Bees and Butterflies 
After a latish start, this summer has been surprisingly pleasant and it is has been a joy to see all the butterflies and bees also enjoying the sunshine and warmth.   Hopefully this will continue into an Indian summer too.
 
The Other side of the tracks 
We have been reading in the press about the success Raynes Park is currently enjoying as a local small town centre.  This is great for our local businesses and to the considerable work undertaken members of the Raynes Park Association, but I would also like to congratulate the other end of Coombe Lane, which also enjoys a great reputation amongst residents and visitors alike.
 
Amongst other flourishing firms, we have a marvellous Chemist and a superlative print and stationery shop, both of which supply not only the expected goods and services, but much, much, more and together with an amazing “corner” shop (which seems to stock everything that you could possibly want, as well as speciality foods from all over the world) can be relied on to provide attractive gifts at reasonable prices.  Then there are the two extremely upmarket Estate Agents (where – if you have a mind to – you can drool over the (unaffordable to most) properties at anything from £1 million to £10 million.  There is a great hairdressing salon, a beauty parlour podiatry, etc., and Naked Health, which supplies upmarket treatments of all kinds to keep you in good shape. 

There is also Box 2 which specialises in ladies' clothes of elegant design - both to personal callers and by mail order - that will ensure the wearer is as smart and fashionable.

Beautiful and unusual flowers and arrangements can be purchased at Seasons where the scents of the shop alone are enough to blow you away (as regrettably are some of the prices - but then - as they say - you get what you pay for).
 
Next door  is Spoons where you can relax over a selection of juices, frappuclinos/cold drinks or coffee together with sandwiches, paninis, quiches, pasta, pies, excellent fresh salads and a huge selection of home-made cup cakes mini to giant in size, assorted muffins and cakes to many to mention and all of which you can order for parties at home.   Spoons also has a pretty courtyard garden where you can sit and eat breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea when the weather is fine.
 
If you feel like a walk after all that self-indulgence, then you can wander along Beverley Brook Walk, which takes you through the Wimbledon Rugby Club playing fields and into Fishponds Woods  and if you choose, all the way to Richmond Park, but you may need your hiking sticks.
 
The Commons conservators have done a great job in putting board-walks in place through the woods and round the lakes to enable one to walk with more ease and less mud through the woods.
 
Meanwhile, Wimbledon Rugby Club, together with the schools that share its grounds has done a magnificent job of refurbishing what were rather dilapidated tennis courts.   Now they have been re-fenced and re-laid with special sports carpeting that is all-weather and safer, and can be used for both tennis and basket-ball.   It isn’t yet known whether the use of these courts will be confined to members of the Club and the schools, or whether there will be opportunities for local residents to hire them when not otherwise in use. The club is also to be congratulated on the way it has installed drainage to what were often waterlogged pitches, and now maintain them for soccer, rugby and cricket in very good condition.
 
More about the Other Side of the Tracks can be found in the Newsletter of the Residents’ Association of West Wimbledon.
 
Jill Truman