After the non story of the man being served a banana in the Bromley South Wetherspoons and the criticism from certain members on here regarding Bromley in general, I thought that I'd open up this thread for Bromley related topics. A growing concern is the amount of people begging/homeless in Bromley High Street, of course this is a problem all over the country, but the numbers are growing in Bromley. Today I counted 6.
I would virtually guarantee that all 6 of these “not really homeless just scumbags” beggars were East European.
How do you know they were beggers and not just victims of muggings? I was surprised by the sight of a burning police car when I passed through yesterday.
I wouldn't say the banana incident was a "non-story". I just think the PC brigade decided everybody and his dog was a racist, when it was actually just one moron. By the way, how do you know Elfs that you weren't counting the same beggars twice ? (Sometimes they move around you know). Did they let you spray-paint numbers on them or something?
Forty years ago there used to be an Army & Navy in Market Square...I remember as a lad Ray Wilkins (RIP) and Peter Bonetti put in a celebrity appearance, and there was a queue outside a mile long. I also distinctly remember how plush the shop was, and ladies wearing their “Sunday best” to venture in there. Fast forward 40 years and it’s a scummy Primark. Every nationality under the sun scrambles about in there for clothes worth a pound. There was an armed robbery by a black man with a hammer on the jewellers opposite Primark in Bromley Market Square recently. Social media filmed away for a full two minutes- not a police officer in sight. Bromley, like many areas of London, has been ruined by one thing and one thing only.
Sounds a lot like Woolwich. But I don't think only one factor has led to things being the way they are now. The decline of our town centres and high streets is a consequence of many causes. Society's answer at present appears to be gentrification. The transformation of shopping areas into spaces defined by a lot of neat garden spaces, concrete and brushed stainless steel. Nothing actually seems to happen anymore in these new public spaces. They just give the visual impression of modernity and civic order, in a very cold sort of way. They represent the 'have' side of the coin, in the dystopian future we once saw on our cinema screens, but which now exists for real. Meanwhile, the 'have not' side has been tastefully covered with flammable cladding, and left out of mind until it catches fire.
I was in a very lively, and crowded Bromley S Wetherspoons, everybody was having a nice time and in good spirits.
@AllHellLetLoose thinks Bromley is a no go zone. Zizi's service and food was not great yesterday, other than that all was peaceful with happy families buying their Christmas goodies.