And Now We Are Four

I spent the day at Porty cafe/bar and local institution The Skylark as they celebrated their fourth birthday. Although the place is only four years old over the course of the day it was clear just how embedded it is into Porty life as different people dropped in, reflecting the different clienteles that uses the place at different times. In the morning there were a few people having a quiet coffee and organising their work for the day. Then young children and their parents started to gather for the story-telling performance from Mrs Mash. Things got a little quieter before the lunch time people started to arrive. The mid-afternoon was very quiet, with just a few people quietly tapping away on their laptops or enjoying a drink and a leisurely read of the newspaper. Later on a few young families dropped by before, as it turned five, people started arriving from work to enjoy an end-of-week drink. And then the evening crowd began to appear. Although there was a special party on there usually is a DJ or two on a Friday night and the place filled out and was still going strong when I left sometime after 11pm after nearly fifteen hours. The staff were great, keeping me supplied with excellent food and drink through the day as I clicked away, and shared a few on social media. I need to gather my favourites together and do something with them.
One little story that illustrates just what the place is like. A local micro brewery has recently started producing gluten-free beers and they donated a keg to help celebrate The Skylark's birthday. Rather than simply profit from the windfall the staff decided the profit from the keg should be donated to the campaign to save the Bellfield Church.
And one other good bit of Porty news today was the council decision to reject the planning application to demolish the old cinema/current bingo hall on Bath Street - The George has been saved for now. It now needs a plan to keep it going.