Blood

A deceptive snap from the clinic seats in the corridor, looking into the waiting room for others. The blood testing department at the hospital was busy at 10:00 on Monday, with something of a queue at reception, but clinic patients such as myself were allocated a letter and sent to wait in the corridor. In due course, the other people were summoned from their waiting room by name. 

As it turned out, the hospital kept up its recent record with me of seeing me more or less exactly on time. Perhaps five minutes early on this occasion.

From there, I proceeded to the Ashley Centre, taking in this trolley on the way. It had been there for a couple of days and presumably contained rubbish from one of the fast food trailers which have taken up residence in the market place. Some, at least, of the M&S trolleys have grey trim to the handle, so probably one of theirs. There are usually several of them abandoned outside ClockTower Cars at the bottom of the clock tower, so simple enough for a stall holder to borrow one.

Going into the Ashley Centre (with a different trolley), I learned that the place is managed by Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) of reference 1. In my innocence, I had assumed that the place was owned and operated by the council.

I remember now reading of the Church Commissioners coming unstuck on shopping centres and I dare say local councils have had their fingers burnt often enough with speculations on same. Perhaps Epsom Council thought it best to stay out of it.

I also remember seeing a series of pictures taken in not very old, but now derelict shopping centres in the US. Perhaps something in the NYT, before I stopped m subscription?

I can't find anything about the Ashley Centre at reference 1, but LSH do look to be out to let a number of units in Victory Park in Leatherhead and to sell the Beechcroft Nursery in Ewell. Which last is described by Bing as being temporarily closed, but is known to gmaps as being in the middle of an island of green in a rather solidly grey area. There do not appear any planning applications in the system, with the most recent being to do with making what was an orchard into a car park in 1991. But no doubt we will hear more about this one in due course.

Home to hone my vacuum cleaner skills. I was reminded that our Sebo might well be a fine machine, sucking up all kinds of stuff that lesser machines do not reach, which is good for those with chest complaints, but it is also fairly heavy. I imagine that is going to put some people off.

By the next day, the rain had more or less done for the pumpkin man. Time for honourable burial in the brick compost bin before he became a soggy yellow mess on the back lawn.

While on East Street we had another bush which was full of twittering while not offering any tweets. I did not stand there for very long, but in the half minute or so for which I did stand, I saw nothing, not even a flicker.

Not rainwater on my second circuit, rather water pushing up through the tarmac on Manor Green Road, as previously noticed at reference 3.  Water which the telephone seems to have lost in the dark, but despite appearance, there was plenty enough going down the drain middle right.

No sign of action.

References

Reference 1: https://www.lsh.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://sebo.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/11/more-home-affairs.html.