READ ON..

Had my latest visit to Bluewater today - I had hoped it might have been the last one before Christmas, but sadly hopes are fading as further visits seem inevitable in the run up to the festive season.

One of the things I look forward to on my visits is to browse Waterstones` bookshop and a very good bookshop it is too.   Sometimes I might buy a book but most times I just enjoy browsing and I have taken to  reading books in bits.   Over recent weeks I`ve started to read `500 Villages that Made Britain` by Clive Aslet.  It`s pretty expensive - £25, I think - so rather than buy it I`m reading a bit each time I go there.  I got to something like Village 187 and came across an entry for my own boyhood village of Hythe in Hampshire, which was refreshing to see - even if there appears to have been some confusion between `my` Hythe and the one in Kent which is one of the Cinque Ports.   I suppose one day my guilt might persuade me to buy it, but I might have to wait for the second edition, once the bugs have been ironed out.

Once again, a fascinating aspect of Waterstones was today`s announcement outside the shop that a book signing was to take place at 5.00pm this afternoon.   Today`s star turn was one Bret `Hitman` Hart who would be there to sign copies of his autobiography entitled, errr, Bret Hart `Hitman.`   Mr. Hart, it seems, is a famous wrestler, well known to grapple fans the world over.  He is much admired in wrestling circles and, to be fair, his tome has received some encouraging endorsements, including:-

`A LEGEND`

The Rock 

`THE BEST WRESTLING BOOK THERE EVER WILL BE`
The Sun

`A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD OF CELEBRITY PUGILISM`
Pugilism Today

`IT`S A KNOCKOUT`
Stuart Hall

So Mr. Hart has much going for him and good luck to him.  Sensibly, I decided to hightail it from Bluewater well before 5.00pm which might have been just as well.  The last thing I needed was to be caught up in a piledriver, a step over leg lock or a crutch hold and slam...especially at my age.