Kingston Town

Since we have been in the US, Beth’s Auntie Debbie moved to Kingston, or rather to give it its full name, The London Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames. She invited us over so that we could see her new home.

Kingston was built at the first crossing point of the river Thames upstream from London Bridge and there is still a bridge on the original site. Central Kingston is predominantly a busy retail centre with shops generally being towards the upper retail sector with a good mixture of familiar High Street chains and more select boutiques.

As Deb’s flat (apartment) isn’t very far from Central Kingston, we decided that we would take a walk along the Thames & do some shopping. As we got to the end of the road that Debs lives in, we saw David Spinx, walking towards us. He is the actor who plays Keith Miller in Eastenders. He didn’t look any different to when he is on TV & Debs mentioned that her & Gary (Debs partner) often saw him as he doesn’t live very far from their flats.

The Thames at Kingston was surprisingly narrow compared to what I am used to in central London. As we made our way to Market Place (which still has a daily market) we went through a recently developed riverside area that included all very ‘cosmo’ (i.e. expensive) looking bars, restaurants & living accommodation. The main indoor shopping mall is split over four levels & includes a large variety of shops. There is also a more traditional pedestrianized High Street area that includes one of the more unusual sights in Kingston, the ‘Out of Order’ sculpture by David March. This comprises several disused red telephone boxes that have been tipped on their sides in a pattern resembling dominos.