poliphilo

Two posts back I was complaining about the cost of a postage stamp and here I am at it again. £18 for two takeaway portions of curry and chips? No way!

I'm not a cheapskate, really I'm not, but that's just not value for money.

This was in Crowborough. Crowborough is swish. It wasn't always. Up until the late 18th century the land south of Tunbridge Wells- the High Weald- was sparsely populated by charcoal burners and subsistence farmers- "ignorant and heathenish" people according to the local landowner who built a church to improve their manners. This injection of organised religion started a process that led to the town- which occupies the second highest land in East Sussex- being marketed to the late Victorians as a health resort. "Scotland in Sussex" is what they called it. (Thank you wikipedia for the foregoing information.) Arthur Conan Doyle was an early adopter and spent the last quarter century of his life in residence. There's a very bad modern statue of him in the town centre. When we drove past we noticed it was dressed in a little green jacket and an elf hat. I wish I'd taken a picture but there was nowhere to park.

Following Sir Arthur a lot of famous people have owned or own property in Crowborough. Dirk Bogarde, Tom Baker, David Jason, Cate Blanchett.....

Cate Blanchett may be happy to pay you £18 for her chips but you wouldn't want to try it on with an ignorant and heathenish charcoal burner......