| State of the town 11:31 - Sep 30 with 4133 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
Was given my very first furlough day yesterday as I guess a 'thankyou' for holding the fort over the last couple of years, so I headed to the Butt and Oyster for F+C and a pint before making my way into the town centre.
Its been in decline for some years I know but was a real eye opener just how bad it is now. East of Upper Brook Street is a no-mans-land now, with the place in complete decay. The Buttermarket is on its last legs and the main thoroughfare just devoid of any useful shops.
Anyway, the question I have, where on earth do people who live there purchase clothes? I was only after a pair of jeans but after a quick 30 mins I determined that that was going to be an impossible ask. [Post edited 30 Sep 2021 11:32]
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| State of the town on 09:50 - Oct 1 with 541 views | monytowbray |
A mate of mine has opened a new shop in the centre this year and I was amazed for size and location how little the rent is vs what I expected.
Evident they are struggling to fill spots.
From top to bottom the Town has social mobility issues, and it’s not alone.
I’d agree with someone a mix of more residential places would help as all towns will have to soon with remote work out the bag also, but not having the whole thing shut down at 5pm and perhaps cultivating a more outdoors-based nightlife could also help. Always amazed how early it all shuts down. |  |
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| State of the town on 09:54 - Oct 1 with 535 views | monytowbray |
| State of the town on 16:43 - Sep 30 by Tractor_Buck |
The shopping centre up here in sunny Telford was heading in the same direction a few years back, loads of empty units and a lack of custom which it had lost to the retail parks, so the council invested a wedge of money in regenerating an otherwise run down area on its edge and managed to attract Cineworld, TGI's, several of the other usual suspects and a couple of small/independent cafes and restaurants. It gave the whole town centre a new focus, gave people a reason to come into town, and hey presto (even allowing for Covid), the whole area is buzzing again and the shopping centre is the busiest and most diverse it has ever been in the 30 years I lived here.
It just takes a bit of imagination from people who've worked out that people want something more than just a trip to the shops these days. |
Loading a bunch of chains into a shopping centre to extract profit from locals and give it to tax dodgers is a short sighted solution.
Most these chains are being used for all sorts of financial benefits to the owners too. Call it money laundering, tax avoidance or whatever you want. The quality of food vs cost is also a factor, I went to Cosy Club the other week and well, it was dreadful. They all are. Frozen crap. | |
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| State of the town on 09:54 - Oct 1 with 534 views | hype313 |
| State of the town on 09:50 - Oct 1 by monytowbray |
A mate of mine has opened a new shop in the centre this year and I was amazed for size and location how little the rent is vs what I expected.
Evident they are struggling to fill spots.
From top to bottom the Town has social mobility issues, and it’s not alone.
I’d agree with someone a mix of more residential places would help as all towns will have to soon with remote work out the bag also, but not having the whole thing shut down at 5pm and perhaps cultivating a more outdoors-based nightlife could also help. Always amazed how early it all shuts down. |
One thing that amazes me is the times shops are open, essentially 9-5 so pretty much when everyone is at work bar lunchtimes, I would have thought it would be far better to open 11-7 so they catch the lunchtime crowd and people leaving work in the evening wanting to buy things.
That said, with remote working becoming the norm, even trying to entice town office workers will be even harder, towns will have to become more entertainment based, which isn't a bad thing. |  |
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| State of the town on 10:00 - Oct 1 with 516 views | monytowbray |
| State of the town on 09:54 - Oct 1 by hype313 |
One thing that amazes me is the times shops are open, essentially 9-5 so pretty much when everyone is at work bar lunchtimes, I would have thought it would be far better to open 11-7 so they catch the lunchtime crowd and people leaving work in the evening wanting to buy things.
That said, with remote working becoming the norm, even trying to entice town office workers will be even harder, towns will have to become more entertainment based, which isn't a bad thing. |
I had a DM on LinkedIn about a collab work space opening soon which I checked out. It was just some venture capitalist sticking them in every town. Told them I’m not interested really, I think local is the future.
IMO it needs to shift away from “a place to buy stuff” and do more to become a cultural/social hub. [Post edited 1 Oct 2021 10:01]
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| State of the town on 10:01 - Oct 1 with 508 views | Meadowlark |
| State of the town on 11:54 - Sep 30 by Bluespeed225 |
Town Center has been hit by the double whammy of Covid and online, same as all regional centers. Forget the rose tinted goggles that people seem to view BSE through, its the same, just a lot, lot smaller. However, and the 'Elephant in the room', is the demographic that inhabit the Town center during daylight hours. I know, I know, cultural diversity, no problem with that, but, and I speak for my wife (unusual i know), she is put off by the gaggles of men around the Town center, and also the re-emergence of the street drinkers. Losing the old manufacturing sites, plus many office/shop staff not around at lunchtime anymore has led to a much changed street scene. The change from retail to leisure hopefully may help. The new school proposal in the old Carr St Co-Op might do something to revive that end.? |
Y'all have your spellchecker set on US English buddy. |  | | |
| State of the town on 10:14 - Oct 1 with 491 views | The_Major |
I do think as well the area of the town centre where you were guaranteed to find the big names has narrowed further and further over the years. Go back to 1985 or so, and there were loads of big name stores in the town. You'd start off with the Co-op at Majors Corner, and then go past Woolworths, two branches of Boots, John Menzies, BHS, Burtons, Debenhams, WHSmith, Marks & Spencer, Primark, all the way through to the Tesco in St Matthews Street.
There was also other local stores that had large premises - Gordon Thoday, Martin & Newby, Ridleys, Corders. Here we are in 2021, and of the above list, WHSmiths, Marks & Spencer, and Primark are the only ones left for one reason or another. The biggest retail names are now only in a 30 yard stretch of Westgate Street.
Carr Street is like the back of beyond. You feel there should be a sign as you cross by the White Horse that says "Abandon hope all ye who enter here". It's not helped by the massive empty Co-op building and the absolutely dreadful state of the old Woolworths block. At least the Co-op building looks somewhat impressive, but apparently the plan is to flatten it to build the school - this means you lose the frontage with all the crests and also the mosaic around the back over Cox Lane. If you're going to demolish anything around there, then get rid of Woolworths. Build a new multi-storey on the site and then you've got a carpark that comes out on the main shopping street. Both the Charles Street and Foundation Street car parks are a little bit removed from the very centre.
Fully pedestrianise Upper Brook Street and Northgate Street, they're as good as like that anyway, and that would link everything up - probably do Lloyds Avenue as well. I would say as well, get someone in the Debenhams site sharpish, but as the BHS site in the Buttermarket has now been empty for five years or so, I won't hold my breath.
The council has said for years that they want to turn the axis of the town centre north-south instead of east-west so that it links in with the waterfront, but unless you're going to build a load of retail units down Turret Lane, I can't see how you're going to do it - there's obviously retail down Fore Street and the Saints, but the roads inbetween are either office, residential or disused industrial blocks.
Nuts to it, just build a half sized Bluewater off the Seven Hills junction near the Crematorium. That'll do it. |  | | |
| State of the town on 01:26 - Oct 2 with 422 views | Bluespeed225 |
| State of the town on 10:14 - Oct 1 by The_Major |
I do think as well the area of the town centre where you were guaranteed to find the big names has narrowed further and further over the years. Go back to 1985 or so, and there were loads of big name stores in the town. You'd start off with the Co-op at Majors Corner, and then go past Woolworths, two branches of Boots, John Menzies, BHS, Burtons, Debenhams, WHSmith, Marks & Spencer, Primark, all the way through to the Tesco in St Matthews Street.
There was also other local stores that had large premises - Gordon Thoday, Martin & Newby, Ridleys, Corders. Here we are in 2021, and of the above list, WHSmiths, Marks & Spencer, and Primark are the only ones left for one reason or another. The biggest retail names are now only in a 30 yard stretch of Westgate Street.
Carr Street is like the back of beyond. You feel there should be a sign as you cross by the White Horse that says "Abandon hope all ye who enter here". It's not helped by the massive empty Co-op building and the absolutely dreadful state of the old Woolworths block. At least the Co-op building looks somewhat impressive, but apparently the plan is to flatten it to build the school - this means you lose the frontage with all the crests and also the mosaic around the back over Cox Lane. If you're going to demolish anything around there, then get rid of Woolworths. Build a new multi-storey on the site and then you've got a carpark that comes out on the main shopping street. Both the Charles Street and Foundation Street car parks are a little bit removed from the very centre.
Fully pedestrianise Upper Brook Street and Northgate Street, they're as good as like that anyway, and that would link everything up - probably do Lloyds Avenue as well. I would say as well, get someone in the Debenhams site sharpish, but as the BHS site in the Buttermarket has now been empty for five years or so, I won't hold my breath.
The council has said for years that they want to turn the axis of the town centre north-south instead of east-west so that it links in with the waterfront, but unless you're going to build a load of retail units down Turret Lane, I can't see how you're going to do it - there's obviously retail down Fore Street and the Saints, but the roads inbetween are either office, residential or disused industrial blocks.
Nuts to it, just build a half sized Bluewater off the Seven Hills junction near the Crematorium. That'll do it. |
I'm in the 20th century Society and got them on the mosaic a few years back. Ipswich Society now on it too. Word is that it will be 'scanned, and a copy included into the new building'.So it doesn't look good. I'd like to grab a lump when they tear it down. 1962 vintage as well! | | | |
| State of the town on 03:08 - Oct 2 with 408 views | floridablue |
This has been an interesting but depressing read as to how the town I was raised in for close on 50 years has declined. 20 years ago I looked forward to my weekend walking pub crawls around the town center. Very sad! [Post edited 2 Oct 2021 3:15]
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