David was talking about the future of Norwich City centre and how to improve the area around the Castle.
This struck a chord with me after talking in my blog yesterday about the scruffiness of Castle Gardens and how the place is more of an eyesore than a smart leisure area.
There can be few doubts that city centres will have to adapt to a new way of living when lockdown has left us.
For years I have thought that Norwich misses a trick in not having a daytime cafe culture. Yes there are numerous good cafes but there is a lack of outdoor sitting where you can enjoy a coffee and cake.
One of my favourite areas of the city is Upper St Giles where there are a number of bistros and coffee houses. How wonderful it would be if this area was pedestrianised. London Street is another obvious area where so much more could be done.
Towards the end of the summer and before second lockdown we paid one of our regular visits to Liverpool and found an entire street of cafes and bars with pavement seating. They were all doing a roaring trade and there was a tremendous atmosphere in what was the middle of the afternoon.
With so much more shopping now being undertaken online, city centres will have to adapt and introducing cafe culture would be enhancing the centre of our historic city.
Also I will raise a glass of something or other when the traffic lights on the Chapel Field roundabout are no more. I know there are plans to take most of them away and it can't come soon enough. I have no idea what went through the mind of the bright spark who suggested them in the first place. On Saturday, I once again sat in a queue coming from the Unthank Road direction with the lights on red when the roundabout was completely clear.
The traffic lights are particularly annoying late at night when the roundabout is clear and you have to sit and wait for them to change.
One of the readers of this blog was fascinated by the picture I took on Saturday of decorative bollards in Norwich. Chair of Hethersett Parish Council Adrienne Quinlan also read my piece and sent the following link to many of the bollards.
http://racns.co.uk/sculptures.asp?action=getsurvey&id=806
I am going to have a day in Norwich shortly with my camera hunting for decorative bollards and gargoyles which I also find fascinating.
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Today is R Day in Hethersett. That's R as in re-opening. I will be out and about with my camera in a few hours' time. Over the next couple of days we will be going to both the Queen's and King's Head. They need and deserve our custom and I need and deserve a pint!!!!
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Congratulations to the Matless family of Priory Road, Hethersett. In two weeks of selling cupcakes from their front garden they have raised £819 for a young Hethersett girl battling cancer.