ESP's longest serving columnist, Man About Town, Pep Cipriano brings us his musings on life and times in Peterborough. He's talking coffee shops (he loves them), dating, pizza and improvements in the city's Millfield patch...
YES, ANOTHER COFFEE SHOP...
I can hear it now… “We don’t need more coffee shops!” My answer to that is, yes, we do. That’s why I was super happy to see a new coffee shop open on Westgate. This one is a real gem.
And the reason I love independent coffee shops like MD Coffee is they all have a certain charm about them that you don’t really get with chain franchises.
Housed in the former D’Arcy’s jewellery shop, which closed after nearly 100 years in business, the new owners have kept some of the shop’s vintage display cabinets and exposed an old brick fireplace to give it a quaint and characterful décor that’s calling you through the front door.
The guys knocked through the living space and into the kitchen, so there’s ample seating and display areas for their own jewellery and seasonal gifts. Like all good coffee shops, there’s good cake and savoury lunch options with sandwiches, wraps and other foodie bits.
But best of all is the courtyard, which I can see is going to be popular come summer. It’s small but cosy and yes, it gets the sun. Oh, and remember houses at the turn of the 20th century with outside toilets? This still has one, which has been stylishly refitted and is for customer use.
My sources tell me at least two more independent coffee shops are due to open by springtime and may we see many more in 2023. But I’m pleased to say that The Dice Box Board Game Café arrived just before Christmas (where The Lightbox was on Bridge Street) and it’s sure to be popular with everyone.
Coffee shops are the lifeblood of city centres. They increase much-needed dwell time, provide a space to work and most of all they help with our wellbeing because if you don’t feel better after caffeine and a natter then you never will.
So, more coffee shops please, we all need them and they’re to be embraced. Show me an empty coffee shop and I’ll bring you the moon on a stick.
CITY CENTRE SEEKS AMBASSADOR AND MARKETEER!
Peterborough Positive, the city’s Business Improvement District, is recruiting to a City Centre Ambassador and a Marketing and Projects Executive. I’m told the manager is a top guy to work for.
SORRY, YOU LOOK LIKE CASPER
Christmas and New Year for most of us is full of joy, happiness and blah blah blah. But it’s also a time when relationship statuses change and people get dumped.
This means there’s usually a fair few singletons looking for love, but according to some online thingme about dating that dropped into my feed, lots of us are making silly mistakes that push people away when you first meet.
Seriously, I do wonder who writes these things and if they actually get paid for it, but here’s what the article says we’re failing on, which puts potential lovers off us.
Sleep Deprivation: “A lack of sleep can change your mood while also making you look less attractive.” Pep’s Tip: Go to bed after EastEnders. Buy an electric blanket and let the dog / cat sleep in the car instead of the bedroom.
No Hobbies: “Men prefer women who like sports, dancing, traveling, and art. As for women, they are attracted to men who travel, are physically fit and don’t sleep at the movies.” Pep’s Tip: Was this written in the 1950s?
Poor Manners: “When you’re dating, bad table manners could leave you without a second chance and people are put off by noisy eaters the most.” Pep’s Tip: If you hack out with a teaspoon every smidgen of yoghurt that’s left in the pot, until you’re down to practically cracking the plastic, then you shouldn’t really mix with other human beings.
Laziness: “Active people are much more likely to meet a partner as opposed to those who are lazy. Lazy people tend to be less outgoing and successful.” Pep’s Tip: If you’re lazy then it’s likely you’ll have the personal hygiene of a skunk. Forget dating and watch adult films instead.
Gothic Paleness: “Our skin tone also influences our appearance. Melanin and carotenoids are responsible for skin coloration and people unknowingly look for a healthy partner, which is why pale skin may push them away. Eat fruit and vegetables that contain large amounts of carotenoids like carrots, tomatoes, apricots, and mangoes. Pep’s Tip: Get a fake tan and eat McDonalds.
CAN YOU HELP WITH MARCO’S NEXT CHALLENGE?
Charity fundraiser extraordinaire, Marco Sementa, is no stranger to this column.
In seven years, he’s amassed £60k for 50 charities by organising 200 football matches. His Team Sementa project brings people together of all ages and abilities. It all began after he lost his mum in 2012 and Marco held a game in her memory.
He’s made a big impact through his charity work on our city’s communities and was recently awarded the BBC Cambridgeshire Make a Difference Fundraiser of the Year accolade.
Marco’s currently toying with several ideas to raise money as well as continuing with football matches into 2023 and he’s keen to hear from anyone with ideas of their own. Email him at marco_sementa@hotmail.com
IMPROVEMENTS SET FOR CITY’S ‘MINI MANHATTAN’
Lincoln Road in Millfield. Yes, we all have our opinions on the area and that particular over-populated stretch of road, but the potential to properly showcase it has been discussed for years.
Our city council has also been cash-strapped for years, which is why it’s applying for funding pots at every opportunity. The result is a combination of Towns Fund (£2.5million) money from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and additional funding from the council’s redevelopment budget, means we’re going to see some investment in the area.
In summer a public consultation on plans to make improvements on Lincoln Road between Searjeant Street and Windmill Street tabled options to widen pavements, improve landscaping, add electric vehicle charging points, introduce new bins, add new cycle parking, additional benches and the possibility of cycle lanes and the introduction of a community art trail.
I’ve always referred to Millfield as our city’s mini-Manhattan. It’s our multicultural beating heart, bustling with activity and atmosphere and I love it. There’s a food and drink offering from what feels like all corners of the world and the cafés are perfect for people watching.
Yes, there will be people reading this wondering what Lincoln Road I must be seeing when everyone else seems to see an overcrowded and potential crime hotspot, but I guess that depends how you interpret wearing rose tinted spectacles.
There’s a focus on continuous improvements to the area – there always has been –and that’s why, despite its documented challenges down the years, it’s not a war zone and never will be.
The new year looks set to be a tad brighter for the most misunderstood and under-appreciated community in our city and I’m looking forward to watching those improvements come to fruition.
NOT GETTING A PIZZA THE ACTION
Pizza has been named the UK’s most popular takeaway of 2022 with one in five opting for Italy’s answer to cheese on toast as their number one treat.
And the most common time to order pizza is 6.07pm on a Thursday night.
I don’t think I’ve ever ordered pizza at this time and day of the week. I thought I’d diary what I’ve been doing at 6.07pm on a Thursday for the last couple of months.
Week one: Working late to avoid going home and putting the heating on.
Week two: 6.07pm was the precise time I was ghosted on an online dating site, again.
Week three: Scoffing a Twix McFlurry with a bunch of boy racers at the Boongate drive-in.
Week four: Seriously considering peeing in my ashtray while stuck in traffic on the M25.
Week five: That would be telling…
Week six: Having my back waxed.
Week seven: Wiping dog slobber off my new light grey jeans.
Week eight: Debating with an ‘extremely happy all the time’ person that constant positivity is just another form of avoidance.
Clearly, I have no life or anyone to share a ham and pineapple (yes, pineapple, grow up) pizza with. Slice anyone?
MY WORD OF THE MONTH: COLD
I’m not coping well. We had a summer where I was taking Teams calls in my pants and today I’m scrolling through eBay looking for the best hot water bottle. Here’s why I love (not) the cold so much... Crusty nose, crusty other things, heating on/off Russian roulette, tissues in the wash, spiders moving in, cheap Primark gloves, cold gear knob and not enough belly button fluff being generated.
CIAOS OUT
- Stew: Caffeine & Cogs scoping meeting?
- Dave S: coffee time
- Matt: are we having that beer next century?
- Footsygirluk: you still trading?
- G: If a man at 60 lives his life like he’s 40, he’s wasted 20 years of his life
- Tim: confession time again?
Pep Cipriano