I’ve been working from home these past couple of days but had
to go into the office today to physically finish off some product testing, and also
release for sale a number of packed products. By no means everything in the
workplace can be managed remotely or electronically.
The company is running with a skeleton crew, with less than
a third of the normal workforce present. Strict hygiene and social distancing
measures are in place, and I wouldn’t go in unless I was convinced these
procedures are as safe as they can be. With no dealings with the general
public, and only the odd delivery driver to attend to, our workforce is at far
less risk than supermarket workers, but even so I’d prefer us to switch to a
complete shutdown, if it can be done without impacting too much on the
company’s future.
It’s a difficult balancing act trying to ensure we all have
jobs at the end of this crisis, against the need to protect the health and
general well-being of our workforce, as well as reducing the impact on our
amazing
National Health Service.
All this, plus a recent family bereavement, has left me
feeling more than a little washed out. It has also kept me away from my
writing, so by way of something a little lighter, here are some photos taken
yesterday, whilst out for a lunchtime walk with son Matthew. Warning, some of
the photos are of closed pubs.
Yesterday’s walk took us down the normally busy
Pembury
Road, and past the row of townhouses being built on the site of the recently
demolished
Primrose Inn. We then turned left and ascended one of the steepest
roads in
Tonbridge; a road which not only affords some of the best views
locally, but one which is lined either side by some rather attractive
1930’s
properties, all built in the
Art-Deco style.
Few of the houses possess all their original features, and
most have ripped out their metal framed Crittall Windows, in favour of more
modern, and easier to maintain uPVC replacements, but in the bright spring
sunshine they were all looking their best. Blossom, of varying types, along
with the odd magnolia, all added to a bright and joyous looking scene, light
years away from the dark threat that is hanging over mankind at present.
A footpath leads off from the far end of this road, towards
a footbridge over the virtually traffic-free
A21 trunk road, which also serves
as the
Tonbridge bypass, and across into open fields. It was then a short hop
past
Tonbridge Cottage Hospital; a facility originally built as an isolation
hospital to house patients with smallpox and scarlet fever. Nowadays, people
are isolated in their own houses to protect them from the latest plague
afflicting mankind; a reminder, if one was necessary, that nothing much changes
in the world.
We crossed the
London-Hastings railway line, and shortly
afterwards passed back under the
A21. Our route took us past the
Vauxhall Inn-
a
Chef & Brewer pub, that started life as an old coaching inn on the
London-Hastings road, before being much enlarged to form today’s rambling,
weatherboard pub. With the
Premier Inn next door, this complex is normally a
bustling hive of activity, but the large carpark was virtually empty.
It was then back along Pembury Road, before diverting past
the Weald of Kent Girls School; one of three grammar schools that Tonbridge is
famous for, and which helps inflate house prices to an artificially high level.
There was one final pub to pass, before turning for home. The
Cardinal’s Error, in Lodge Oak Lane, is an attractive old tile-hung building,
that was converted from two former farm cottages to provide a pub for the
surrounding post-war housing development. It is the nearest pub to where we
live, but I’ve never really looked on it as a local.
It caters for quite a
mixed clientele, and the beer –
Harvey’s Sussex Best is normally in reasonable
form. Apart from the obvious current closure, it is good to see the
Cardinal’s is
still trading, so perhaps when this unholy mess (if you’ll excuse the pun), is
all over, I’ll make more of an effort to call in for a pint.
So there we have it, roughly an hour’s walk through an
attractive and semi-rural area on the south-eastern fringe of Tonbridge. A walk too that was fully compliant with government
diktats, originating straight from home and returning there as well, without
the use of any motorised transport.
4 comments:
Fascinating stuff.
Keep posting, Paul, it really interesting to get perspectives on the clampdown.
Your picture of an empty A21 is striking. Our A10 to Ely was similarly deserted these last few days.
I'd been meaning to ask you what the Cardinals Error was like.
Always worth taking your camera on a stroll and, as I've found, it can be quite satisfying to observe things that you hadn't noticed from the comfort (and speed) of the car.
It is a good way of keeping sane(ish) during this crisis. Keep on blogging!
Thanks for yet another great and informative read, Paul.
Crittall windows - is that what they were called? - were a part of my childhood. The Nottinghamshire house in which I grew up was built in the 1930s, and had them like many others.
However, during the bitter cold of 1963, the thermal contraction of the steel frames caused people's panes to crack, and there followed a wave of replacements. You don't see many now, do you?
Yes, as Martin says, keep posting!
The Cardinal’s Error is a decent enough pub, Martin. It was extended 10-15 years ago, but without spoiling it essential character. Very much a pub catering for the surrounding housing estate, so not much of a cask outlet. Having said that, they very sensibly stick with just the one beer, and Harvey’s has a devoted following locally which no doubt aids the turnover.
Hi PetesQuiz, good to hear from you. Yes, it’s always worthwhile carrying a camera or phone whilst out and about. As you point out, you come across things you miss from a car, so it’s nice to slow down, even when it is enforced.
Please carry on supplying us with your photos, as it’s fascinating to see how pubs change over the years, even if the changes aren’t always for the best.
Thanks for your comments, Etu. Crittall Windows became popular during the 20’s and 30’s, because the strength of their frames allowed the use of much more glass, thereby maximising available light. Curved frames, so beloved of Art-Deco buildings, were also manufactured. As you say, their drawback was thermal contraction, along with the need for regular painting.
There’s a prominent road junction, known as Crittall’s Corner, on the A20 at Foots Cray, that was named after a now-closed, nearby factory that belonged to Crittall Windows. I remember the junction well from childhood journeys, by car, up to London with my parents.
You can read more about the company, here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crittall_Windows
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