Morning. Yesterday's quiz map had three gaps in it. All three are closed, inside a day — one of them by a landlord who wrote in himself. There is also a police meeting tonight that nobody has advertised, and at last a proper answer on Ditton Road.
THE PRINCE OF WALES, 117 Ewell Road KT6 6AL, 020 8296 0265. Colin, who runs it, confirms: Sundays 7pm, and it is back this Sunday 6 September after taking August off. £2.50 a head, £50 cash to the winning team, spot prizes every week, kitchen open until 9pm — and quizzers get 25% off food from 6pm. Book a table by email through their website, and get there early for the picture round.
THE ELM TREE, 64 Victoria Road KT6 4NQ. It is on their own site after all, and I had the details wrong: Sundays at 7.30, not 7, and entry is free, not £2.50. £50 bar tab plus drink and cash prizes. New quiz host called Craig, who a regular says puts serious effort in. No limit on team size, but penalties if there are seven or more of you.
THE BLACK LION — and this one is a change, not a correction. The landlord who has asked the questions for the last decade left three weeks ago. The pub is under a new manager and nobody can tell me where that leaves Tuesday's quiz. Ring before you go.
That leaves the Grove as the only one still unaccounted for. Sunday now has four quizzes running against each other — the Antelope at 7.30, the Elm Tree at 7.30, the Prince of Wales at 7, the Grove at whatever time it is.
The Alexandra ward panel meets tonight at 7pm — residents sitting down with the neighbourhood police team. That is the Tolworth end of things, and Jane, who sent it in, expects the agenda to be car crime, burglary, fly-tipping, street drinking on Tolworth Broadway and anti-social behaviour generally.
The one thing I cannot give you is the venue. It is not published on the council's site, the Met's ward page or anywhere else I can find, which is a poor showing for a public meeting happening in eleven hours. If you are on the ward panel mailing list you will have it. Send it to me and I will get it out this morning.
First day back. Dry and about 24°C — I said 26°C yesterday, it is 24°C, and either way no coat.
Celebrate Surbiton returns — station forecourt closed to traffic, street food and entertainment, 4.30 to 8pm, free. Every Thursday through September, and a first-day-back tea nobody has to cook.
And the Berrylands quiz is tonight, 107 Chiltern Drive, 020 8399 4043. Still no time published — ring, and book, because it fills up.
The K3 comes home at 8pm tomorrow — last day of the Hare Lane diversion. Everything else local is running a good service.
Claremont Road closes nightly 8pm to 5am from Monday to Thursday next week, Maple Road to Victoria Road. Then Victoria Road shuts at the Brighton Road junction, around the clock, 14 to 21 September.
Weather: tomorrow the wettest day of the week at 22°C, Saturday dry and 21°C, Sunday dry and 25°C.
The council's highways team has finally set out its reasoning, in Councillor Anita Schaper's newsletter to Berrylands residents. It is the answer several of you asked for.
It is eight separate phases, not one job. Every kerb line from Hollyfield Road to Worthington Road is being realigned, every island removed and rebuilt in a new position, new sockets for the signal poles, new ducting, new drainage, and side road treatments at Hollyfield and Beaconsfield.
Ditton Road is closed because keeping it open would add two more phases to the temporary lights. Over 80% of the traffic through that junction is going north or south on Ewell Road, and the priority is keeping that moving rather than pushing it into the side streets. Closing it also gives a bigger working area — leaving it open, they say, would take the job past six months.
No traffic modelling was done. Their words: it “would be extremely unusual to do so for a scheme of this nature”, and would be costly, slow and of doubtful use.
They do name the streets they expect to absorb it. The signed diversion is Upper Brighton Road and Kingsdowne Road — but they accept that Langley, St Matthew's Avenue, Cotterill, Ellerton, Douglas, Thornhill, Dennan and Red Lion Road could all see more traffic. Closing Kingsdowne instead was considered and rejected: the right turn in is already banned, so the lights work efficiently with it open.
Make of it what you will. It is a good deal more than we had on Monday, and if you live on one of those eight streets it is worth knowing the council already expects your road to take the overflow.
Tomorrow: new places to eat. What has opened, what has closed, what is behind the paper on the windows. Last call for tips today.
Welcome to Melisa, Carol and Anna.
Back tomorrow.
Mike
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