— to be continued —
Easter farmers market Castle Hill
April 20, 2019Easter street food festival Lincoln Castle
April 20, 2019Chow Down travelling circus Easter street food festival in the Grounds of Lincoln Castle.
A pleasant walk along Minster Yard running south side of Lincoln Cathedral.
People enjoying the sun on the grass on the east side outside the Chapter House.
Passed through a farmers market in Castle Hill, with a mental note to return later, but first the street food festival in the grounds of Lincoln Castle.
Long queue to get in, £3 entry fee for what is usually free access.
Inside packed.
Dogs are usually welcome in the Castle grounds. Not today. Not acceptable no dogs. No street food festival I have a visited has barred dogs. But then can usually access and walk through for free.
£3 entry fee, £5 for French fries, £3-10 takeaway coffee.
Recently a new shed has been built at West Gate. Usually manned. When queried why build a new shed which is not longer manned, told only manned when pay to gain access to Castle grounds.
West Gate closed for Chow Down which hits local businesses either side of Lincoln Castle. Something Bailgate Guild must raise.
A problem for disabled, and possibly illegal. A car park at The Lawn, a ramp for easy access. West Gate closed.
Claimed to be largest street food festival in the country. Not true.
Street food market in Lower Marsh, South Bank street food market, Godalming street food market, Street Food Picnic in a park in Guildford a couple of years ago, all much larger, all far better street food.
The burger at the Guildford Street food Picnic, grilled on a charcoal grill, served with a side of new potatoes.
Claimed 25% of the offering being either vegetarian or vegan. I did not see a single vegetarian stall let alone a vegan stall.
Claimed craft beer breweries from across the UK will be attending so you can sample some of the finest beers the country has to offer – whether it be draught or in cans.
Really? Where were they?
A craft beer stall, but nothing to say what was on offer. Same true of the beer tent. What was really weird, what was being served a partition to block sight of what was being served.
Later I had an excellent local craft beer off the farmers market outside.
Chow Down yet another travelling circus. A couple of weeks ago, a travelling circus of disgusting junk food in the the High Street.
Yes, Chow Down better than the junk food in the High Street but it would have had to have been pretty disgusting to be worse. Not a high bar to exceed.
They also appeared to have minimum environmental standards. Stalls using recyclable containers. Though then let down with no obvious bin for compostable waste. My burger served in a card box, box went in general waste. Only later did I see a bin for recycling. But saw no bin for compostable waste. I saw a grand total of two bins, with one young man going round collecting the rubbish ignorant people had tossed on the ground.
Chow Down also had better food offering than the disgusting offering at the Lincoln Vegan Festival a couple of weeks ago in the Drill Hall, though vegans and vegetarians would have been very disappointed by what was on offer.
I expected to be spoilt for choice. I was not.
I settled for a burger. It was good, but I have had far better. Dirty Organic Burger in Brighton, burger from street food festival in a park in Guildford a couple of years ago (and it was charcoal grilled and came with a side of new potatoes).
A cappuccino off Laynes espresso coffee stall breed using Dark Woods Arboretum espresso blend. It too was good, far better than usually get at such events, undrinkable coffee served from a van and better than the undrinkable coffee served in the Lincoln Castle cafe which is to insult visitors, but not in the same league as Coffee Aroma or Madame Waffle.
And on a hot day, why no cold brew coffee? A very refreshing drink on a hot day.
Nor were the waffles on a waffle stall in the same league as Madame Waffle.
Laynes espresso claimed the Chow Down travelling circus was curated, in other words they have selected the best. If this was curated, I hate to think what it would have been if not.
If this is the best the North and Midlands has to offer on street food, then a poor reflection of street food culture in the region.
Not last year but the year before, Steam Punks had a far better street food offering.
There was better food on offer at the local farmers market outside the Castle in Castle Hill. I was also able to pick up an excellent local craft beer
If Lincoln is to host a street food festival, then do not invite a travelling circus, organise own street food festival. If stalls not of quality, then do not invite again.
Follow the example of Staycation Live in Godalming (underwritten by the local Town Council). Host in the Castle grounds a weekend of live free music in the summer, Lincoln BIG or the community fund that hopefully replaces Lincoln BIG as Lincoln BIG not fit for purpose underwrites, performers have their expenses covered, sell albums, and not only music, also drama and poetry, a collection for a worthy cause, street food, quality street food, around the periphery and dogs welcome.
— to be continued —
Tamper Westfield Terrace
April 17, 2019— to be continued —
Upshot
April 17, 2019— to be continued —
Sheffield Winter Garden
April 17, 2019— to be continued —
Easter in Sheffield
April 17, 2019Easter very late this year, very warm and sunny, St George’s Day.
Last weekenfd, Pslm \sundsy, cold snf wintry. Todasy warm asnd sunny. By the weeknd, maybr 25C.
A detour to Sheffield BID outside the Winter \graden.
A btrath of fresh air compasred with Expertincve \guildford or Lincoln Big. They have a shop, sre helpful, actulslay intreact with public.
I picked up a couple of guides to indier scence oin Sheffield.
They also kindly gsvr mea msap snf pitrf my in the direction for Union St.
I walked through the Winter Garden.
An amazinng open covered space, cliamd to br the lkargest covered galss space ina city centre.
Very dispappointred at IUnion St. Thgird time unlucky, ptreviuos occasions Taiwanese pop up funished serving, todsy not there. \The Friday guy, wraps, only not wraps, ….
…. Italaion junk food. Not god.
Again directions, this timer for Upshot. I would have taken a busd, but possible to walk.
I lokked in on Tamper Westfield \Terrace, caried on, past Sheffeild University amdn gfound \Upshot.
Dis[[aontred Sam, head baartsa and owner.
Guess coffees. Today Maude and Giltd who Grind. On sale Stabdart, which is useful to konw.
ReAasing materail Stabdartm Route 57 and Coffee Dhop North.
— to be continued —
Asobu Stokes at The Lawn
April 16, 2019An unusual coffee brewer, a mix of pour over immersion, also functions for immersion cold brew.
Unlike V60, no skill required, grind the coffee, pour in hot water, top up as necessary, leave for a couple of minutes, press red button to release the brew into the lower chamber.
The brewed coffee will be slightly cloudy due to a fine metal mesh filter not a paper filter.
A minimum volume of water due to part filter part immersion.
The resultant brew using a Rwandan coffee was good.
For the coffee shop, if no batch brew, an easy way to make a few cups of filter coffee.
For the home brewer, why waste money on a Nespresso? Set up your Asobu, whilst brewing, pour out the cereals, then coffee is ready. Not only that, the lower chamber has a screw on lid, take with you on your outing. Though if on way to work, maybe better to pour into s reusable cup, which can then used later in s coffee shop.
Ideally, a V60 at home, but Asobu a good start.
Many thanks to Mike, barista at Stokes st The Lawn for the demonstration.
IBCC one year on
April 12, 2019Last year IBCC held an opening ceremony in freezing fog, so cold survival blankets had to be handed out.
Today, freezing cold but not as cold.
A small gathering to mark one year on, a couple of WWII Bomber Command veterans, ‘Vera’ (Lorrie Brown), The D-Day Darlings and from the media Lincs FM, Radio Lincolnshire and Look North.
The Lincolnite and Lincolnshire Echo were invited but failed to show.
Designing cities for people not developers
April 10, 2019What I have seen and spent what seems to be a lifetime fighting, is corrupt town halls pandering to greedy developers, fast bucks, palms greased, with result every town looks the same, the same corporate chains dominate the town centre, the same corporate chains find in every ghastly shopping centre.
This neither brings in visitors nor is popular with locals who see familiar landmarks destroyed, lose their sense of place, money is drained out of the local economy, then large chains close, go bust, expanded on debt, leaving behind desolation, as we have seen with BHS, House of Fraser, Debenhams and many other zombie companies kept afloat by their banks.
Corrupt town planners who have not a clue what constitutes good town centre planning or how local economies function love big development. Big development lots of money sloshing around, some of which finds its way into the wrong pockets.
A few examples illustrates failure of good town centre design and planning.
Sincil Street runs parallel to the High Street in Lincoln. A street of Victorian buildings, local indie businesses, or was. Up until a few years ago, Sincil Street between the hours of ten in the morning and four in the afternoon was busier than the High Street, the High Street the same corporate chains find anywhere and everywhere. Now Sincil Street is being destroyed, the local council acting in cahoots with the local coop, local businesses driven out, chains brought in, Victorian building destroyed.
Enter the picture Lincoln BIG and Visit Lincoln. Both are hyping the chains, it gets worse Visit Lincoln being paid to do so.
Many towns now have businesses development groups, accountable to no one, act for and controlled by big businesses, not one vote per business, based upon the size of local business tax.
Experience Guildford employs Town Rangers, no one knows what purpose they serve other than to deliver a glossy A4 newssheet to local businesses which goes straight in the bin. They also subsidise the town centre car parks at Christmas, the one time of the year when the car parks are full to overflowing.
Latest examples of Lincoln BIG, take selfies and post on instagram, install an app that has access to data on phone and if use default facebook log in access to facebook data and that of friends
Ask any local businesses what is killing them. High rents, high local business taxes. The local coop owns the properties hikes the rents, Lincoln BIG exacts a levy on top of the local business taxes. Local businesses see no benefits.
Visit Lincoln masquerades as a tourism body, acts as a quasi-PR agency, is paid to hype the corporate chains moving into and destroying the character of Sincil Street.
Fake-Left Guardian had an article describing the dire state of Sheffield. The local council responded with eight tweets, big development taking place, corporate chains listed, same chains find anywhere. The same Sheffield City Council that destroyed thousands if not tens of thousands of street trees, harassed and criminalised protesters.
Empty two-coach Northern Fail train Lincoln to Sheffield, hour and twenty minutes only starts to fill as nears Sheffield passing through small towns like Worksop, making the point, not worth visiting for corporate chains find anywhere.
One of the chains mentioned, 200 Degrees, a small coffee chain serving mediocre coffee, the same chain hyped by Visit Lincoln and Lincoln BIG.
Oh the irony, when Sheffield has a thriving coffee scene and 200 Degrees empty.
In Sheffield Union St, coffee shop, co-working space, pop up kitchen, community hub located in an occupied building, Now Then, an interesting magazine, supported by local community and local businesses, published by a not-for-profit.
Farnborough destroyed half its town centre for a superstore, an estate of social houses surrounded a grassy green destroyed for the car park. A 17th century inn destroyed for a drive-thru McDonald’s.
Wastegate, chain eateries and a superstore on the edge of Aldershot town centre, destroyed the town centre now boarded-up retail units and the chain eateries pulling out from Wastegate.
In the centre of Guildford Tunsgate Quarter, a sterile shopping centre, boarded-up units, same crap cooperate chains find in every ghastly shopping centre across the country, devoid of people. The only use, provides a handy short cut. One of the crap corporate chains Cosy Club, a fake 1930s bar, so fake a Monty Python parody of fake, Visit Guildford promoted on twitter over a dozen times.
Contrast with North Laine in Brighton, three long streets, similar Victorian street scene as Sincil Street in Lincoln, local indie businesses, butcher, baker cheesemonger, bookshops, music shops, coffee shops, restaurants, worker coops, not a chain in sight, always busy.
When all places look the same they become soul destroying, we lose our sense of place, alienation sets in.
We need to green our cities, protect our existing green spaces.
In Farnborough they are destroying the remaining green space for development, in Sheffield tens of thousands of street trees have been cut down.
City centres should be pedestrianised, delivery vehicles park on the periphery, deliver by hand cart and trolley.
Cities generate data, the data should be used as a common good. Citizens may consent to access to their data receiving benefits in return, the data randomised and made available to local businesses.
The city should support and encourage local businesses and local coops, encourage to network with each other
Citizens need to seize control of their local Town Halls, open to public participation, network with other citizen-controlled Town Halls. No more one party states.
There is not a conflict with locals and tourists. There is only conflict when lose businesses serving locals and replace with businesses selling overpriced tourist tat, when AirBnB moves in, rents are hiked, but that is a problem of over-tourism lack of regulation, rather than tourism per se.
At the time of the English Civil War, the Diggers asked the question: who owns the space? The space they were asking of was land, who owns the land?
They saw God created Man and Woman as equal, the land was owned by everyone and no one, it was a common wealth.
The question is as pertinent today. Who owns the space, who owns the public parks, public space, the empty buildings, the data we generate?
Space is not static, something to be owned. It is dynamic, only has meaning if used, lived on, shared, enjoyed. Derelict buildings we must occupy, put to use on behalf of the community, fight the loss of community space.
