Ewell Village anti-clockwise (adapted)

Following yesterday's success down Horton Lane, today I thought to try a version of the Ewell Village anti-clockwise.

Wasn't sure about West Hill, so I went via Meadway, which comes out on the top of West Hill and which I know I can manage.

Down to Wetherspoon's to check the two sickly trees there, snapped left. They look as if they have put out a few shoots, then given up. So my bet is dead, at best a long time for their recovering any health and vigour. Maybe, given the root balls which come with, not too late to replace them, while the contractors are still here?

I didn't get close enough to check, but there is a fruit & veg stall under one of the awnings beyond the white saloon car and there may be other stuff; remnants of the Thursday market.

Up to the East Street junction, on past the Thames Water tanker, into a cold northerly breeze, past the Kiln Lane turning to Sainsbury's and then left into Ewell Village. Around Bourne Hall, over the railway bridge and into West Ewell. Through West Ewell to the top of Horton Lane, where I noticed that Horton Golf Club has been rebranded Maple Leaf Golf. The place looks well enough, not that I play, but my understand is that they struggle a bit financially, having spent a lot to drain and landscape the place. And I see from reference 1 that they offer weddings, christenings and funerals as well as golf to help make ends meet - while one member that I know is not too pleased to have his nineteenth hole relax cluttered up with social members and children.

Decided that Horton Lane might be a bridge too far, so cut back down Hook Road, looking very green and full of the joys of spring in the bright morning sunlight.

But I did take in a peek at the Baufritz pre-fab in Christchurch Mount, where there were some workman on the flat roof at the very top. Perhaps the first lot made use of exotic materials which failed to make the roof waterproof.

PS: regarding the bridge too far, the latest NYRB carries a review of a book by Beevor - which concludes that the whole sorry mess was the result of disastrous grandstanding by Churchill and Montgomery, with one being as bad as the other, with the regular military establishment failing to stand up to either of them - while the Germans had decided after Crete that large scale airborne assaults were not worth their considerable costs. Attracting the comment that Britain might have been short of all kinds of things during the second war - but did have a plentiful supply of very bad generals. One supposes that a lot of the surviving British and American troops were pretty angry about the whole business. Not to mention the families of the many Dutch civilians who died in the battle - or who were shot or starved afterwards.

Reference 1: https://www.mapleleafgolf.co.uk/.