Exploring an emporium : The Imaginarium

A truly fascinating shop opened in York about a month ago.

I’d seen snippets and odd snaps on social media, and it was my other reason (as well as the new Hobbs opening) for making a trip to Yorkshire’s ancient walled city recently.

Nothing can really prepare you for entering The Imaginarium. Incongruously placed just a couple of doors up from McDonald’s (@ 6 Blake Street, YO1 8QG) I’ve never seen anything like it in my life and I’m not sure anywhere else like it exists.

You may look at these pictures but I guarantee if you go you will see something else, something more. Every nook and cranny of this shop has a thing to surprise and delight. It’s like a wonderland, where imagination has been let run wild, a place to escape to. It feels like something Roald Dahl might have cooked up. With magical music, candlelight, scented diffusers, chandeliers, fairground horses and sculptures climbing the walls, it’s an overload of the senses and the mood changes with each metre you browse.

And it’s very clever. Because ultimately, it’s still a shop: it wants to sell things. But its wares are displayed in such an exciting and engrossing way. Scarves draped on hands poking out of the wall, necklaces hanging from books, potions sitting atop a glass cabinet in which lies a skeletal mermaid. Its items for sale juxtapose and interact.

You’re an adult, you’ve been into thousands of shops, but this is so different that you feel like a child walking into Willy Wonka’s factory, eyes wide with wonder.

Come on in.

There’s more to The Imaginarium than just fantasy and frivolity, though. The shop has a strong ethos to support British and Yorkshire creatives, with the worthy exception of ibride‘s pretty trays (from Paris).

It stocks sought-after textile art by Mister Finch, distinctive printed fabrics and ceramics by House of Hackney, Bronte throws, stamped vintage cutlery by The Cutlery Commission, ceramics by Ali Miller, True Grace candles and diffusers and jewellery by And Mary. I spotted a couple of familiar local names, includingSam Bryan‘s fairies and etchings by [vinegar & brown paper], who I’ve written about before.

There’s much more I could say, but the best thing to do is just go and explore and discover it for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And when you do go, make sure you press the button beneath this guy, who was a special commission by world-leading animatronics experts.

If all shops adopted The Imaginarium’s ethos, you can’t imagine people talking about the high street being in crisis. It’s certainly an approach that gives you an experience to counter the convenience of shopping online.

What do you think?

PS Come back in a couple of days when I’ll be talking about The Imaginarium’s equally charming sister shop The Yorkshire Soap Company.

Anna - Angel In The North

The Alchemist

This post was originally posted by Lorna in the summer. 

Last night I had a late celebration of my birthday with one of my best friends, Harriet. We're normally so bad at doing anything for my birthday because she's always holidaying over the summer - but this year, for the first time in many, many years we managed to actually get together. We went to The Alchemist, a reasonably new restaurant and cocktail bar in the Trinity Leeds shopping centre - and I've been verrrry excited about going since it opened!

We grabbed our seats and got to grips with the extensive cocktail menu, I'm not usually one for cocktails (pint, anyone?) so I didn't know what to go for - we settled for a strawberry daiquiri and a strawberry mojito. Nommm...We grabbed our seats and got to grips with the extensive cocktail menu, I'm not usually one for cocktails (pint, anyone?) so I didn't know what to go for - we settled for a strawberry daiquiri and a strawberry mojito. Nommm...
I had The Colour Changing One. This looked more like a science experiment than a cocktail - it came with two glass vials to pour over ice and then just to sit back and enjoy!I had The Colour Changing One. This looked more like a science experiment than a cocktail - it came with two glass vials to pour over ice and then just to sit back and enjoy!
After that, we were trying to decide which cocktails to go for next, when as if by magic some freebies arrived at our table! We can't remember what they were (which sounds a bit ominous..) but the mysterious freebies were a massive thumbs up in our opinion.After that, we were trying to decide which cocktails to go for next, when as if by magic some freebies arrived at our table! We can't remember what they were (which sounds a bit ominous..) but the mysterious freebies were a massive thumbs up in our opinion.

It's such a fab looking venue - I wanted to sneak some photos of inside but it was so packed I couldn't really get any, so I pinched these from their own gallery.
We'd reserved a table, and I'm so glad we did because otherwise we'd have been queuing for ages to get in, if you fancy going then I'd definitely recommend booking. I hate queueing!
Then it was time for a proper catch up! We looked over the menu and supped our cocktails and felt very fancy indeed. For starters I had Duck Spring Rolls with hoisin sauce, whilst Harriet went for the Potato Skins with dips. We'd already decided we were going aallll out and eating as much as we possibly could manage... It was a treat after all!
Then came the matching mains - we went for the Fajitas. I had fillet steak, Harriet had chicken. They came with sauteed peppers and onions on a hot skillet, with warm tortillas, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and salad. They were very good, but very messy!!
Smokin'!
After we'd made a massive mess of our table, faces and clothes.. We opted for some more cocktails before digging through the dessert menu.



The photos don't necessarily give the drink any justice - it looked amazing, and it bubbled up and smoked for ages, I almost didn't want to drink it because it looked hot, but eventually gave it a go. It was interesting to say the least and very sugary. Not sure I'd order another in a hurry but it was worth it for the special effects.
We finished off our meal in the best possible way, with Belgian waffles served hot with cinnamon, sugar and vanilla ice cream. These are mine and Harriet's all-time faaaavourite desserts so they were a must-have!
And boyyyyy were they good?! They were amazing, even looking at the unfortunate blurry photo now is making me want more right now. We savoured our desserts, tipped back the last of our freebie cocktails, then headed past the crowds forming in the bar for home. We were home before midnight, much like Cinderella, and we stayed up chatting late into the night - which meant we had shameful lie ins this morning, but after our feast we felt we deserved it!

Lorna - Life by LDE

Local artist love...

I had to share with you the exciting talent of local artist Terry Brookes. As a huge fan of The Beatles, I fell in love with his piece 'When The Beatles came to Barnsley' His take on pop art with a local twist has become an instant hit. The playful nature of his work and bright colours, bring a beaming smile to my face every time. 

Terry explains his motivations to paint...

'I have always painted, self taught, and driven on by my dad who was, amongst other things, a semi-professional wrestler, painter, and signwriter.  Some of the stuff I'm doing now, I was doing when I was in my teens - pop art, music, comics related stuff; Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, Peanuts, DC Comics, Tin Tin, ...

To say that I am a music fan is an understatement.  I have always loved and collected music; vinyl especially – The Beatles, Motown, Stax, Bowie, punk, Weller, Morrissey & The Smiths, etc, etc,

About 3 or 4 years ago I started painting prolifically mainly for my own interest – just for fun.  I decided to setup my own website that I could easily maintain and load up images of my artwork – nothing fancy, just for my own fun.

I decided to paint some quirky scenes of Barnsley and the area, starting off with a painting of the now defunct Casa Disco record shop.  The first one I did was Casa Disco 1977, with a punk (Sid Vicious?) looking in the window at the records that were issued that year; Bowie's Heroes, Blondie, The Police, Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop.  I am going to follow this series with, amongst others; Heavy Metal, Mods, Soul, etc – there's plenty of scope.'

It was his 'When The Beatles came to Barnsley' that first captured my imagination and here's a little bit more about the painting, by the man himself.

'I was looking through some old photos one day when one caught my eye of Barnsley's Market Hill, which, at one time, had a zebra crossing at the bottom of the hill, and the wonderful Town Hall building at the top.  This reminded me of the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album – and hey presto the painting "when the Beatles came to Barnsley" was born.'  

Terry's work has already hung in a few local cafe's and restaurants. I am thrilled to announce he will be exhibiting his work in Experience Barnsley in January 2014, and hope you will all join me down there to support him. He is currently busy working on paintings for his new exhibition and promises for some quirky surprises, including a chance to "get inside a BROOKES painting".

For more of his artwork and further information, please visit his website here. 

Rebecca - My Pretty Yorkshire Life

Aysgarth Falls

When we decided to go on our holidays to Bainbridge, I was really excited to visit Aysgarth Falls. As a child, I loved the film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, and when my brother discovered that one of my favourite scenes was filmed there, I knew we had to go.

On arriving at the falls, you can hear the distant noise of the river and I found it increased the excitement hearing the water gushing as you walk along the path towards the falls. We visited after a spell of rain, so the water was travelling at a great velocity. There are three areas of the falls to visit from the car park - the upper, middle and lower falls. The falls are 5 minutes from the car park and then perhaps an additional 5 minutes between each of them.

There is plenty of space to enjoy a picnic at the Upper Falls, and what a scenic spot to do so. I imagine that children would love clambering about the area. You would need to be careful with them getting too close to the river when there has been heavy rain. I have seen pictures of people playing in the river, when it is shallower, however. It would be nice to revisit when there is less water, as it looked a lot different from photos I had seen.

My little boy was not overly impressed!

Visiting the falls is free, but there is a charge for parking of £2.50 for 2 hours. The falls are sort of wheelchair and pushchair accessible. We took our son in the pushchair, but to be honest we do have a sturdy pushchair. There is a path linking the falls, but to actually get right by the river in most areas you have to descend stairs or clamber over rocks, so we wished we had carried our son in his sling instead.

There is a visitor centre with refreshments and toilets adjacent to the car park. However, we visited the quaint little tea rooms by the bridge, in between the Upper and Middle Falls. The ice-cream was delicious.

One thing I have learned from my trip, is that although it is nice to wear billowy floaty dresses, when you are bending over trying to get that perfect shot, you wish you had worn jeans. I had a constant battle against the gusts of wind, and frequently I was defeated, much to the dismay of my embarrassed husband.

There was a rich man from Nottingham who tried to cross a river. What a dope he tripped on a rope! Now look at him shiver!

Rebecca - My Pretty Yorkshire Life

Brimham Rocks

On our Yorkshire holidays, we enjoyed a little jaunt to Brimham Rocks. I was incredibly excited to go, having visited as a child. There is always a danger in revisiting places from your youth. Would it live up to expectations? My imagination has been known to exaggerate the beauty of what is infront of me. My memories of Brimham Rocks are synonymous with a land where you could envision a Velociraptor creeping through the ferns. I hoped that they would still envoke such childlike wonder, and that my husband would share my enthusiasm for a bunch of rocks.

 We didn't get off to a great start. We had headed out to Ingleton bright and early, and as we left, with our son fast asleep, we decided to continue driving, so we wouldn't disturb his nap. My husband passed me the map (he would sorely regret this decision) to find somewhere to explore that afternoon. After two hours of what I am going to refer to as a breakdown in communication and navigational difficulties, we arrived. My husband was understandably grumpy, so I tried to use my son's smiles to break the tension. But alas to no avail, as my son was a little groggy having just woke up to a balmy 28 C and there were no smiles to be had. We strapped a wriggly little boy into his baby carrier and headed off into the wilderness.

The first set of rocks, we arrived at were interesting to look at with their natural caves and hidden nooks and crannies, but as my husband had our precious little bundle of joy attached to his chest, it was difficult to explore.  I feared that he would not enjoy our trip.

We walked a little further and was met by the most majestic sweeping panorama. I must admit as I stood up on the rocks surveying the beauty before us there was an deep intake of breath and a little giggle of glee. There was no doubt that this was worth the two hours sat in a stuffy car.

We meandered amongst the undergrowth, and clambered up on the rocks for over an hour before heading for refreshments. There did appear to normally be a large selection on offer, but arriving on a busy summer's day after the lunch rush, we had to settle for a cheese toastie, bag of crisps and a sausage roll. They proved to be quite delicious!

We loved our trip to Brimham Rocks. It really is a fantastic idea for a family trip. We spotted children of all ages having a wonderful time climbing like monkeys. There are plenty of picnic tables, but most were enjoying their picnics on the rocks.  It is wheelchair and pushchair accessible around the rocks. Entry to Brimham Rocks is free, and parking costs £4 for 3 hours (remember coins for pay and display). Opening hours to the rocks are 08:00 until dusk each day. The shop and visitor centre opening hours vary, so please check here before you visit, if you require these.

Our journey home may have involved some smug remarks of how Yorkshire truly is God's Own County to my Scouse husband's dismay.

Rebecca - My Pretty Yorkshire Life.