Hello to readers in Denmark, Ukraine, Lebanon, Australia, USA, Germany, St Helena, Egypt, Ireland, Channel Islands, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Chile (to name a few) as well as the good old United Kingdom! I have been amazed at the places people who read the Blog come from, but you are all very welcome and please feel free to contact me on any aspects of living on St Helena!
Over the last 8 months there have been various road resurfacing projects going on. This has proved a challenge to all affected. The first big re-surfacing project took place along the main road into Jamestown from Longwood/Levelwood/Alarm Forest areas and lasted for 8 weeks. During this time the road was closed to traffic and a long diversion was put in place, where we had to cut across the middle of the Island and enter Jamestown from the west down Ladder Hill – one of the most feared roads on the Island for many!
The diversion started at Gordon’s Post, taking us through the Dungeon, along the W road, past Francis Plain up to White Gate and St Pauls. Joining the ring road on the other side of the Island, we passed through Red Hill, Cleughs Plain dropping into Half Tree Hollow and Ladder Hill before starting the decent into Jamestown via Ladder Hill. Although the journey time (and distance) pretty much doubled for those of us on the other side of the Island, the enforced detour also yielded many positives too.
I am now a confident Ladder Hill driver; both up and down (down is way more tricky!) I discovered a number of shops I’d never visited before, which I still frequent now, several months later.
The next section of road for improvement was Gordon’s Post to Hutts Gate. Another diversion, but much shorter, lasting 6 weeks. The final section affecting Longwood residents was Hutts Gate to Longwood Gate. This was a little more troublesome. There was no diversion as there is no other road! So the road was shut during the day 9 – 3, with a rolling convoy permitted between 12-1. At all other times Longwood residents were either shut in or shut out! But people accepted that the road needed attention and there was no other choice to be made. Again there were advantages from the imposed travel times! Island exploring on a Saturday morning was one! Andy, Henry, Deanna and David dive on a Saturday morning, so Hazel and I usually meander into Jamestown around 10 for a mooch around the shops and coffee. An enforced departure at 9am meant we had a little too much time on our hands, so foraging in other areas became the norm. We became experts in shopping opportunities as well as places to eat and thought it might be something useful to share. I’ve done an earlier blog about shopping so will try not to repeat too much, but will include some details for completeness and to ensure the information is in one place (so sorry if you’ve read it before!)
Shopping – I am going to start at the waterfront (or seaside as it is known) and work up Main Street before entering ‘country’ areas
As you enter Jamestown through the Castle Gates, to the right is Cyril’s shop. Cyril is off Island at the moment so no lovely home-made sausage rolls, pasties or pizza for a while.
• Cyril’s’ is like an old fashioned ‘corner shop’ stocking a variety of everyday items such as tea, coffee, milk, snacks, tinned goods as well as a small selection of shoes and clothes. There was also a small ‘fast food’ takeaway outlet selling battered fish, fish bites, burgers etc attached. Due to Cyril being away, this has been leased to Reggie who has taken over the kitchen and offers a range of ‘fast food’ Reggie also runs a takeaway business out at Bottomwood.
Next shop is Serena’s Gift shop on your left as you wander up Main Street.
• Serena’s is an Aladdin’s cave of items ranging from artificial flowers, make-up, jewellery and torches to St Helena souvenirs such as T-shirts, mugs etc. Well worth a look for something unusual! If you are looking for a torch or a scarf call in.
• Chad’s is next up on the left, next to Essex House and run by Tracy. Chad’s is another small grocery store stocking some more ‘unusual’ items such as Tesco diet coke (500ml bottles) Walkers Quavers (Bags of 12) and today she had Bavaria non-alcoholic lager that I used to drink occasionally in the UK – I’ve not seen it here before. She also has a small selection of clothes and shoes and sometimes has things you just can’t get elsewhere – Like potatoes when there was a recent famine. She also has ‘special offers’ each week which are always good to buy. It is also the cheapest place I’ve found for White Lion rum. Another recent discovery is that through Tracy, I was able to book a taxi home for my son and his friends after midnight. (The availability of taxi’s after 12 at night is a bit of an issue, which I’ll cover another time)
For ease of identification, I’ll continue up the left hand side of Main Street!
• Baseline is next, sharing an entrance to their basement premises (and that of Essence Hair and Beauty Salon) Baseline stocks a range of groceries and fresh fruit and vegetables shortly after the ship has been in. She also sometimes has eggs and often has cans of diet coke (usually cheaper than others)
• The Emporium is next, just after the Consulate Hotel. It’s part of the Thorpe group of shops and I’d describe it as akin to an old ironmongers in the UK – So stocks engine oil, tyres, picture frames, cards (greetings and playing!) stationery, light bulbs, pet care and bathrooms! Meanwhile upstairs you’ll find a range of crockery, glasses and cooking essentials as well as curtains, duvets, material, haberdashery items and shoes. You really do have to go and poke about!
• Sure South Atlantic are next. It’s primarily here where you go to sign up for your (very expensive) internet, TV and/or phone packages. You can find out more about them here www.sure.co.sh . The small shop also stocks some novelty phones and some android tablets. You can also purchase your digital TV box here.
• Moonbeams is a high quality gift shop with a range of locally produced items and souvenirs. The also offer a personalisation service for many products as well as cards and quality gift wrap. More information here www.moonbeamsforall.com
Be prepared for a steepish climb up Napoleon Street until you find the Queen Mary on the left – one of my favourite places for a number of reasons –
• Queen Mary and its sister shop Victoria’s are owned and run by Greg. In a survey I conducted as part of my Master’s degree, they came first for customer service! This is by far the best place on the Island to buy cheese. Whilst not all types are continually available, Greg usually stocks mild, mature and vintage cheddar. It’s not uncommon for Stilton and Gouda to be available too along with Mozarella, so if you like your cheese, make a B-line for either store! They also seasonally have runner beans, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes etc, so always a good place to have a nose around. Apart from that the store (Queen Mary) stocks a range of household goods, stationery, garden and car bits, such as hosepipes, machetes, paint, exhaust repair kits. A good range of tins and packet food such as noodle, rice, soup can be found along with wine, beer, soft drinks and frozen foods.
• Adrian’s is next – we have taken a sharp right down Nosegay Lane and Adrian’s is on the left. Again this is a typical corner shop, offering a range of goods and a great place to get things when others have run out. He often has for example Rose’s Lime Cordial and lemon juice when others don’t and is the cheapest place to buy the 5 litre fruit juice boxes!
As we join Market Street and continue left the first shop is the Bazaar.
• The Bazaar, part of the Solomon’s chain here, is a dedicated shoe store. Don’t get too excited though! Whilst there is a reasonable range, sizing is tricky and the common sizes quickly sell out. If you are desperate though you’ll likely find something that fits!
The Bank of St Helena is next door and somewhere that everyone has to frequent way too often! Living in a cash society has its advantages, such as no unexpected credit card bills, but also means if you run out of money after 3pm on a Friday, it’s a long wait until Monday! The bank has just launched on-line banking and I must say that initially I was quite excited. However, given that the bank want to charge ME to use it - £2.50 a month just to view my statement, plus another £2.50 per month if I want to transfer money locally, plus a setting up fee and to top it all because there are no ATM’s I’d still have to go to the bank to get cash out the advantage to me, the customer, is a big fat zero! So until ATM’s arrive negating the queuing at the bank at least once a week to withdraw cash, I won’t be signing up. It’s also hard to believe that there is a charge at all. Elsewhere in the world the introduction of such exciting technology (which I truly believe in and support) would never attract a charge as the idea is that the Bank saves money through customers self-serving. I worked for Nat West Bank in the good old days and witnessed at first hand the incredible reduction in staffing that was possible once the notion took hold. Perhaps it will be free of charge in the future, but in order to maximise potential savings and improvements, customers need to be persuaded to join with a carrot, not a stick! Rant over…
Last shop on this side of the street that I’ll talk about today is Tinker’s.
• Tinker’s is the place for cut meat. Pretty much the only place to get a selection of meats! The range varies from week to week but typically includes a couple of types of ham, chopped pork, chicken and chilli loaf, pepperoni, salami, streaky and back bacon. All can be purchased by the slice. They also have some cheese available and sometimes eggs. They have freezer foods – mainly meat, but also make and sell frozen Cordon Bleu chicken, pork rib steaklets and chicken nuggets. They also have a reasonable range of ice-cream.
Going Back to Basics Part 3 will cover the other side of the street down to the seafront! I didn’t realise how many shops there actually are!
