Tunbridge Wells is a largish town in west Kent, in southeast England. Roughly half way between London and Hastings, it was founded in 1606 when a spring was discovered nearby, and takes its name from the nearby, smaller, town of Tonbridge (confusingly pronounced the same, but spelt differently. This is a common source of confusion with tourists travelling on the Charing CrossHastings railway line, who often have no idea if they’ve arrived in the right town or not.).

It has a small music venue in the form of The Forum, famous for previously being the largest block of public toilets in Europe. It is probably also the reason that there are an unusually large number of kids wandering the streets clutching skateboards, wearing Slipknot hoodies, and being (for the most part, especially amongst the younger ones) totally conformist middle-class psuedo-rebels.

What else? The town centre stretches down the side of a hill. The old, touristy bit is at the bottom; the newer bit is at the top. The high street is actually fairly low, and isn’t the road that most people think it is. I doubt many people come here for the shopping though, unless they happen to live in the surrounding villages. Go to Brighton (especially North Laine) or London instead, they’re more fun.

In most respects it’s a pretty average town. Still, it’s not a bad place to live.

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