Where do all the cars on Wollaton Road come from, especially Friday and Saturday mornings?

First, a fun pic of sorts of the little wool / knitting shop on Wollaton Road close to The Cricketers pub by the traffic lights at the road's junction with Albion Street.

Today has been Broxtowe Borough Council's 'Small Business Day' and I love the KnitBits Wool shop simple seasonal display. Having been in a few times with Susan I know that the owners are friendly and helpful — which, in my now considerable experience, is typical of Beeston's many fine small shops.

Below is an extract from my 2018 Beeston map showing you where KnitBits is:

This morning was wet, cold and miserable but I still had to go shopping for a few odds and ends. I try to avoid supermarket shopping on Fridays and Saturdays and I can't remember a Saturday when Wollaton Road from Wollaton Crescent down into Beeston has not been a solid line of traffic. Most times I usually beat the cars but today I had an L10 as my marker. It met me as I turned out of the Crescent onto Wollaton Road and only passed me for the last time as I turned onto Albion Street. I took this two pics:

Here the L10 has stopped outside the Thistle Teahouse. In some ways it has to be one of the best ways to begin a visit to Beeston. Off the L10 or L11, a cup of tea or coffee, then a leisurely walk into town.

And here it is again, front view this time, as I overtake it by the Abbey Road / Wollaton Road pedestrian crossing. This poor L10 was trapped in a solid line of traffic the whole time we were together and the driver had yet to negotiate the Station Road / Middle Street traffic lights which, because of the tram, can catch this little bus for ages. I have long been of the view that buses should have priority at traffic lights just like the tram. The L10 rarely leaves Beeston on time and I know this fact well because it is the bus Susan and I use most times we travel into Nottingham and it is rarely on time. The reasons for this are another story for another day.

The question I want to ask right now is 'Do Broxtowe and Nottinghamshire councils know where all the cars pouring into Beeston via Wollaton Road come from, especially on Saturdays?

I ask because with modern number plate reading technology it should be easy enough to plot where all these vehicles come from and if, as I suspect, this is mostly local traffic, why can't we have a more frequent bus service along Wollaton Road to reduce the need for car use?

On wet, cold, miserable days like today I understand why folk use their cars, but if we want people to get the bus habit then you have to provide high frequency daily bus services throughout the Beeston area. Once upon a time Wollaton Road and Dennis Avenue both had frequent bus routes and lost them for reasons not to do with lack of use. Again another story for another day. Right now I want to flag up the need for a traffic survey mapping where all the Wollaton Road traffic comes from, then for new or revised bus routes to be introduced which take account of where road users actually live.

Finally, consider this fact. If it wasn't for Nottingham City Council Wollaton Road and Dennis Avenue wouldn't have the limited Monday–Saturday daytime buses they presently enjoy — another good reason why I'm a fan of Beeston joining with Nottingham and not the county should the Conservatives retain control of Broxtowe come next May's borough council elections and support the borough becoming part of a unitary county council.

And as I walked back home up Wollaton Road, having done my shopping, this L11 was sitting in traffic waiting to have its photograph taken. It was already close to mid-day and running late. It had come all the way from Arnold and kept good time only to end up late because of all the cars on Wollaton Road.

The tram was created to serve a network of long-stay car parks around Nottingham for the benefit of drivers and their passengers (if they have any) whilst those who rely on buses are left standing in the rain and wind waiting for buses made late by other road users. There is something wrong with a logic that says it was worth spending hundreds of millions on a tram when the same money could have created a low fare, high frequency 24/7 bus network across our conurbation to the advantage of all. We have the tram, so we should make the best use of it we can. The same people who argued for the tram argue for HS2 and the arguments are as spurious now as they were then.

In the meantime bus routes are axed and services reduced. Next week a story from 1947 when the old Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council was busy complaining about bus services in Beeston and along Wollaton Road among others.

A taste of Scotland comes to Wollaton Road shops

The new new teashop on Wollaton Road is now open and is called the Thistle Teahouse. They opened at the end of last week and it looks very different to Edwards, the Beeston award winning 'street food' café who previously occupied this little space.

A peek inside shows that it is nicely arranged and welcoming and here is a glimpse of its menus, one for afternoon tea and the other for more normal eating, albeit with a Scottish take:

Living as I do barely 5 minutes away I used to pass Edwards by, but in the next few days I will be going to the Thistle for brunch, with its black pudding, or maybe the Scottish square sausage roll and, oh, then there's the oatcakes. Not many eateries get off to a such good start as this. And then there's Afternoon Tea!!

If I was a betting man I suspect the Thistle TeaHouse will be quickly sniffed out and busy. The only threat on the horizon is being so successful that people give up trying to get in and that would be a pity, but I'm going to be kind and show you where it is.

I wish the owner, a lady called Maggie if I remember her name correctly, every success and, as for Beeston, this little parade of shops is turning into something quite special and a great advert for the town.

Halloween comes early to Wollaton Road's Cafe Roya?

I'm not sure why he or she is sitting in the window of Cafe Roya on Wollaton. I suspect it has something to do with Halloween, which is still a few weeks away. I say 'he or she' even though I'm not into ghouls, zombies or the like.

On the plus side I'm sure it will bring a smile to the face of any passer-by who notices our friend in the window, but not quite as amusing as the Metro Cafe's Halloween offering for the last few years, also a skeleton but with a dog too. I've never seen him or her with the cup of coffee but then skeletons do have bowel problems if you think about it.

I took these two pics almost three years ago to the day and did a post at the time, which you can see here under the heading 'Unworldly folk you can see here in Beeston'.

I admit to not liking the 'trick or treat' Halloween which has been imported from America for purely commercial reasons. Oh I know it has a place in some Christian faiths, but then I am no fan of religious redemption; of being able to buy eternity whatever one's mortal crimes regardless of faith.

We live with our sins (and by this I mean things which we do rather than the breaking of some religious command/rule) as best we can.

I have reached the point in my life where Christmas has become my time for reflection and find myself missing those who I would have once shared a table with but then I love winter, especially February. Right now though I am enjoying autumn. My next post I think.

Tea pots in a row

142 Wollaton Road is slowly getting a makeover and will open at some point in the future as a high end teashop. The shop was previously occupied by the award winning 'street food' café called Edward's.

There are now bubble wrapped chairs and tables inside and now this row of teapots has appeared in the window — which suggests it won't be long before another eatery opens. 

Local produce comes no fresher than this

A month ago I blogged about a Saturday amble into Beeston town centre and caught Dave, a Wollaton Road Allotment holder, selling his last beans. Yesterday morning (Saturday again) I walked into town a lot earlier to spend time helping on the Beeston & District Civic Society stall publicising the Heritage Open Days which begin this coming Thursday and last until Sunday (see map in right-hand column). This time I caught Dave with loads of vegetables. They could not come any fresher. Picked just minutes before. If you are in the know, the entrance to Wollaton Road Allotments at the north end of the town centre is a great place to buy fresh, local, produce.

Allotment heaven on our doorstop

Doing another poster for the Heritage Open Days next month prompted a quick visit to the Wollaton Road Allotments to get a few photographs. Susan and I plan to go along on the Heritage Open Day and will write more about that come the time. Our next door neighbour goes to the Allotments for bacon cobs — which she says are fantastic. Anyway, for now, enjoy a few pics and the poster:

Len on the allotment stall at the gate sold me some apples and plums, then sold the plums again, so I waited whilst his mate Paul went and picked me some more. Just a £1 for each bag and I really can say 'the fruit came straight of the trees'.

This is a pic of Len's allotment. He only took it over a few months ago and it looks fantastic already. He told me it was his 7th plot in thirty years.

What really blew me away though was this view. You could be forgiven for thinking it was in the middle of the English countryside when it is actually within a few hundred yards of Beeston town centre!  What prompted this discovery was the need to have a few pics of Wollaton Road Allotments for my Civic Society poster. The allotments had a great atmosphere. I am looking forward to our proper visit on 12 September. I hope the poster and these three pics tempt you to come along as well and don't forget the bacon cobs (there were cakes today as well and they all looked yummylicious).