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Tuesday night, early July.

My first visit since this establishment moved from Princes Avenue where I was a frequent visitor. I was never disappointed at the Princes Avenue venue so I was expecting similar if not better at their new venue.

No need to book, which I like, and always a bonus this, a pull in car park for about six cars opposite the restaurant for our taxi to drop us off. This was at 5.30pm on a mid week night at the height of the rush hour.

We were greeted at the door and quickly seated at a table of our choice. There were a couple of tables with diners already eating and the venue immediately had a nice feel to it. Just the perfect ambience with the back ground music not over powering, just right.

I was surprised how big the place was and how tastefully it was decorated because it had a proper Italian feel to it. Drinks order quickly taken, good choice too, followed by the menus. I saw nothing on the menu which I thought was over priced and a bottle of house red was very reasonable at £13.95.

We ordered starters, Calamari on a bed of rocket with a lovely garlic dip, followed by Pollo al a creme  with a side order of  garlic tomato bread to share. My daughter ordered exactly the same, all the dishes were quickly served by the attentive and very friendly waiters. Lovely fresh food although I would have prefared  saute potatoes and not the new jerseys which were served ( never left any though)  The place was quickly filling up by now and I saw some beautiful and huge looking pizza’s being served to the other tables, which I noted for next time. Two drinks each (large gins too) starters, mains and a side dish, £65 all in and they ordered us a taxi too, what’s not too like ? All round an excellent choice. I will be back. 9/10.

 

 

 

Dont forget the Avenues Yard Sale this Sunday from 10.00 am organised by the excellent community spirited Avenues and Dukeries facebook page.

Loads of stalls scattered around the area and all the details and address of all those taking part can be found can be found on facebook, just search, Avenues and Dukeries.

The awards will be shown live on Facebook, www.hopin.com/events and Youtube on Friday July 9th starting at 6.00pm. Details where else the awards will be shown live can be found on the HEYPIB website.

I’m sure every one wishes Chanterlands DIY all the luck in the world in the ‘For outstanding customer service’ award.

I would like to thank all of you who have already forwarded your best wishes. They are very much appreciated.

 

 

Hello, I’ve been closed for a week’s holiday, so I hope you didn’t miss me too much. It was the first time I have closed the shop for a number of years. I have worked right through the lockdown since March 2020 single handily having lost the services of my assistant since then and he has been self isolating and has now got out of the work routine himself, and at his age who can blame him ? I think we will see a lot of changes when this pandemic is finally over. I am hearing many tales from several business owners who are finding it difficult to persuade their staff to return from furlough. 80% wages for being at home or return for another 20% ? It’s not quite as cut and dried as that but this is the situation the Government have created.

We went with family to the lovely market town of Helmsley. Beautiful it was too. Gorgeous weather and fabulous accommodation just behind the Black Swann Hotel, two minutes walk from the market place. I love these little market towns with the vast array of little gift and independent antique and curios shops, pubs, tea rooms, and eateries of every description all snuggled around the market square bristling with business. Not a Tesco, Asda, Aldi or large shed supermarket in sight. Even the local Co-Op only stocks groceries like the old days. Local butchers, Wine Merchants, Hardware, Pet Shop, Electrical,  Outdoor Clothing, Newsagents, Gents and Ladies Outfitters, Cobblers, Bakers, and Greengrocers, one of such proudly displaying a hand painted sign saying ‘voted the best independent small shop in Great Britain 2020’ I can see why too, and I still haven’t named them all. I’m old enough to remember when we had every one of those shops here on Chants Ave. Funny enough I looked at a local residents facebook page last night when I got home and someone was asking where they could get fresh fruit and veg in the area…..post after post all gave the same answer…..Aldi.

On return to reality on Friday afternoon I had a bit of  business at the Post Office on Chanterlands Avenue and I needed to check something in my shop…..Bumper to bumper traffic and you couldn’t get a cigarette paper between the cars parked on both sides of Chants, Westbourne, Marlboro and Park Avenue.  I drove around three times and eventually had to settle at parking on the double yellow lines on a road junction, much to the annoyance of those wanting to exit the side street because the PO van was already blocking the street, unable to get parked like me. I had to literally run into the PO and run out again and forget even attempting to get into my shop. The wife had asked me to get something for tea whilst I was on Chants. No chance. I should have known better because I have been caught out before at that time of day. Frustrating to say the least.

Luckily she had some lovely hand made steak and ale pies tucked away which she had bought in Helmsley that morning.

Then opening my mail I found out that someone had scammed my eBay account and purchased two items at my expense. Virtually everything I have ever bought on line has been a scam or not what I ordered, and I don’t order a lot. Getting my eBay account cancelled was as difficult as getting a personal meeting with the Pope. I’m sure they didn’t believe that I had not ordered the stuff. One item was a game for a Play Station that had been picked up personally by someone in Edinburgh. How on earth could that have been me when I was still enjoying the delights of Hemsley ? I don’t even know what a Play Station is !

 

 

 

 

I think apologies are in order for something I wrote on here last month. I wrote that the recently cleared and fenced area known as Andsalls  Corner at the Spring Bank end of Chanterlands Avenue was looking rather neglected and over grown with weeds. Well it seems that those ‘weeds’ were in fact wild flowers and are now coming into bloom. I passed very early this morning and the wild poppies look splendid. So well done to who ever planted them and please accept my apologies. I was under the impression the area was going to become a herb garden.

It does make the four empty planters in the middle of the road stand out even more though. Mores the pity something cannot be done to brighten those up too.

Following the last blogs advice for free publicity for the area via the local BBC Radio Humberside’s Absolutely Clueless show it was good to hear Bob Green’s men’s outfitters on Princes Avenue take up the offer and receive a visit from Lucy on Saturday morning. I had a fellow trader on Chanterlands Avenue come to me this week too asking how he can plug his wife’s shop and get his recently published book mentioned on air too. it’s quite simple folks just email absolutleyclueless@bbcradiohumberside.co.uk.

What’s happened to Ansell’s Corner ? does anyone know ? Dorothy Lee from the Thursday Volunteer Ladies Gardening Team was asking me this week. Seemingly another group took this project on and cleared the land. We then saw the area fenced off with some rather nice wrought iron fencing and then…….nothing. It is now overgrown again but with a nice fence around it. I volunteered to donate a tree for this project some time ago and then was told not to bother as this was all been taken care of, so where is it ? What was the point of clearing the land and installing the fencing if the project was not going to be followed through to completion ?

I’ve also noticed the planters on the bit of dual carriage way at the Spring Bank end of Chanterlands Avenue are looking neglected again. I have history with these as I was involved with a couple of other locals a couple of years ago when we took these planters over from the council who were not bothering with them.  They looked splendid too when in full bloom for a few weeks until someone spat their dummy out and then removed the plants and bulbs they had planted in them. At the time Yellow Spade and myself had small advertising boards made ( paid for by ourselves)  and these were fastened to the sides of the planters.

As no-one else was interested in taking them on I volunteered and tended them myself  for a season as the plaque for my shop was still attached to a couple of the planters. Every time I planted them up someone stole the plants or vandalised the ones they didn’t want. So another appeal was put out via the Traders Association for anyone else who fancied taking the job on.  A firm called Luxury Gardens offered to take them on. They specialise in artificial flower displays, so my business plaque was ripped off and replaced by several of theirs in return for them tending the tubs. They filled them full of resin and artificial flowers and left them. Of course in time they started to look faded and were eventually, one by one, vandalised and ripped out. Today we have four planters with nothing in them except resin. They look awful as does the island itself with the grass and weeds two tall as it was last week.

is there anyone else out there interested enough to do anything about this ?

On a rather positive note I am pleased to announce that I have been nominated for an award in the Hull and East Riding Business People annual awards. This is quite an accolade for a small one man business like Chants DIY. I don’t know who or how I have been nominated but obviously someone has and I have to go for filming, no less, next week. The awards this year are to be televised and held at Bridlington Spa Hall. They have to be virtual this year because of the covid restrictions.  Previous winners of these awards are the likes of Arco,  Sewells Petrol Stations, Smith and Nephews, and Siemens so for a little dusty corner shop one man band on Chanterlands Avenues to be nominated and have a chance of winning is not only a huge surprise but quite an achievement. My sincere thanks go to those who have taken the time to vote for me and I will keep you in touch if I am successful or not when the results are announced in July. Cheerio for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely to hear Chanterlands Avenue and a business on the avenue get such good coverage ( and free publicity) on BBC Radio Humberside on Saturday morning. A suggestion made on this site last summer and ridiculed at the time by one very catty and childish post. Steve’s Cycles hosted a clue for Lucy Clark’s Absolutely Clueless show and the BBC radio car and Lucy shot down to the avenue once the listeners had solved where the destination was.

When she arrived quite a little crowd had gathered outside Steve’s shop and even passing traffic stopped to wave and bib their horns. Lucy managed to give the avenue a glowing report, explaining to listeners where it was and mentioning some of the business’s down here in glowing terms. Steve was then interviewed at length and his shop and business, opening hours and the service he offers were all given a good airing in a very good little interview. Everyone was a winner, and when the listeners had solved the clue Lucy shot off to her next destination exchanging waves to shoppers as she went.

This is the second business on Chanterlands Avenue to take part in Absolutely Clueless up to now and the offer still stands to any more who would like to follow Steve’s example to get exposure on local BBC Radio Humberside’s most listened to show.  It’s totally free and all you have to do is drop the station an email.

 

Well, it’s been a funny old week. I only heard of the road works at the top end of Chanterlands Avenue at the last minute, Spring Bank West up to Calvert Lane roundabout closed for 4 weeks ? No ? Surely it was a wind up ?

Sadly not and the reality hit home first thing on the Monday morning. Bumper to bumper traffic crawling along Chanterlands Avenue, then after 10.00 pm it was as though someone had flicked a light switch off, the avenue became deserted and in all honestly it was like a wet Bank Holiday Monday afternoon.  No exaggeration, my trade this week has been down by 50% and talking to other fellow traders on the avenue I can count myself lucky because it hasn’t been worth them opening at all.

It just shows how important the traffic flow on this avenue is to the local economy and well being of the area. The avenue then becomes gridlocked again both ways starting around the time the schools leave. It took me 30 minutes to get from Westbourne Avenue to the Bricknell Avenue round about on Monday night for example. To combat this I have been closing earlier because quite simply it hasn’t been worth staying open. By Tuesday I’m sure others have found a different route and are avoiding the area completely.

There is nothing we can do about it except hope for an early completion of the gas works causing this disruption. It does, without any doubt at all, underline how important a steady flow of traffic is to the area because no-one could survive in retail on this avenue for long if we had to depend on the current rates of footfall. It is simply not enough to maintain a retail business for long.

The local elections have come and gone, along with them the presence of the councillors on the avenue. I spoke to two of the candidates and neither of them knew how many retail shops have gone from Chanterlands Avenue since the last local election. The answer is ten. One said to me, without any prompting ( so they know) ‘ we will have to do something about the parking situation’ Exactly what I had been told the last time by a councillor who was looking to be elected, two years ago, they got elected and did nothing.

Pubs and cafes open on Monday so let’s hope they can attract some more people down the avenue and who knows, even entice some out of their cars as they sit there in standing traffic looking totally bored out of skulls. But to get them out of their cars there needs to be somewhere to…….( better not mentioned the unmentionable)  because it’s not a problem, is it ?

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The Avenues Centre on Park Avenue is a very special building with a fantastic history. Since 2015 when it ceased to be used as an Adult Education Centre the Avenues Centre Support Group have been working to secure the future for this listed building with a vision that it should serve as a community hub with rental space for community activities and art based and other small businesses. Ultimately, our vision includes moving the local library into the building to provide a spacious and much enhanced facility, a proposal which has received great public support.

The Avenues Centre has been a part of this area for 130 years. Opened in 1888 as an industrial school for girls, since then it has been a school for disabled children, a branch of the Art College, a Civil Defence Base, A teacher training centre and finally a Adult Education Centre. We want it to continue to serve the community in way relevant to our time.

More recently, as efforts have been made to secure funding, the centre has been filled with tenants, including artists and community radio, on short term leases from the Goodwin Trust. These tenants have been told to leave as Goodwin relinquish their lease in August of this year.

ACSG would like to have called a public meeting to discuss Hull City Council’s plans but due to Covid restrictions this is not possible. We want to make you aware the the future of the building could be in doubt once again.

We will strongly support any concrete proposals to develop it as a much needed community hub, with creative arts spaces and facilities for ad hoc hiring of spaces for community use, alongside the Council’s idea to use the building for micro businesses- also always part of our vision for the Centre.

IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF EVERYONE COULD CONTACT THEIR COUNCILLORS AND PROPSPECTIVE COUNCILLORS BEFORE THE MAY ELECTIONS TO SEE WHERE THEY STAND ON THE CENTRES FUTURE USE,  A REMARKABLE BUILDING IN THE CENTRE OF OUR COMMUNITY.

www.facebook.com/Avenues-Centre-Support-Group.

 

 

Monday is a big day for the small independent shop keepers who have been forced to close for a second time during the lockdowns. They can re-open and attempt to earn a living once again. Personally I thought the decision to close the smaller shops was grossly unfair when the huge supermarkets were allowed to open as normal and then we all saw them pack there stores to the rafters with all the goods the small independents were denied from selling. I for one will remember the stores who did this and I hope others do.

Two of my daughters will be re opening on Monday down Dyer Lane in Beverley. The Beverley Card Company and Vivienne Rose Interiors. Both independently run by single mothers, both a shining example to their generation and those who sit on there backsides all day thinking the world owes them a living. The third and youngest daughter is still looking for the right retail premises to open her new business so watch this space.

I have managed to keep my shop open throughout the pandemic, single handily, under the ‘essential shops’ ruling. Trade has been decent to be honest with a lot of people shopping local for the first time. Several have commented that they ‘only live around the corner’ but had never been in the shop before ! I had a lovely telephone call from an elderly lady yesterday who had come from Cottingham. All I did was put a wheel barrow in the back of her car for her and she was delighted with the service. I even had a call from someone at Google commenting on the amount of ‘excellent’ reviews my shop has received during the lockdown, which was nice.

And most people have been and grateful that I have been open for them, especially the many shielding at home who I have delivered goods too all over the city after closing hours, one even at 10.00pm at night ! One elderly lady dropped me off a sandwich and a cold drink the other day out of the blue. She said she could see I was busy and commented how difficult it must be being at everyone’s beck and call. Needless to say her late husband used to be a shopkeeper. So there are some lovely people out there and I thank every one of you who have supported my business over the last difficult twelve months and more. It is very much appreciated.

Please remember on Monday to shop local and support those businesses that are re -opening for the first time in  months for they need your custom.