15 August - Steward of all she surveys
I
lived near Aldershot (Home of the British Army) in the 1950s and along with a
gang of lads would regularly cycle through the barracks - there was no security
back then. One day squaddies could be seen painting the barracks white but only to the
peak of the roof. The barrack huts were semi-circles of corrugated iron, like a
large Nissen Hut.
We asked why only the front of the huts were being whitewashed and were told it
was because the Queen was visiting the next day. And she did.
Something similar may have happened in Lesnes Abbey Park because after many
weeks without any progress towards the long overdue completion being made, there was a small flurry of activity last week.
The wooden fence that obscured most views into the Visitor Centre has gone and
so has the jungle of weeds and heaps of rubbish
that has laid in front of it all year is also much reduced.
So was the Queen due to visit Lesnes?
Well sort of.
Bexley’s Chief Executive and
Head Table Snatcher was due to visit last Friday
along with the three Lesnes Abbey ward councillors.
The worst of the debris may have been removed but the weeds are still thriving
in the Monk’s Garden. Not to the extent they have around the Mulberry Tree but
nevertheless coming along quite nicely.