You never like to learn that your local town has been deemed sufficiently dire by others as to rate it in the top ten of what they have chosen to call the UK ‘crap towns’ list. But a recently published book has done just that. High Wycombe is apparently better than Nuneaton but worse than Stoke-on-Trent. I have been to Stoke and would venture to challenge our ranking in that particular case! But it’s all a matter of opinion, of course, and apparently based on interviews and questionnaires that would seem to have been conducted on a less than scientific basis. The list is headed by London because of its apparent image as a take all/give nothing back city.

Just when one I was about to bristle with indignation and list the myriad joys of our little town, even though it lacks the more obvious charms of Marlow or Henley, I read the story of the motor accident that happened outside what we used to call Wycombe Hospital. Not sure what to call it now, really. Wycombe Outpatients Only and Planned Surgical Services perhaps? Or WOOPS.

Surely, if someone needs immediate medical attention as a result of injuries received yards from the entrance to a hospital, it shouldn’t be deemed necessary to ferry one of the injured parties fourteen miles north to Stoke Mandeville and the others seventeen miles west to Wexham Park. Think again.

So the ‘crap town’ title seems to have something going for it – a hospital that cannot offer medical services to citizens injured in its car park. Then, of course, there are the boarded up shops that are now even creeping into the Eden Centre, which was only recently the re-invigorating hope of Wycombe. But we are no different to any other town in the UK in that respect and it is our own fault for living, shopping and entertaining ourselves online.

But in the words of the song – “Always look on the bright side of life”. We have a successful and well attended bright modern theatre. We undoubtedly have some of the best schools in the UK, let alone Buckinghamshire – both private and ‘public’ (i.e. not private – I’ve never understood why fee paying schools are called public schools).

And Matt Bloomfield is back playing for Wanderers and scored the goal that will take us to the quarter finals of The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It’s not all bad.