DESPITE all the talk of doom and gloom, large numbers of people are keen to move home in 2012, according to a leading property website.

According to Rightmove.co.uk, there were 27% more searches for homes in the first 10 days of 2012 than in the same period a year earlier.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside says: “Old records are being shattered as search activity surges. Potential buyers and sellers are looking more often and researching more thoroughly.

“In areas with a lot of property up for sale, buyers are looking hard for properties with something really special in terms of value, potential, location or quality of finish.

“If it doesn’t shout ‘special’, they are unlikely to overpay for the privilege of buying an average property in these mortgage-constrained times.

“In locations with little stock for sale, online junkies are ready to pounce on fresh property coming to market to see if it meets their housing needs.

“This search addiction is in part caused by each agency branch currently listing an average of less than one new property per week, an all-time low and around half of pre-credit crunch levels.”

Rightmove thinks the low levels of turnover will only ease when mortgages are easier to obtain.

There were more than 44 million property searches on Rightmove in the first 10 days of 2012 - highlighting strong pent-up demand to move, and also caution among value-seeking buyers taking extra care to research the market before they dive in.

It suggests that if a larger number of mortgages was available, transaction numbers could pick up sharply after three years of stagnation.

Average unsold stock per estate agency branch is 66, the lowest Rightmove has measured since February 2010. But the 36,433 properties coming to market this month equate to an average of less than one new listing per branch per week.

Agents say prospective sellers are deterred by lack of confidence, lack of choice and tight mortgage lending.

Contrasting conditions in local markets will drive prices: the shortage of homes for sale in some areas will help to underpin asking prices.

Despite minimal turnover levels, January also produced the beginning of a ‘spring bounce’ in asking prices of homes coming to market, with an increase of 1.4% in the first week of 2012.

Prices also appear to be little changed in the past year: up by a nominal 0.4%, though with RPI running at 5.2% this represents a fall in real terms.

Shipside added: “There will be upwards price pressure where the local market is short of a type or style of stock. In these areas, getting a property onto the market soon could be to a seller’s advantage, given the strong upsurge in property search activity.”

HAUNTING Julia doesn’t fit the typical Alan Ayckbourn mould. It’s billed as a ghost story, and he usually explores the way people connect with each other, or fail to.

HAUNTING Julia doesn’t fit the typical Alan Ayckbourn mould. It’s billed as a ghost story, and he usually explores the way people connect with each other, or fail to.

But his own introduction to the play describes how he became more interested in the people than the haunting.

Tabs Productions bring this tense, intriguing piece of theatre to the Pomegranate this week; there’s spooky laughter and music, but mostly, in true Ayckbourn style, it’s about the people.

John Hester tugs any parent’s heartstrings as the desperate father of a girl genius still looking for answers twelve years after her untimely death.

Chris Sheridan contrasts crisply the girl’s logical, down-to-earth former boyfriend; his life has moved on, and he has no truck with weird happenings.

John Goodrum is Ken the self-styled psychic, an odd little man with an agenda of his own.

And then there’s Julia...

I’m giving nothing away – but it will make you question what you believe, and the shock ending is well worth waiting for.

It runs until Saturday, and the repertory season continues until March 10.

If you are a fan of unusual and creative recipes featured on TV cooking programmes such as ‘Masterchef’, then the Dragons Fold Restaurant could be the place for you.

The Dragons Fold is a small privately owned restaurant situated in the village of Old Brampton approximately three miles west of Chesterfield town centre.

Standing opposite the village church of Saint Peter and Paul, it was formerly known as the George and Dragon, having been a public house since the early 18th century.

It was rebuilt in its current form in the 1890s and was refurbished and reopened as the Dragons Fold Restaurant in November 2011.

On entering the restaurant we ordered our drinks at the private bar which like the restaurant area was vibrantly decorated in a contemporary theme. We felt the wine list was a little limited, indeed if you chose wine by the glass, only one choice of white was available. As we took our seats in the bar we were presented with the menus in order to make our choices.

It is said that the best restaurants carry the smallest menus and large menus only mean large freezers, however we felt the four main courses plus a steak meal did not leave us with enough choice, especially as the dish we would really have liked to try ,The Slow Braised Derbyshire Lamb, was not available. This left a main course menu of one meat, one fish and two vegetarian courses, as the starter Twice Baked Mushroom souffle was also available as a main course.

We relaxed over drinks in the bar area before being escorted to our table in the restaurant as our first course was ready to be served. My choice was Pan Fried Pigeon Breast with Puy Lentils, Game Chips and Bacon Foam (£6.95), which was cooked perfectly, with a touch of delicacy provided by the lentils and bacon foam. My fellow diner chose Cauliflower Soup with Celeriac (£4.95), which may not be to everyone’s taste. However it proved to be the most delicious soup that she had ever tasted, ‘compliments to the chef’ !

For the main course I chose Pan Fried Sea Bass with Confit of Oxtail, (£16). The sea bass was served on a bed of baby spinach accompanied by dauphinoise potato, enhanced by the confit of oxtail, a delicious and superbly presented dish.

Across the table the choice was Confit of Belly Pork with Crackling (£14.95). The lure of the crispy crackling was too hard to resist but unfortunately the dish was slightly under-cooked resulting in a layer of soft fat and disappointing absence of crackling. This was served with sour apple strudel, a clever twist on the usual apple sauce, a swirl of creamed potato and cabbage and bacon ball. The dish was enhanced by a drizzle of tasty shrimp butter. A generous selection of piping hot seasonal vegetables was a welcome extra to the meal.

After perusing the dessert menu which offered some interesting and unusual dishes we opted for the more traditional Treacle Tart with English Custard and Amaretto Ice Cream (£5.50). We felt slightly disappointed as the pastry could have been a little lighter and the tiny serving of custard was hardly worthy of mention. The most enjoyable part of the dessert was the amaretto ice cream.

We were rather surprised that for the duration of our meal no member of staff came to the table to check if everything was ok.

Our visit to the Dragons Fold left us feeling that once a few shortcomings are addressed this will become a much sought after dining experience for Chesterfield

RATING: Three stars

The Dragons Fold Restaurant, Old Brampton, Chesterfield, S42 7JG

Opening times: Friday/Saturday from 6pm; meals served 6.30pm-9pm.

Contact: (01246) 567776 or info@dragonsfold.com

The Labour controlled Chesterfield Borough Council is making much of the one week, rent free, holiday for the market traders and the fact that the sacking of the market horse (which from your mailbox was clearly an attractor to the market ) will pay for that.

Could I remind your readers that when the Liberal Democrats were in control, we gave two weeks rent free holiday for the market traders in 2008/9 and 2009/10 AND we didn’t have to get rid of the market horse to pay for them – they were paid for out of the operating surplus for the markets, which seemed fair to us.

K.P.MORGAN

Cllr. Walton Ward, CBC

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