[31
JUL 00] WARWICK
DISTRICT COUNCIL NEWS
New Venue For Flood Victim's Flood Restaurant
Margaret
Constable has enjoyed two years off work, but is putting her pinny
back on this weekend to go back into catering in a Leamington park.
The
Easter Floods of 1998 devastated Warwickshire, and virtually washed
away the Riverside Restaurant in the Jephson Gardens.
It
brought an abrupt end to her time at the tourist site, that literally
went under that day.
Like
many businesses near the banks of the River Leam, traders woke to find
water had washed through the buildings, leaving some shops several
months away from a reopening - some traders called it a day and never
opened their doors again.
Margaret
remembers
“I got a call from my son about 7am
asking me if the restaurant was OK and I went to have a look and all
I thought was ‘Oh My God’.
“All
I could see was the roof and the water was running so fast. It
turned out later that the building had actually moved.
“It
really was horrendous. We tried to clean it up, but it was no good
and it would have cost so much for the council to reconnect all the
power. We had to give up in the end.”
The
site has been boarded up for the last two years, and is set to be
demolished and make way for a new larger eating house.
But
Margaret has taken a new lease from Warwick District Council - this
time for a new site.
Two
years on, Margaret, aged 58, is moving to another town park. She is
taking over the Victoria Park café this Friday coming and hopes to
welcome back her old customers.
She
said:
“I
will be looking to do a pensioners’ lunch. I don’t think anyone
in Leamington caters for that trade and I shall do something about
it.
“And
I will be serving fresh veg, and it really will be fresh and not
frozen like some people do.
“I
like Leamington, it is a really nice town and very clean. I am
looking forward to meeting my old customers and some of the previous
staff are coming back, so I am looking forward to it.
"I
have had my rest and want to get on with it now.”
The
new site is next to the bowling area. On the menu will be a range of
jacket potato, rice, two-course roast and pasta dishes.
If
you want a full all-day breakfast and a drink, it will cost £2.99.
Margaret
has been in catering for 10 years. She worked in at a knitting needle
factory in Redditch until she was made redundant.
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