Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

Twuttle PhotoWalk

Last night saw the opening of the Twuttle PhotoWalk exhibition. This showcase of photographs was a collection of images taken on film on the night of the 9th of June when we held a special photowalk for members of Twuttle.

Some of the entries for the competition. Image taken with iPhone 4.

On the night we had 54 photographers taking part and this evening on the opening night of the exhibition we had over 80 people voting on their choice of winner.

If you haven't heard of Twuttle then please check out our website here. Twuttle is a form of social networking, where we gather together for drinks and making friends. We have special theme nights occasionally, this photowalk being one of them, and always meet every Wednesday morning and every other Tuesday night at The Royal Wells Hotel (you don't have to attend every one). If you are new to the area and want to make great friends in Tunbridge Wells, then this really is the place to be. Check out the website for more details and photographs from some of our other get-togethers.

The exhibition is open at the Wobblybridge Gallery on Camden Road until the 6th of July. Please pop along and have a look and possibly purchase a print or two as all money raised goes to the British Heart Foundation. All printing was courtesy of RedBox Cameras, and if you'd like to see the winning entries and the other prize winners then head on over to the Twuttle website.

Camden Road: The Musical: The Preparations

Preparations are well under way for Camden Road The Musical and if my visit to the workshops were anything to go by, it's going to be an extravaganza. I'd popped along to the box office on Camden Road to pick up a couple of tickets but upon seeing the camera over my shoulder the lovely ladies there invited me on a tour of the workshop, how could I resist?

Oversized props, rails upon rails of outfits and walls covered in drawings and sketches of scenes along with several volunteers busily painting, carving and sticking gave the place a great atmosphere.

The musical is a community project from June 8th to June 20th 2009 and tells stories in the life of this eclectic part of Royal Tunbridge Wells. If you haven't yet, please drop in and see the girls in the box office and treat yourself to a ticket.

In the meantime why not drop into my gallery of my visit to the workshop, and keep popping in from time to time to catch up on how the play is progressing.

Cultural Milkshake

Where better to soak up some local culture after a long holiday away than a shopping jaunt around town. Our aim was to walk the length of the once-neglected Camden Road which is now beginning to shine with new specialist stores and thankfully none of the usual High Street fare.

I really suggest a walk down Camden Road if you have some spare time and especially with the upcoming Camden Road in Camera exhibition that starts this weekend. The exhibition is designed to show the road through history by displaying old photographs of shops and buildings in, or close to, the actual buildings in the photographs. There will also be a huge display of all the submitted images which will look fabulous.

As a bit of a challenge to coincide with the exhibition we thought we would try and find some of the old Camden Road amongst all the new shops and frontages. We succeeded, as you can see from the pictures, can you find where the old signs we photographed are?

To polish off a long walk we took some advice from the new SO Tunbridge Wells magazine and stopped into Bean for a refreshing milkshake, and heavens are we glad we did! I recommend the Cadbury's Caramel one, mmmmmmmmmmm. We're really looking forward to another walk down this great road next week, and another milkshake, I hope you will too.

Tread the Boards of Camden Road

Broadway, 42nd Street, Sunset Boulevard and Camden Road. What do these roads have in common? Well as of this time next year all will be musicals! Currently in the early writing/production stages, producers are looking for material and actors to create the extravaganza that is Camden Road the Musical.

Together with Camden Road in Camera, the musical is being created to celebrate the history of this eclectic street. Provisionally based around the Camden Electric, a cinema that opened on the road in 1909 the musical could merge with film and the theatre to create a big singing and dancing production , it all sounds very interesting. So if you fancy contributing in some way, be it large or small, call 07847 723430 or e-mail john12oram@aol.com.

Meanwhile you can contribute straight away by participating in Camden Road in Camera. This is going to be an exhibition held outside on the street to celebrate the interesting history of the road and the organisers are after old photographs and film showing Camden Road through time to complete the project.

Fifty photographs will be displayed as huge posters hung from lampposts, shop fronts, walls, windows and gardens close to where the old photographs were taken. There will also be an exhibition wall where every picture donated will be displayed, so every contribution will be used. If you have an image to contribute call Cath Hylton on 07847 723430 or e-mail camdenroad@hylton9.wanadoo.co.uk. Also this collected material will be garnered together to inspire a professional playwright and musician to create the musical. I think you'll agree this is going to be something great to look forward to next year and will really inject some life into this rather overlooked part of town.

Shopping Trunks

Seeing as though it was a bit of a dull rainy day, we decided to mooch around town and maybe do a bit of window shopping as we passed by. But it wasn't the lure of something sparkly in a shop window that caught my eye, it was the entrance to the Friendly Societies Hall on Camden Road that made me stand and get in the way of busy shoppers obviously in too much of a hurry to spend their hard-earned cash.

Built in 1878 for "the benefit of the working class of Tunbridge Wells", this wonderful stone and granite entrance with its marvellous restored elephant heads carved by Mr Hadley of Grove Hill Road, used to watch over many a member of local societies and groups passing underneath.

Today the hall is still serving its purpose as a meeting place for friends as its centrepiece domed clubroom now houses tables of green baize for locals to amuse themselves, you might know it as the Victoria Snooker Centre. So next time you have to pop to Millets, take a quick look to your right, if you look for long enough you just might see one of the elephants pop you a wink :-)