Hope Street Yard (off Mill Road) Cambridge CB1 3NA Google map link
Parking is available in the yard during the week and at weekends - but NOT on Urban Yard Fair Weekends - first Saturday of each month.
Sadly we have had to cancel the remaining Urban Yard Fair due to unforeseen circumstances. This is a great shame as they were certainly starting to build memento and were a good addition to the local calender of events. There maybe the chance that we can do something in December – I will up date you as soon as I know.
Meanwhile – Urban Larder is hoping to be moving to bigger and brighter pastures new ………….. very close to the current shop. Once in and set up we will be bringing you lots of tantalising events and evenings to whet the appetite and have some fun. A larger shop means, we can expand on the bakery side, which is very exciting, add more ranges of wonderful products, bakes, gluten free foods, and lots more to surprise you! So don’t despair, the Fair may have gone but the Urban Larder will continue to bring you great new producers, growers, artists and cooks ! Watch this space for updates.
I will not be open today as I have taken a stand in Lion’s Yard and will be selling from there today.
Alfresco Dining event at Lion Yard, Cambridge
Come and have your taste buds tempted and tantalised at Lion Yard’s Al Fresco Dining Event! Shoppers will be able to enjoy a fresh and unique take on the farmers market with plenty of new and exciting ideas they will be able to dine out on for a long time to come. Pick up produce of the freshest quality, dish up delectable delights from the deli and savour the flavour of local cheeses, meats and baked goods.
Urban Larder will be moving to the old Libra Aries, (Alternative Bookshop) on the Broadway, opening late September. I apologies for the recent irregular hours and hope this won’t last long. Kind regards, Polly
Beach Party in the Yard – The 4th Urban Yard Fair will fill one of your summer holiday Saturdays. Lots of fun and activities for the kids – Decorate your own shell box to take home,
dance to the music, chalk drawing on the floor. B B Q burgers and steak sandwiches, Indian Savories, Cakes and Bakes, Homemade Lemonade and Ice Tea……………. Come and rummage through vintage jewellery, retro furniture, kids toys, felt goodies. Mums’ treat yourself to a face mapping session – get the best advice on what skin care to use while the kids chalk the floor with their creative doodles! Music will be bought to you by two local groups – George Breakfast Sings in styles from country, blues to jazz, funk, African and beyond – Beatnik grooves come from The Sound of Pop Art – acoustic soul with the finest of John Barry, Stereo Lab early Floyd tradition….Capture your child’s fingerprint in a beautiful piece of unique jewellery, dog tags or charm bracelets, look through the crafts stalls made locally and from further afield.
No Beach Party would be complete without local ice cream – Rawr Chocolate, Honey and Lavender, Strawberries and Cream …… Come and throw a wet sponge at your favourite person – so don’t forget your towel !
The 3rd Urban Yard Fair was a raving success ! We had a beautiful sunny day and wonderful music/singing, from a selection of buskers and performers. The smell from the Bar B Q was just too much for some and people were caught going back for seconds and why not ! Delicious food from both Red Poll Cattle and Limoncello ……. the tempting smell of cheese wafted through the ‘avenues of doors’ and home made lemonade went down a treat along with the fabulous new flavours of ice cream from Saffron Ice Cream – new to Cambridge. The only thing is now we have set a president and will have to make sure there is music at next month’s Fair – don’t worry we are working on it now. Next month’s theme is ‘the beach’ so if anyone knows of a Punch that is not busy – could you let me know? I am serious!
The 3rd Urban Yard Fair comes to Hope Street Yard – Each new event it is growing from strength to strength! This month brings a continuous stream of wonderful live music in conjunction with the Buskers and Street Performers Festival and Performers. From 10am till 5.30pm – We have blues, A Comedy Magician, Mario Morris, funk, soul, drums/percussion, ukuleles then ending with gyspy/jazz funk !
Great acts and fresh new talent – a really promising and fun day for all the family. Along with this spectacular line up – comes a wide array of traders selling their crafts, art, illustrations, cakes and bakes, gluten free specialist food, children’s toys and gifts, Aloe Vera products and hand made soap and face products – and there’s more …….T-shirts, cards, antique Kimonos, bags, hats, felted products, Nepalese crafts, plus local charities – bringing their hand made willow teepees, decorations and baskets and colourful unique recycled plastic shoppers & Ruck Sacks ! The list goes on …. and to keep you well fed and watered throughout the day, Limoncello bring you their oak fueled pizza oven ,Urban Larder offers ice cream and drinks – and as an extra treat we are proud to welcome The Cambridge Food Company and the Wobbly Bottom Farm – who specialise in Goats Cheese. Red Poll Cattle – the cow’s from Midsummer Common – will also be providing a Bar B Q and will be future stockist at Urban Larder – so come try their delicious meat.
All this plus music all day, what more could you ask for! So please come down and join us – lots to do and see and there is more on the list for the future – so keep watching this space…….
Dates for your Diary : Fairs till 2011 – 3rd July, 7th August, 4th September, 2nd October, 6th November, 4th December.
For more information please contact Polly , info@urbanlarder.co.uk or call 01223 243021.
Families enjoyed a host of events across the region over the weekend.
As temperatures soared, reaching 27C at RAF Lakenheath on Saturday, a fair in Mill Road, Cambridge, offering craft work and homemade food pulled in bumper crowds.
There were 14 stalls at the Urban Yard Fair in Hope Yard, where charities set up shop alongside artists and musicians, and nearby Limoncello café brought along a pizza oven.
Organiser Polly Plouviez said: “There was a lovely atmosphere, it was a really sociable community event.
“Families were able to sit and listen to the music while they ate.”
Setting up will be from 8.45am on each trading day. You may drive your vehicles into the yard. After unloading they will need to be parked on one of the surrounding streets.
You will need to supply your own table – there is no electricity at present – if people require it will be put in place. For the winter season electricity will be provided.
Packing up will be from 4pm – when vehicles can return to the yard – if you wish to return sooner than this, it will have to be by foot.
Do you know Hope Street Yard ? It’s a quirky little yard just off Mill Road on the Romsey Town side of the bridge. This yard is a hidden gem made up of a series of ‘lock ups ‘ and workshops, with its freshly painted coloured doors, the yard is starting to resemble Balamory! Antique and period furniture 1920′s – 1970′s, Ercol, complimented by Vintage clothing, hats and accessories. We also have two bike companies – The Electric Bike Company, offering the speediest and easiest solution to getting around and the Dutch Bike Company – take your kids to school in one of these unique bikes – to bring a real solution to the school run.
So back to the fair – you may have heard of my shop – Urban Larder, http://urbanlarder.co.uk/102/press-coverage/ I opened last Halloween, bringing local food to local people. Food sourced from the surrounding counties, kitchens, farms and orchards. Now we want to expand the idea to include not only food producers but also designer/makers, children’s gifts and toys, jewellery, cards, artists, to create an eclectic mix.
The plan is to run a monthly fair in our gorgeous white marquee which will be in place by the time you arrive – all you have to bring is a table and your ‘wears’– come and help us build the next Camden Market! I will need your help in building this monthly event. Stalls will be at an amazing introductory price of £10 for the day, in return we need you to email, call, tell, family, friends, strangers and your customers to come down and support us on the day. As well as having stalls we will have live music at each event so if any of you are budding musicians or traveling troubadours then let us know we’ll book you in to play.
At the first event Limoncello will be bringing along their mobile pizza oven for delicious on the spot pizzas! This fair has such big potential but it will take time to establish – so people spread the word and let’s get this yard buzzing and make the summer a great one.
This is a great opportunity for you to build up your presence in Mill Road as we head towards the Mill Road Winter Fair(4th December). Growing in numbers each year, last year, with the road closure, it attracted over 20,000 visitors. Half of the Food Fair is planned to stay in the yard so you will be ahead of the game if already there and who knows we could be having our own summer food festival in 2011.
I have planned to stage the initial event on the 15th May and from then on, it will be on the first Saturday of each month.
Come and be a part of it – let’s get Romsey on the map!
For more details – please call me Polly on 01223 243021, email me info@urbanlarder.co.uk or come down and see the yard!
Remember the 15th May – the first Urban Yard Fair !
THE controversial Tesco store in Cambridge’s Mill Road will face competition today when a new food shop opens opposite. Urban Larder is opening in Hope Street Yard in a bid to stop the supermarket giant’s Cambridge “take-over”. It will sell locally-sourced food from farms, orchards, kitchens and homes in the area.
The move comes after warnings by anti-Tesco campaigners that the store – which opened two months ago – would blight independent trade in the street famed for its unique shops. Owner Polly Plouviez hopes families in the area will turn to her store’s locally-sourced food. She said: “When I came to Cambridge I was amazed at how many Tescos there are in the city.
“In a way this is a fightback but we are offering something quite different to Tesco and are keen to get feedback and support the local community.”
The shop will provide a selection of organic, free-range, homemade and sustainable food. And in keeping with the Halloween launch, the store will sell Vampires Repent – a hot plum and habanera chilli combination.
Tesco has a new rival in Mill Road after Urban Larder opened opposite the store on October 31.
But Tesco bosses say they welcome the competition. A spokeswoman said: “We are delighted to hear that Polly Plouviez is opening a new shop in Mill Road.
We have always said that more competition and choice can only bring advantages to the area. “Variety, choice and the services of different retailers can only enhance high streets by keeping people shopping in the area and encouraging new customers and indeed new traders.
“It is good that other retailers are investing in the area and we wish Urban Larder every success.”
I love Mill Rd, but if you have to come from some distance, parking is not easy. However, the newly opened Urban Larder, in Hope St Yard, has a bit of an advantage in that you may find parking in the Yard itself (easiest on Thursdays and Sundays) and Hope St parking is not restricted to residents.
This shop (www.urbanlarder.co.uk) has as its’ slogan “eat local”, and Polly will tell you of their efforts to source everything from within a 20 mile radius of Cambridge. The aim is to carry foods which are free-range, organic, home-produced, catering for carnivores as well as vegetarians, and for those pressed for time too.
There were some very intriguing choices of ready meals – such as mushroom, brie and cranberry Wellingtons – and as I riffled through them, a man came in and asked if they had any more of those double yolked eggs. Yes – they had. There are very attractive things on the shelves;- a whole range of breads from the Dovecote Bakery in the Arbury, very fresh looking leeks and squashes, CamValley apple juices, honey from Saffron Walden, soups from Toft, local chutneys and jams, rape seed oil, Egremont Russets and really crisp, juicy Coxes.
It is very early days, and the cheese and the organic meat and poultry have yet to arrive, and the plan for fresh herbs – not pre-packaged, but as much or as little as you want – is for the future, but it all looks very promising.
By Kate Paterson
Publication date: 08/11/2009
Found in: http://www.localsecrets.com/ezine.cfm?ezineid=1701
Sadly we have had to cancel the remaining Urban Yard Fair due to unforeseen circumstances. This is a great shame as they were certainly starting to build memento and were a good addition to the local calender of events. There maybe the chance that we can do something in December – I will up date you as soon as I know. 
I am serious!
Families enjoyed a host of events across the region over the weekend.
