missing zebras and painted shops

8 September 2016

A little bird told me that the zebra we hadn’t found yet was now in Marlands. Not Ticket To Ride, the zebra who took a swim in the Itchen, he is still being repaired, but Sam who was supposed to be in the park but wasn’t. Checking through my list I also realised there was also one more baby zebra we had somehow missed. Today, with blue sky and cotton wool clouds, seemed like a good day to go and find them. 

The tide was very low as we came to the bridge and we stood for a moment or two looking at all the wrecks sitting on the algae topped mud.  This part of the river seems like a veritable ship’s graveyard and I can’t help wondering about the stories behind each one. How did they get there, where did they come from? If only they could talk.

On the other side of the bridge the road was so busy we walked along beside the estate a little way to find an easier place to cross. This meant we walked through the estate rather than around the perimeter, which, in turn, meant we passed the painted shops. Once  upon a time these were real shops, with windows full of goods and shopkeepers inside. When the recession came the shops slowly began to close. Shutters were put over the windows after a spate of smash and grab raids but the shops continued to close until just two were left, a general store and a fish and chip shop.  The chip shop was the first we passed. Its painted shutters were down but CJ said it was still in business.
“I had chips from there the other night,” he said, “they were very nice.”
“I guess it will open later,” I said. “I don’t suppose many people want chips at nine in the morning.”

Northam, opposite Bitterne on the final bend of the Itchen before it meets the Test, has long been an industrial area. The Itchen Navigation, transporting coal and other goods to Winchester, began at Northam Wharf at the foot of the modern bridge. In 1892 it was also home to the Summers and Day iron works who launched to first iron ship to be built on the Itchen. Back then, the houses were mainly small terraces occupied by working class families, many employed on the banks of the river or at the docks by steamship companies such as White Star and Cunard. In 1912, over three hundred and fifty Northam residents died when RMS Titanic sank on her maiden voyage.

Of course, the estate we walked through and the shops with their painted shutters weren’t there then. After World War II, with much of Southampton in smoking ruins, a programme of slum clearance began and the estate was built where once the rows of terraced houses stood. Whether the blocks of low flats with a tall tower block in their centre are better than the terraces remains to be seen. They certainly have modern facilities like central heating and indoor toilets which the terraces lacked and there are lots of green spaces between the buildings, they don’t have the same charm though.

“I remember shopping along here when I worked at Busy Bees across the road on the industrial estate,” I told CJ.
“Are the painted shops the same as the shops that were once there?” CJ asked.
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “There was a Post Office I remember going in and I’m pretty sure there was a flower shop and a butchers. The Post Office was robbed several times, then it closed. Slowly, more and more of the shops closed and it beame a very uninviting place, just rows of grey shutters.”

In 2013 the locals got together with an art collective to brighten up the area. They may not have been able to bring back the shops but they certainly succeeded in making the drab shutters look a whole lot better. The makeover took four days and the paint cost around £1000 but it looks to me to be money well spent. The project was overseen by Chris Chalkley, who runs community regeneration projects and the artwork was down to graffiti artists Sepr, Epok, Deams and 3-Dom, helped by local school children.

Locals say the revamp has helped restore a sense of pride amongst residents on the estate. There is certainly less litter and it’s nice to see the brightly coloured murals have not suffered the graffiti tagging that’s so prevalent on other estates. While I’m sure the people of the Northam Estate would rather have real shops, I think they did a wonderful job of brightening up the area and making their estate a better place to live.

CJ and and I walked along smiling at the shop fronts. I love the expressions on the faces of the shop keepers and the humourous notices in the windows. CJ’s favourite was V Goode News. He especially liked the football score in the window. If only that was real.

At the end of the little parade of shops Dallas Store, one of the two shops still open, didn’t miss out on a lick of paint. Around the corner my personal favourite is Honest Dave’s Car Sales. This really was a small car showroom a few years back. In fact Commando once bought a car there. Sadly, it looks as if Dave could do with a bit of a touch up as his paint is peeling a bit.

Leaving the painted shops behind we carried on through Northam into St Marys and, from there, into the parks. Soon we passed the empty plinth where our missing zebra, Sam, was originally supposed to be. When we first came this way the empty plinth was a disappointment, especially as it had no sign attached to say what had happened. Today a sign has appeared to tell us Sam has been relocated to The Marlands. Of course, we already knew this. We weren’t in the parks to find Sam at all, we were heading for a coffee shop.

The missing baby zebra was, according to the app, in Metricks Coffee shop in Guildhall Square. Obviously, in the excitement of finding Zebbie Go Round, we must have missed him. He wasn’t hard to find as he was standing in the window so I took my photo, ticked him off the list, and we went on our way.

At this point you may be wondering why I walked right past a coffee shop. This is not normal behaviour for me, especially after a long hot walk into town. There was method in my madness though. Across the road in Guildhall Square is Artisan Coffee with some of the best coffee in the city. Besides, the owner of Mettricks shouting at Commando and Russ when they were marshalling the Skyride has made me cross that particular establishment off my list. Today, I even had a heart in the foam on top of my skinny latte.

After a little rest sitting in the sun sipping our coffee we set off again towards Marlands. It was slightly less crowded than it was the last time we were here, probably because the school summer holidays are over. We knew Sam was in Marlands somewhere but we didn’t know exactly where. CJ was convinced he’d be in the Zany Zebras Headquarters but I thought there might not be enough room in there.
“We should keep our eyes peeled, just in case,” I said as we walked through the mall.

As it turned out CJ was wrong and so was I. Sam wasn’t in the Zany Zebras Headquarters at all. Even so it was a good thing we went in there. First we discovered Zycling Zebra and Allegra, two of the zebras we had seen in the parks, have joined Zeeberry and Chris Cross in the ZZHQ. Obviously there was plenty of space after all. There was also a blank baby zebra, all white and waiting for painting. Better still a couple of raffle tickets meant we had a chance of winning him.
“I’m not sure what we’d do with him if we do win him,” I said. “Maybe we could paint him and put him in the garden.”
“Not in the garden,” CJ said, seeming offended at the very idea. “He can live in my bedroom.”
“You’d have to tidy it first.”

Before we left we asked the lady at the till if she knew where Sam was.
“He’s upstairs outside Costa Coffee,” she told us.
No further directions needed there then. For once we didn’t stop for a coffee, two in less than half an hour would have been a little excessive even for me. Instead we trotted up stairs and took our photos. Sam was sponsored by Southampton Solent University and painted with a design inspired by Kenyan masks and African textiles by his namesake, Sam Hiscock. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see him in the park but I was glad to be able to tick the penultimate zebra off our list.

Now the only city zebra we haven’t seen is Ticket To Ride. The lady in ZZHQ thinks he may be all mended and in the Marlands in the next week or two. Watch this space…

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