Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

In the Spotlight

Welcome to the first post of 2009. Has the Credit Crunch put the frighteners on you and your spending habits? Are you humming and hawwing over what you can cut back on? Shopping? Eating out? Going out on excursions? Giving to charity? Don't fancy giving up any of these? Well, the good news is that thanks to a new initiative called The Spotlight Book, you CAN laugh in the face of the economy and not cut back on ANY of these things!
The book of 120 vouchers for local shops, businesses, restaurants and activities which will save you £100s maybe even £1000s if you use them all, is on sale for just £10 from lots of town locations (available from the Tourist Information Centre, your local school, YMCA Centre and selected charity shops).
It's a shame the Greatest Tunbridge Wellian poll wasn't taking place right now, because local entrenapeneur Jennie Maslin, who hit upon the idea as a way to encourage residents to support local businesses, as well as beating the credit crunch and helping charities into the bargain, would surely be a front runner. I was very lucky to be able to help with The Spotlight Book by donating photographs for the pages and am very proud to have helped in my very small way. Thanks, Jennie.
Whats the catch? Well, there isnt one. With Gordon Brown urging us to spend, spend, spend to kick start our beleagured economy, even he's laughing.
If you can't find any books for sale near you click here to e-mail The Spotlight Book team.
Oh and have fun saving the economy too.

Column Inches

Thanks to The Courier for making me spill boiling hot coffee all down myself this morning, okay maybe not literally but a small amount of artistic license helps a story along sometimes. Can you imagine my surprise when I turn to page 12 and there is my blog mentioned in an article about local bloggers. Although I think I draw the line and being called "kindly and schoolmastery" and "like having a favourite uncle over for tea". My work colleagues will definitely get a lot of mileage out of that one thanks very much!
Go out, buy yourself a copy and enjoy.

Hope and Rubbish

It seems there could be a tiny glimmer of hope in regards to a cinema in the town centre to replace the delapidated Ritz which was due for demolition last month.
Councillor Ekins-Daukes has asked the residents of Tunbridge Wells to put their feelings forward in the Town Forum as to whether a cinema could be placed somewhere else in the town. He went as far as to ask if there was anything else we'd like to see in the town centre. We have an opportunity here to influence the future of our town and I think we should take full advantage of it. You can put your thoughts on the Town Forum website or even to the councillor himself. Get to it, you've only got until the 26th of June.
In the meantime some more good news from the depths of the town hall for those of us that try and recycle as much of our household waste as we can. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council are installing new plastic bottle recycling banks at a select few of the recycling centres throughout the town centre. It seems that all that persistent moaning has paid off after all.