Catching Up

Once again I'm very red-faced, as I've realised the number of emails I've been sent and not acted upon has gone onto Page Two of my Gmail. Sorry, folks, if I look as though I've been ignoring you. I'm not, I promise.

So I thought I'd catch up with a few emails in this post and chatter about a whole bunch of interesting/worrying/curious things...

Firstly I've been talking with Rod about the intriguing goings-on at the Hoy and The Duke. Both have been closed for some time (the Hoy 'by order', gulp.) Rod and Mrs Rod were walking by and asked the workmen what it'd be like when it opened on 6th - they said it would be cafe/bar concentrating on coffee but with some beer - 'something Continental.' I wasn't around on Monday. DID it actually open then? Did anyone test it? And was it all croissants and 1664?

There's much going on at The Duke, a bit further down the road, too. Christian tells me "The signage bills it as a Pub and Dining Room." When I passed some workmen were diligently smarming the outside with cement - it looked close to being finished.

Right up the other end of Greenwich, several people have been a combination of intrigued and concerned at the application for planning permission at Hardy's pub on Trafalgar Road to extend the basement, add three storeys of hotel accommodation and a penthouse. It seems like a very old building - much older, I suspect, than the buildings around it, but sadly, Trafalgar Road seems to be a no-holds-barred area. Hands up who remembers The Penny Black...

Talking of places being closed 'by order,' (which we were, about four paragraphs ago) and Trafalgar Road, I heard some disturbing gossip from Robert, which I can't verify for what will become obvious reasons. He writes:

"I walked past the Kerala Zone this morning and saw that it had a notice up in the window - can't quite remember the exact wording, but you'll understand why in a moment - but it was a notice from Greenwich Council listing various food hygiene issues with the Kerala Zone including a mice and cockroach infestation.

I wouldn't mention this to you except for the fact that by this afternoon this somewhat startling notice from the council had been replaced by a bland "Closed for catering equipment replacement" type notice. Clearly they've been obliged to put up the Council's notice and have done so for a matter of minutes before slipping their far more benign notice over the top as a fig leaf to hide their shame."

As I said, I can't verify this - I can't find any hygiene notices on the Council's website, and when I went past, I only saw the "bland" version. Does anyone have anything more on this? I LOVE Kerala Zone - I hope they can sort it out, whatever it is.

And finally, for those of you intrigued by Trident Hall, that mysterious old theatre built by the Navy and recently bought by Greenwich Inc to - well, to pull it down, actually, Scared of Chives sneaked in and got a tiny peek on his cameraphone of the interior. It's not particularly easy to make much out, but in the absence of anything else, it's intriguing indeed. I really hope there's at least some kind of serious photographic record made of this building before we lose it forever. Thanks, SoC...

I still have loads of mail to reply to, including new Trusted Tradespeople and Whats Ons - please indulge me - I'm trying to keep up, honest!

(Oh - and please don't stop sending me stuff - I love to read it, it just takes me a while to get round to it occasionally...)