Fake 183

A West Hill, Middle Lane, Screwfix Passage circuit. No trolleys captured but various odds and ends instead - and closing with a fake.

The Marquis refurbishment continues, following those at Wetherspoon's and Faraday's. Unlike the first of these last which was the Assembly Rooms and the second which was the Electricity Showroom, the Marquis was a proper public house, a purpose built establishment sporting mine host (and his wife). Where the sizeable space out front is now being more seriously colonised with a giant umbrella stand and very substantial planters. Once the plants are in, it will be pretty much an enclosed space. Will they still allow smoking?

The utilities have always liked digging up the junction of East Street, Hook Road and the High Street, with the spot outside the strip club being a favourite. I had thought that Powergen were having another go, but it turns out that it is just their vans parked there, while the action is a little way along East Street. A high vis jacket is just about visible above the car at the left.

A serious three van job, involving at least three working men (quite possibly of foreign extraction, but not the sort about to be bashed in the upcoming Labour Budget).

The house at the corner of Kiln Lane, long slated for redevelopment as flats and once sporting a plain black sign for Reichmann, has finally come down, some months after the site was enclosed and utilities sealed off. I never looked into which Reichmann this was, and so don't know whether there was any connection to the Canary Wharf  brothers of Toronto. Nor am I aware of any tussle with the heritage people about the number of flats and the number of floors. Perhaps this is not a part of Epsom they trouble themselves with.

However, a few minutes with the Epsom planning website yields 'Demolition of the existing buildings and construction of a two-storey building with part basement/lower ground floor, with roof accommodation, comprising 16 self-contained dwellings (Use Class C3), together with associated car and cycle parking, refuse storage, hard and soft landscaping and associated works'. 23/00110/FUL. Approved in February of this year.

Looks like a cunning use of the space - assuming that is that I have pulled the right plan.

Five flats on the ground floor, the rest up above. Two and a half floors altogether.

A nearly new note found on Middle Lane. A change from my usual small change and washers.

A van which I have seen in Blenheim Road a couple of times now. Website at reference 2 - not particularly elaborate, but I do learn that I can buy an annual service plan, in the way of the plan I do get for my teeth. Not sure if it is worth it for my bicycle now - if indeed it ever was. Still up for basic maintenance and I almost never get punctures these days - except when changing tyres which have worn out - when I usually manage to pinch at least one tube.

The fake for which this post is named. A fine display of plastic flower in the undertakers at Pound Lane. Which is a bit rich given that there is rather a good real florist opposite. Furthermore, one wonders what the future holds, with the flat - the presumably once tied house for the resident undertaker - being sold off.

References

Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Reichmann.

Reference 2: https://www.thepedalers.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/fake.html.

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