Dashing Through the 'Stone...

Tills ring, are you listening?
In the rain, neon's glistening.

A beautiful sight,

We're happy tonight.

Christmas lights by TESCO Addlestone.

December 2011

Ho, ho, ho Addlestonians! The festive season is upon us and since 1st December Addlestonians have been starting off their days by prising open an advent calendar window to reveal one of 25 chocolatey treats in the run up to Christmas day. Multiplied by however many advent calendars they have.

Many will go on to spruce up for a day of Christmas shopping, which will typically involve leaving town in favour of Staines or Woking where potential gifts are easier to come by. With the exception of household electronics, cards and wrapping paper which TESCO and Primart have covered nicely between them.

Addlestone hasn't been hanging about in preparation for these festive times. Buildings up and down Station Road have been sporting twinkly Christmas trees for weeks, adding an extra bit of graceful magic to the high street. Yes, even more magic! 

In fact, the glitzy Christmas trees hanging up along Station Road bring a party atmosphere to Addlestone as much as enchantment. Flickering away alongside each other in hues of red, green and blue and illuminating the street through the long winter nights, pedestrians might think themselves in a nightclub and drivers maybe a scene from Tron. Either way, it's an impressive sight for the late-night ambler to behold and a welcome ingredient in Addlestonian life.

Last year's Christmas light switch-on, November 2011

On 24th November Addlestonians from far and wide and a few special guests gathered next to the TESCO roundabout to witness the enchanting Christmas lights switch-on and partake in the carol-singing and mince pie munching along with the Addlestone Salvation Army Band, all to the backdrop of TESCO's entrancingly festive neon sign. Once again the lights were made possible by generous contributions from local businesses who dug deep into their pockets, putting together thousands of pounds in a commendable display of community spirit. I don't have precise figures, so can't highlight what percentage of that might have come from the world's third-largest retailer, but if nothing else the superstore has contributed in her own way by putting her party hat on this Christmas. If you thought the blazing glow of the TESCO neon sign over the heart of Addlestone was convivial enough as it was, think again.

Special guests at the Addlestone Christmas lights switch-on included Mayor of Runnymede Cllr Linda Gillham...

Cllr Linda Gillham, Mayor of Runnymede (image from @DontLetYourTea)

As well as old St. Nick himself, who took a day off fom making iPads and reading letters in his Lapland chalet to sing carols in Addlestone, a town he allegedly holds dear to his heart. "After a busy Christmas, there's nothing I enjoy more than to come down to Addlestone for a nice curry in my favourite Indian restaurant" he might have said.

Father Christmas (image from @DontLetYourTea)

Hold your reindeers Santa, Christmas hasn't even started yet!

Whereas parts of the county have already experienced a light dusting or two, Addlestone is yet to be touched by snow this December. If previous years are anything to go by then there's every chance Addlestonians might wake up to a coating by the end of the month, but for the time being it looks like we'll be sticking with predominantly crisp skies and the odd cloud or shower. Leave the sledges in the garage for now, folks.

On that note I leave you with this video from a few years ago filmed by King's Church which I thought it was only appropriate to share. God rest ye merry, Addlestonians. God rest ye merry.

How are you celebrating this Christmas? Share your Addlestonian tradition below or tweet me @TheAddlestonian.

Cleaning A Little Helps

Regular readers of this blog might have noticed a slight tendency of mine to indulge in a bit of light TESCO-bashing every once in a while. My main motive for this is that despite the evident benefit the store brings to Addlestone and the surrounding areas as a place where you can find just about anything you need around the clock, be it clothes, your weekly food shop, a last-minute gift or a midnight snack, it makes it nigh-on impossible for nearby independent shops to compete and survive. You might picture me then as a principled man, valiantly sticking to my guns at every opportunity and avoiding the store in favour of independently-owned offerings, but sadly the truth is I shop at TESCO regularly, making me a complete hypocrite. Or you could just see me as another victim of the vicious circle that living next to a superstore entails. Yes, let's stick with that one.

Some news this week, however, has given me fresh grounds to pick the place apart, and indeed fresh hope that I might not have to see the alien mothership-resembling monstrosity for much longer when I walk into town, albeit for unfortunate reasons.

You may have seen the Get Surrey article Tesco takes action over "filthy" Addlestone store from last Thursday, which I spotted circulating on Twitter. After a recent environmental health report by Runnymede Borough Council the store was described as "filthy" and having "extremely poor standards" by the hygiene inspector, according to the article. This surprised me at first as, I have to admit, I had never noticed its cleanliness to be any worse than that of my own home (maybe even better) but as you make your way through the article it becomes clearer why. It turns out the offending areas were in fact out of public view, namely the bakery and behind the deli counter, as well as the fish fridge. That is to say right in those areas we could all do with being pretty spick and span.

After this report came to light, TESCO claimed they "insist on the highest standards of hygiene ... and are very disappointed by this isolated incident". This prompted them to re-train their Addlestone staff, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to pick up a cloth every once in a while. The article also points out that this wasn't the first "isolated incident" where TESCO Addlestone had been busted for neglect of hygiene, as an inspection in 2010 revealed the same problem. That's two years worth of dirty doughnuts.

Because of TESCO's readiness to put things right, they were let off on this occasion with no action taken against them. However, I'm sure they can expect to feel the full force of Runnymede Borough Council if they're found not to be complying again, assuming RBC are taking a "three-strikes-and-your-out" approach.

Of course, the risk of a mucky kitchen probably won't be enough to deter the loyal TESCO shoppers of Addlestone from purchasing pants, chicken tikka masalas, bouquets of flowers or even the occasional bag of doughnuts from the superstore, as the convenience of it is so utterly irresistible. Heck, I'm covering my keyboard in jam and sugar as I type. I will wipe it up though.

Click here to read the full Get Surrey article, and tweet your views to @TheAddlestonian.