The Camberley Eye is an on-line equivalent of a traditional local civic society. It has the same aims; to raise interest in everything that’s happening in the town and to campaign for improvements. It’s an opportunity for everyone who cares about Camberley to air their views and – if needed – to try to get something done!
The ‘Eye’ focus is maintained by David Chesneau.
The Camberley Eye 
Still can’t find how to post the pics on the Crabtree park thread . Thick or what ??
I couldn’t possibly comment on the ‘thick or what’!! But you can’t post DIRECTLY. What you can do, though, is click on ‘Contribute to this blog’, and attach photos to the blank e-mail that appears. On a PC, you’ll find ‘Contribute to this blog’ on the right-hand side of the screen/’home page’. On a mobile device you’ll probably have to scroll down to find it. I’m not in control of this aspect, I’m afraid.
I’ll then add the photos as an additional post. (As this is a blog rather than eg a Facebook page, it’s not so easy for others to add to it. This has advantages as well as disadvantages.)
I ‘m afraid I cannot comment on the above but am seeking your assistance on an other matter my name is Jim Neave and I live in Australia.. My wife was born at Birchcroft Chobham Rd. Camberley some eighty years ago, and has had
extraordinary experiences following the death of her father a submarine commander 1942 as a result of she and her mother finished up living in Australia it’s a long story.I propose to do a picture book on her life and I need help as I do not have a photo of Birchcroft.
The purpose of this email is to seek assistance in having someone take a photo of the home and forward it to me.I will happily make a contribution to your association to cover any costs involved.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Jim Neave
I don’t know the address/house, Jim, but I’ve just googled it and found: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/LTAVIiNy66QStr2XOy2NnVL2-zE/appointments The information is undoubtedly out-of-date, but it gives the important information that the address is 229 UPPER Chobham Road – which leads off the Chobham Road. Streetmap shows what it looks like from the road – https://goo.gl/5MLH6Q You can see that the house name is still there on a board. But the house is well-hidden, so a current photo will be hard to get – unless you write to the occupants, perhaps. Otherwise, try the local museum for an ‘old’ photo – http://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/residents/surrey-heath-museum/all-about-surrey-heath-museum You might be lucky!. Regards, David
Please could i arrange for a meeting to tell you about our new concept and offers to the general public Tel 07702128902 Best regards Graham
Graham, why not send me a short item, with a photo. If it’s of general interest I’ll publish it. If it’s an advertisement, I won’t!
I live in Tenerife but used to live on the London Road (one of the American looking houses opposite Diamond Ridge). I have only just found your blog and have added the RSS to my newsreader as I am thoroughly enjoying each and every post you make. They bring back happy memories as well as surprise, some things have changed, some not, but keep up the good work. Your words travel far 🙂
Many thanks for your comments and support! I feel that I should explain what the purpose of the ‘Eye’ is. It’s not simply intended to record matters, big and small, within the town centre, but to exert pressure for improvements. Inevitably this means being somewhat negative about the status quo, which is unfortunate and not a stance that I particularly like. But for the record, Camberley is a small town, it can’t compete ‘head on’ with larger neighbours, and the challenge is the council, retailers and residents to adopt AND implement a strategy that keeps the town special and a delight to live in and to visit. We’re a long way from that at the moment, and sitting back and saying nothing isn’t going to achieve anything.
Hi,
I am contacting you from Wates Construction and I have seen that you recently wrote about our new site which will eventually be a luxury care home in the centre of Camberley. I would like to ask if you would be interested in coming to the site for a visit one day in the near future? We would be interested in chatting to you about our new project.
Many thanks,
David
Wates Construction
David, I did reply to you using what I think is your work e-mail address. If you didn’t receive my message, can you let me know and I’ll do something about it. Thanks. David Chesneau
Looks like Alcatraz is for sale: https://propertylink.estatesgazette.com/property-details/6113777-alcatraz-restaurant-bar-camberley-gu15-3sg
Thanks for the alert, Steve. I’d been told a while ago that the whole Alcatraz chain had been sold – the restaurant did have a sign outside saying something like ‘Under new management’, but the item you’ve pointed out does seem specific to Camberley. It MAY be old news – property adverts often linger on the internet long after their sell by date. But it’s something to follow up, anyway.
Could you post a link to this petition, its to get the A30 Waitrose junction sorted out, which makes entering or leaving Camberley a nightmare during rush hour… not that I expect the council will listen, but we can try.
https://www.change.org/p/surrey-county-council-permanently-disable-the-traffic-lights-at-the-a30-waitrose-junction
Well, it’s outside Camberley, of course, Steve, and Facebook has publicised the petition pretty well. But I’ll give it a quick mention.
You have missed the great bin mystery. Yesterday morning. At the Knoll Road end of Knoll Walk. One of the rubbish bins vanished! Yes vanished! There are some marks on the pavement going in the direction of where in went, they stop just on the corner outside Higher Ground carpet shop. So where did the bin go next????
No doubt the borough council has ‘Find my bin’ loaded on its iPhone!
I followed in your footsteps today. I reckon the Martians must have taken the bin. As you say, the trail just disappears.
Hi David, we’d love to invite you down to the opening of Jacks of London on 14 Dec at 5pm. There will be Christmas cocktails, fizz etc; food; free treatments/haircuts and live music. Be ace if you could come meet the new owner, she’s from the neighbourhood. Cheer Su
Su, That’s kind of you, but I tend not to get too involved with individual businesses. My aim is to be a neutral observer (I hope all Camberley’s businesses are a success, of course) so if I accept hospitality from one, I’d have to do the same from them all!!
Hi David – I have a planning press release for you. What’s your email address?
Chris Wotton – PR Renaissance Retirement cw@renaissancegroup.co.uk
I’ve been watching your planning application, of course, Chris. In this context, the best e-mail for me is correspondence@thecamberleyeye.co.uk. Regards, David
Went to Prezzos today. Staff say they are closing on Sunday permanently. Cost of Premises/ Business Rate surge the reason. The renewal of their lease too expensive. Sad for Camberley.
Sad for the staff too, of course, Elizabeth. I can’t say I’m surprised that they’re apparently not re-opening after being closed over the busiest time of the year. But the Prezzo website does seem to allow a table to booked from mid January onwards.
We had booked a pre-Xmas special 3 course lunch on the Prezzo website.
When we were shown to our table the staff member stated they were not serving that menu because they were closing down on Sunday. I asked why they had not notified anyone, he said it was up to the direct ownership of Prezzo’s to do it.
So we had our final meal there today. We eat there about 4-6 times a year.
There are lots of restaurants/ cafes/ bars in Camberley & competition is fierce.
Sad for everyone, and not the best way to treat customers, unfortunately for you.
Hi Camberley Eye,
Just attended a very well attended meeting about London Road Park, Grand Avenue/ Southwell Park Rd. SHC want to rebuild the Arena Leisure Centre but also want to remove 25% of the adjacent Victorian Park for Pay & Display Car Parking. The Park is the only Public Amenity space in the St Michaels Ward- the most congested ward in the Borough, with lots of apartments with no green space. The Park is our LUNG. They want to build a carpark for an additional 141 cars with lighting & fencing & it will be open until 11pm at night. Not exactly saving the Planet !
I wonder what Michael Gove our MP & Secretary for the Environment would think ?
Thanks Liz. I did reproduce the plans on the Eye as soon as they were shown in the museum. And I publicised the need to contact Daniel Harrison to object or support the proposal. I haven’t expressed any strong view myself as I live the other side of Camberley and I’ve been waiting to see how many people WANT the new leisure centre. I knew about last night’s meeting but I didn’t publicise it as I only heard about it ‘unofficially’ and I wasn’t sure whether it was open to all. I simply passed the information on to one or two people who’d contacted me.
With collective camberley doing best dressed window, we thought here at The Cambridge Club we would do our own for Armed Forces Day. All ex and serving servicemen are welcome to pop in for a drink.
Did take pictures but not sure how to attach.
Thanks for the info, Selena. I’ll call by later this week and take a look.
If you go to the ‘top/front page’ of the Eye on WordPress, you’ll see instructions on the right hand side for sending contributions to the blog. It’s a bit different from Facebook; there’s an e-mail address for sending photos. That’s how it is with WordPress, I’m afraid.
David – I need to advise you of a change of email address – How do I do that
The refuse collectors in Surrey Heath will be on strike from 1-19 August 2022. Very few people seem to be aware of it so could you perhaps make a mention of it? This is a link to a statement from Joint Waste Solutions : https://www.jointwastesolutions.org/bin-collection-strike-action/
Great to see there are now regular buses from Camberley direst to Heathrow. This should be a major boost for the town as it makes Camberley a viable place to live for airport workers and aircrew not to mention being handy for anyone needing to get to the airport. I’m not sure many people know about it…why not do a feature on it.
I think it has been quite widely discussed elsewhere, Andrew, and it’s not really the sort of thing that the. Eye writes about. But, as always, there’s an open invitation on the Eye’s front page for people to submit suitable items for publication. They rarely do.