Fire
The Phoenix Rises
The Dartmouth fire of 2010 has left a long and difficult legacy for the businesses that were affected. The buildings have been off limits to the community for more than 18 months and this has left a gaping hole in the economic life of the town that has made life hard for many.
But in the last two months things have been changing and the buildings and the businesses affected have been opening and starting to trade again. Although some things are not going to return to the way they were before – Singer & Singer are not going to return to their original offices in Fairfax Place but rent them out for example – it marks a return of near normality for many affected by the fire.
It’s a hugely positive move for the town and a move back towards normality for the businesses themselves, following two years of stress, uncertainty and worry.
They now want to move on and start to rebuild their businesses.
Lea Humphreys
Lea Humphreys has taken on the responsibility for much of the rebuild on the Smith Street side of the building complex. Taking on the contracts has been a huge challenge for him and his team, but one that he said he found extremely rewarding.
“Before we started any building work we had to remove 300 tonnes of rubble – which made it difficult to plan before we started! It’s actually been quite a quick job if you think we’ve only been working on it for about 10 months. There have been a lot of sleepless nights as we’ve come up against challenges – but I’m delighted with how my team and I have handled the job.
“The logistics have been the main challenge: I had one person working full time for me before this build began, but at times there have been 15 or 20 men on site here. This is a huge site: two big buildings spread across four floors – if you add to that the conservation angle it has not been a normal job – but a very satisfying one.
“I’ve enjoyed the challenge and taking on the variety of work we’ve needed to do: we’ve had to retain original features to ensure the building is as historically correct as possible and that has meant working around old beams, using lime plaster and actually rebuilding walls in a way they would have been built originally, even if the wall we were replacing was NOT built like that!
“For me personally I am pleased I could exploit my own skills to do work: the roof on Fairfax Place I did myself with Jake Stoyle – it was a complex job with a large amount of intricate work. I will enjoy walking past that in years to come and thinking: Jake and I built that together with our own hands.
“Normally when you build something you are creating something new, or changing an old building in a significant way. But in this job we were trying to give back something to a lot of people – people who had experienced something terrible, losing their home or their business. We’ve not been building something, we’ve been handing back something people thought they’d lost. For that reason I’ve been pleased to see the build coming together so well.”
The Wheelhouse
Sarah Squire co-owner of the Wheelhouse Fish and Chip restaurant with her brother Jonathan Walker, said that they were really pleased with their rebuild. They were the first of the fire-affected businesses to reopen on the May Bank Holiday.
“Our workmen have done a fantastic job and we are really pleased with the look of the restaurant.
“When it first happened the problem seemed insurmountable – we never thought we’d open for the May Bank Holiday – but it’s lovely to be back. When we opened despite everything it felt like we’d never been away. It seems all our old customers have come back and been lovely. We opened over Music Festival and it was brilliant, people queuing out the door and we had a lot of lovely comments.
“We are so chuffed to be back. We have got the interior to look really nice - it’s made a huge difference and we now have a higher ceiling and a light atmosphere, decorated with Nigel Evan’s wonderful pictures.
“We need to pay thanks to the hard work of Emma Dixon at Blue Sea interior design and much of the work was completed by Adrian and Wayne of Rendle and Elliot Carpentry and Joinery. People have been so impressed with the way the restaurant now looks, its wonderful. We also couldn’t have opened on time without the help of Tozers doing our menus! I also want to thank my husband Dan for his hard work and dedication in making sure the work was done and finished so well.”
Higher Street Gallery
Mark Goodwin of Higher Street Gallery opened the doors of his business for the June Galleries Night - but opened full time from June 16th.
“It’s been a difficult time,” he said. “But walking back in here has been wonderful and strangely familiar! I have been very lucky with the support I’ve received from friends and family. Virtually all of the artists and makers who I was exhibiting before the fire have provided work for me to sell when we reopened which is a very lovely thing.
“Lea and his team did a marvelous job and although there is a lot which is new it still feels like home.
“It is wonderful to find things coming back to normal. I ran the gallery for many years and to have it taken away from you almost in an instant was very difficult. It is great to be back in the old routine!”
Simon Entwistle and Marcelle Chownes-Dove of Smith Street Deli
The Deli opened its doors again on June 14th – welcoming the last customer it had on the day of the fire – Pat Smith - as their first customer in the newly revamped shop.
Simon and Marcelle have used the two years enforced break from their premises to plan a new way of looking at their retail business – and they think it could be the key to their future.
“The time has flashed by – all the work it has taken to deal with the insurance and the rebuild has been so involving. Two years has gone very, very quickly.”
“It’s a very strange feeling to be opening up again – we are going into a very old brand new building. Thanks to the work that’s been done we now have a shop which is set up completely differently. We have put everything we have learnt in ten years of trading into the new design of the shop.
“The fire, although an experience I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, has given us the opportunity to create something new and exciting, with the best of what we had before with some exciting new ideas. We no longer serve over the counter, but have an open space that brings our customers closer to the produce.
“We are back home – and it’s such a good feeling to finally be open and serving customers again.”
“I’ve been working in the food industry my whole life,” says Simon. “I started running farms, have been involved on the wholesale side and spent ten years in retail at the deli.
“I’ve been working with Serin Aubrey at Anzac Street Bistro for 18 months which means I’ve worked on all sides of the food industry – I know it from plough to plate. I think that can only be an advantage as we look to stock the very best in the deli to entice and delight our customers.
“Serin has been heavily invloved with the redesign of the shop and its opening and will continue to be involved in the business.
“We are making sure we source great value good quality food. We will always source things from the South Hams and the South West. The cheeses from this area are some of the best to be found. That doesn’t mean we will be ignoring good food from the rest of the world – and our Serrano Ham from Spain has to be one of the best cold meats I have ever tasted!”
“We are not a continental deli or a British deli – we simply source good quality products from wherever they can be found.”•
First Published July 2012 By The Dart