Market Harborough thoughts » Market Harborough

Pizza Express in Market Harborough?

Jonny Atom — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:44:57 +0000

I’ve heard this rumour from 4 different sources now and it appears we may well be getting a Pizza Express in Market harborough on the site of the old Peacock Pub. What affect will this have on the other restaurants in town? The likes of Ascoughs Bistro will surely feel the pinch and with Gondola Holdings, the owners of the chain already having a foothold in the town with Zizzi’s, surely this will affect the latter’s takings. Will the likes of The White Lion be squeezed even more? The Union Inn is already reported to have closed it’s doors ’till further notice’, how long before more will go to the wall?

I shall watch with eager anticipation.

One such rumour is at http://liberalengland.blogspot.com

Update : It appears the rumours are true, here’s a job advert in The Caterer Magazine (see it HERE) brought to my attention on Twitter by solarpilchard

Update 2 : Work starts, scaffolding is beginning to go up.

Scaffolding work begins on the new Pizza Express

Market Harborough photographic prints website

Jonny Atom — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:09:08 +0000

Market Harborough in Leicestershire is now home to a brand new website selling stunning photographic prints. The website is www.PixOf.co.uk and features subjects such as the town of Market Harborough, Foxton Locks and local Market Harborough Churches as well as stunning images of sunsets and the Great British countryside.

All prints are available to purchase so if you’re looking for the perfect Christmas present or wedding present, maybe a beautiful shot of the wedding church, pop along to www.PixOf.co.uk and grab an amazing print.

St Marys Road Hotel in Market Harborough

Jonny Atom — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:18:09 +0000

I noticed a little yellow planning application attached to a lamp post near our Studio the other day and decided to investigate on the Planning Online site. The following image is the elevation plans for a 3 storey hotel and restaurant facility on St Marys Road. It is looking like ‘It’s a Gas’ is maybe being turned into the restaurant on these plans.

I’ll be keeping my eye on this to see further developments and if planning is given. It’s a quite ambitious project and will alter the face of St Marys Road quite a lot.

Market Harborough wine warehouse starts build

Jonny Atom — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:20:49 +0000

The new wine warehouse, Majestic, on St Mary’s Road in Market Harborough has begun work. The ground has been broken and concrete pilings have been sunk.

But what does this mean for the town of Market Harborough? Well I’m guessing that this was one of the final nails in the coffin of the Threshers franchise, that and Bargain Booze and apart from that no adverse effect will be felt by other stores, maybe the supermarkets, but hey they make enough profit. Hopefully, having a store at that end of St Mary’s Road will help invigorate that area of town.

The only other worry that may arise is that if the under 18 policing policy of Majestic is lapse then there may be a few drunken minors on Symington wreck.

Now the building is finished for Majestic Wines, will they actually move in? I was led to believe that the upper level would be a warehouse for the store but the upstairs are now flats for sale, so what does this mean for majestic? I’ll be keeping my eye on this one.

I’ve recently examined the advertising boards for the flats and on the

artists impression there are shop signs for Majestic, so it does appear to be a wine warehouse.

HDR Photography – Market Harborough

Jonny Atom — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:56:17 +0000

I was out walking to work (yes I have a day job just like Clarke Kent) the other morning and saw how stunning the sunrise was, by the time I’d got back to my house and grabbed my camera (2 mins) the sunrise had changed completely. Nevertheless I took these 3 images. The 4th image is me experimenting near the Grammar School.

Market Harborough UFO

Jonny Atom — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:23:36 +0000

The Harborough Mail this week posted a story about a UFO sighted from Great Bowden and asks the question “Is this a UFO?”. My answer to that would be, “YES” of course it is, because we cannot Identify it and it is flying. Maybe they should have asked, “Is this extraterrestrial?”, but I suppose this is implied by the word UFO as it’s taken on this meaning and lost the Unidentified Flying Object that it was originally used for.

This leads me to wonder when does an object become a UFO and who deems it so? This is an extract from wikipeadia…

Some, such as the USAF, who originally coined the term in 1952, define UFOs as only those objects remaining unidentified after scrutiny by expert investigators, while other definitions call something a UFO from the time it is first reported as being unidentified.

So this odd shaped object in the sky could indeed be called a UFO.

Old Market Harborough

Jonny Atom — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:00:58 +0000

I found this interesting painting of old Market Harborough. It shows the Grammar School and St Dionysius Church with everyday life taking place. I don’t know when this was painted but it’s interesting to see that not much has changed since the horse & cart era.

What particularly interested me was what, at first, looks like a gallows on the left. With closer inspection I guess this was a contraption for moving items from the backs of wagons into a local store and not where criminals met their maker.

I may take a photo from the same angle to compare the 2 scenes. Pop back to have a check.

Market Harborough retail park sold

Jonny Atom — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:21:00 +0000

Mmmmm it appears that Springfield Retail Park in Market Harborough has been sold. This is the Old Cattle Market area as far as I can make out, meaning Homebase, Brantano, In-Store and Sainsburys.

Springfield retail park in Market Harborough has been bought by an investor advised by Briant Champion Long for £9.1m – a net initial yield of 6.5%.

Source: propertyweek.com

Now, what, if anything, does this mean for the town? Will it mean new stores, or is this just an investor wishing to get a stake in our lovely town?

Comments on this would be welcomed.

The changing face of Harborough

Jonny Atom — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:38:24 +0000

The Rubber Factory has gone, the groundworks have been dug and now the new development by the river side is rising to the Harborough skies. But what does this mean for our (not so) little town?

Will it mean a thriving community development or more vacant ‘apartments’? Already the second plaza phase has been shelved which’d make me think the future’s not bright. A pessimistic view I know, but hey, how many flats can a town sustain?

I hope they manage to complete the extension to the Millennium Mile and the new foot bridge over the River Welland.