Cheam Arena

More or less by chance, we found a useful shop this morning, a shop which we have probably passed on several occasions, but never got around to stopping, never mind going inside. On this occasion, I thought that some water melon might be the right thing to take after our noontide black pudding and that this establishment might do our business. Convenient as we already had a kitchen flavoured mission to Homebase on the schedule.

Water melon was indeed available, and one could take a whole one, a half or a quarter. I opted for a quarter. Plus five small cucumbers, with the whole coming to just under £6, which I thought very reasonable.

The shop, variously known as Cheam Arena and the Cheam Food Centre, does not seem to have a website but it is to be found at 565-567 London Road, North Cheam, Sutton. There is also a large interior which includes both a bakery and a butchery section. We were improperly parked, so I did not like to linger, but the shop is clearly worth a closer look. Who knows what other treasures there might be?

The water melon turned out well. Not least as an antidote to the black pudding which was rather drier than is usual - or proper.

PS 1: passed three or four previously scored Wellingtonia in Worcester Park on the way home. We also passed the 'H G Wells' a handsome looking red brick public house, all closed up. Inquiry reveals that it is now owned by the Jersey based pubco at reference 1. Seemingly, a large operation which does not care to advertise its activities on the Internet, so presumably they don't pay much tax either, choosing to make a modest donation to the Jersey Home for Distressed Cats instead.

PS 2: There is a local connection as I now read: 'in 1896 Wells and his new wife moved to a larger detached house called Heatherlea in The Avenue in Worcester Park, where they lived until 1899. Wells’s increased income due to the successes of his recently published novels allowed them to afford a larger home that could accommodate Amy’s ailing mother. During his time at Heatherlea, Wells wrote When the Sleeper Wakes (serialized as The Sleeper Awakes in The Graphic 1898-9, collected 1910), and the neighborhood was used as the setting for his novel Ann Veronica (1909). The location of the house on this map is approximated, as no specific address along The Avenue is available. The house was torn down in 1955. (Image [above] from Epsom and Ewell History Explorer website.)'. We must have gone past the site on the way home.

References

Reference 1: Tavern Propco Ltd - 3rd Floor, 37 Esplanade St Helier Jersey, JE1 1AD, Jersey.