Wellingtonia 68

The visit to Reigate was really all about televisions. But the two Wellingtonia were a substantial bonus, the first of which already having been noticed at reference 1.

The expedition was prompted by two concerns. First, ITV3 seemed to be running out of steam, at least as far as we were concerned. Second, suitable supplies at CEx (of reference 3), the Epsom branch of which supplies most of our DVD's, may not last forever. The market for nearly new DVD's may wilt in the face of streaming, a subject in which YouGov seems to take a great deal of interest. So maybe we need to get a new television, one which will talk to the Internet over our fine BT router. Which led us to 'Richer Sounds' of Reigate, an establishment reputed to offer excellent service, including to those, like us, who didn't have a clue.

So off we went, managing to miss the Reigate exit on the M25 which resulted in us taking the country route, which was, as it turned out, a pleasant bit of Surrey countryside, only marred by a car travelling in the opposite direction managing to empty a large puddle right over us. Vision vanished for a few seconds and the car now needs a good wash.

We get to Reigate and park up in the multi-storey behind Bell Street, an odd place with all kinds of odd nooks and crannies, jammed in between a great old mix of buildings, old and new. Plus a non-scoring trolley tucked away in a corner.

Onto Richer Sounds, a bit further down Bell Street, heading south that is, where we got our first, fine sighting of No.68, hanging over the road, even further down. Or more properly up, as I think the road was rising, not falling, to the south.

Into Richer Sounds, a shop of modest dimensions which is not open weekday mornings as that is when they attend to mail, repairs and so forth, but which does carry assistants who are prepared to spend time with you. We learned that televisions have come along a great deal since we last inquired and that we would probably do better to buy a much bigger television than the 32 inches we had in mind. To get into the mainstream, which was where we ought to be, we needed to move up to 43 inches. BH not very keen at first, but she has now come round. The only fly in the ointment being that DVD players do not come with proper televisions any more, and given the age and connections of the one we have got, we may have to buy a new one. In any event, we did not buy on the spot, preferring to go away and cogitate, but the story now is that we want something called a LG 43UP81006LR. And after a few seconds this morning, I learn that lots of people want to sell me one of these and that it comes from a company in South Korea, to be found at reference 4. A large organisation employing around 80,000, of which I had never previously heard. Which prompted a bit of nostalgia for the far off days when we actually made this kind of thing in this country. And, along with the Germans, were quite good at it.

And so to lunch, not having made a purchase. As luck would have, Reigate still sports a Café Rouge, a chain which we used to quite like, when it still had a branch in Epsom, now made over to the Turks. For once I was elected driver, so I took chicken and chips with sparking water, while BH had her usual chicken salad with a spot of something stronger. My chicken was not bad, although I have had better, with the word 'spatchcocked' coming to mind. A smaller, one person version of the turkey snapped above. BH quite satisfied with her salad. Reliable as ever. While some people sitting near us we taking afternoon tea, complete with one of those three tiered cake plates. One might not have thought even remotely French flavoured, but the people concerned did appear to be having a good time.

Time to get back to the car park, to work our way through the one system into Bell Street and head off to capture No.68, nestled among some new houses on Parkgate Road, very near the junction with Bell Street. Actually two trees, this one forked and substantial, the other a touch sickly, off-snap to the right. Presumably left behind when the big house for whom they were planted was sold off for houses.

Up close and personal. We then took an interesting meander through the back of Reigate, to get back to the A217 which would carry us home.

As things stand, we are stuck into a rich seam of Nordic Noir DVD's and the new purchase has gone off the boil again. But I think we are getting warm, despite worries about how going for such a big television is going to disturb the arrangements in our extension, in place for thirty years. And I think we will go back to Richer Sounds when we take the plunge. They provided the service and it is only fair that they should get the business.

And checking with the Scots this morning, the theory is that what is now called Parkgate Road was once called Reigate Park Road, and that the big house in question, not very big as it turns out, was in the southeastern corner of the junction with Bell Street.

PS 1: digging a bit deeper, I find that by the end of the century, the road has indeed been renamed Parkgate Road. While a little to the east we have a large establishment marked 'Earlswood Asylum (idiots)' and not far away from that, the rather smaller 'Reigate Union Workhouse'. No way from the map of knowing whether smaller because the numbers were smaller or because the treatment was harsher. In any event the Asylum is now a housing estate, sporting an Asylum Arch Road, but seemingly not visited by the Street View van. While a little to the south there is a large new establishment called the 'East Surrey Hospital', a large, regular hospital which does not appear to cater for mental health at all.

PS 2: Google seemed to have changed the way into Street View. Haven't quite got the hang of it yet.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/02/wellingtonia-67.html.

Reference 2: https://www.richersounds.com/.

Reference 3: https://uk.webuy.com/.

Reference 4: https://www.lg.com/uk.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Electronics.

Group search key: wgc.