Lockdown 2.0 Diaries: BS21 – Clevedon

Lockdown has given Poppy Jenkins the impetus to take her business to the next level. On Thursday morning, she was painting her new shop on Old Church Road in Clevedon, preparing to soon welcome customers for the first time.

Thrift & Flourish is a vintage homeware business that she Poppy has run for the last three years from her spare room at home, but this – even though it just may be one room on the ground floor of the Curzon cinema – is its first physical premises.

Being placed on furlough from a sales job at Cribbs Causeway meant that Poppy has been able to devote more time during lockdown to Thrift & Flourish, which once lockdown ends she thinks she will probably be based at one day a week.

“For me, lockdown was a huge opportunity,” said 34-year-old Poppy, who grew up in Nailsea but now lives in Clevedon with her partner.

“My spare room has got a bit full so I needed to find a new space. I love Clevedon. It’s full of history and it’s a charming town. It’s nice to have somewhere here, especially in this building.”

Poppy Jenkins puts the finishing touches to Thrift & Flourish – photo: Martin Booth

An illustrated bus stop guide to Clevedon is on display on the corner of Station Road and Kenn Road. Alight on Southern Way for Poet’s Walk, where in Broadchurch, David Tenant and Olivia Coleman combed for clues. Or get off at The Beach for Clevedon Pier, which One Direction used as a backdrop for their video, You And I.

Just a stone’s throw from the sign on Thursday, the town’s market was taking place in Queen’s Square, with the longest queue for the fruit and veg stall, cheesemonger and fishmonger.

Queues for cheese took shoppers by small handpainted wooden chairs featuring characters including Donald Duck, minions and Spongebob Squarepants.

Queues at the weekly market on Queen’s Square – photo: Martin Booth

As Poppy continued putting the final touches to her new shop, most of her neighbouring businesses on the ground floor of the Curzon remained closed.

Sue from Country Garden florist still offering funeral work from home and Tony Malone at work on his latest painting in his studio.

The cinema itself also remains closed of course, but they have also been busy during lockdown, with much-needed repairs to the roof taking place and also using the time when the auditorium was empty to remove its false ceiling.

When they return, cinemagoers will be able to experience the auditorium in all its original splendour for the first time since 1972, when the balcony was closed and the suspended ceiling installed.

Audiences at the Curzon can now savour the striking tin panelling curving over the cinema screen, with plans now afoot to reopen the balcony to the public – photo: Curzon Community Cinema

From the town centre to Albert Road, I walked by as many doctors and dental surgeries as I did people. Birdsong was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of a dentist’s drill.

Sandwiches, cakes, coffee and tea were for sale at Tiffin on The Beach, with produce on display on tables outside. Nearby, the Moon & Sixpence was offering a drive-in click and collect takeaway menu.

Tickets for a promenade along Clevedon Pier – currently open from Thursday to Sunday – were for sale from their Victorian ticket window, with signs encouraging plenty of social distancing in the 312 metres from the entrance gates to the rails at the end.

Up on Alexandra Road, work spaces were being advertised in the Market Hall, but most tenants seemed to be working from home. On the corner of Linden Road and Alexandra Road is another co-working space in a repurposed building, Mercury Hub, named after the former Clevedon Mercury offices the building used to be in a previous incarnation.

Outside one of the newer businesses on Hill Road, 67baristabarber, which in normal times offers a walk-in barbers service and sit-in or takeaway coffee, a sign pokes fun at the chancellor: ‘Seasonal coffee: The Rishi. A rich generous dark roast with upfront appeal. £ FREE. p.s. Will need to be paid for next year… & the one after”

Fancy a cup of The Rishi? – photo: Martin Booth

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Clevedon’s Curzon cinema reopens with spectacular restoration