Whose Side Are You On?

Remember the Thali Corner 'Easi-turn' scheme, installed by a lone fanatic van driver fed up with residents parking their hippy cars on the corner ? He is very modest, and tried hard to keep a low profile - even allowing people to think Living Streets had something to do with it.

The power hungry will always fill a media vacuum, of course so no surprise Living Streets Bristol invited local residents to what they laughingly called
'an official re-opening of the footpath linking the Thali Cafe to Herbert's Bakery, popular in the last century. This path fell out of use in the 21st Century as the path became blocked by cars and then bins'.
They prattle on
'since the Easi-turn Scheme, not only is the corner free of cars, but we are delighted to see that those parking on Wellington Ave, along the side of the Thali Cafe, are aligning themselves with the planters and bins in the gutter, and not blocking the pavement.'
Yawn.

As you can see, more people attended this than a Living Streets meeting, but interestingly, the van driver actually attended the opening! We aren't going to tell you which one he is as it would blow his cover - but it has set us wondering whether he is, in fact, a double agent...he seems a bit too pally with certain well known local subversives like Dr Rogers.


The group even held a ceremony to officially bless the new bike racks outside the Thali Cafe,not realising they are actually there just to ease traffic flow. Or are we the ones being fooled? Is this a double bluff - an alliance of the forces of darkness, pretending to be pro-tax paying drivers pretending to be a pro-cycling and -walking alliance? I'm getting confused as to who is on which side.




Anyway, there are clear benefits for us drivers. This is the pavement right opposite the Easi-turn feature above: now there are no cars there opposite, there is no longer any need for us to park close to the houses on this side! Like sands shifting with the tide, within ten days, the 'accepted' line for vehicles has shifted back south into the roadspace. This means drivers and passengers can now open their doors fully on both sides without houses getting in the way.

Attempts last year by our friend Bob Bull to get the houses moved back a bit failed, but now we have clear door space both sides. Result! This will help win over dubious residents - there might be 2 fewer parking spaces but the quality of those remaining just got better.

Whose side are they on?

Remember the Thali Corner 'Easi-turn' scheme, installed by a lone fanatic van driver fed up with residents parking their hippy cars on the corner ? He is very modest, and tried hard to keep a low profile - even allowing people to think Living Streets had something to do with it.
The power hungry will always fill a media vacuum, of course so no surprise Living Streets Bristol invited local residents to what they laughingly called
'an official re-opening of the footpath linking the Thali Cafe to Herbert's Bakery, popular in the last century. This path fell out of use in the 21st Century as the path became blocked by cars and then bins'.
They prattle on
'since the Easi-turn Scheme, not only is the corner free of cars, but we are delighted to see that those parking on Wellington Ave, along the side of the Thali Cafe, are aligning themselves with the planters and bins in the gutter, and not blocking the pavement.'
Yawn.

As you can see, more people attended this than a Living Streets meeting, but interestingly, the van driver actually attended the opening! We aren't going to tell you which one he is as it would blow his cover - but it has set us wondering whether he is, in fact, a double agent...he seems a bit too pally with certain well known local subversives like Dr Rogers.


The group even held a ceremony to offically bless the new bike racks outside the Thali Cafe,not realising they are actually there just to ease traffic flow. Or are we the ones being fooled? Is this a double bluff - an alliance of the forces of darkness, pretending to be pro-tax paying drivers pretending to be a pro cycling and walking alliance? I'm getting confused as to who is on which side.




Anyway there are clear benefits for us drivers. This is the pavement right opposite the Easi-turn feature above: now there are no cars opposite, there is no longer any need for us to park close to the houses on this side! Like sands shifting with the tide, within ten days, the 'accepted' line for vehicles has shifted back south into the roadspace. This means drivers and passengers can now open their doors fully on both sides without houses getting in the way.
Attempts last year by our friend Bob Bull to get the houses moved back a bit failed, but now we have clear door space both sides. Result! This will help win over dubious residents - there might be 2 fewer parking spaces but the quality of those remaining just got better.

Thali Cafe Clifton News! Clifton gets Gentrified!

Gentrification is normally associated with a run down part of down being made "nice". You know when your area is becoming gentrified when you sit in on a PACT meeting and the complaints are about party noise rather than heroin addicts loitering around where the needle swap van comes. That and skateboarding.

In Bristol, gentrification means an area gets some good pubs, decent graffiti artwork -especially on the pubs- and good food, in the form of local cafes consortium Cafe Gusto and Thali Cafe.

Clifton has had a Cafe Gusto for a while, but you don't get free croissants there, so its not as good as the Bristol University outlet. It has long lacked, sadly, a Thali Cafe. Which is where one man: Jim, from the Thali Cafe team, comes to the rescue of this neglected corner of the city.

Here he is, pointing at a building. In his hand, a piece of paper. It says "October 2"

That date is the date of Clifton's October revolution: a thali takeaway cafe, serving the same food you would have to take your 4X4 over to Montpelier, or points further east or south, places where your satnav starts beeping saying "turn round now".

We mention drive, because people won't be cycling to this shop. There is one bit of gentrification that Clifton has resisted -there are no bike stands on these buildouts.

For a moment there appeared to be some bike stands nearby

But on closer inspection: barriers to stop cars using a car park without permission.

The only place that does have parking is a line of ancient Victorian railings, up on Bristol's Secret Bike Promenade.

More on that underexploited tourist attraction another day. The key thing is that it's a secret, because Clifton doesn't want visitors by bike.

Now, when will Clifton get the graffiti that the inner city deserves?

Thali Cafe news

This site is sponsored by the Farm Pub (they let us buy their beer) and the Thali Cafe chain of Bristol, here seen in Totterdown; they have other sites in Montpelier and Easton, and will let us eat in or take away their lovely food.

We are pleased, therefore, to be the first news outlet in the city to announce that the fourth village in the city, Clifton, will soon be getting a branch too. Presumably because it is so hard to drive across Gloucester Road into Montpelier, and it takes too long to walk from Clifton. Whatever the reason, we welcome a reason to go to Clifton!