In the margins

Ten days ago we had occasion to visit a dental scanning machine in New Malden, a facility in the upper regions of a pharmacy and health centre, on the far side of the A3. It turned out to be easy enough to get there, even though it was well outside our comfort zone: turn left at North Cheam, through Worcester Park, across the A3, through New Malden, past the station and you are more or less there. On the left. An area we do not know and will probably be worth an expedition at some point.

At least two of those large and interesting groceries I associate with Turks. The ones that do displays of fruit and vegetables outside and fresh flat breads inside.

On the way back we thought to take tea in Bourne Hall, on the edge of Ewell Village. An opportunity to exercise my fairly new RingGo app on my telephone. Which turned out to be just as well, as I was forgetting how to do it. A doing which involved remembering a six digit number from HSBC for all of ten seconds, something of a challenge these days. Either that or learn how to do copy and paste on a smart phone, which seems to be even more of a challenge. Not to mention keeping two apps open at the same time.

I am apt to forget what a fine facility Bourne Hall is, from the days when local councils wanted to make an impact, wanted to make a difference. And had the funds so to do. Even if the performing arts library has eaten up half the floor space of the regular library - which last, I happened to notice, has a very large crime fiction section, seemingly as large as the regular fiction section. What they call literature got just a couple of metres of shelf space.

The café is quiet in the snap above, but it was busy when we arrived, with an older person's class in something or other having just chucked out. A pleasant place in which to sit, to sip and to natter.

With a full-on theatre downstairs, a facility which we have visited from time to time.

The stairs up to the local museum and records centre. Rather grand with lots of handsome timber. One wonders what one would get if the place was being built now - in itself rather unlikely.

I associate this morning to the wooden hand rails with neat bends worked in, along with tightly curled terminal features, you get in older tube and railway stations. Oak, I should think. Now being replaced by grey-finished steel hand rails with lurid yellow attachments and poles. For visibility, I suppose.

The gardens and water features outside are rather good too. Not least because they include a number of scoring Wellingtonia, for which see, for example, reference 2. From early on in the series, back in 2020.

References

Reference 1: https://www.cavendishimaging.com/. Named for the streets and square near the Wigmore Hall. Probably intended to bring the glories of Harley and Wimpole Streets to the minds of the punters.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/06/wellingtonias-8-9-and-10.html.