Opportunities

Visiting Southfields yesterday for the first time, I was impressed by what a good looking area it was. Parade of shops and such like, with them and the people leaving the station rather reminding me of the exit from Earlsfield station a little to the east, and then a good range of housing up Wimbledon Park Road. Large terraces, maybe subdivided, large houses which looked like family homes and a good number of smart looking flats, these last with a fine view to the east over the park. I suppose the catch would be the price, with, I guess, a 2 or 3 bedroom flat going for £500,000 or more and houses for small millions.

Onto the tennis club, where I was rather taken aback by the size of the place, complete with serious boundary walls and fences. None of this free loading at sporting events that you get, for example, at the (one and only, Epsom) Derby. Mainly darkened, but there seemed to be a fair amount of activity; maybe members get to use the place between tournaments. But sadly, the large shop, was shut and I was unable to come away with a souvenir ashtray.

Not a bar to be seen, presumably people who can afford the houses thereabouts are too posh to pub, so back to Southfields Library for a meeting of the south London chapter of http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/ where, in rather a cold meeting room, I was re-introduced to the joys of voluntary organisations, the last occasion being a rather hands-off brush during BH's time with http://epsom-ewell.co.uk/. Meeting room aside, the library was spacious and looked to be well stocked, not bad at all for a branch library.

On the train home, I was interested to read about unpleasantness at school 263 at Odratnoe in northern Moscow, Odratnoe being the name of Count Rostov's country estate in War & Peace. First thought was that Moscow must have grown a lot and swallowed up what had been out in the country, rather in the way of the house at Belsize Park reported on 3rd April 2011 in the other place, or like Eleusis now being a suburb of Athens, rather than an independent city state. Second thought was that Tolstoy was simply recycling the name of a Moscow suburb in his book. But I am now confused by finding that Tolstoy spelled it Otradnoye, at least in the 2005 translation from Penguin. More research needed.

And so back to Epsom, where this morning I thought I ought to round out the housing story by taking a look at Mill Road where I came across the investment grade DIY opportunity illustrated. A chap working next door told me that the house had been in a bit of a state for ten years or more, but that a refurb. was on the way. So it looks as if I have missed the boat on that one. But, nevertheless, I shall keep an eye on the proceedings. Will they do a redec. or a refurb.? Will they demolish the house and build a new one, thus avoiding VAT? Are they going to try and buy the house next door and build a small block of flats on the double plot? Why was it left for 10 years?

On this last point, I suppose I shall just have to speculate.

PS: the picture on streetview is a little out of date.