The Price of a Pint (+free beer mat)

The girls here at Chislehurst, Petts Wood & Bickley Village News like their pint. Not the fizzy yellow stuff but the proper British brew.

Which is why, after a little argument, we had a little ring round last week to find out the price of the cheapest pint of bitter in the Chislehurst pubs. (Petts Wood and Bickley to follow soon!)

This is what we were told:
The Queen's Head.....£2.49
The Tiger's Head.....£3.34
The Crown.....£3.40
Gordon Arms.....£3.40
Imperial Arms.....£3.50
Rambler's Rest.....£3.50
The Sydney Arms.....£3.55
The Bull's Head.....£3.59

If you think the prices are a little steep, remember, that at £3.50 a pint, Excise Duty and VAT make up (on a 5% beer) an incredible £1.12 of the total, a 32% tax take.

Since 2008 the beer duty escalator has meant a beer tax increase of 2% above inflation automatically every year. Since 2008 beer duty has risen by 42%!

After a year-long campaign in 2012 the Campaign for Real Ale achieved a huge win at this year's Budget as the Chancellor axed the beer duty escalator and announced a 1p cut in beer duty, the first time beer duty has been cut since 1959.

However, with a staggering 7,000 pubs having closed in the last 6 years we all need to do our bit to make sure that our local pubs survive, whatever price they charge.

FREE BEER MAT: Email us (info@chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk) and let us know you support our local pubs in Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley and we will send you a FREE beer mat. Don't forget to give us your postal address (which will only be used for this offer; it will not be retained / sold on).

Cheers!

www.chislehurstpettswoodandbickleyvillagenews.co.uk

Loony joins the Conservatives: Bob Neill MP set to gain 132 more votes!

CONSERVATIVE

LOONY

Word reaches Chislehurst Village News that John Cartwright, who nearly toppled Bob Neill in the 2006 Bromley & Chislehurst by-election, will not be fighting him in the 2015 general election. The reason for this is that this former Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate has left to join.....the Conservatives.

Although Mr Cartwright made this decision several months ago, the fact that the announcement was made on 1^st April did make us a little bit suspicious. However it appears that the announcement was genuine although, as at today’s date, Mr Loony does not yet appear to have secured himself a constituency as a Conservative candidate in the next general election. Bob Neill, on the other hand, back in the summer was reselected as the Conservative candidate to fight Bromley and Chislehurst in 2015.

N.B. In the 2006 by-election:

Bob Neill (Conservative): 11,621 votes

John Cartwright (OMRLP): 132 votes

2010 general election

Bob Neill (Conservative): 23,569 votes

OMRLP Candidate: No candidate

www.bobneillmp.co.uk

www.croydonloony.co.uk

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Fireworks at The Sydney Arms

No, no, no, no, no!

Anyone expecting to go to The Sydney Arms to find a punch up in full flow has got completely the wrong end of the (rocket) stick.

Not only are the residents of Old Perry Street, Chislehurst, going to be treated to the Rotary fireworks over the road in the grounds of the Old Elthamians this year on 2nd November, (tickets available from www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk) one week later The Sydney Arms is putting on its very own display; an altogether more intimate attraction with the added benefit of being in a beer garden; and they're free.

If you're in need of some (more) fireworks, a drink or two and a BBQ, come along on 9th November in the evening and see sparks fly.....so to speak.

BBQ from around 6pm.
Fireworks from around 8pm .

www.sydneyarms.com
020 8467 3025

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Get your Christmas eating in early

Now we all know that mince pies are for life and not just for Christmas, but it's nice to know that with less than 3 months to go we can start to stock up on such essentials.

We sent Jane down to Sainsbury's to start off our Christmas party bottom drawer, but on her way to the sherry and Baileys she went past the mince pies, or what was left of them. The bottom shelf looked at little bare. Not wanting to miss out she put a pack in her trolley and brought them back to the office, having queued up to speak to "the friendly man on the tills". (And hopefully to pay).

They looked a treat. The picture showed and the wording described not just mince pies but "deep" ones, the front of the pack also reminding us of "Christmas by Sainsbury's" although we think that there are possibly others with a greater claim.

However, what really drew our attention was the Best Before. Not Boxing Day or the middle of January when everyone's run out of money, but 4th November!

So if you see a small group at the Rotary fireworks on 2nd November munching on a box of Christmas mince pies, you'll know not only who they are but why they are!

Rotary firework tickets are available from our online Shop.

Christmas mince pies are available from Sainsbury's - but we suggest you wait until the beginning of December.
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Atheist Scouts and Guides in Chislehurst?

From 1^st September Guides in Chislehurst, Bickley and Petts Wood have a new Promise.

The words “to be true to myself and develop my beliefs” will replace “to love my God”, and the words “to serve the Queen and my community” will replace “to serve the Queen and my country”, following an “in-depth consultation process earlier this year” which we at Chislehurst Village News have yet to be able to lay ours hands on.

So it’s “goodbye God” and “goodbye country”. It is somewhat ironic that several Guide groups in the area meet, and are attached to, Christian churches.

Whilst local Guide leaders shrug their shoulders with an “oh, well” or something similar they don’t have the former Bishop of Rochester, Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, on their side. Bishop Michael challenged the guide leadership to allow those who wished to retain the former promise to do so.

He said: “If there are others [like a group in Harrogate] – indeed I would hope that there are many others like it – why should they not be allowed to continue to have a reference to God?

“If [change advocates] really believe in diversity they would allow them to do that.

“Why should they face expulsion from the Girl Guides movement which is rooted in the Christian faith?"

Meanwhile, up at the 5^th Chislehurst Scouts, promises also appear to be on the march - or not? Today it has been announced that with effect from 1^st January 2014 there will be an additional promise which allows Cubs and Scouts to “uphold our Scout values” instead of “To do my duty to God”, following an “extensive consultation”. Again we have been unable to lay our hands on the report and findings despite having been asking since last July.

 

5^th Chislehurst’s Scout Leader commented that although the existing promise will remain “on the books”, as far as he’s concerned the alternative won’t be on offer.

“The daft thing about all this,” he said, “is that it is already possible for atheist young people to be full members as the Scout Association’s policy does not prohibit any young person from joining”.

So, in Chislehurst at least, it appears that if you want to make a promise that involves God you need to join Scouts. And if you don’t want to make such a promise you will have to be a Guide.

Then again, you can’t be a Guide if you’re a boy.....

In the meantime, we wait for the first atheist scout challenge. Why do we here think that that wait won’t be very long?!

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

TfL consults on proposed changes to bus routes 61, 273 and 661 serving Chislehurst, Petts Wood & Bickley

Last week Transport for London (TfL) launched a public consultation seeking views on the future of a number of bus routes that were diverted by the closure of Chislehurst Road bridge to buses between 2009 and 2012.

In April 2009 routes 61, 273 and 661 were placed on diversion following the closure of Chislehurst Road bridge to buses.  As a result these routes were diverted to use Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road.
When the bridge reopened in 2012 a decision was made to return route 61 to its original roads whilst routes 273 and 661 continued to follow the diversion. 
When TfL analysed the results of this it found that good use was being made of the new links but a service also needed to be retained on Chislehurst Road. 
It was found that approximately 800 extra passengers per day were benefiting and making use of the changed routes.
TfL proposes to make the current service patterns permanent and is seeking the views of local residents and passengers. 
A public consultation opened on 3rd October and is available on the TfL website.
The consultation closes on Friday 8 November 2013,  after which the consultation results will be considered and a final decision made.

1. The routes concerned are:

• Route 61 (Chislehurst - Bromley North)
• Route 61 runs every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday shopping hours and every 30 minutes Sunday evenings. It would continue to run via Chislehurst Road
• Route 273 (Petts Wood - Lewisham)
• Route 273 runs every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes all day Sunday and all evenings. It would continue to run via Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road - (St Mary Cray) which would now be the permanent routeing
• Route 661 (Petts Wood - Eltham College)
• Route 661 is a schoolday-only service towards Eltham College in the morning and towards Petts Wood in the afternoon. It would continue to run via Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road - (St Mary Cray) which would now be the permanent routeing

2. Drop-in sessions
TfL will have staff available from both Transport for London and Bromley Council with whom you will be able to discuss these changes.

They will be available on the following days:

• Monday 7 October between 17:00 and 20:00 at Leesons Primary School, Leesons Hill, Orpington BR5 2GA
• Wednesday 9 October between 10:00 and 13:00 at Poverest Adult Education Centre, Poverest Road, Orpington BR5 2DQ

3. Postal responses to the consultation may be sent to:
FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS

Three words our local politicians don’t want to hear

Last month, specialist social researchers, TNS BMRB* published the results of a survey in which polling showed that nearly three quarters of the 1217 adults surveyed (72%) think politicians are more interested in furthering their own careers than in doing the right thing for the people of Britain. 60% think they do not represent “people like me”.

This is hardly surprising considering the fiasco that is hospital services for the people of Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley, amongst others.

Way back when, when the Conservatives were last in government, there were fully admitting hospitals (i.e. those that “do everything”) in Sidcup, Orpington and Bromley South. Today, the accident and emergency unit at Orpington is long gone, the whole hospital at Bromley South has gone and the A & E at Queen Mary’s, Sidcup has gone. Three A & Es that have disappeared in recent history.

Of these three closures, the most galling is that of Queen Mary’s. Back in 2007 when Labour were in power, the Chief Executive of Queen Mary’s denied that its A & E was set for closure. In 2010, during the last general election campaign, the Conservative manifesto stated  that if elected they would “...stop the forced closure of A & E and maternity wards...” Once in power they blamed their failure to act on being in a coalition, despite their coalition partners,  the Liberal Democrats also being against the closure.

Before that, the PRUH at Farnborough was largely rebuilt using a Private Finance Initiative scheme which, at £156 million, was amongst the highest value of such hospital schemes. It had been intended that the sale of the Bromley South site would pay for the rebuild but following a change of government the funds went into the Treasury and the PFI scheme was put into place, with finance provided by (and onerous contracts agreed with) United Healthcare (Farnborough Hospital) Ltd, a consortium comprising Barclays Private Equity, Innisfree and Taylor Woodrow. The contract term was 35 years!

Fast forward to 30^th September 2013. Queen Mary’s was by then in the hands of South London Healthcare NHS Trust, which comprised Queen Mary’s, the PRUH and Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich. This Trust had been formed in April 2009 under the weight of the PFI debts. However, with debts rising to £207m, the Trust was placed in special measures in June last year. Its final ignominy came five days ago when the Trust was formally dissolved.

And what a mess we have now!

From one Queen Mary’s Hospital Trust we now have Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust running Queen Mary’s with services provided at Queen Mary’s by no fewer than four further Trusts! Question: How many managers does it take to run a hospital? Answer: More than there are doctors and nurses.

And what does Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have to say about all this?

“What is in the clinical interests of patients in South East London has been at the heart of my decision making process...”

So at the general election in 2015 when a politician asks you if you think that they represent “people like you”, reply in three words:

“Queen Marys Hospital”.

www.tns-bmrb.co.uk*

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Which sweet are you?

It was meant to be a harmless trip to Greenwich Market for the hard-worked Chislehurst Village News staff. However the first stop - Mr Humbug - put paid to that. For those who don't know, Mr Humbug is a sweet shop on the corner of the covered market and home to all those loose sweets in jars that are hand-weighed to order, with a few blocks of fudge on the side.

Ms Chislehurst Village News no less was first to go with an "um" and an "errr" whilst she surveyed the 200+ jars in front of her. "You choose" she said to the assistant. "You look like a lemon sherbet to me" came the reply. "Hmmm, I do like lemon sherbets, I'll have 100 grams please".

This then started them all off. "You look like a chocolate banana.....a liquorice satin (they do over 20 types of liquorice!).....a ginger cream..... And so it went on.

As we left the shop, chewing, crunching and munching, the debate started. "I don't think I look like a ginger cream man". "Oh yes you do". "Oh no I don't" etc, etc.

What Mr Humbug doesn't know is that we're all going to sneak back in a couple of weeks' time to see if we still look like the same sweet or whether we've been changed. In the meantime...

Do try: Spinning tops - Smooth and creamy cones topped with hundreds and thousands just to make them that much more adorable. 

Avoid: Monster jaw breakers - Described as replacement cricket balls.

Do not go near (unless, presumably, you're Dutch): Dutch Triple Salt Liquorice - They smell worse than dog biscuits and taste even worse. (In our opinion).

You can even buy: Black Jacks.

Mr Humbug can be found at Greenwich Market, London, SE10 9HZ
www.mrhumbug.com
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk