Trolley 454

Captured at the Horton Hill end of the Concorde Hall passage running through to Manor Green Road. An M&S food hall trolley which had been bashed around the handle. Still in one piece and still serviceable, but not straight. And like the trolley at reference 2, supplied by Wanzl, but without service record on this occasion. And with this being a trolley which really did need a spot of care and attention.

Prior to that, through the housing estate leading to Southfield Park. Some bird song in the hedges, but the only birds seen were crows, seagulls, magpies and parakeets. I wondered whether parakeets were the sort of bird which did not land on the ground and would have trouble taking off if they did. Presumably an arrangement which saved on legs: one didn't need the leg power either for walking or for leaping into the air. So it would have its points, particularly if the usual abode was forest.

Struck by the way that this lump of wall remained largely in one piece. Did it being slightly curved give it extra strength? Couldn't see why it should.

After I had returned the trolley to its stack at M&S and thinking back to the days when I was young and when Christmas Eve lunchtime was possibly the biggest pub scene of the year, packed out with everyone piling out of work into the pubs at noon, leaving their wives to make the necessary preparations, I thought I would take a beverage at Wetherspoon's. Quite busy inside, but with nobody other than the odd smoker on their fine new terrace, where I elected to sit - this despite the weather being plenty mild enough for sitting outdoors, certainly when wrapped in duffel coat, as I was. Note the recently planted, but dead, tree left.

Off camera, also to the left, we had a head on view of  the 'Spirit of speed' sculpture, snapped above in its former home outside the library - a library which I might say has held up surprisingly well given all the cuts to local authority funding. And while the sculpture looks much better in its new home, it does not look particularly well head on. Not a 360° piece: there are proper and not so proper viewing angles.

Inside, I noticed that the bar has been equipped with overhead glass racks, something which was common in the saloon bars of my youth (this despite my being more of a public bar man), but which then vanished, something to do with hygiene regulations as I recall. Perhaps all the tar from all the cigarettes settled on them. Perhaps Mr. Wetherspoon, as a noisy Brexiteer, has been quick off the blocks to do something until recently forbidden by the hateful men from Brussels.

PS 1: a good day for rubber bands. BH's collection of same grows apace.

PS 2: Bing turned up all kinds of strange images on the search term 'spirit of speed epsom'. But what I was looking for did come out very near the top of the list, including the snap above.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/12/trolley-453.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/12/trolley-452.html.