaniment¹. I just don't know what to make of Wetwang.

footnote
1 - may or may not be true

Anger management needed

My neighbours. Actually, 'neighbour' is too kind a description. The knuckle-draggers in the house next to me have got a serious anger problem.

They shout at their young children all day and now they have a dog (no prizes for guessing if it's a Staff or a Staff), they shout at poor old Staffie.

Who should be contacted first? RSPCA or NSPCC? Should I just stay out of it? This is a dilemma.

Pond life

I do wonder how our new neighbours manage to shout all the time. Surely they must get hoarse? Actually, they do have two volume levels - loud and louder. With six children, I guess shouting is the only option. In my book, foul language is not an option, but not for them; it's as common as the word 'the'.

It does make me sad as the children are only offered one route into the World, which I view as an unhappy one. Or am I wrong? If being shouted at and sworn at is the norm in your young life, does happiness still exist but at a different level? I guess their parameters of happiness are different from mine.

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A sunny day at the weekend, so La Familia Pangloss headed for the coast. In order to avoid traffic jam hell, we avoided Brighton and opted for Ramsgate. It's an easy drive from The Shire and I just love seeing the sign Thanet Earth. We had a lovely afternoon and even pootled around the harbour in a fishing boat. We really felt like we were on holiday. Having said this, there were plenty of tattooed people of the Super T ilk. They just did their own thing and enjoyed the sun as much as everyone else, which is fine, but I couldn't help thinking that their sheer numbers even made Woolwich look middle class. Hmm, could've been a few coach parties of the White Lightning Appreciation Society.

Ramsgate does have some lovely architecture, and you can see the developers working away to smarten up the flats and make the town the next Brighton. Neighbouring town, Margate has opened it's Turner Gallery and that should go some way to push this forgotten part of Kent into regeneration. Should be interesting to see how these towns develop in the next five years.

Recycling

The recycling centre opposite the Co Op on Plumstead Common Road has been removed. This is a great shame as I was a regular with my juice cartons. They seemed well used so apart from misuse¹, I'm not sure why this facility been taken away. The notice up on the lamp post informs us that the nearest recycling centre is at Sainsburys in Woolwich. That's a long way to walk with a couple of bags of rubbish.

footnotes
1 - I refer to misuse as :-

• dumping all sorts of junk around the bins rather than in them
• people ransacking bins (usually the clothes or electrical bins)

Tennisgate - it's working well then?

I took this photograph. It's a sunny day and just right to go out and enjoy some sport. Up until now, these tennis courts would've been busy, but there's a distinct lack of human interaction going on.

I think I can safely assume that Greenwich Council's flash of inspiration to charge for the use of this sporting facility has alienated EVERYONE in our community. So much for Greenwich Council working for Greenwich residents eh?

Cycling makes me feel sick

If travel sickness is your thing, maybe best to avoid riding a PUKY bicycle. The company has a strap-line of 'Motion Makes Clever'.

Sorry chum, but for some, motion makes sick bags important.

This is no April Fool

Plumsteadshire - the blog that opened the flood gates on TENNISGATE!!!!

You first heard it here folks, Greenwich Council are introducing a charge for us to play tennis at the Plumstead Common tennis courts. And news has hit the local headlines as this story has made front page news in The Greenwich Mercury. Hard-hitting reporter, Mandy Little managed to out-bid News International and Reuters to secure exclusivity for this story.

The good people of The Shire are not happy at all. The burghers of Ennis Road have demanded to be renamed Tennis Road in support of our courts. One teenager was heard shouting "balls" whilst dragging his knuckles past the Co Op, clearly a rallying cry of despair at the Council's decision. A man in a wig ran out of Woolwich Crown Court muttering 'see you in court', obviously heading for a game of tennis up the hill.

There has been talk of holding a 'play-in' at the courts, which sounds like a great idea, so let's do it; will the Co Op supply some orange squash? Also, lovely listener, Marvin is making a stand with a petition. Email him right now at nopaytoplay@hotmail.com.

Sir Cliff jumps off the 53 for a game of singles at Plumstead Common