Gallery

Gallery 2016

send your photos to nailseapeople@gmail.com

Nailsea Community Christmas Fair

December 2016 more photos on own page click HERE

Christmas in Nailsea

December 2016

Coates House opens

formerly Queen's Head

November 2016

SLIDE SHOW: Finally after months of anticipation Coates House opens. After missing the preview night on Tuesday for family and friends we strolled down on Wednesday and guess what in the bar were all the usual suspects. The beer, wine and tapas were superb and the company fantastic. The ambience is lovely although we have to admit we enjoyed many a great night at the Queens Head! Planned are jazz evenings and quiz nights. Call 0792 926 2560 for more details of email info@coateshouse.co.uk. We will review the food at a later stage unless you would like to do one? Email to nailseapeople@gmail.com - thanks Carol Deacon

Remembrance in Nailsea

November 2016

From Queens Head to Coates House in pictures

more than 100 photos tracking redevelopement at site

read history of pub on this site by clicking HERE

Queens Head Last orders	Queens Head Co-owners James and Simon the new boys at Queens Head	Queens Head Outside sign comes down and warning CCTV notice goes up
Queens Head Starting work inside	Queens Head A warm welcome soon	Queens Head What have we found here?
Queens Head What have we found here?	Queens Head Architect drawings for conversion to Coates House - see history of pub by going to page below	Queens Head Construction site office
Queens Head Sample menu from another cafe restaurant which is part of the small chain - Tewkesbury and Thornbury establishments	Queens Head North Somerset Times feature the story and acknowledge social media FB page Nailsea Then & Now readers for choosing name	Queens Head no more Spring clean outside
Queens Head no more Spring clean outside	Queens Head no more Spring clean outside	Queens Head no more A lick of paint
Queens Head no more Looking good - Coates House nearly	Queens Head no more Latest streetscene March 2016	Queens Head no more New sign of the times
Queens Head is Coates House Opening this summer - hooray	Queens Head no more Works begins upstairs	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers
Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers
Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers
Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers
Queens Head no more	Queens Head no more And under the lino they find 1930s newspapers	Queens Head no more The long view
Queens Head no more Upstairs is to be divide back up to allow for toilets, staff lounge and exit to our roof terrace which will seat 50 customers if planners give okay	Queens Head no more Disabled toilets and baby changing room	Queens Head no more Under floorboards spaghetti function
Queens Head no more These tables took the eye of the new owners	Queens Head no more Fireplace stonework looking good	Queens Head no more They broke the electrician's step ladder so replaced it and some bright spark added he hoped they knew difference between red and black!
Coates and another	Queens Head no more Wrong queen to become artwork in loo!	Queens Head no more More artwork for loo - from the steakhouse and Rich the Kitch time...
Queens Head no more The plasterboard arrives - lots	Queens Head no more And here is one we did earlier - a neighbourhood café bar located in the heart of Thornbury also owned by James and Simon. Link added to sample menu	Queens Head no more And here is one we did earlier - a neighbourhood café bar located in the heart of Tewkesbury owned by James and Simon. Link added to sample menu
Queens Head no more Bye bye to Sky, the plan is for people to talk to one another!	Queens Head no more Fireplace stonework looking better	Queens Head no more Coates House builders tea
Queens Head no more Coates House gets a coat of arms	Queens Head no more Now it has a ceiling and walls, time to decide on some colours & lighting	Coates House Making a delivery
Coates House Fixtures and fittings	Coates House Fixtures and fttings	Coates House Its May and they are looking at the colour palette for paint
Coates House Found at Church House by Martin Bird while fitting television aerial and given to former landlady Sally Plummer who had now loaned to new owners	Coates House It is May 2016 and they are choosing the paint colour - yippee	Coates House Work continues on a wet May morning
Coates House Work continues on a wet May morning	Coates House Luckily a new flat roof has been installed to stop the rain coming down INSIDE!	Coates House How long has that owl been on the roof?
Coates House We have an indoor loo	Coates latest look	Coates House In the timber shed chopping wood for winter
Coates House Now they are choosing tiles - getting closer to opening day...	Coates House Saying goodbye to all that	Coates House The skittle teams have moved luckily already moved to the Ringers as the old alley gets demolished
Coates House In the end in sight? FRIDAY NIGHT: Live video on Facebook for a guided tour of the site, tune in at 6pm	Coates House It won't be long, ya ya	Queens Head no more And here comes the ceilings and walls
Coates House Four-legged friends welcome as we are dog friendly	Coates House Recruiting banner goes up	Coates House Its coat-of-arms with Queens Head included with glassblower. Opening predicted for mid-September
Coates House Work starts on extension August 2016	Coates and dog Star of photo gallery methinks	Coates and wooden sign Gosh this is nice
Coates at Christmas We hope you will be open long before...	Coates House End of August 2016 and looking a bit more finished - hooray	Coates House So near...
Coates House The welcome mat	Coates House We need a chef	Coates House Um, not quite finished
Coates House Monday, October 12, opening date	Coates House An old door stop found on site	Coates House Status changed to 'opening soon' after a few building issues with the restaurant and kitchen. New date soon is promised
Coates House We have a coffee machine!	Coates House Disabled loos with baby changing facilities	Coates House New signage
Coates House Split level	Coates High Street window	Coates House Ellis Island look with old luggage bought at auction
Coates House Wiring throught the window	Coates House James behind the bar	Coates House Branding
Coates House Joy of joys - end of October 2016 and a staff training day	Coates House A lot of last minute 'snagging' going on	Coates House On the side they are painting the Coates House sign
Coates House Men at work on garden room	Coates House Tried to get photo of a builder's bum but no luck	Coates House Courtyard is coming along nicely
Coates House Sign writing begins	Coates House New opening date to be announced on FaceBook live tonight!	Coates House Finishing touches going in
Coates House Ready to open on Wednesday, November 16	Coates House This is the pictorial story of turning the Queens Head into Coates House - a new chapter begins soon	Coates House This looks welcoming
Coates House Testing the lights	Coates House New chapter begins next week...ready for first orders

Nailsea pumpkins at Halloween

October 2016

Adge Cutler 50th anniversary

October 2016

To mark the 50th anniversary of the first live recording of Adge Cutler and the Wurzels at the Royal Oak pub a statue of Nailsea’s most famous son went on display.

Nephew John Cutler who lives in Barnstaple organised the Royal Oak tribute to his Uncle Adge with Farmer John showing his memorabilia.

Did you know Adge used to live in the property which is now Nailsea Music Shop - how appropriate is that!

The Twice Dailies provided the Somerset songs from the LP recorded 'live' 50 years ago at the High Street pub.

The statue made by Roy Cleeve is a photo by Steve Barnes and former town councillor Ian Summerell is making a YouTube video of the whole event - more later...when we have the link we will post it here.

The unveiling was at 3pm on Saturday, October 29.

The four-foot sculpture of the well-known West Country musician was made several years ago by Roy Cleeve, a retired Nailsea builder who was a friend of the Wurzels singer and went to school with him.

Mr Cleeve said when he made the model: "I wanted to make a sculpture of Adge, because he was someone I knew.

"We went to the same school and then later on we used to go out and have a pint."

Adge, who grew up in Nailsea and attended Old Church School, wrote most of the Wurzels early songs, including the hit Drink up Thee Zider which was recorded live at the Royal Oak, in November 1966.

He was well known in the town, working at Coates Cider Works in Nailsea and at Portishead Power Station.

Adge died aged just 43 in May 1974 when he crashed his MGB sports car on a roundabout in Chepstow following a Wurzels concert.

He is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church in his home town and a plaque already hangs in the Royal Oak pub in his memory.

Mr Cleeve who lives at West End had his original statue covered a bronze coating.The artist, a former Royal Engineer, had it on display at the opening of Nailsea Tithe Barn in 2011 and it has also been on show at a Nailsea barber’s shop.

John said: "I am very proud to be part of this project and a lot of thanks to Roy Cleeve.

"When Roy and myself put up the statue just to see what it looks like a young boy came up with his friends and asked who this person was, his mate said probably just a farmer.

"This is why I am part of this project, so the people do not forget who my uncle Adge was and I hope this statue of Adge will remind the people of the West Country who he was."

Footlights studio official opening

October 2016

Celebrations at new performing arts studio for Blackfriars Road, Nailsea

One of Britain's top comic Andy Ford performed the official opening ceremony at Footlights new studio on Sunday.

Andy is best known for his appearances at the Bristol Hippodrome in panto and after cutting the ribbon at the performing arts academy at Blackfriars Road, Nailsea he gave a cabaret performance of new material in an early evening show at the same venue.

The afternoon was a celebration for the parents, grandparents and friends which was accompanied by the children singing and dancing, a game of pass the parcel, an American supper and a rendition of happy birthday to Emily, daughter of academy director Tina Kelly.

The four-tier celebration cake made by Heaven cakes/ Heaven on the Hill was a superb work of sugar art with theatre curtains, piano keys, Disney castle and topped with a silhouette of a dancer.

Tina has been running the 250-strong troupe for 14 years and it has classes at Backwell, Nailsea, Portishead and Bristol.

The new studio which is shared with her husband and son who run their company Allegro Logistrics from the building will now be the base for local classes.

Tina has had a busy and successful professional dance career, touring theatres all over the country including London's West End. Tina now passes on her passion for performance through Footlights Performance Academy. She has also danced for the BBC and has choreographed for the Channel 4 programme Skins and stage shows like Sister Act

Big Apple Day, Tithe Barn

October 2016

PREVIEW: ii's autumn and its nearly time for the annual apple pressing organised by Transition Town Nailsea.

This will be at the Tithe Barn on Saturday, October 15, 1-5.30pm.

So come and turn your surplus apples into healthy juice with the help of the chaps from Nailsea Cider.

Apple cakes and other refreshments will be served all afternoon.
Last year a bumper crop of fruit was gathered at the Big Apple Day.

This is the seventh year the environmental group has teamed up with the industrious cider people to host the event in the medieval restored barn.

It will be outside in the former school playground where the apples will be ‘scratted’ or chopped and then pressed to make litres of delicious juice which can be drunk or turned into wine or cider.

Transition Town Nailsea, in common with many other towns and villages in Britain is reviving long lost traditions associated with apple growing and the apple harvest.

The group hopes that more and more people will want to use and celebrate local fruit, and is keen to make links back to Nailsea’s history as a major cider-producing town.

This is all part of the Transition ideals for communities to grow and use more local food, as part of a long- term strategy to reduce air miles and use of fossil fuel in the production of our food.

Nailsea’s history is steeped in coal, glassmaking and cider-making.

The famous Coate’s Cider was made in Nailsea, and before this nearly all the local farms made cider because they could pay their staff a proportion of their wages with the stuff.

Nailsea Cider is a small scale production outfit with an orchard near the West End of the town.

They also use apples from trees in gardens around Nailsea especially from windfalls.

For find out more go to its website by clicking HERE.

If you have any spare apples to donate for the October afternoon call 0774 026 3398 or checkout its Facebook page.

Interesting piece on the merits of apple cider vinegar and health in the BBC online magazine which you can read HERE. It explores a traditional folk remedy that has been around for many centuries. Apple cider vinegar is made by mixing chopped-up apples with water and sugar, then allowing the mixture to ferment, turning some of it into acetic acid