March 2008 Archives

Have you noticed the new shop on Acaster Lane called Zak & Flo?

I asked the shop owner to write in her own words about Zak & Flo. This is what she had to say,

"My name is Ruth and I live in Acaster Malbis with my husband, Steve, and two young children Isaac & Florence.

I have been in technical field sales for most of the past decade, and following my maternity leave in 2007 decided that I could no longer travel the country anticipating the next phone call from nursery to tell me that one of them was poorly, when I could be miles away!

Since having Isaac in 2004 I have had a passion for children’s clothes. I found that it was difficult to buy something unique in the local area. Any children’s clothes shops that opened in York seemed to close within months.

Obviously similar shops closing has been of concern, but being situated out of the city centre means that my rent & rates are cheaper, free parking directly outside the shop, I have somewhere at the back of the shop to sit, feed & change a baby, not to mention toys for the older ones (including Dad!)

I have spent, and will continue to spend, a considerable amount of time to find exclusive clothes and gifts. My plans for the future include being able to buy on-line - hopefully by the middle of April 2008, and later in 2008 making a selection of baby hampers for companies to buy their employees going on maternity leave.

I have a range of styles of clothing from birth and up to 8 years, and also a selection of gifts, cards, wrapping and organic toiletries. I am more than happy for people to come in and browse, even if they have "no-one that small to buy for!" My Dad & I (but mostly my Dad!) have completely refurbished the shop so come and see what we have done – with no obligation whatsoever to buy!"

Ruth describes her shop as,

"Wonderful Clothes for Fabulous Children"

Having now seen Zak & Flo, I have to agree! Good luck with your new venture Ruth,

Phil

Read the Chairman's Recent Ramblings - Planning, Parking, Pinfold, Cycle Path, Old School and Dog Poo! on the Parish Council Page.

Our Bishopthorpe web site has been funded by the Millennium Trust and private donations since it was set up, at a cost of about only £50 a year. All the efforts to keep it going have been by voluntary effort.

Now the City of York Bishopthorpe Ward Committee has made a grant of £500 towards the costs of promoting the site and upgrading its software. This grant is being managed by the Trust.

A small team of local people has been meeting to consider the next steps. One objective is to ensure that as many as possible local businesses are included in the Purple Pages directory. Residents will be able to shop locally, and visitors, who use the site to check on what's on, cn find out what and when is on offer.

Community groups can also have entries on the Purple Pages directory. The Bowling Club is a recent addition with its exemplary entry; all groups are encouraged to get on the site and ensure that they get the publicity they deserve.

Do you use Google to search the internet?

If you do then you should take a look at the new Ethicle search engine. Ethicle is a service that uses the Google system to create a web browser that raises money for charities (or NGOs as the web site calls them). The web site says:

Just go to www.ethicle.org and select one or several NGO(s) amongst those displayed on the webpage. By selecting them, you indicate that those non-profits are the beneficiaries of the donations generated while using Ethicle.
Enter your query in the Google search bar. Click on "Search". The obtained results are those provided by Google, with the same efficiency and speed as the original search engine.

You can also customize your Web browser search engine to be configured as a Ethicle search toolbar; this option is made available to you at www.ethicle.org. This will allow you to use a Ethicle toolbar supported by Google search engine on your default web browser.

In both cases, the money generated by your search goes to NGO(s) you've selected. The chosen NGO(s) remain(s) selected automatically, each time you use Ethicle to browse the web. You are 100% free to change your selection at anytime. Please note that each change on www.ethicle.org is automatically saved on the Ethicle toolbar as well. 

You can always add your own charities, and we have requested that the Millennium Trust is added to the list of charities you can nominate to receive a donation. Each search you make produces $0.001 for a charity. 

The cold spell brought snow to Bishopthorpe as seen in the pictures below, taken at eight o'clock.

 

 

This is the first of what I hope to be of many articles I will be writing for bishopthorpe.net so I hope that you find it interesting and informative.  My name is Alex Bishop, I am a sixth form student in my last year at Tadcaster Grammar school, I am hoping to study engineering at Heriot Watt university in October of this year. I have started a scheme to refurbish old computers over my summer holiday. I am doing this by asking people to donate to me old computer hardware which I will then get up and running and distribute  to people who want them. I am doing this all for free (although a donation would always be welcome but never compulsory). So far the response has been incredible as of now I have received over 20 PC and anything up to 30 monitors! I am storing them all in the loft at my parents house (much to my mothers dismay) but I do have some space left... somewhere, so donations are still welcome. I got the idea to do this scheme from introducing my Granddad to the modern world of PCs. Everything I know about computers I have taught myself by making lots of mistakes so if you're new to computers don't be scared and give it a go.

 

We have been warned about space debris falling from the sky. Looks as if a chunk of NASA satellite has landed on a pole on the railway path near Naburn station. 

 

 

 

In February, the vicar of St. Andrew's Church received a letter from Elaine Pearce, Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.  He was informed that the Bishopthorpe War Memorial has been designated a listed structure.  The reasons for the Grade II listing were given as follows: 

* It forms a poignant reminder of the effects of tragic world events on this local community.

* It is a well-designed monument by a well-known architect, Walter Brierley.

* It is made of high-quality materials, executed with excellent craftsmanship.

*  It has group value with the adjacent church, Archbishop's Palace and other designated buildings.

* Its proximity to and historic association with the Archbishop of York's Palace gives it added significance.

The memorial joins several listed buildings and structures in the village.  These include Bishopthorpe Palace, St. Andrew's Church, several houses in Chantry Lane and The Ebor.  English Heritage has recently made its database of listed buildings available online.  To view those in the village key  in "Bishopthorpe" on the Heritage Gateway site here.  (The War Memorial has not yet been added to the site,) 

Linda 

....and a thermos flask .... and some sandwiches -  if you go to attempt to collect a bus pass from the Salvation Army Citadel.

Edith & I went to collect ours this morning.

Dismayed by the numbers waiting on Gillygate, we left to do an errand and returned to find the queue rather shorter. We joined it, and waited a mere hour and a quarter, only 65 minutes of which were spent out in the cold.

Fortunately, we had adequate identification (proof of age and proof of address) with us. 

On reaching the desk we were told that the passes have not yet arrived from the printer! We did pass the entitlement check, and were promised that the passes would be posted to us at a later date.

I write on the basis of considerable experience (I used to be responsible for the annual enrolment of about 2,500 college students) when I say that this was a management shambles. 

First, the premises are too small and are inconveniently located. Second, there was no arrival filter (to fast track the disabled and to weed out those with incomplete documentation).  Thirdly, inadequate staff numbers were provided. (There was no work space for more anyway.) Fourthly,  advance information provision was inadequate. (Not everyone reads the local press, nor even their local website.)

If it is the case that responsibility for the failed delivery of the passes was outside the control of the City Council, no effort seems to have been made beforehand or on the day to warn people of it. At least, the absence of passes ought to have simplified and speeded the process. Those of us who were called in for new photographs a few weeks ago should not have needed to go through today's procedure anyway.

My advice is that people should not attempt to get passes this week. Existing passes will be valid until September in York and North Yorkshire only. Identity checks will be made and (we hope) passes issued at the Guildhall from 1st - 25th April, so it would be better to try then. Just don't make any arrangements which involve use of your new pass until you actually get it. For those who have registered, it may arrive by post before the starting date. (Are those pigs which I see in the evening sky?)  

Ian