Referring to the link, I'd be amazed if we end up with a speciality fish restaurant, and I'd eat my hat if Plumstead Common has its' own French Restaurant. I know estate agents love to big up a property, but French Restaurant?????? That is a stretch of anyone's imagination. Go on HHP, call it 'a bijou French restaurant endorsed by Michel Roux in the leafy suburb of Plumstead Village'. Anyone can write copy for estate agents. I think I'd have a good time being an estate agent spin doctor.
Anyway, back to 'stretch of the imagination'. Remember that fishmongery which opened up for about 6 months? The shop that is now Crimson Rose florist? Well, I was so excited that a PROPER shop had come to Plumsteadshire, that I even went to make a purchase. Got to support your local shops. This, of course was a few years ago.
Picture it. It's Friday, so I thought I'd make myself a fish supper. Pop out to the local fishmonger and buy something that had only been swimming around the Cornish coastline early that morning. Nice and fresh. In the shop, not much on display, so assume the stock is in the chiller cabinet in the back of the shop. I ask the squire for some mackerel."Has to be ordered a week in advance".
I'm left slightly agog. I mean, I wasn't exactly asking for Chaunax Suttkusi or a Japanese shark's fin. Maybe I should've taken the hint when I saw the empty display chiller.
My point is this. Is Plumstead Village ready for gentrification? Does Plumstead Village want to become a Village? Or remain a Common?
I think it's absolutely ripe for the move. A nice outlook across the leafy open space. Nice houses around. Nice big woodlands only a short walk away, our own karate club. What more do you need? A good CAMRA pub would be really nice and a specialist fish restaurant. Call me old fashioned, but I am glad that bizarre African hairdresser/minimarket combo has gone. I'm all for multiracial integration, but I also like a shop to look neat too. A hairdresser which also sells huge bags of rice and luminous pink plastic buckets displayed on the pavement just didn't do it for me. I'm not quite so offended by the shop on the corner which looks like a storage space for bathrooms and sinks. It's clearly not a showroom, but clearly a wasted opportunity.
I'm sure the council have grants for shopfronts, but Plumsteadshire is probably low down in the food chain and such grants will only filter as far as Blackheath.
3 comments:
The Mill, whilst a little worn at the seams, is a good pub. A genial landlord and several real ales on tap do the business. On the subject of Plumperro boozing, check out:
www.fancyapint.com
Plumstead could use some decent shops - a bakery would be a start. I was taken aback when the newish one on Herbert Rd told me they don't bake brown bread as "there's no demand for it round here". A restaurant on the Ship site would be good, likely an Italian I'd say, if one appears.
(By the way, your Ship link needs fixing, and Blackheath is in the Borough of Lewisham.)
Yepyep - link needs fixing. However, Blackheath isn't entirely in Lewisham - the boundary runs across the middle of the heath. It used to run across the railway line, so that the "village" and the whole heath was in Greenwich (check out the boundary stone on the road by the railway bridge), but evil Lewisham nicked a bit and stuck their horrible signs on the heath.
I'm also glad that the horrible Mirabel shop shut. I only went in once, to get a can of drink, and the woman was so rude to me that I never went back in and now celebrate her misfortune.
Thanks for the link mistake. I'll fix it now.
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