The good people of Marlow (and environs) flocked to the town’s Waitrose this morning snapping up essentials in light of the onslaught of snow this weekend. Waitrose managed admirably. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
I popped into Alfred the Grape this evening for the second time in two weeks. The shop has just recently opened offering a fantastic range of bespoke wines. Don’t expect a tired few shelves of rubbish £6.99 vinegar and ‘Lambrusco’ specials served by a disinterested spotty teenager. No.
Alfred The Grape is a privately owned temple to wine based just off Marlow’s High Street up from Boots. The owner, Matt, is regularly to be found behind the counter helping along with a small passionate team of experts.
One of the best features that Matt has implemented is a tasting counter filled with an array of wines open and ready for sampling: Precisely what you need when you’re wavering over a decision.
I really appreciate the knowledge that each of the team have to offer. I have had a super time firing questions at them. For instance, this evening I arrived in the shop and met Paul, a hugely experienced wine vendor. He listened to my mumbling requirements (er, red… Er… Were having Chicken…er, something light?) and parsed them into a series of excellent recommendations.
Paul was magnificent and as Matt joined us, I asked them both for a further four choices of red. It was rather cool watching them zip across the shopfloor to retrieve some super recommendations. I say super because I’ve sampled two of the bottles so far and they were totally spot on. And I should point out that the team there are fiscally aware too.
So if youre looking for a very personal, reasonable and informed choice for wine in Marlow, definitely pop into Alfred The Grape.
And I have to say, Matt: Brilliant choice of business name! S
The current Mobile Industry Review office is always, always very warm. This is because it contains no less than three Mac Pro towers and four 28.5″ monitors. They do a good job of keeping things warm which is superb in the winter and thoroughly annoying in the summer.
The logistical issue is this: Our existing office service company has, it appears, gone out of business. They were renting the building and sub-letting to MIR. There is substantial handwringing going on at the moment whilst the owner of the building and the managing agent work out precisely what to do.
So we’re in a bit of a pickle.
Theoretically we can stay here and wait for the situation to be worked through, but I’m concerned that this will mean all sorts of arsing around switching internet connections off, waiting 20 days for BT to sort out a new connection and so on.
Therefore I wondered if anyone knew of any companies with a spare set of desks in Marlow, Buckinghamshire? If you do, perhaps you might introduce them to us. I say ‘spare set of desks’ because these monitors and the rest of the equipment I need doesn’t really fit on one standard sized desk.
What else do I need?
- 24-hour access to the office – seriously, sometimes I’m working ’til 2am
- Some kind of parking, although that’s negotiable
- Super-super-super-fast internet
Any suggestions?
I keep driving by this sign on Station Road and can’t help but wonder what it’s for. “Crime Operation In Progress”? What does that mean? Is it warning criminals not to attempt to rob any cars beyond the sign?
Or is it to let folk know that Police are ‘doing something’? Answers on a postcard…
So the Marlow Music Festival is fast approaching and our very own Riley Park is featuring on the Saturday with what looks like a big line-up. Are you going along? It’s looking like it will be a lot of fun. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
…Well, to the pub. I saw this parked next to The Marlow Donkey yesterday. What a terrific vehicle!
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It’s a question I’ve been pondering for some time. By train, Richmond is just over 2 hours away from Marlow’s station. And that involves 3 or 4 changes (depending on the time you depart), one of which generally requires you getting the train backwards to Reading which is eminently annoying and hugely inefficient. So most days when I need to get to Richmond (work purposes), I drive. Of course, the M4 is typically rock solid by the time I arrive into the Chiswick area. So I’ve taken to driving along the A4 which is a heck of a lot more relaxing, if you ignore the ridiculous array of roundabouts and traffic lights. Today, though I’m trying something different. I’m heading to Richmond via Windsor. I got a taxi from Marlow to “Windsor & Eton Riverside” (£30) to arrive just before the 723am train to London Waterloo departed. That stops at Richmond at 757am. Quite a civilised service, it seems. Mostly empty at this time in the morning. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device