Sunday 15 July 2007

This post doesn't have a Welsh angle

Much excitement down our way this weekend - the local Tesco Express was briefly closed on police advice.

Not only that but it also hosted a live report on the national news. Barnes was one of 14 stores shut after a series of threats. Police have launched a criminal investigation but say they do not believe there is a link to extremism.

Fortunately (?) in our corner of south west London many of the inhabitants drive the sort of 4 x 4 vehicle built to survive a nuclear attack (and keep little Jemima and Jocasta safe in the back seat) let alone a threat not linked to extremism. Even the pushchairs pushed by mothers and nannies appear to be four-wheel drive.

Despite the threat to Tesco Express, plucky Barnesonians went about their normal business, quaffing pints of Pimm's while listening to jazz in St Mary's churchyard as the Barnes Fair got into its swing.

Barnes is one of those London suburbs that likes to think it's a village, and I can't deny it's a great place to spend your middle age.

Indeed, for many Barnes residents the greatest threat to our way of life appears not to be al-Qaeda but the plan by Sainsbury's to open a small store in White Hart Lane.

If Osama Bin Laden really wanted to scare people in this part of the world - and threaten their way of life - his most efficient weapon would be a planning application for a supermarket.

1 comment:

Aralio said...

the same in Crouch End David!