Bishopthorpe Road

On a street where I live - A celebration of independant retailers

This video was taken at a street party which is held every year to celebrate a local parade of shops in an area of York called Bishopthorpe Road or ‘Bishy Road’ to the locals.

This community of 90% independent and locally owned shops are a rarity in York and in most of the UK thanks to the supermarkets which have caused the demise of many local shopping streets. Even though Bishy Road is within ten minutes’ walk of the city centre and is surrounded by all of the major supermarkets it is still a very popular community facility for the locals who live around here – including myself.

There is everything you could ever need all in one place; a fantastic butchers, a bakers (no candlestick makers) but grocers and chemist and café and deli and restaurants and take aways and the list goes on – many businesses have been here for decades.

That is why every year there is a street party to celebrate ‘Bishy Road’ and the community that it creates. The road is closed off to traffic and the street fills with people and stalls from the various shops and businesses in the local area. This year there was music and a children’s fun fair, a huge queue for the BBQ provided by the local Butchers, Nail Painting, Henna Tattoo’s and Massages available. Best of all the sun shone on everyone and it reminded us all that Bishy Road is a great place to live. If you are not lucky enough to live near here you can come and visit – have a coffee or an evening meal from one of the local café’s or Restaurants or a pint from the award winning local pubs – This is a true taste of Yorkshire.