The Cricketers - Excellent Rugby
Spent the night in the Cricketers in South Street on Saturday night. A great atmosphere to watch the rugby. The pub has kept this up throughout the Rugby World Cup tournament and has often been packed with true fans of the sport.
Last Saturday is was really good though and as England won there was a real party atmosphere. Brilliant!
posted by The Cockerel @ 10:44 PM
5 Comments:
I walked past the Cricketers and it was very orderly and friendly on saturday night, it's a shame i can't say the same thing about the rest of the town. I walked the length of the high street and found around whittals the off licence there was the usual sight of drunken yobbo's shouting and creating an aggresive undertone which seemed to be quite threatening. This behaviour is similar to the kind of thing you would see in Redhill at 3am after the club kicks out. It would not be tolorated in Reigate and is probably one of the reasons the restaurants are flagging in Dorking. It is high time a much stronger police presence is around at night time in this area to encourage a safer atmosphere for families etc.
Totally agree with the anonymous poster above. The main reason why the restaurants in Dorking struggle at night is because of the thuggery, anti-social behaviour that continues to plague our town. I am sick and tired of people drinking out of bottles of vodka, cider and lager who act violently to passer's by. Their language is very aggressive and they are simply not content without swinging a few punches and getting into a mass brawl. This is usually in front of the CCTV and if there happens to a police car in the vicinity, they continue to show their blatant disregard for the law by swearing at them and acting like immature teenagers.
Therefore, it is little wonder why Frankie & Benny's abandoned their plans to open up in Dorking. Look at the High Street most Friday and Saturday nights, it is a warzone!!! Gangs of feral thugs hanging around drunk and stoned out of their minds, aggressive and anti-social behaviour are the norm and where are the police??? I guess they would rather hide in a layby to catch an elderly person flouting the speed limit by three or four miles a hour. Dorking is suffering big time and is does not help that is slowly turning into a 'no-go zone' for the law abiding majority. It is about time that the Surrey Police adopted a zero tolerance approach to the feral gangs, the anti-social behaviour, the thugs who raise hell week in, week out.....
Robert S.
PS - Well done to The Cricketers - it is a highly professional pub. It is very well run, does good food at lunchtimes and their beer (Pride, ESB etc.) is always brilliant.
Yes, it is me again. Got hold of last months Dorking Town Management report (17/09/07)and I am afraid it does not make for very good reading.
Vacant / On the market: 23 premises
Gusto, London Road - very strong interest. Associated Dental Practices, 305 High Street. Oxfam Bookshop, 295-295 High Street. Harley Davidson, 285-293 High Street - planning app for A1, A2, A3 + residential withdrawn, are reworking. Fire Your Imagination, 224 High Street - rental recently reduced. Co-op, 236 High Street - no movement. Age of Elegance, 155-157 High Street - strong interest. Halfords, 101-103 High Street - strong interest, but still under development. Surrey Gourmet, 61 High Street - lease reverting back to landlord but complicated. Woolwich, 108 High Street - viewings booked. Nightingales, St Martin's Walk (SMW)- no movement. Baby Boom, SMW - gone into liquidation. Studio RT, Scribbles, Vandevi, Simply Nails, Rear Corner Unit, SMW - no movement. Harmans, 19 West Street - closed for redevelopment, ready November, some interest. Refectory Antiques, 38 West Street, closed due to retirement. Human Nature, 12 South Street. Impress Promotions, 53 South Street - planning application to convert to restaurant / wine bar refused. Pizza Piazza, 77 South Street - strong interest. FW Mays, 105 South Street - strong interest.
Vacant but under offer: 8 premises
Dawn to Dusk Tanning, 286 High Street. Gallery 238, 238 High Street. Jane Elliot, 246 High Street. WHSmith old site, 111-113 High Street - Bikehut. Portman Building Society, 41-43 High Street. Pump Gallery, Pump Corner. Antique Clocks, 62a West Street - opening as 'The Rusty Angel'. Swale Insurance, 43 South Street - planning application to convert to wine bar approved, shop front alterations planning application recently submitted.
Trading but on the market: 5 premises
Royal Assoc. for Deaf People, 316 High Street - under offer. Robert Barclays, 86 High Street. West Cornish Pasty Co, 54-56 High Street - under offer. Origin, 13 High Street. Hampshires of Dorking, 51-52 High Street.
Recently Opened: 5 premises
Robin G Renee, 300 High Street - nail bar. Puccino's, 228-232 High Street - Starbucks. Oxfam Books, 176-180 High Street - ex Contessa. Steads, SMW - ex Lockeys site. The Wow Gallery, 78 South Street - ex The Vineyard.
Robert S.
thanks for the very informative update. Yes it does make very grim reading. No matter what spin D.T.C.M. put on it premises on the market are on the market with strong interest or not!! & 23 of them is a heck of a lot. a further 8 under offer are also blank windows that are no use to anyone and another 5 to go soon ?? well what can i say. Lets just all keep subsidising Sandra Grant and her cronies to experiment with our money on secret shopping expeditions etc. it's an outrage.
Thanks for the all info regarding the vacant units, vacant but under offer etc. in Dorking. I am amazed that Sandra Grant (Dorking Town Centre Management) can still hold her head up high and claim that vacant units in Dorking are well under 10%!!! It is a scandal that she still has a job.
Even worse, is the situation down in St. Martin's Walk, where Mr. Ralph Rice, continues to hold down a job, doing nothing whatsoever. Ralph Rice is the idiot who supposedly manages the St. Martin's Walk Shopping Centre and since the beginning of 2007 only ONE shop has opened - Steads, the luggage shop. Since the begining of the year, countless shops have closed down there and I am amazed that Baby Boom who went into adminstration, still have most of their stock inside their former unit. This shop closed almost a year ago! What is going on???
It is high time, we look at why Reigate and Farnham continue to go from strength to strength. Why doesn't Town Centre Management look at our neighbouring and try and persuade retailers to open up in Dorking?? Has the word got out, that Dorking is dying and that it is sinking without trace?? Who knows. If they don't act quickly, the charm of Dorking will be lost forever. It is high time, that they get the likes of Adrian White from Denbies and Biwater, representatives from Friends Provident, UNUM Provident etc. to see if they can give any input on what can be done to save Dorking from turning quickly into a ghost town. And, for crying out loud, I don't want any of my council tax to go to pay for the likes of Sandra Grant and Ralph Rice. ~AP~
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