Since the moving of the bus station to its new location, the Strand has been struggling to find a new identity. It’s been wondering around like a tramp trying on the odd clothes that he finds- nothing is really fitting.
It’s tried to be our night life area, but this bring little money to the area, and can hardly sustain growth.
Then it was proposed for it to become our cafe quarters, where we can go to relax and sit outside with a coffee.
And it could be working.
With a high class restaurant, the brilliant River Front restaurant, and the new weatherspoons pub open, it is fast becoming the dream.
Yes, there is an accountants in the middle , but hey, it does not show itself up and does not look out of place.It looks respectable.
There are also pizza and chinese restaurants and a fancy dress shop. The area has been landscaped, and is looking good. Oh! Don’t forget the fountain, and it’s regular stream of washing up liquid attacks, ensuring we ALL get to wash at some point during the year! And with the steady flow of cyclists through from the Tarka trial, then the reputation is set to grow as OH MY GOD -THERE SEEMS TO BE AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM- A BIG ‘INN ON THE STRAND’ SHAPED ELEPHANT.
What a state! For every penny of money spent on the area, and it is looking good right now, the area is brought down by the shabby, dire scooby-doo building.
If you have not seen it, it’s a type of building which if you look at for too long, then a ghostly white lady appears at the top window and waves. Then you find out that she died 100 years ago from a dodgy kebab after kick out time, and you start to feel queasy, and need a lie down in a dark room for a bit. Not a great selling point.
The town has done as well as any other through the ‘credit crunch’,, and with the work completed on the Square, and the investment which has been put into the Weatherspoons pub, this part of town could be a central focus for us to move forwards in the next couple years. A place for events and parties to happen- if we can build on the back of Bideford’s reputation for New Years eve-the rest of the year- then it will help bring people and their money to town, by giving them a reason to.
It also has a sensible link with the shopping part of town, through Cross street, the Square and the lane up besides The Venue (which looks great). This is something which Ilfracombe suffers for- there is simply no logical, smooth transition between the shopping High Street,and tourist focussed sea front. Barnstaple has it, and it is working. We need to use it and develop it, having street entertainment and REASONS- reasons for people and visitors to go there.
This requires it to be a complete package- and that means bringing a vet to the Elephant, and moving him on.
