Sadly little towns like ours are slowly going 'downhill'; we are becoming 'forgotten', 'unimportant' - life is passing us by.
Oh yes, folk love us for holidays - on the edge of the Pennines, pretty villages all around, plenty of eating places, a good choice of places to stay (very expensive holiday cottages) - wonderful walks/rambles/climbs (take your pick), friendly locals who hate tourists taking up all the free parking places in the Market Square (honesty box!) early in the morning and then going off for the day walking, leaving the locals to pay in the Car Park, lots of shops for buying presents to take home.
But then the Tourist Season ends and reality sets in. I am sure many folk make their living from the tourists and they do bring large amounts of money into the area - money which is sorely needed because although there are jobs to be had a-plenty up here most of them are poorly paid - and the price of food from Tesco et al is just the same for us as it is in the more affluent places.
But what are we left with? When I came to make this place my home over thirty years ago everywhere seemed almost too good to be true. There was a wonderful Friday Market where almost everything could be had. Wonderful fruit and vegetable stalls (they are still here and as good as ever, wonderful fish-- fresh from Whitby (still available and as good as ever), clothing, china, tools, garden (still here and equally good) - everything you could possibly want from a small town. Most of the Market has disappeared - it is not what it used to be - too easy to buy stuff delivered next day on line.
Now things are different - times have changed - Covid has intervened - most locals buy their food on line. Supermarket delivery vehicles pass my window on to this estate - Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Iceland, Amazon Prime. But here we are lucky - we have what must be one of the best Co-op stores in the country. Everyone who is not 'on line' shops there. We have a family-run Deli and Butchery which has been here for a very long time and has a wonderful selection of goodies and a whole floor of wines and spirits.
When I moved up here with my first husband there were two banks. HSBC aand Barclays - life was so easy - pay your cheques in, draw money out, know your Bank Clerk on first-name terms, sort out any problems on the spot. HSBC closed about four years ago; Barclays closed in May of this year. There is still a Barclays in Richmond (about ten miles away); the nearest HSBC is in Thirsk which is around thirty miles away. Both buildings are empty and verging on becoming derelict. Both are in the Market Square. HSBC is a complete eyesore, weeds growing out on to the pavement (it was for a while Costa coffee but that didn't last long.) There is a cash machine in the Co-op and one in One-Stop. All monetary transactions are a nightmare. Cash (actual 'in your hand' money)needed for your paper (I have mine on subscription - not everyone wants to do that. ) We have a very efficient newsagents shop where money can buy a paper (providing you have actually got real live money). We don't all bank on line - our population is an ageing one and not everyone can cope with on line money management (me included).
Post Office? That is a laugh if you can manage to think about the situation without crying). Most of the time the Post Office (which is at the back of the Co-op store) is not open -mainly it seems because 'they' whoever they are ,can't get staff to man it. (Very low pay I am told.) Two local villages have a Post Office Van two afternoons a week for a couple of hours and I understand provide a very efficient service (if you can get there.) Many folk are elderly, don't drive. We are very lucky to have brilliant post men/women who go out ot their way to be helpful.
Bus service? I believe that works well with buses to Richmond and to Ripon (and on- going buses from there) and bus passes for the elderly help greatly.
We still have a thriving Auction Mart for cattle (fridays) and sheep (not sure what days). My dear farmer - and even more so his dear old father- saw this as a fixture for Friday mornings. It was a ritual - he drove down and parked in the Mart field. I took my shopping trolley, stocked up with first class fruit and veg then met 'the girls' in 'The Post Horn' for coffee (around ten of us - reserved table - coffee (and toasted tea cake if you fancied one). I then walked back to the car, left my shopping trolley for the farmer to put in the boot and then sat and read the paper (the weekly 'Darlington and Stockton Times') until his cattle had been sold and/or he had caught up with the farming gossip.
Times have changed - every small country town can no doubt tell the same story. Time marches on but most of us reach an age when we can't keep up with it all. I count myself lucky that my laptop is my saviour and anything too complicated and I can call on friend S or my son.
But is it sad - or is it progress?
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27 comments:
We travelled from Harrogate to Hawes on Thursday and were looking forward to lunch a Tennants Auction House-road closed so we just had to go on to Hawes. Lovely coffee and scones in Wensleydale Creamery on Friday and some lovely cheese purchased too. Catriona
It is sad and certainly not the kind of progress that will benefit many people, unless of course, you are addicted to a smart phone and the apps that come with it, with them of course, you don't really need all the facilities that we used to depend on in your average town.
The description of your town, describes my local towns and is echoed no doubt throught the country now.
What am interesting post, Pat. I enjoyed the glimpse of what your village was like and am sorry it, like so many other villages and even cities here are becoming ghost towns. Have you heard how bad things are in Detroit? Dismal. Who could have imagined it?
Your mention of Thirsk being 30 miles away was of interest to me because of James Herriot's (Alf Wight) books and later, The Yorkshire Vet TV show.
Ah, over here the joke is "What is the opposite of progress? Congress!"
Hugs - Barbara
I left a comment on Johns post about Yorkshire and travels I have been on. Yes downhill is right for much of the cities/world. Like Barbara Anne just said have you seen Detroit ? LA is even worst !
It is definitely sad Pat. Our little town is just the same. Half a dozen or more charity shops, 4 nail bars, 1 bank, Lloyds (a few years back we had all four major banks) and our post office is at the back of the Co-p, no butcher, and I haven't counted all the coffee shops. Our once wonderful market is now held in the carpark every Saturday and down to 3 stalls: fishmonger, garden plants and pet food. Plenty of empty shops and businesses to add to the gloom. Forty years ago it was a thriving little market town but now we have no police station - it was knocked down to build retirement flats. Our council offices, built at great expense about 20 years ago, were pulled down and there is an elderly people's home in its place. Our current council offices are in another town altogether and I think they have forgotten us completely. Very sad. We do still have a library and five pubs. Plenty of choice for drowning one's sorrows!
Some of the bigger stores in the North of England are now only in Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool. Stores such as Marks and Spences used to be in most towns. No more.
Catriona - I live about a mile from Tennants - you could have called for coffee with me.
Someone in my fitness group bought a book along about our district in the 1800's - the layout, farming, businesses and schools. I was surprised about the orchards, and extent of the farming, as all are busy roads now and housing. We still have the rare treed areas, but that is about to change with land being cleared for more heavily-compacted housing on very small blocks of land. I find it sad and depressing, especially as there is a lot of colourful bird life in the trees that are about to be cut down.
Our vibrant and interesting Sunday market on the common, was closed years ago due to surrounding high rise residents complaining about the noise and parking. - Pam, Sth Aust.
I think that these that you say happens in all the planet. This is the reallity. But the good new is that you live in a wonderful place all the year. Calm and silent. It is a very good place.
I remember how my market town was when I was a child, firstly coming in on the country bus, then moving into town when I was 7. It was a thriving place, much as others were at the time. We had what I term 'aspirational' shops, which sold quality items, and every service you could hope for was here. Now it is sad, empty, degraded. Covid seems to have been the final nail in the coffin.
Being born and bred in a market town, I’ve watched as my town has gone downhill over the years. Planners got hold of the town in the late 1970s/ early 1980s and they ruined the beauty and charm of the town. With no thought of how the hideous buildings would blend in and enhance the town, I would say that was a big thumbs down to progress! So sad.
We do have a town centre manager who works hard to organise events and draw people to the town. However, I think that much of the problem can be attributed to car parking charges. And because of this, shoppers tend to go to the ‘out of town’, shopping areas where parking is free. I feel sorry for the traders in the town.
My town is steeped in history and it’s a very interesting history…and when I was teaching, I was keen to ensure that my children knew as much as possible about the town in which they lived! We do have a lovely museum, now housed in a bigger building than previously; we have good rail links; we have plenty of parks, river walks and woodlands all easily reached from the town. And needless to say, we have many houses being built around the town. I hope that the town can attract more people to its centre in the future; it just needs the right people with the right vision, I think!
I live in a quiet town most of the year and I love it. If I want excitement, it is not far away. Living in the woods surrounded by wildlife, streams and my gardens is perfect.
It is unalterable progress. My village figured out how to beat the "stealing" day long parking, but for all the rest had to beg sustenance funds from higher up in government.
Well, it's progress. Some is sad. It's also where you come from. My village was about 50 people when I was a kid. Now it's nothing. all land has been rezoned to agriculture. Villages are gone as well as most towns. So it's a matter of perspective.
I'm afraid your description of village life is all too common around the world; it certainly is here in rural France. Back in Brighton they hardly know that things like this are happening. Brighton is a big buzzing trendy coastal 'city' that is cocooned in it's own little world. We lack nothing, it's alive 24/24, and the youthful population let you know that they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love both locations for very different reasons.
Things have changed, are changing, and will change again to back where it has all started from. It's a Cycle, and we won't be part of it, but the next generations. Perhaps the world will even go back to the beginning, the Creation. Perhaps a better world will be created.
I think you are experiencing the Welsh word 'Hiraeth' Pat. Not easily explained but a yearning or longing for something lost. I have homesick feelings for North Yorks because the market towns there were part of my life. Here in West Yorks the great towns of Manchester, Halifax and Huddersfield scare me with their enormous footfall.
I'm lucky in still having a local shop, post office, pub, primary school and even a railway station in my home village. Other places are not so lucky. When I try to analyse the situation it seems that the "lucky" villages are those which are expanding, allowing at least some new housing. The extra population is just enough to keep these services going. And although we mourn the demise of local business we are also part of the problem by buying online and emailing instead of writing letters.
It is a progression but it is not positive.
My town of some 30K people won't have a bank after September when Barclays close. HSBC closed a few weeks ago, and now already looks derelict, and the old Lloyds is already one of the hundreds of coffee shops we seem to have! The Post Office is at the back of W H Smith and when I used to have to use it for Oxfam money there was only ever one cashier.
As I see Ripon only once a year for about a fortnight, I notice differences from one year to the next, and there have been many shop closures and others. The lovely little cinema (the Curzon) is gone, all but one of the banks are gone, but there is still a post office, a library, several schools and kindergardens, the council offices in the town hall, family-run butchers, proper bakery, book shops, and of course the Thursday market. Ripon is still a place where a family can live without having to go out of town or order online for their needs and wants.
For me its just sad. Hugs! deb
Time is just pushing out the old and bringing in the new. I hate it. So many wonderful things are now gone...A store down the road Closed yesterday because their INTERNET was out!! Couldn't run their cash registers!! Unbelievable! They don't know HOW to work without the internet! No backup in place like, credit card swipers (by hand) or a cash register that doesn't need power! The younger generations are lacking in survival skills, big time!
hugs
Donna
My little town has grown into a city so we have lots of shops and 2 post offices but also lots of shoppers and traffic. I try not to buy online and spend at the local businesses. The small town charm is gone along with lots of the little old homes that have been replaced by huge homes and townhouses but that's what keeps the money here and so we have good schools, libraries, and local parks to enjoy.
Librarian - that Thursday market used to be THE place to go in my driving days - good big car park quite near and really everything you could possibly need. Is it still as good as it used to be?
So interesting to read all your points of view - it seems everywhere is the same. Speaking to my son yesterday evening after he had read my post he said something which is very true. We must see it as progress - however sad we feel it is happening and will continue to happen. We can't go back. The real 'culprit' is the rise of the internet - as far as banking is concernedd most folk now bank on line and don't need a local bank. Commodity-wise our whole world has become a 'shop window' so we don't need local shops.
Thank you all for your contributions.
Pat, if you go to my blog and click back a few posts, you will find one about last Thursday with a description of Ripon‘s market.
. . . . . and we all agree, well those of us in our particular age group, that life was so much better back in the forties/fifties/sixties, but it started to spiral downhill in the seventies and won't stop now! We are perhaps the most fortunate ones who got by with so much less yet enjoyed life so much more! At least we have wonderful memories of childhood in the UK - for that I'm so thankful Pat.
Mary x
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