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The rumour is the above DIY shop may well be opening on Saturdays again as early as March 19th.

The appeal ends two weeks today. February the 28th is the cut off date and £17,500 is still required to turn this dream into a reality. It is actually 10% more then that but a kind benefactor has offered to donate the rest if the £17,500 can be raised.

It amazes me that there are community social media sites for this area who have not got behind this scheme at all. It would cost nothing for them to simply publicize the appeal.

Every penny would help.

 

 

 

What a relief, the Polish bakery was open again this morning ! (Saturday). I was seriously having withdrawal symptoms  I haven’t had a French donut since Monday morning. So happy days all round. If anyone has not tried this excellent establishment I urge you to do so because you donut know what you are missing.

As I always say and always have said for our local shops, use them or lose them.

January  is nearly through and I saw my first snowdrop of the year poking through in my front garden on Sunday and the days are getting a tad longer, which is nice.

So what’s new ? Paid a visit to Pearson Park on Saturday morning with my youngest grand daughter, it is place we did enjoy visiting. The last time we went was some time ago before the refurbishments and I vowed never to take her again because I didn’t think it was a safe place for a 5 year old girl.

That was because of the number of strays and vagrants hanging around, drinking alcohol, urinating in bushes and into the pond, shouting, swearing and fighting amongst themselves. It wasn’t a nice place to be. She was oblivious to it all but I wasn’t.

But I’d heard and read good things about the park and decided it was time to give it a second chance. It was a beautiful bright sunny winters morning but cold of course and the park looked splendid. The pond with the new bridge and the lovely fountains, and the bandstand looked outstanding, clean, tidy and well kept. I spoke to a couple of  regular old timers that I recognised enjoying a coffee outside the cafe and we all commented how grand the park looked and hoped it stayed that way. They told me there was a bit of vandalism the night before and a fence had been ripped down plus some wheelie bins had been set on fire, which isn’t good to hear. I do hope people look after Pearson Park because it would be tragic if it was allowed to deteriorate again after so much much work and money has been spent on it. It’s on our doorstep and we are very lucky to have it and, thankfully, there are people who do care and look after  it.

I was delivering down Victoria Avenue this week and see that the road has been resurfaced, all very nice, but was it really necessary to re paint so many double yellow lines down there when everyone knows that car parking spaces were already at a premium ? I was expecting to see a new cycle lane squeezed in somewhere as Victoria Avenue is part of the new cycle lane from Hull to Cottingham. Instead they have painted cycle signs down the middle of the road so I assume the ‘new’ cycle lane will be down the middle of the road ? At the Cottingham end, opposite West Bulls, they have simply dug up the pavement and replaced it with a cycle lane, which lasts for about 200 yards then it is filtered across the road against oncoming traffic to join the, erm, road.

I was disappointed this week to find my favourite bakery, Kalpaly ? The Polish one on Chants closed, I do hope it isn’t closing down but the signs are not good. They haven’t been open a full trading year yet and personally I thought their produce was excellent and used them at least four times a week. I never ever saw anyone else in the shop though. I saw similar signs before the equally excellent, ( in my opinion) Italian bakery across the road closed down a couple of years ago. I always say use them or lose them.

Had a couple of reviews sent to me recently. One for the Thai House in Beverley. Packed out on a Saturday night in January, both floors apparently, with people queuing for take away too. Beautifully presented food, tasty, fresh and plenty of it. The service was exceptional too. Starters, mains, lovely bottle of merlot, beers and a couple of gins for four adults, just over £130. Very reasonable.

Then Hotham Arms for Sunday lunch. This must be one of the best Sunday lunches and settings, if you like old fashioned quality pubs, logs fires etc, in the area. Absolutely first class. Sunday lunch with all the trimmings £16 and hand pulled ales too. What’s not to like ? Recommend the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, melt in your mouth, a real treat and a place you could never tire of visiting.

Another one, West Bulls, Breakfast buffet. You pay for your coffee extra and mushrooms, oddly are also extra but it you have the lot, coffee, mushrooms and breakfast from the serve your self buffet it will cost you just under £9. Guy in front of me put six fried eggs on his plate ! It’s worth the price just to sit and watch how much some people can pile on their plates without dropping it all. Cheap and cheerful, I’ve had better but at this price you cannot complain at all.

And that’s it folks besides the old Bank remaining sold but closed so all the rumours of cafe bars, pile it high shops, dog grooming and mosques have not materialised. We will just have to wait and see.

 

 

 

 

As we come to the end of another year it is always a good time to reflect on the one now slowly ebbing away. It has been a very difficult year for anyone in retail, unless you are one of the Big Boys who have had another bumper crop thanks to the Covid pandemic. With the Government forcibly closing ‘non-essential’ shops and encouraging everyone to stop at home and shop on-line. I was one of the lucky ones allowed to stay open under the essential shops rule. I have family who were not so lucky. They had to scramble about doing home deliveries just to keep their heads above water. One of my daughters went back to her old job with the NHS.  Meanwhile, in their case, a huge Tesco super store, open 24/7 was allowed to trade freely selling everything under the sun. No restrictions what so ever on numbers entering the store, and didn’t they cash in ! One of my daughters lost the Valentines Day and Mothers Day trade from her greetings cards shop, two essential occasions that keep the small traders going through the lean times. On Chants we had Panache in exactly the same situation. A small, independent trader forced to close whilst the local supermarkets and even the 24/7 petrol station were allowed to fill their already full isles with greetings cards to mop up all the trade. A senario familiar up and down the country I’m sure.

You only have to visit the city centre to see the damage the lockdown restrictions did and I doubt if it will ever recover. The retail landscape has been changed forever more. Then just when we thought we were getting back to normal we are all anxiously listening out to the news bulletins expecting to be under lockdown restrictions again at any time.

Despite this life does go on and down our own little avenue have we seen that many changes this year ? The stalwart shops are still here, touch wood, and we have a couple more hairdressers. Everyone of the traders are working their socks off to make their business pay and I admire each and every one of them because not a lot is in our favour these days.

For me the parking situation dominates everything as it has done for years with no-one willing to find a solution to make it easier for everyone instead of it being the elephant in the room. I have traded on here for 30 years and not one person has ever come in to my shop and said they use me because of the ease of parking. It’s a boring subject, I know but it does effect every one of us in some shape or form at some time.

The traffic situation throughout the city has become a nightmare this year with the installation of all the cycle lanes. I witnessed it first hand last night on Freetown Way. Bumper to bumper traffic all siphoned into one lane because of the new cycle lanes. Nearly 30 minutes to travel a couple of hundred yards whilst not one cyclist rode past us all sat in traffic in that time. They call it progress. We shall see what effect it has in the New Year when they install a cycle lane down Victoria Avenue which is already horrendously bad for parking. You try delivering anything down there at night.

I received the latest Lib Dems newsletter this week and was interested to see the councillor is claiming to be interested in getting the Railway Bridge painted. All I can say is good luck with that one. I was making progress on that one back in 2017 until I was told to take a back seat and leave it to the councillors.

The Thursday volunteer gardening ladies have toiled away all year keeping the flower beds beautifully tended plus the decorations they put up at Halloween, Easter and Christmas. My thanks go them and I do hope they are rewarded in some shape or form one day because their efforts brighten up everyone’s day. A special mention to Steves Cycles too for winning the community award in Diana Johnsons small business awards. Like me Steve opened throughout the lockdown and I know how hard he worked so it was well deserved.

We have sadly lost some real characters and friends too this year. My thoughts go out to the relatives of each and every one of them.

So thank you to all my readers and to those who have tried to pick a fight with me at every opportunity. I only strive to do my best for the avenue by offering a good service and help where I can. But you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Merry Christmas one and all.

 

 

Just been informed that today the Avenues Ward Councillors have donated £7,000 towards the restoration of the Victoria Avenues Fountain appeal. Which means 53% of the target  has now been reached. Thanks go the the Ward Councillors, Marjorie Brabazon, John Robinson and Abi Singh for their backing of this project. The hope is now more people will pledge their financial support to this worthwhile project, or at least promote it as a community venture.

www.spacehive.com/victoriafountain.

Delighted to have spoken to the artist and people behind ‘People, Places and Water’, an organisation from the University of Sheffield, who are involved in five community rainwater initiatives in Hull and Cottingham. One of which will be in the form of a mural on the wall behind the public seating area of Sewells Garage on Chanterlands Avenue, near the public washing machines.

This is a shared green spaces scheme based on the harvest of rain water to prevent it overwhelming the drains. Especially poignant to this particular area where the road beneath the Railway Bridge is often flooded after any thing more than a light shower.

The plans for the mural which look stunning consisting of four mermaids head and shoulder shots blowing cornets, based on the Westbourne Avenue fountain. In the middle of which will be a cluster of flower heads, which close up will represent the shops and people of Chanterlands Avenue, but from a distance look like a cluster of beautiful flowers.

The representations in the form of the flower heads, ideas gathered from some traders and people on the avenue will include, a wheelbarrow, a workman carrying a tool bag with a pair of ladders on his shoulder, a bag of logs, a bag of chips and a pizza, a hairdryer, a traffic warden, an elephant, and a DIY shop sign. They are also considering the face of Dean Windass as a centre piece but permission has to be applied for from Dean himself if anyone knows his contact details ?

Work is expected to begin in March with completion and an unveiling by Easter, weather permitting of course.

On Tuesday night December 14th, in association with CHARTS Santa Claus will paying a visit to Chanterlands Avenue at 6.00 pm meeting children outside The Avenue pub for a walk down the avenue with stories, carols and prizes. All are welcome so please come along and join in the community fun and take photographs.

Well done to Steve’s Cycles of Chanterlands Avenue for winning this years North Hull Small Business Community Award sponsored by Diana Johnson.

Well deserved and a great asset to the avenue.

The small independent businesses on Chants Avenue have done well in recent years in these awards with three winners, a runner up and loads of nominations.

So Congratulations to Steve’s Cycles on winning this recognition, no-one deserves it more.

Lets hope that the meaner spirited types on the avenue don’t attempt to devalue it, as they have in the past, by claiming ‘they know for a fact’ that this particular award is decided by someone sticking a pin in a list of names.

How stupid they must feel today. Well done again, Steve Cycles.

Please help us have the Victoria Avenue fountain finished, brought to Hull and connected to water.

Use this link to our crowdfunding site and please support the project.

www.spacehive.com/victoriafountain

This is a community project and together we can make it happen.

Victoria Fountain -Registered Charity No. 1169307.

Thank you.