Good Choice

by | Jan 10, 2025 | Pub, Uncategorized

The one that slipped through the net.

 Whilst sitting in the River Ale House on Woolwich Road,  I was flicking through the London Drinker magazine which is published bimonthly by the Campaign for real ale (CAMRA), when I noticed that the opening of a new micropub in the borough in late 2024, had occurred and I knew nothing about it.

It’s  called the Good Choice and is located just within the borough boundary at Avery Hill.

With a draughts drinks selection of Stella, Guinness,  Moretti (fake Italian beer), Cruzcampo (fake Spanish beer) and Inch’s cider or Neck Oil IPA. It’s fair to say that unlike many other Micropubs they have not embraced the wonders of real ales. Gathering from photos on their Instagram photos they do fancy cocktails also.

As I said this place slipped my radar since it opened  on 27th September 2024, in what used to be a carpet shop, so I hope to do a review of the place sometime  soon.

Whether they do real ale or not, the opening of a new pub in the borough is always good news, especially  after losing so many pubs lately. 

 

 

 

More Pub Closures

by | Jan 7, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub

More Greenwich Pub Closures.

Well, here we go again, as soon as you think there is going to be a revival or restoration of pubs in the London borough of Greenwich, expectations come crumbling down, recently we have lost the 300 Bar in Creek Road, and the Star of Greenwich in  Greenwich Park Street.

The Star of Greenwich was one pub that I wanted to succeed in as it was a Community pub run by the community for the community but it was unable to get a deal for £50K in rent arrears by their landlords, Greenwich Hospital,  which operates independently but is overseen by the Ministry of Defence. I hope this pub can come back in some form that is similar to the Star of Greenwich community mindset.

We also have two pubs planned to open this year but after Antic Pubs again got into financial difficulties, they will not see the light of day. They were the planned Volunteer in Powis Street and the Plumble on Plumstead High Street. Unfortunately, after Antic was saved from administration they had to sell off 10 pubs to the ‘Urban Pubs and Bars group’ the two long-awaited new pubs were quietly side-lined and forgotten about. I don’t know if Antic or Urban Pubs and Bars own the lease to these two properties now.

The good news is that according to the Murky Depths website, there are signs that the Gun Pit in Woolwich may have been resurrected and may in future be opening again, as a hotel rather than another hostel.

Another bit of bad news is the forced closure of the Plum Tree Beer Shop on Plumstead Common Road, which although they class themselves as a beer shop is a micropub by any other definition. Unfortunately, they have had to close due to outstanding issues with their landlord. They say they will give everyone an update next week. Let’s hope this is just a temporary closure and they will be back in business soon.

 

 

 

LTN Chaos

by | Dec 7, 2024 | Community, Greenwich Park, Travel

Greenwich Low Traffic Network Chaos.

As I left to walk to Charlton train station this morning (Monday 2nd December) I could not understand why Victoria Way and Charlton Church Lane were a mess of heaving traffic and the roads between were busy with traffic that are normally very quiet.

At first, I thought the traffic was caused by the Blackwall tunnel being closed for some reason,  but that was not the case.

I later learned that this was all caused by the new traffic Lower Traffic Network (LTN) project between  Westcombe Park, Vanbrugh Park and East of Greenwich Park. Well, thank you Greenwich Council you’ve made our lives a living hell at the expense of a quiet life for the affluent middle-class areas around Westcombe Park, Vanbrugh Hill,  Maze Hill and Greenwich Park East.

Greenwich Council said before this project was implemented that they suspected there would be more traffic flowing through Charlton and they said they were going to monitor the situation. Well, Greenwich  Council it is like every weekday is now like the closing time of a Charlton football match day. All you have done is move the problem onto the Charlton residents.

The single-car wide bridge near the bottom of Victoria Way was especially mad, with frustrated drivers driving up the hill being blocked by inconsiderate drivers coming down the hill and not giving Way as they were supposed to.

On the third day, I looked down the hill to see hardly any cars, and I thought that perhaps I had got it all wrong. That was until I looked up the hill to see the number 380 bus blocking the whole road as it struggled to turn right from Eastcombe Avenue into Victoria Way. With the extra traffic, the 380 bus service has struggled in Eastcombe Avenue and Charlton  Church Lane where traffic flow is often reduced down to a single-width road.

What does amaze me though is that when I return from work in the evening, all the traffic that you would expect to be there as it is in the morning rush hour is non-existent.

Where is all the returning rush hour going? and why can’t they use that route in the morning?

 

 

Sparkle 2024

Sparkle 2024

by | Dec 5, 2024 | Community

 

Sparkle in the Park 2024

Well, the annual Greenwich event of Sparkle in the Park has come and gone.  Starting on Friday 29th November and ending on Sunday 1st December 2024.
It is an annual free public light show that used to take place in Maryon Park, but the venue was moved this year to CharltonHousee.
The show is sponsored by the Greenwich Heritage  Foundation and the Greenwich  Council.
Surrealism was the theme of the day, so there were works of art with charity themes, giant semi-transparent balls that changed colour that you could walk through, a giant synchronised light show on the grass, and various decorative light statues of animals all around the place.
There was a tea room and a pop-up Tavern for the adults, as well as other bars and food stalls and art and craft stalls encircling a field at the end of the path of the light show.
Even brighter and flashier than the light show was the fun fair next to the light show,  which I can safely say was what most of the kids wanted to head towards.
Here is a short film I took while visiting Sparkle in the Park 2024 at Charlton House.
Another light show that I drove through but did not even realise it was in Eltham.
I wondered why there was such a large crowd standing outside the Long Pond pub on Westmount Road in Eltham on the evening of Thursday 28th November.
I later found out from another Eltham-based blogger that it was a turning-on ceremony of the Christmas lights along Westmount Road, turned on by the Comedienne,  writer and actress Helen Lederer.
I think I can safely say that the Regent Street or Oxford  Street Christmas lights have nothing to worry about in regards to being outshone by the Westmount Street lights, but it does brighten up the road at night.

 

Why America, Why?

Why America, Why?

by | Nov 7, 2024 | Uncategorized

 

The Clown who isn’t funny

Oh America! What have you done. Electing the first criminal to the Whitehouse.

Four years ago at the start of this website I wrote about Trump with the headline “ The clown has left the building” after his rather reluctant  departure  from the Whitehouse. Well the clown is back and he has now morphed into the sort of clown akin to Pennywise from the horror movie IT franchise.

Trump is back, this time in full fascist mode, demanding unquestioning loyalty from his minions. He is out to punish his enemies threatening them with their careers  or imprisonment.

Read the Project 2025 manifesto. Like a rewrite  of Margaret Atwood’s book the  ‘Hand Maidens Tale’. Being a republican will not get you a job in Trumps world,  you have to be the right type of republican. A Trump toadying loyalist will only be considered.

I went to bed on Tuesday night full of hope, only to be  confused, angry and disappointed the next day. Those Americans with a bit of education and some sense of morality in the US tried to stop it happening but those of you following the conspiracy  theories and the insane divisive rhetoric  of your orange god,  and fanatical evangelical pastors that threw their morals and self respect out with the garbage.  Despite his divisive hate filled message blaming all of Americas problems on the poor and vulnerable within society. Despite him being a blatant racist, misogynist, sexist all of his adult life the majority of American voters turned a blind eye. Despite him being a convicted perpetrator of sexual assault on more than one occasion, Despite being convicted numerous times for fraud and embezzlement you gave him the top job that he is clearly not fit for.

From his first court appearance alongside  his father in 1973 for refusing to rent any of his properties  to black people to allegations  of rape and sexual assault throughout the 80s and 90s, including an alleged rape of a 13 year old girl perpetrated alongside Jeffery Epstein in 1994.

An alleged  2005 sexual assault of a journalist being shown around Mar a Largo.

The 1996 rape of E Jean Carroll in a department store, that was dropped down to sexual assault and he has to pay out $88 million. She initially  struggled to get justice  first time around due to Trumps presidential immunity while he was sitting president.

His convictions for falsifying  business records to secretly pay hush money to keep pornstar Stormy Daniels quiet. Once again slippery Don did not go to jail but his lawyer Michael Cohen did.

The Trump organisation  of which he was in charge is found guilty of tax fraud and fined $1.6 million. Once again Trump doesn’t  go to prison but two other scapegoats do.

He has been impeached twice and has many cases pending, but now the stupid, and morally bankrupt Trump voters have handed the world to him on a plate, he can technically pardon himself from any crime committed up to the end of his new Whitehouse tenure.

He rose to power in part by attaching himself  to the right wing Evangelical Christians. Now that he’s got the position he has once again got the job he has always coveted, and he cannot be elected again to the office as he has served two terms. Let’s see if the mask is dropped and the religious fanatics finally see what everyone else sees. He has no time for religion and has just been using them for their votes.

He is a lying, narcissistic conman who uses people to get what he wants at all cost. He has always been that way and always will be.

Not only did the American voter give him the top job, but you also  filled the senate and house of representatives with his corrupt cronies so he now has free reign to do as he pleases without any checks and balances in place, as according  to the MAGA politicians their orange gods word is final and he is  ordained by god.

Will he do as Putin did? and get the senate and house of representatives and try to extend the two-term rule that was specifically installed to stop a dictatorial rule. Now he has both houses in his pocket, he may try it.

How a man who has, his whole life denigrated the poor and oppressed in American society manages to convince the very same people that he is their saviour is breath taking beyond words.

He has conned and swindled people with a whole host of ridiculous products and scam services over the years. He has defrauded contractors that worked for him on his properties by refusing to pay contractors for their work. The scams just keep going on and on, but that is all OK with the American voter.

If there is one person that cannot be blamed for this madness it is Kamala Harris , who had travelled the length of the country and fought as hard as she could warning the States what would happen if they elected this moron. She had plans and policies, while he had no policies apart from other countries would pay for everything through fixing 20% tariffs on all imports. Good luck with that as the same countries  you attack with tariffs  can do the same with your exports. His other go to plan is to deport some 20 million people back to their own countries, especially  the Mexicans.

People prepare  for the world to change and not for the better.

NATO which has kept the peace in Europe and the world over, for the last 80 years is in jeopardy. The democrat sovereignty of Ukraine  will be hanging by a thread.

Trump who basically  can not get his tongue  up Putin’s arse far enough has a plan to end the conflict,  but that plan is as predictable  has he is. Simply to give 20% of Ukraine to Putin. In other words give Putin everything  that he wants.

It was no surprise that one of the first world leaders to congratulate  him on his win was none other than fellow Putin arse licker, Victor Orban, the president  of Hungary.

What the fuck happened to America. They once stood for decency, morality and democracy. All of which they now seem to despise.

There is a video of Trump stating “ the poorly educated, I love the poorly educated “. Yes, of course  he does.  It’s how the powerful have controlled the masses since time immemorial.  Educated  the masses just enough to be useful  to do their jobs,  but not enough to realise  they are being used.

You could sit back and say, in four years’ time we can rectify the mess that he caused, but in four years he will have filled every high-ranking post with his obnoxious cronies.  Called project 2025, it’s  a right  wing blue print to infiltrate every nook and cranny of government with conservative right wing administrators  so the republicans can hold power  well after any republican  president  has left office.

He has already said the corrupt judge Aileen Cannon, that presided over his trial over his refusal to give back state secrets to the government will probably be his new General Attorney or be given a position on the Supreme Court, when the even more corrupt supreme court judge Clarence Thomas resigns.

Another failed republican senate nominee and blatant Trump groveller, Hershel Walker an American NFL football player who apart from being not very smart after too many bangs to his head, during his American football playing days, likes to portray his past and family life in a compelling different light from reality, had been given the job of protecting U S missile defences. A big job  he is clearly  unqualified  for.

Another implied appointment is that of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Who will be put in charge of the American  economy.

Let’s get one thing out of the way.  Like Trump  Musk is not a self made billionaire.

Like Trump his wealth started with a multi million dollar hand out from his multi millionaire  father.

He did not invent or start PayPal, Space X or Tesla, other people started up and made a success  of these companies. He simply invested, and bought into these companies, often bullying or forcing  out the company originator if they do not submit or curtail to his business practices, which is him always taking the glory.  These practices  often force his workforce  to work long hours for no extra pay and not recognising  any unions and firing people at a whim sometimes for no reason. Trump loves him for this. Elon is his sort of guy.

His buying of Twitter now called X under the guise of the protector of free speech, whereby he stifled free speech from the left, but actively promoted conspiracy  theories from the far right and helped brain wash the masses against Kamala Harris.

So what does Musk get from this deal.  Well apart from getting  a seat at the table next to the orange god and a constant advisory roll on the presidents ear. Well, he gets a president  who is going to put a 100% tariff on imported EVs from China, thus protecting his  Tesla car manufacturing  investment.  He also gets a lucrative government contract with his Starlink satellite system via his Space X company.

Elon will also benefit  from massive  tax cuts promised by  Trump to the most wealthiest in society, of which Trump happens to be one.

If ever there was a prime candidate  for the Dunning- Kruger effect it is Donald J Trump. A man so sure of his abilities  and his self proclaimed genius that he actually  believes  his own bullshit. He surrounds himself with advisors and yes men, but takes no notice of their advice,  even when it makes sound sense.

Let’s be honest, anyone, and I mean anyone that has to go around constantly telling everyone that they are a stable genius are not by any definition of the word, a genius.

Well, America, you chose him and will have to live with the consequences of that decision for the next four years. Unfortunately, there are millions of people throughout the world who are also affected by your choice, especially people suffering in Ukraine and the Middle East. The people of Ukraine are fighting off another megalomaniac in the Kremlin, who like Trump also hates democracy and the will of the people.

Hopefully we will survive the next four years with this psychotic clown in the most powerful position in the world. Good luck world!