Five Scottish streets nominated in the Google Street View
Awards
Google have today announced the launch of the Google Street View
Awards, a celebration of Britain’s best-loved streets as voted for
by the public in a nationwide poll. Five streets from within
Scotland have been shortlisted for the awards by Google’s expert
panel.
Google’s panel of experts which includes VisitBritain, Lonely
Planet, TV presenter Julia Bradbury, Fashion Designer Jeff Banks
and Editor of Glamour, Jo Elvin.
- Main Street in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull
is nominated for Britain’s Most Picturesque Street
- Byres Road in Glasgow and The Shore in
Edinburgh nominated for
Britain’s Best Foodie Street
- Buchanan Street and Ruthven
Lane in Glasgow nominated for Britain’s Best Fashion
Street
The awards, for Britain’s Most Picturesque Street, Best Foodie
Street and Best Fashion Street, have been created in anticipation
of further imagery being added to Google’s revolutionary Street
View tool, which currently allows users to view and navigate 360
degree street-level imagery in 25 British towns, including many of
those nominated for the Street View Awards. Later this year, Street
View will be rolled out to cover additional streets from around the
UK.
Scotland proved popular with Google’s panel of experts who
nominated a total of five streets across the three categories.
These included Tobermory’s Main Street on the Isle of Mull which
was nominated by the Lonely Planet’s David Else for the Most
Picturesque Street. The brightly painted cottages that line the sea
front will be recognisable to many familiar with the TV series,
Balamory.
Glasgow impressed Google’s panel of experts, receiving two
nominations for the Best Fashion Street category for the popular
Buchanan Street and the independent vintage shops found on Ruthven
Lane. Glasgow’s Byres Road was also nominated in the Best Foodie
Street category by Nicholas Lander, Restaurant Correspondent at the
Financial Times. The Shore in Edinburgh was also nominated for this
category by Richard Harden, Co-Editor of Harden’s Restaurant
Guides.
Shortlisted nominations for each of the award categories have
been compiled by a panel of experts from the worlds of food,
fashion and travel including VisitBritain, TV personalities Julia
Bradbury (Countryfile), Jeff Banks (The Clothes Show) and Brix
Smith Start (Gok’s Fashion Fix), leading journalists Jo Elvin
(Editor, Glamour) and Nicholas Lander (Restaurant Correspondent,
Financial Times) and authors David Else (Editor of The Lonely
Planet Guide to Great Britain) and Richard Harden (Co-Editor,
Harden’s Restaurant Guide). The experts were asked to nominate
streets that fulfilled a pre-set criteria for each category. Their
nominated streets highlight a series of British treasures ranging
from famous tourist attractions such as London’s King's Road, Royal
Crescent in Bath and The Shambles in York to hidden avenues and
courtyards such as Gold Hill in Shaftesbury and Pen Cei in
Aberaeron, Wales.
The five streets within Scotland will now battle it out against
45 other streets in a nationwide public vote. Voting opens from
today, and closes on Sunday 28th February. The winners will be
announced in March. To vote, go to www.maps.google.co.uk/beststreets
Britain’s Best Foodie Street
The winning street should offer a unique mix of mouth-watering
options which could include fine dining, cafés, market stalls and
delicatessens, all covering a diverse mix of food types and price
points.
1. Byres Road, Glasgow
2. The Shore, Edinburgh
3. High Street, Southwold, Suffolk
4. High Street, Cley next the Sea, Norfolk
5. South Embankment, Dartmouth
6. Whiteladies Road, Bristol
7. Charlotte Street, London
8. Stockbridge High Street, Hampshire
9. Call Lane, Leeds
10. Fossgate, York
11. Broad Street, Birmingham
12. Belgrave Road, Leicester
13. Wilmslow Road, Manchester
14. Hope Street, Liverpool
15. Osborne Road, Jesmond, Newcastle
16. Haven Hill, Craster
17. Cross Street, Abergavenny
18. High Street, Conwy
19. Botanic Avenue, Belfast
20. Howard Street, Belfast
Nicholas Lander, Restaurant Correspondent at the Financial Times
nominated Byres Road in Glasgow, commenting it is “The focal point
of Glasgow’s West End, in a city where everyone seems to want to
have a good time.”
Britain’s Best Fashion Street
The winning street should offer an eclectic mix of boutique and
high street, designer and high street for all clothing tastes and
ages. The winning street should satisfy both bargain-hunters and
label-lovers.
1. Ruthven Lane, Glasgow
2. Buchanan Street, Glasgow
3. Rose Crescent, Cambridge
4. Gentleman’s Walk, Norwich
5. Milsom Street, Bath
6. Regent Street, Clifton Village, Bristol
7. Kings Road, London
8. Westbourne Grove, London
9. Stonegate, York
10. Briggate, Leeds
11. Corporation Street, Birmingham
12. Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham
13. Mathew Street, Liverpool
14. New Cathedral Street, Manchester
15. Northumberland Street, Newcastle
16. High Bridge Street, Newcastle
17. Queen’s Street, Cardiff
18. St Mary’s Street, Cardiff
19. Victoria Street, Belfast
20. Lisburn Road, Belfast
Jo Elvin, Editor of Glamour Magazine nominated Buchanan Street
in Glasgow for the Best Fashion category, commenting it has a
“Really exciting Oxford Street vibe that would really bring out the
shopaholic in me!"
Britain’s Most Picturesque Street
The winning street should be uniquely British and visually
charming. It could be vibrant, full of character, diverse,
walker-friendly or architecturally interesting.
1. Main Street, Tobermory, Isle of Mull
2. Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset
3. Royal Crescent, Bath
4. Chipping Campden High Street, Gloucestershire
5. Brunswick Square, Brighton & Hove
6. The Shambles, York
7. Grey Street, Newcastle
8. Pen Cei, Aberaeron
9. New College Lane, Oxford
10. Broad Street, Ludlow
Lonely Planet’s David Else nominated Main Street on Tobermory,
commenting: “I’m a sucker for a row of multi-coloured houses, and I
love a harbour view. Tobermory’s Main Street combines the two
perfectly!”
The winning three streets will be crowned “Britain’s Best Street
2010” in each relevant category. Google will work with the winning
streets to create a bespoke Google Street View tour, created to
highlight the key retailers and points of interest, allowing the
world to find out more about the nation’s final choices.
Competition is expected to be fierce as streets from all over
Britain battle it out for the coveted awards. Can Scotland put
itself firmly on Google’s map by winning any of the three best
street categories, or will Main Street in Tobermory lose out to
Dorset’s pretty Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, home of the famous Hovis
advert? Will Glasgow’s Buchanan Street attract enough votes to be
crowned Britain’s Best Fashion Street with its mix of shopping
arcades, department stores and high street favourites, or will it
be upstaged by London’s historic King’s Road or Bath’s
boutique-filled Milsom Street?
Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive, VisitBritain said: "We are really
pleased to be involved in this exciting project which will honour
streets across the UK and help raise the profile of Britain
internationally in an innovative way. The campaign received high
levels of participation from overseas which raises the level of
engagement with Britain.”
Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist for Google said: "We want to
celebrate the beauty and culture of Britain and are really excited
about the first ever Google Street View Awards. The awards will
showcase some of Britain's Best Streets across the UK and we hope
people will get involved and vote online for their favourite."
For further information please contact:
Lesley Land, Emma Wright or Sam Jones @ Taylor Herring PR
0208 206 5151
Lesley.land@taylorherring.com
Emma.wright@taylorherring.com
Sam.jones@taylorherring.com
Notes to Editors:
About the Poll: The voting will be open on Monday 8th February, and
will close on Sunday 28th February. The winners will be announced
in March.
About the nominations: The panelists were asked to nominate streets
in their relevant categories across 10 different regions in the UK.
From these nominations, Google worked with VisitBritain to compile
a shortlist of streets consisting of 20 nominations in the Best
Foodie and Best Fashion category, and 10 in Most Picturesque. These
nominations reflect a broad and diverse offering from across the
UK.
About Google Street View: Street View is a hugely popular feature
of Google Maps which is already available in more than 100
metropolitan areas around the world. It is also available in
Google Earth and on Google Maps for Mobile. Google launched
Street View imagery in UK in April 2009 allowing people to view and
navigate 360 degree street-level imagery in 25 British towns.
In areas where Street View is available, you can access
street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google
Maps, or by dragging the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side
of the map onto a blue highlighted street. You can check out a
restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting
points, get a helping hand with geography homework, or just explore
and get to know your town better.
PANEL OF EXPERTS
VisitBritain
VisitBritain has contributed to every category. VisitBritain is
Britain's national tourism agency, responsible for marketing
Britain overseas. They work in partnership with thousands of
organisations in the UK and overseas and seek to ensure that
Britain is marketed in an appropriate way in 35 markets around the
world. They also work to promote the tourism industry within the UK
itself.
BEST FOODIE STREET:
Roopa Gulati, Deputy Channel Head of Good Food, Chef and
Author
A Cordon Bleu trained chef, Roopa blends western and Asian styles
of cooking and has previously worked as a consultant chef with the
Taj group of hotels. She is currently Deputy Channel Editor for
Good Food Channel. She is a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio 4,
and a restaurant critic for Time Out magazine and guides. Her
features have been published in many magazines, including BBC Good
Food and New York-based food and travel magazine, Gourmet.
Henrietta Green, founder of FoodLoversBritain.com
Henrietta is a leading expert on British local and regional quality
food. She has won several awards including a Guild of Food Writers
Award for the greatest contribution to British food and The Good
Housekeeping Award 2006 for Outstanding Contribution to Food.
Nicholas Lander, Restaurant Correspondent at the Financial
Times
Nick opened London’s L’Escargot restaurant and became the Food
Critic at the Financial Times in 1989 writing under the byline of
‘The Restaurant Insider.’ He has written a number of books and
works as a consultant for a wide range of clients including Fortnum
& Mason’s and The British Museum.
Richard Harden, Co-Editor of Harden’s Restaurant Guides
Richard founded Harden’s Guides with his brother Peter in 1991.
Initially just for London, Harden’s Guides launched their UK guide
in 1998. Prior to founding Harden’s Guides Richard was a
Barrister.
Chloe Scott-Moncrieff, Food & Drink Editor of Metro
Chloe has worked for Metro since 2003, initially as a freelancer,
becoming the Food and Drink Editor 3 years ago. She writes Metro’s
popular Gastro Girl blog and sits on the panel of the Great Taste
Awards and World Cheese Awards. She has also written about food for
the Saturday Telegraph Magazine, Country Life and Waitrose Food
Illustrated.
BEST FASHION STREET:
Jeff Banks, Fashion Designer
Jeff has been a pioneer within the UK fashion industry since he
founded Clobber in 1966. He’s been a regular on TV since launching
The Clothes Show on BBC in 1987, presenting over 320 episodes. His
clothing is sold in leading department stores and he’s opened a
range of Jeff Banks stores around the world. He designs a range of
corporate clothing for companies such as BAA and Barclays.
Jo Elvin, Editor of Glamour
Jo has worked on a number of British magazines including TV Hits,
Sugar, B Magazine and New Woman before launching Glamour in 2001.
She is a regular guest on GMTV and LK Today and has written for The
Observer, Evening Standard and The Independent.
Brix Smith-Start, fashion retailer and TV personality
Brix began her career within the British band, The Fall in 1983. In
2002 she launched the clothing store, Start, with her husband
Philip Start. Brix is now a regular face of fashion on TV appearing
on Gok’s Fashion Fix, The Culture Show and LK Today.
Hannah Sandling, Stylist and TV personality
Hannah can regularly be seen on TV commenting on fashion, style and
celebrity on BBC Breakfast, Five News and GMTV. As a celebrity
stylist Hannah has worked with Sienna Miller, Dita Von Teese and
Emma Bunton. She has a column within Fabulous Magazine and has
written two books.
Scott Henshall, Fashion Designer
In 1998 Scott became the youngest designer to show during London
fashion week and since then he’s grown famous for dressing
celebrities in show-stopping red carpet designs. The Scott Henshall
Mainline Collection is stocked around the world and he’s developed
a successful label specifically for Japan.
Amber Morales, Fashion Editor of the Daily Mirror
MOST PICTURESQUE STREET:
Julia Bradbury
Credited with revamping Sunday night primetime television and
dubbed “The Lady of the Lake District”, Julia is one of the small
screen’s most popular and versatile presenters. Having taken the
helm on BBC One’s rural affairs show Countryfile alongside Matt
Baker in 2009, the show’s ratings have since soared to over six
million viewers.
David Else, Lead Author of The Lonely Planet Guide to Great
Britain
David wrote his first travel guide book in 1983 and since then he
has written or co-written over 25 Lonely Planet guides covering the
UK and many other parts of the world. David also writes and
broadcasts about travel and outdoor activities for newspapers,
magazines and websites.
Frank Barrett, Travel Editor at the Mail on Sunday
Frank joined the Travel Trade Gazette as a graduate trainee and has
worked in travel journalism his entire career. He has written for
The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times before
becoming the Travel Editor of the Mail on Sunday in 1994. He has
written several travel books and has won multiple awards, including
the prestigious British Press Award for travel feature
writing.
Lisa Minot, Travel Editor of The Sun
Lisa started her career in journalism at just 15 and by 19 was
Editor of her local newspaper. She has worked at The Sun newspaper
for 20 years, 10 of which as their Travel Editor
