Motorway bridge danger to walkers
Editor News editor Assistant news editor Our Tonbridge and Malling Ramblers group was intending to use the M20 pedestrian bridge as part of our walk on Sunday, August 28, which started at 10.30am at the nearby Angel public house in Addington.
We would have been on the bridge, had it still existed, by about 11.15am and, had the low loader with the digger aboard set out on its voyage that morning rather than the preceding day, 20 of us could have ended up either dying or very seriously injured amid the rubble and braking lorries.
The bridge slopes down from high ground on the north embankment to a low point on the southern embankment where it connects to a spiralling ramp leading down to East Street.
It could be that, despite all the assurances over the weekend that every motorway bridge is of a specified height, this only applies to running lanes and that the hard shoulder end of this bridge, which is where the accident reportedly occurred, was possibly lower than that standard height.
A few yards to the east of the bridge there is a gantry with a huge signage board on it which completely blocks the view from the bridge of any traffic heading towards London.
Apart from the fact that this gantry was not damaged by the digger on the day its presence meant we would have had virtually no warning of any threat had we been on that part of the bridge at that time. Dave Wetton Chairman, Tonbridge and Malling Ramblers Senior reporter sites I plumped for the Romney restaurant, Mote House.
The menu looked terrific and staff promised to send the menu by email so I could draw up orders in advance, prior to going on holiday for the week before the event.
It arrived while we were away, so it was not until the day before the meal I was able to email relatives and friends with last-minute requests for meal choices.
When I phoned the Romney to say the order list was incomplete I was assured it would not be a problem.
I then asked for the children’s menu. Silence. “We don’t cater for children”. When I pointed out the online page made no mention of this and that it was rare indeed for children to be barred I received a variety of responses, such as the Romney is part of a retirement village and “You didn’t tell us you were going on holiday.”
They could not be swayed, so it was off to Tesco to buy enough buffet food for 13 adults and two seven-year-olds arriving within the next two hours from all over the south-east.
The Romney webpage still makes no mention of situation regarding children. Robert Kerr Marston Drive, Maidstone points and, indeed, there are a number of his domestic policy proposals, particularly regarding transport and the NHS, which find support beyond the Labour party.
However, she fails to recognise that his foreign and defence policy would be an absolute disaster for the this country and would render any reforms he introduced meaningless.
There is no point in establishing some sort of socialist nirvana if it were then to be subject either to diktats from a supranational entity unsympathetic to its aims or overturning by force.
In view of the fact that most believe that Mr Corbyn, given his previous statements on the matter, was never in favour of the UK remaining within the EU, it is quite Theresa May. Watching her speech metres away strengthened my determination to make a positive difference to people’s lives. Having a clear sense of direction for me has always been most important.
“Experiencing life in Parliament has been fantastic. There have been challenges that have required a full and determined approach. After witnessing how much work goes on behind the scenes I’d encourage anyone who has a problem, big or small, to contact Helen.”