The High Street needs a massive rethink. People's shopping habits won't ever go back to what it once was. We need to see more services delivered from the High Street - make sure the council buildings are in the city centre. The more services we can bring into the High Street, the more people have a reason to go there and you start to create passing trade. If that means you do away with business rates on these properties then that's fine. The High Street needs to be a socialising space with multiple uses, not just retail. If you ever visit Hamilton town centre, you'll see a massive waste of space.
Couldn't agree more with this. Unfortunately shops aren't doing it for the high streets anymore, but by having work/office spaces in the same area then you will get far more footfall and likely make the town much more lively and attractive to shop in
@@Bi9Dre the younger generation aren't interested because no one has given them a reason to be interested. Create reasons to go there and people will naturally flock to it, fill it with bookies/pubs it will continue to decline. Corporations have gotten away with stagnated and antiquated views on customers for way too long, what we are seeing is a result to the lack of evolution of public spaces. We have to stop this blanket generalisation of "younger generation don't use stuff", both yourself and the gentleman in this video outside the pub are both quick to blame them but haven't considered there is zero reason for them to use it.
I live in the Netherlands, down south near a small town. The city centre seems to survive because the counsel actively promote new initiatives and devellopers are being encouraged to turn empty space above and between exhisting shops into homes which both help to keep it alive. They also try and keep giant companies out of the centre (Like McD, Domino's, H&M and so on) we do have a few. I believe 2 the rest of them that we do have are miles out of the city near the highway. In the centre we have privat owned restaurants and take aways, the more normal shops as well as tiny initiatives like a very upscale flower shop and a vegan clothing shop. I think the local government needs to actively be involved and have a long term plan. Ever since I was young they were very involved and always looked at a balanced centre. It does get harder as time goes on but we still are alive and kicking! And indeed, an overabundance of tourisme kills towns.....the next town over is now seeing that and finally getting some tough regulations in place to prevent that. AirB&B is getting more and more restricted. It doesnt have to disapear but tourism has gotten out of hand and killed all livability in so many towns and cities..
NL customer shopping dynamic is totally different from that of UK and their Super-Supermarkets, The big five, Tescos, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose. Which have basically killed off the smaller independent baker, butcher candlestick maker etc. This was tried in NL and failed. The Dutch shop smaller locally and more frequently, daily to twice a week, and cash is used much more.
It's not just shopping habits. Teenagers especially used to dress up to wander around town, seeing and being seen. They would hang out with their mates buying records and the latest fashion which was doing their bit for the shopping economy. Nowadays they stay home in their trakkies, playing games, texting and seeing much more than they used to on the phone. The parents are not much different and find their entertainment indoors online. People were once classed as odd if they stayed indoors all the time. Now it is becoming the norm.
Yes the good old days, unfortunately those days are long gone, buying your first record was a buzz, taking pride in your appearance, so much has changed and not for the better.
I'm almost 30. I used to dress up a bit when I was in my teens/early 20's, but now I feel like there's no point because everyone else walks about in a hoodie and joggers, so I do the same. Gets me less scowls from the people around my area. Only time I dress up now is when I'm travelling to somewhere that isn't a chav infested dump.
I would love to go out somewhere in my home town but if you don't drink or want to come home with ear ache from a club, you're goosed. I would also scrub up better for work but our uniform is unfortunately T-shirts.
My missus is a geography teacher. The high street is a module covered in the coursework. She says there is a real shortage of good quality videos on the topic. Maybe worthwhile looking into what is covered in that module. If the Schools start using your content in their coursework, you could see a huge boost in your view count. Great video by the way. Both my missus and I love your videos.
Hey thanks for this, I could probably benefit from you misses knowledge as well so I appreciate any tips, if you’ve got any send to wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com In doing my research, I was also shocked at how little this is covered. There was a big look at it about 5 years ago, and then since then there had been nothing
My daughter is doing a level geography and I found your videos through the barrow in Furness video , which is where I work , she’s already looking at the topic and your videos are really useful , I’m enjoying the content as well .
I am originally from the North of England but I now live here in Eureka (Northern California). Small town retail struggles here . There is a reason that Bezos Amazon) is one of the wealthiest men in the USA . Folks prefer to sit at their computer and order "on line". The concept of walking from store to store (shop to shop for you folks in the UK) seems to be a dying habit unfortunately.
in the UK you have an extra level of greed called city and local councils who did not adapt to the changing habits of consumers. There are plenty of up and coming businesses that would benefit from lower rents in such places
I would say that Eureka is “challenged” rather than depressed. We have a few boarded up store fronts but there is retail activity and at least a dozen good quality local restaurants ( not chains ) . This area was dependent on the red wood mills . However since de industrialization this area has revived invented itself .
Never been to America but I can imagine that online shopping is likely even bigger there as its home to big companies such as Amazon. The US is also full of chains and outer city industrial shopping areas which are cheaper for big companies to maintain and also often easier to access considering that the majority of American houses are detached and far away from city centres.
A suggestion: do a bit of reconaissance work and put flyers out asking to speak with people about the things you're talking about. Right now you're repeating yourself a lot, and interviews hold people's interest and flesh out the story. It then becomes more of a documentary. Do some research on each town as well and show us that. It's coming off as a bit lazy because you're not really prepared. Just blah blah blah at the camera, same old same old. We want to know what makes a place unique, and also contrast with what other places are doing. Talk to the council, ask them about their plans. It will create interest and engagement. JIMO.
Online clothes shopping is a nightmare - the sizes and fabric are never like the photo online - i hate it - id rather try stuff on before i buy it ....also Christmas time the big window displays are amazing - you cant get that online . Its a shame .....i also think one empty shop can ruin the look of a town - its that broken window theory - everything starts to look scruffy and the place takes on a grim atmosphere .
One reason Primark does so well. Even in Scunthorpe, which was a very sad place to go shopping last time I went - so many empty shops, Primark's store sticks out. Grimsby is much the same - devoid of good shops. Lincoln is sort of doing OK but even here, Debenhams and Wilco falling over have left big holes that need revitalising. But high streets all over the place need looking at. Maybe make them user friendly. Like put in seats etc.
I would love to show you the town i left 23 years ago,as i had foresight to see were it was going and moved only 18 miles away to another town,the diffrence is mind boggling,during the 70s the town i grew up had one off the wealthiest manufacturing in the country along with three working coal mines. Now 50 years later its a shadow of its former past,and thats putting it politely. Another great video
I emigrated to South Africa 43 years ago and I left a booming thriving town called Grimsby which used to be the biggest fishing port in the world ! There were also chemical industries and all kinds of manufacturing ! There was so much work it was impossible to be unemployed ! It has ALL gone !!! Boarded up shops lead to the once bustling docks ! Dead as a Dodo !!!!
Really interesting series. New sub here. I'm from Dudley West Midlands. Out of town retail parks (merry hill) killed the high street. Now those centres are also struggling and the high streets are full of bookies, charity shops, Greggs / knock off Gregg's, cash converters - it is just depressing. It's very much pushing me to buy online rather than go to the hassle of trying to find something in a declining centre. Public transport isn't good enough to get into town. I can order pretty much anything now and I'll get it within 24 hours. Sometimes less. Online shopping has shown a level of convenience that can't be matched on a high street.
I look forward to the online shopping one, but will the Turnip be Wandering or will he be sat at a desk? I am in Colley Gate, 10 mins bus ride from the aforementioned Merry Hill so really convenient for me.
The only London boroughs high streets outside of the posh ones that are doing well are the ones full of rampant money laundering operations like endless barbers and minimarts . Other than that, its bookies, estate agents and money shops.
i love my suburban town, perfect view with curtains down. bleak curtains, but one more gregs will turn it down. cex trade my phone for half a can of monster. th-cam.com/video/oIJuZbXLZeY/w-d-xo.html
If it hasn't been mentioned before it's also interesting to see how much of your high street is owned by offshore companies and landlords, who's primary interest is to make as much money off the premises as possible. This ties the prospective tenant store holder into feeding large monthly rents, despite fluctuations in monthly turnover. Over time the rent becomes unmanageable. Great videos by the way, keep them coming!
They also get tax breaks if they keep the property empty. Tax policy changes are needed. They also should removate shops and turn them into housing, where possible. Like the ones with attached accommodation. In the US they're turning disused shopping malls into housing. It is possible but it needs imagination and not short term rent gouging.
Great video as usual, mate. The High Street, sadly, has had a deluge of issues thrust upon it over the last 30 or so years: out of town/city retail parks, extortionate tax rates, car parking fees, development of online shopping, confusing street routes for drivers... Kept up the brilliant work, fella 👊
Great film yet again . I live in Bristol. We have lost a Debenhams, Marks and Spencers and many town centre stores . In place are pop up shops and market and second hand shops , all temporary. In contrast where I live in Bedminster which was a working class area in the past has now become more and more expensive to live . Local business is beginning to grow as developers have decided this is an area to make a financial killing . There are numerous high rise developments being built as I make this comment . The estimate is a 44 percent population increase in the next 2 years . There are no more Schools , GP Surgeries, Health Centres, Dentists planned for Bedminster. Green spaces are being sacrificed for housing . There is no parking planned for any new developments or new residents. Thankfully I am a cyclist and that won't affect me . If you walk down West Street to the Church on Food Bank days you will see long queues of people all ages , sexes , backgrounds, children , desperate. What a divide . It just reminds me of when I lived in The States . Abject poverty , no health care vs extreme wealth . Talking about shopping I am with you ! Every Lidl Helps ! Aldi , Poundland , Super Savers. Keep filming
Places like that have huge divide between classes and are generally not actually that nice to live in despite being all gentrified. You can't just build homes but no public services or parking or green space. It just makes people stressed or unhappy.
Thanks for this mate. I have a few pals down there so coming down in July so I will have to bring my camera down. My email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com if you have any other tips for when I’m down. Nice one and cheers for watching 👍👍
Ok I will have a think over next week or two and let you know . If there are any specific ideas you would like to explore let me know before your planned trip . Two areas that never really get addressed are Bristol's homeless and the drug and alcohol problems that have such an impact for the people who end up on the street. I will take pictures before I email and attach them . Would be good to know which parts of Bristol you will visit
It's a shame that developers seem to avoid building the much-needed infrastructure to make an area work but they somehow manage to fit in more tiny apartments.
Bristol does seem to be doing a lot of building in the center and on a lot of Brown sites but a huge amount of it is linked to the university and students' accommodation.
You should remember it was the industrial towns that destroyed communities forcing people to live and work in the factories, who's wealth was essentially built on endentured labour. the posh version of slavery (which is still in situe and working well to impoverish). You can equate the decline of community, family and individuals with Cinema, TV. and now Mobile's. people have a complete doorway to a further disconect to what being a human means, with family, in a community. Its currious to mourne something that was essentially built on suffering, when what we have now by comparison is only going to get worse. Governemt/corporations want dependancey and exclusivity, they pretty much have it but unless everyone makes an informed choice, then we'll get "support" whether we want it or not.
I live in Loughborough. It's a student town and does really well when they're here then struggles when they leave. It feels like shops pop up then disappear within 6 months sometimes. But there is always a replacement to the space that does insanely well upon opening. We are also a market town, open on thursday and saturday, and it is absoloutely thriving, bringing life to the town. Also, smaller pubs, resteraunts and indie shops do tend to do well as it appeals to the younger population. A lot of people complain about students, but the truth it, there would be no highstreet without them.
People get grants to open up in empty shops by it there are not enough customers so shut down quick then it starts up again with someone else getting a grant.
I also live in Loughborough and it's just continuing to decline. We are about to lose the Carillon Court shopping centre as it's completely dead. The council continues to build lots of student accommodation. Shops are closing left, right and centre. It just isn't the great town it once was. So sad
Very interesting video. Being from Hebden and now Halifax as I was priced out of buying a house in Hebden which was annoying years back I preferred it as a industrial town where everyone knew each other and yes it was busy. Now if I go back its just full of rubber necks ( People aimlessly wandering around looking everywhere except where they should be and knocking into you). But that's what they wanted so fair dos. As for Halifax I think moving the town down from Bull Green to the bottom end killed a lot of shops off years ago. But like you said just look up now and then and see the amazing architecture, one of my personal favourites is the old Burton Art Deco building now MacDonalds. Now in my sixties I find myself going in the market for fresh food rather than the supermarkets and yes it costs a bit more but worth it and its more pleasant walking round than a boring supermarket. As for the Piece Hall I am not a big fan but it serves purpose and we are lucky its still there I'm sure I'm correct that back in the 70s and 80s when they were developing the bottom end of town they wanted to demolish it and it was only saved by one vote at a council meeting.
I am from Halifax too and use the market for fresh food, lots of people moan we have nothing but we will have nothing if we don't support business. The Piece Hall was going to be flattened for a Tesco but thankfully never happened
Could this be an opportunity to repurpose town centres as meeting and well-being centres for communities. Places where people can exercise, meet, work remotely, eat and have childcare crèches. I’m based in south Buckinghamshire and town centres are the same here sadly lots of boarded up shops, all becoming vape shops, betting shops and kebab shops, feeding addictions and not good for people :(
Yeah I feel that would be the ideal thing. It all comes down to lower ground rent. People could then open interesting thing, that don't have to be a traditional 'shop'
I live in Northampton and the council commissioned a report to determine the future of a once thriving centre. What made this report different from those previously done and it was fascinating to see that prior to WW2 the town centre was mixed residential and commercial. Like a lot of towns post WW2 there was a shift to brutalist car centric architecture. Seems the future of the town is return to its roots and this is starting with the regeneration and repurposing of the market square.
I actually think the market square was fine as it was. Every time a council 'regenerates' a market place, it seems to be destroyed by it. See Kettering for example. Prior to WWII, most people worked locally because they didn't drive and there wasn't widespread public transport. It was a far more environmentally friendly way of life - but shopping, leisure and work has been displaced 'out of town' leading to the levels of traffic we have now, and dormitory towns.
@@wilfulsprite555 Born and bred in Northampton. Left home at 18 in 1978 for London and never looked back. Visited an old mate in Northampton a year ago and was astonished at the sheer desperation in the town centre. Nothing to go in to town for anymore. Tragic. The state of high streets does depend on the local wealth. Wanstead High St in east London is booming and mainly with independents. Likewise where I live now, Bath where there are closed units for sure, but not as overwhelming as most and new places regularly opening.
Also in Northampton and had to laugh, This sums up the area. You looking forward, One looking Back, and One "It's crap moved out "etc etc etc. Myself I moved here 10 years ago from London because London was out pricing it's self (The area I grew up in £4000 a month rents are starting to appear and in some cases £4000 a week 🤯) Northampton has some very good things going for it, My main concern about the developments in the town centre are around the quality of them, We are seeing lots of "Student" flats getting built, but the Uni and Colleges in the town say there is no need for Student flats. A student flat is not considered a permanent residence so is built on a small footprint to a "Flat". So a town with pokey small flats isn't an answer. The Market Place is very historic but the current plans don't seem to appreciate this, it seems to be "Look we are doing something" exercise rather than what needed to be done, like advertise the market properly, get a larger selection of stalls involved, have things of interest. Last time I visited the market it seems to be 3 or 4 fruit and veg stalls all selling the same produce at the same price, a phone repair stall, a workwear stall and a stall selling oversized ladies underwear. All very good if that's what you wanted, but no pet supplies, no non worker or large nickers stalls etc. Today the council have announced they are going to start looking at what to do on the old bus station site, They are going to spend £250,000 on developing plans for it. Why they have waited until 2023 to think about what to do with a building they flattened in 2015 sums up the struggle in the town.
Its worth looking into Sheffield - the vast majority of locals are convinced that the city centre is dead, while the council is putting a hell of a lot of money into making sure that doesnt happen. Even if some of the plans (like a recreation of londons boxpark) really don't work out, they made some really good markets, and kept a decent balance of unique retail
I grew up in north London and the high streets there generally thrive particularly in the higher income areas. Partly this is down to the fact that people have relatively more money to spend but an important reason is population density and people using their local shops rather than driving everywhere because London was never sacrificed to the car like so many other urban areas of the UK.
I love your videos! You want to see a dead town? Look no further than Great Grimsby. I lived there for 40 years and it's now completely dead, broken, lost. If you want to see a good high street, visit Driffield, I can do all my shopping up the high street and it's still a thriving town.
Funny I was going to say visit Grimsby too! I have recently moved here from Lincoln and what a difference! Really feel for this town as it feels lost and well underinvested 😢
There's another youtuber I watched called 'Adam Something' who discusses urban planning. He often compares American and European urban planning, but I think some of the points he makes about the experience of driving a car vs the experience of walking around a town apply here. Basically, a lot of new urban planning is centred around cars. Like the Trafford centre, you drive there, shop, leave. It's not really about the experience of being in the place itself. Now, the market in Halifax is the kind of place you walk around and experience, but a lot of the boarded up buildings in the town were ones that were on main roads with loud traffic going past outside. Towns used to be less spread out, and people worked near where they shopped, went to pub, etc. But with cars, you can do your shopping out of town, (or online these days). There has to be a reason for you to go into town and if you don't need to go to the shops on the high street, the area starts to empty and the betting shops move in. People don't really want to walk around somewhere if it's all boarded up, lots of traffic going past creating noise and pollution, people living on the street, because it's depressing. I don't know if the answer is to bring back 'useful' shops into highstreets necessarily, because big supermarkets can always offer more variety and low cost for essentials. That's the reason a lot of the small shops like butchers, grocers, bakeries etc. shut in the first place. I think it's more about making highstreets into places that people actually want to spend time in. Somewhere you want to catch up with friends, that has a bit of nature and that isn't just full of traffic. I think Hebden is doing a good job of that- but as someone who also lives in a tourist town, properties shouldn't be turned into Airbnbs. It's got to still work for the locals, otherwise it will be a ghost town half the year like some towns in Devon and Cornwall. There's a fine line between regeneration and gentrification, too often they end up looking like the same thing.
Lots of good points there, though I think there are two extremes. If you make everything car-centric then it’s awful, but if you make everything reliant on public transport which isn’t provided for then you get dead pedestrianised high streets with no passing trade in cars, which has happened to many smaller towns where most units are now cafes or charity shops. The best solution would be to like you say make the high streets more enjoyable but still provide proper useful shops which will attract all kinds of users. If you see Turnip’s video on the new Bolton Market (posh, uninspiring shopping centre) and the old one (bustling market with everything you need) this is a real eye opener.
The Car thing and forcing everyone to drive all the time. Hate it. I like to drive sometimes, but don't want to get in a Car all the time for everything I do. I get sick of driving as I'm forced to do it all the time, even for simple, rudimentary things. I.think its disgusting as it has been purposefully engineered this way. Nobody was ever asked if they wanted this. It was actually pressed on us, we are tricked and fooled into it and its been totally undemocratic as to how we've got here.
Come to Glasgow, it's a great example of change. Once the richest city in Europe, had it's guts ripped out by the Tories with the death of the shipyards triggering a couple of decades of austerity. Thriving again now and an amazing city to live in with stunning architecture, but like most other cities the high street is beginning to suffer.
Thank you for your lovely comment I know Northampton I used to go there a lot it's very sad to hear that there are a lot of homeless people every where
I live in Lincoln and although its had money spent on its town centre, we have too many bookies and charity shops. A main railway line runs through the middle of the town. Lincoln University in the town centre is probably the only reason it hasnt fully died. Great documentary looking forward to where it goes
was going to put the same thing about Hanley used to be so busy in the 90s bunch of charity shops or gaming shops. greggs, and cash converters like they are trying to stop people from using cash I hope they do not push in digital currency be the end of the shopping center community is so important I do not mind not going out but so much will be lost forever
Same in Darlington. Bookies, hair and nail salons, vape and discount shops.. we do have a few independent businesses just about hanging in there, but how long for.. very sad
The quality of your content is truly remarkable, my friend. However, I would kindly request that when you embark upon your visits to these towns, you consider incorporating an assessment of their infrastructure, particularly the efficacy of public transportation. It would be hard to miss the noteworthy development taking place in Halifax, where an extensive and substantial investment is being made into the construction of a grandiose multimillion-pound bus station.
A little bit ‘off piste,” I know, but I was born and raised near a really posh area of central London - Sloane Street. In those days, there was macfisheries (excellent fishmongers) and Cobb the butcher, with sawdust on the floor. Nowadays, it is all frou-frou ladies’ clothes shops, where a pair of knickers costs a four figure sum. My point is that, in days of recession, how long can these shops, of no community value, last - and wouldn’t it be a good thing if they didn’t?
You got a new subscriber from New York❤️❤️Love all your videos, i’ve been on a binge watching them all! And wow that lady at 2:46 shaking her head and laughing at you vlogging is so rude. This is 2023 where people vlog and it’s a public street which is legal, idk what her deal was.
Towns that are struggling is down to one simple thing, rent cost and business council tax rates are too high for people to trade or compete with big stores that get special treatment and relief and incentives to keep them in the town.
Halifax Is still a very a beautiful town despite the issues it has and it seems to be dealing with its problems much better than a lot of other Northern towns/cites, with it being on the up mostly unlike other places with have their centres in big decline. Hebden Bridge, the hippie capital of The North is also so beautiful... I hope that it stays like this and always thrives💚
I work in Stratford upon Avon and over the last 20 years I have seen tourism to the town increase massively. This means a lot of useful shops have closed to be replaced by cafes and restaurants. There has been talk of BHS and Debenhams becoming hotels. Luckily M&S is still hanging in there despite having a Simply Foods M&S up the road in the retail park. I agree with you in that I find retail parks ‘soul-less’ and avoid them, much preferring the older buildings of the traditional towns. Whenever I go to less wealthy/touristy towns though I find myself feeling depressed at the level of homelessness and social deprivation. One change to retail I have appreciated is the rise of charity shops - I think we should all buy more second hand items where possible as it is more environmentally friendly. Really enjoy your videos and look forward to the series.👍
Yeah great points! I agree with you on the charity shop front as well. I actually really love having a few near by, I’m totally happy buying most of my clothes and trainers second hand. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pair of shoes new. Thanks for watching 🙏👍
The M&S boss stated that, on average, rent in a retail park is about 3 times cheaper than a high street. This has encouraged them to close our local high street branches and move to a far bigger store on a retail park.
High Street in Chester is not doing too bad what's a lot of shops have closed after the pandemic has starte I'm sorry to all the businesses that have lost out in this shambles i5 from Chester UK 🇬🇧👍 Bro keep up the word Maybe that is the problem we should have kept with the markets I don't know why the high Street is a biggest downfall but what do I know the hot weather got to me I suppose we class a market as a bargain and that's probably why it's doing so well We have a brand new market in Chester the old one still for now Maybe that's the problem we should go back to the basics.. In my eyes the Trafford centre is a big shopping complex not a market.. I was watching one of your old videos from Blackpool it's like any other seaside town's
reason high streets are dying is because its same shops rents are too high you can never get what you need and its just same shops over and over again you go into any town centre and its just same shops selling same thing and the rents are too high its like the pubs thing high rents and nothing of use why people are going online all they'll be intown centres soon are charity shops and witherspoons and a witherspoons if ya lucky cause their in trouble as well and its yet another example of the destruction of the community
If your looking for a real town with shop and social decline try Newport, South Wales. One of the most depressed deprived areas in South Wales. Beautiful buildings from a time gone by left to wrack and ruin. If you decide to come down give me a shout and I will be your guide.
Interestingly, many of our historical "town centres" here in Australia are thriving. In fact they get so busy, shopping malls are usually much quieter.
London is a city of "villages", each village has managed to do ok, the high streets might be messy but they are busy with lots of life. I think it is because each high Street is surrounded by a mixture of housing and apartment blocks, and they are well integrated into the transport network. The high streets in London are full of young people, they live in walking distance of the town, and many shops. So I think there are some lessons to learn here about how a town is structured and what people live there. That doesn't mean there aren't problems, there are still shut down pubs and shops but its not as acute as smaller towns.
Yeah good point there. I should make a stop to London on this series, it’s just hard to compare it to anywhere else in the UK as it really does just have its own economy
@@wanderingturnip thats true. And I suppose you could argue that its the density of all groups of people (young old and families) living around town centres that helps the high streets, naturally. Which of course is difficult to replicate in smaller towns. And of course since the very centre of London is less populated (at least with ordinary people), Oxford Street has been struggling as a high Street. Thinking of successfully English towns, Reading town centre is very lively and doing well with every shop along with cafes and bars. I've no idea how they've managed it.
Authorities always seem to underestimate the aesthetics of a town on its general sense of positivity and wellbeing. Luton has a history of smashing up its beautiful buildings: corn exchange, old market, theatres - can you believe even its Bodlean Library? all demolished. It looks for the most part grim as and I'm sure much of its bad reputation comes from how bleak it looks. Hemel Hempstead is a bit of a shocker too. It vastly expanded its shopping area just as the high street started to decline and is a model throughout of how not to plan a town. What a mess.
Luton is practical but not pretty. The only reason a lot of the people live their is due to it being close to London, the place is depressing though and completely lacking character. Despite this it still has a fare amount of investment, but is probably worse to live in then many Northern towns with far less money
@@LadyGagaLoveMusic Luton has had, and still does have, a planning policy that is wholly unsympathetic to the aesthetics of the town. Historic buildings can still be torn down with remarkably little resistance and the new buildings that go up invariably look cheap and nasty. The planning department also continues to get the basics wrong; e.g. the newly paved area in front of the town hall is a cold light grey whereas the town hall itself uses a warm cream stone. Peterborough on the other hand chose a colour that matched its prominent architecture when it repaved its main pedestrian area. It's not hard to get that kind of this right you would have thought, but Luton manages to consonantly make basic design blunders to this day. Then there is a huge private landlord problem in Luton, where a lot of the housing stock is owned by lazy and disinterested absentee private landlords resulting in its visible deterioration. Although Luton has had some investment, a lot of money is also taken out of Luton; for decades now its biggest business have been owned outside of the town and so that's where the profits go.
Same down South. Highstreets with charity shops and bookies!! Horrendous! I used to be able to walk to my Highstreet, 30 min walk, and get anything I needed from a pair of socks to TV! Always had a Woolworths. Now you have to get a bus and go miles just to get a tin of paint or whatever. Shame ☹️
Worksop is sadly declining. All boarded up and a few shops left near the car park. Out of town supermarkets, pedestrian walkways, and ring roads in my opinion, just took the trade elsewhere. But it's a bit mental for all these buildings to stand empty when people can't afford homes.
There's always a lot of hostility to the "younger generation" and online shopping regarding this topic, but I'd like anyone reading this comment to consider the following: -The sheer cost of things nowadays, along with the growing wealth divide. We see on the news that more people than ever are using foodbanks. If necessities are unaffordable, then new, branded clothing (for example) is likely to be unobtainable. We also see that younger people today have less money as it is. - The ridiculous mark-up on goods in general, and the inability of the highstreets to compete with online deals and prices (I think a big one is things like Paypal pay in 3 or Klarna). Again if money is tight, it's going to be better to be able to spread the cost and pay less overall, than to get the item /service instantly but end up worse off. - The death of the massive shops like Debenhams and Topshop etc. Shops that rented huge buildings no longer exist, thus leaving a huge vacuum in the high street. Debenhams was good in that it was multidisciplinary (clothes and home etc.) and was worth going to for everything in one place. - The lack of things to do i.e. youth clubs closing down, shops closing by 5pm (what are you meant to do if you work?), no hangouts for younger people without them being moved on. - The price of a pint and eating out. The weekly food shop is expensive, never mind taking yourself and the nearest and dearest out. - Lots of pubs and eateries are now chains = lack of choice = boring - The cost of entertainment. Seeing that theatre boarded up was genuinely sad, however theatre tickets are wildly expensive even with under 30 schemes. I've just bought a ticket to a show near me that would've cost £38, but got it for £15. However these deals are limited on a first come first served basis. Anyone not in the scheme or wanting to bring someone else or multiple people is going to be forking out big time. I enjoy supporting the local theatre but I couldn't afford £38 a ticket on a regular basis. - Getting into town. The cost of parking is mentioned, but what about cost and availability of public transport or cycle lanes? Maybe actually getting into town without a car is hard and once you're there parking is costly anyway. The suburbs might be too far away from the town/city centre that's it's easier to order online than to go in. - The town centre is ugly. See this video with his bit on the ugly new building in comparison to the beautiful old style stone buildings. It's very easy to blame """young people""" but I think the blame can be laid squarely at the council and local and overall governments feet. It's too expensive to have a shop with ground rent and business rates, the price on everything is jacked up out of control and without regulation (and is evident this time it's corporate greed and not inflation), wages haven't kept up allowing for the consumer class to consume, public transport and town centre services have been stripped back beyond belief leaving the town centre not a nice place to be even if you get in.
Dying sadly with more closures to come (Llanelli). I do see local business making something of a comeback however in parts. I often think a times did developments kill the nice balance there once was between large/medium sized towns and cities? Putting big stores into smaller towns killed off the need to travel on shopping trips to the nearest city, and in the process killed off all the private shops that made towns unique. All towns had the essentials like Tesco, Woolworths, WH Smiths, M & S, but then stores more associated with city centres like Debenhams and HMV came along, and in my opinion killed off the balance between them. I think it's mostly tourist trap small towns and villages that still thrive the best due to the demand for gifts and the like during peak seasons combined with high visitor volumes.
That was the story of Main Street America with the advent of "The Mall" in the late 70s into the 90s. Now the malls are dying and the main streets are rebounding! BUT...not in a lot of small towns. Many small towns are dead or dying.
Love this channel. I'm from Ipswich, where the town is sadly so dead and empty of people. There's no sense of buzz at all really. But I now live in Norwich, just up the road, and the town centre is one of the busiest and most thriving I've seen outside of London. Just down the road the difference is so big, I would love for you to do an episode on these!!
@llanieliowe794 I've lived in Lowy and I'm hoping the 1st Light Festival helps to revitalise it. That said, it's a vast improvement on Llanelli, where I'm from. That town centre has been destroyed by the council concentrating all efforts on out of town shopping whilst allowing high rents in the centre to remain. The dead town is DEAD. Heads should roll.
@@FnXMusique Port Talbot is far worse area and high street than Llanelli if you go Swansea way. I don't think Lowestoft is the worst in the UK just the worsted in the Suffolk Norfolk area for me Cumbernauld is the least nice place in the country.
@@llanieliowe794 Not familiar with PT town. If it's worse than Llanelli, then it shall remain so. I've never a reason to go to Llanelli as it is. Now living in Ammanford, which has a selection of boutique type shops and vintage retailers. It's not great but I'd consider shopping there. Not Llanelli.
I live in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Within two hours of Sydney so it was settled early 1800. It's really a string of towns, each with their own high street shops, some very small, some medium sized. The high streets are going great, with no vacant shops. I think what has made the difference here is two fold, there are no big Westfield like shopping centres and it is also a heavy tourist area. We have a combination of shops such as chemists and bakeries, quirky arts and crafts, cafes and restaurants etc. Loving your videos.
Preston is really on the slide with lots of boarded up shops and too much emphasis on charity shops, betting shops and £ shops. It started to deteriorate before covid, but lockdowns have made it so much worse. Preston is officially a city but really comes across as a large town. Strangely, it has a large university and a big student population so you’d think the city centre would be thriving… but it’s on its ar5e. Go and take a look - it’s not too far from you.
In the US and London (what's the difference?), I've realized most of the more successful high streets have become almost exclusively 'food & beverage' on the ground floor... restaurants, bars and cafes. Plus services especially banks. There are very few true stores anymore and what remains are chains you can find anywhere. There's a lot of things at play... COVID impacts, online retail, work from home habits and wanting places closer to home, generic bland retail, suburban big box centers with free parking, in the US crime has become a huge issue with shoplifting during the day & store break-ins at night plus major customer safety issues like muggings, car break-ins, or being caught in the middle of a store ransanking. Retail is about concentration and each closure is less of a reason to visit a particular location. It also needs to be a pleasant safe environment since shopping in person now is more recreational. I would also argue there is nothing new in retail that is a draw - just the same stores as everywhere although dwindling due to mass closures and consolidations... remember when every high street had a music store, book store, toy store, and a handful of just one-off unique stores you'd only find on that street/shopping area? It's a lot harder and less fun to make a day or half-day event out of a trip to the high street or downtown like it used to be.
Lord Street Southport seemed to suffer from decline but now has slowly reinvented itself as a food and drink street. Its now actually better than its been in a long time. Bold Street in Liverpool has done the same thing, I think its the new trend in towns and cities that can support this change of use.
Interesting topic for a series, everyone seems to off-handedly mention the decline of the high-street, nice to have some long-form content on the subject. I'm sure everyone would say this about the places around them, but Swansea is truly Betting/Vape shop/Cash only barber central
Hi, the biggest problem with the High Street is that the local business rates are so high that it has strangled the small business people, this is part of the government plan to centralise everything including the banks, in 10 years everyone will have a smartphone or devices that we use to access everything, 1984 you all asked for here it comes.
Hi young man. The high street has been decimated by design in my opinion. My small town is just full of of takeaways and beauty parlours. No bakers no greengrocers. Just awful.x
My favourite memories are of Woolworth's in my childhood in the early 80s. It was a day out, they must have sold tens of thousands of different things including records. And Tandy, and rather later a bit of a successor, Maplin. More recently sad to see Debenhams go. I can see why many electrical shops have gone in general including opposite me where it's a coffee shop; 35 years ago a reasonable washing machine was £400. Today a reasonable washing machine is £400 but it costs far more now to run a shop. 35 years ago a coffee was 50p, now its £3.00!
Hey! Big fan of your channel here and I think this is a brilliant concept for a series and am looking forward to seeing where you go with it. I would like to point you towards Swansea as an interesting case study. The city centre was blown to bits in WWII and lost a lot of the architectural grandeur and harmony of it's industrial heyday. Dylan Thomas famously remarked "Our Swansea is dead" upon seeing the bombed out ruins. Regardless of that blow it was rebuilt and thrived all the way through to the 80s when deindustrialisation throughout South Wales brought on a drastic and quite sudden decline. Ever since then the collective idea of the city amongst native residents has been that's a dive, somewhere that's been failed - fatally and with little to no chance of recovery - by successive local and national governments. You know, the typical post-industrial British nihilism and despair. People have good reason to believe this, and with the impact of the internet on shopping habits and the resultant shutdown of big chains, along with a very visible rise in destitution and drug use, it's easy to create a narrative of decline. However from my perspective Swansea is massively improved from when I walked around there as a kid (I'm guessing I'm about the same age as you are). The local council has done, in my opinion, quite a decent job of regeneration. They have introduced a lot more greenery and trees, pedestrianized the main nightlife area, attracted workspace/office developments into town, attracted developers to repurpose and save derelict heritage buildings brought the main library/civic space into the centre, built high density housing (yes, including student flats) in key neglected corners of the city centre, built a new Arena and urban park, and more. There are so many more projects on the way, and the fact that Swansea has such a spacious and inconsistent built environment gives it so much more space for growth than cities with dense heritage cores. Alongside all this I've noticed a growth in independents around the city. I've noticed that a lot of these businesses are spreading out into developing areas just outside of the main shopping streets - and in this I see a future where city centers aren't based around the extreme density of shop after shop on a crowded "successful" street, but become larger areas hybridizing leisure, parkland, high-density housing, and service industry, as well as niche retail. In a sense more of the city becomes "centre", with an improvement in pedestrian, disabled, and bicycle access. All the good 15-minute city ideas that conspiracy theorists hate. The change hasn't quite come on yet - the city centre can still feel like a ghost town at times and there are some big infrastructural issues that have to be worked around (the large arterial road that divides the centre from the beach being a large one) - but I think it's on the cusp, and hopefully in a few years other towns and cities will be able to look at Swansea that turned things around. If you're interested in doing a work on Swansea or just want to know anything more about the city I'd be up to help in any way I can. Thank you so much for your content!
Hey thanks so much. I’ll get it added to my list to come check out. Also, my email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com, if you have any other tips to shoot across and we can chat further there 👍👍
Come over the hill to Bacup on a Saturday. It’s very busy. Loads of history. Loads of shops. A small market. Plenty of places having loads of money being spent on renovation. I have a business in Bacup. I make dentures 😀 Valley Denture Clinic. Come for a look. Great local useful business owned by local people who mainly know each other. Lots of mill history and of course the source of the river Irwell up above Weir towards Burnley. Great videos. Love your wandering.
3:46 the stunning architecture you mention was constructed by African slaves. Liverpool was a hub for the slave trade. After auctions, stock was distributed to wealthy plantations where the slaves were used to construct the ornate buildings which require too much labour to reproduce today. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to pay for labour, eh?
Great video as always, I like the different stuff you are doing. Same here in Scotland, the town I was bought up in is full of vape shops, charity shops and bookies, with the occasional Wetherspoons thrown in for good measure. I moved to St Andrews three years ago because I can work from home. What a difference, butchers, fishmongers, bakeries, cafes, good pubs. Areas with a bit of money seem to support the local businesses but if people are struggling then this is what happens. Councils should help with repopulating the high streets with low business rates for consumables shops and free parking. Only way forward. Love your channel.
Councils don't set the level of Business Rates - they only collect it. It is set by central government. It's simple- areas with well paid middle classes are thriving - minimum wage towns are not - they are like dole towns.
Brilliant work. Very informative and engaging. Would be mega if you could try arrange speaking with ideally the local MP or at least someone from the council to see their views on the situation (and why they're happy to grant licences to more and more bookies!!).
Glad you are having some nice weather. Sad to see this on your High streets. People prefer to buy on line. Don't know why really. I don't. A bit of retail therapy and getting out and about used to be great thing to do. Maybe most don't have the money now with the cost of living crisis. Cheers from Brisbane Queensland.
It would be interesting to know how things are going in areas with high numbers of migrants. In my town in oz the old 1970's malls are now being rented out to migrant shopkeepers selling things for their community. It is bringing life back into it. I do think they probably have low rents and lower rates from the council to encourage use.
I don't think poor areas are sad, poor people need somewhere to live. 'Regeneration' causes homelessness cause locals won't be able to rent/buy the new places
I live in Norfolk and my nearest high street is Gorleston, and although it's nothing special everything is always open, and if a shop does go up for sale due to small businesses struggling etc. there is always someone else coming in to fill in the gap.
that's surprising because I always though Great Yarmouth was quite a run down place... I know that Lowestoft is full of run down boarded up shops on the high street but good to know Yarmouth is doing well
It's nice walking around the local shops when the weather like this. But when it's wet and cold it's better to go to places like the Trafford centre or Meadowhall. The big change I think is transport. Most households only had one car and the bread winner took it to work. So you either walked to the high street or took the bus which all went to the town centre. My brother used to live in Hebden Bridge (and work in Leeds). But he was earning well. It's thriving on wealth. Same as Bakewell near me. Great for visiting not so great if you live there.
In my local (Gosport Hampshire) town. It’s dying. The shops are few, mainly charity shops and the few surviving chains. In my opinion it is because needs are changing but also 1) the buildings are owned by large cooperations as hedge funds and they don’t care about the town. 2) shopping needs have changed, people need enticing back. The market has died 1 of 2 stalls only 3) pedestrian areas need reopening, places with successful high streets have cars driving through, this means people actually see the shops. 4) businesses rates are ridiculously expensive
I'm from Warrington and what I think is the problem is that there is not enough variety and reason to bring people into the town. For example there's no branch of my bank and also the amount of same type of shops all selling the same products
I remember when I was young there was a shop on the corner of a load of houses. Usually for sweets, paper and drinks. Then up the road on the high street was all the separate shops you needed. Butchers, Fruits, hair dressers, coffee shop, wallpaper shop, Bread and cake shop. ECT. Supermarkets came in and most closed.
I had a small engineering unit in Birstall and had to give it up, not because of rent it was the rates that made my stay unviable, my rates were matching the rent i paid and not as a percentage of rent paid but a percentage of what Kirklees council said what the rent should be, scandalous at the time, anyway i now work out of a mobile workshop and never looked back. Don’t know whether it’s changed but the rateable value sucks or it did 10 years ago 👌👍
Ah mate very interesting. I’d love to come chat to you more about this for a future episode if you are up for it. Get in touch wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com
You really need to make a video in Barnsley. The town centre has gone under massive regeneration and the footfall is increasing over time. It's a good place for property because there is easy work in warehouses like Aldi, ASOS, Evri etc.
In Newcastle we had pub after pub all along from Blaydon to Scotswood Road as in Blaydon Races song....all gone including go go rock club and Talk of the Tyne my uncle ran...places you see in Get Carter. The lovely old Grainger market is all tat now. Lost Mark Toney ice cream, individual shops. Even high street no more John Menzies. The local Co op , greggs and Fenwicks do well
Nice to see a thriving market. Years ago ours was listed in the top 10 best markets in the country. A long history of being an ancient market town, first they moved the outdoor market off it's original square and it dwindled a handful of stalls that aren't great. The High Street started dying. Now our indoor market has been turned into a fancy eat and drink feature where no one can afford the prices. 16 miles up the road the next town has a fantastic traditional large market just like ours used to be. I've watched your channel for some time now. Thank you for the interesting uploads and facts, always enjoyable 😊
Nottingham has 2 shopping centres. The broadmarsh was always a bit second rate and there were plans for developement for years. Westfield didn't get round to it and sold the centre to Intu, who began work renovating it. Then Intu went bust leaving a partly demolished shopping centre in the middle of the city, thats had a knock on effect on shops nearby. And gives the city an opportunity to reinvent a space now folk don't buy stuff in physical shops.
I live in Norwich and it's the same scene here as it is everywhere. I remember shopping in the city in the 1990s and you had every store imaginable, Virgin Megastore, Andy's Records, HMV, C&A Woolworths and so much more now all sadly gone. Originally Norwich had 1 shopping mall that really did thrive but once a second was built all the trades moved to the new shopping centre. A few pubs have been lost too. We do have a market that seems to be doing very well like it has always done. One deprived area Anglia Square was a hive of activity in the 90s but is sadly a shadow of its former self and many buildings have lain derelict since 1996. It's due for redevelopment but that has been on going for years. On a positive side it's still a beautiful city with lots to offer and a large number of independent shops seem to be doing ok. Unfortunately it's a sign of the times and one can only imagine what our high streets will be like in 20 years time.
My view of Anglia Square is that it should be preserved, because such developments are being torn down and in a few decades it will become retro. Remember in the middle of the 20th century, people thought Victorian buildings were hideous. However the flooding from the cinema is such a problem, it's probably impractical. And the area feels very unsafe when there aren't many people around.The Sahara cafe nearby is great though.
This is one of the reasons I won't go back to retail as everyone can see what's happening to physical stores, its only a matter of time before it declines to the point where there will be only be stores that are making enough to stay afloat. Which at the moment a lot of shops i thought would never closed have closed, argos or debhanems for example used to hold up the high street. When I say to people retail is going to die out, I get a lot of confused looks but it's a fact we have to deal with now. We also have to think our own kids or grandkids will never experience the hay day of retail when it was thriving. One of favorite stores as a kid was a toy store called Gamleys it was always my most favorite store and the memories of getting your school clothes from BHS.
Great videos thanks. York is one of Englands most visited places but still has the usual struggles. Major high street stores are closing in the city centre (to be replaced by more bars?even though the locals hate drunk people)yet more shopping parks open up on the outskirts. The most interesting thing to me about York is called Spark. Have a look it’s shipping containers creating a unique space for startups and seems to be full of cool kids trying hard. I think you have opened the right can of worms here chief 👊🏼
York is 40 minute drive from us. It has a big artistic community yet no art shops…Most shops in town centre are selling identical tourist junk made in China. Way too many coffee shops and restaurants in town centre too. We go to York often but not for the shops anymore. Even the Shambles marked is all about eating out instead of actual shopping.
Online shoppings killed it guys ! seen it coming 2010 you want to come and see Huddersfield its like a 3rd world country so sad to see how much it has changed since the 80s/90s even our indoor markets gone big retail parks killed it too and all the beggars its so soooo sad 😢
@Wandering Turnip, I suggest you do a couple of things. Look down at the paving & street furniture, it's a really strong indicator of council efficiency. Have they spent a fortune on fancy materials? Have they maintained them? Also, observe how far you walk before the potholes and cracked paving start... The other thing is rents, business rates, and vacancy rates..
Have you heard of Ian Nairn? He was an architecture and urban design critic in the 1960s, and he loved the north. There are episodes on youtube, including one about Halifax. I really recommend it, and it should give you food for thought to compare his experience 60 years ago with yours today.
@@wanderingturnip you're welcome! I think you're really onto something with these videos, and I'm looking forward to see where you cover next. I think having that conversation with the local man was a lovely touch as well.
Brilliant 👏👏👏 I’m living in Australia 🇦🇺 now. So it’s nice to keep up to date with what’s exactly happening over there. I hear you when you talk about the Tourist Dollar. This is what happens when we decide to live in tourist destinations 😂. Our property prices go up & so do our Council rates 😢 I grew up in the Medway towns in Kent. My first job was working at Maidstone market on a Saturday & freezing all day. I was only about 13-14 then 🥶🥶🥶🥶🐨🐨🦘
I passed through Weoley Castle in Birmingham where I used to live last week. Castle Square, the local shopping area used to have a toy and cycle shop, a car spares shop and a big shop selling TVs, washing machines etc. All gone. I had a few mins between buses so walked round and counted 10 fast food takeaways. Walking through nearby Northfield that used to have a Woolworths, a Burton's, Foster's (a bit like a Burton's till 80s) a record shop, a Halfords and many more I repeated the exercise. 17 fast food takeaways!!!!
The main reasons the High Street is dying is ...excessive car parking charges ...the many out of town sites and shopping centres ...and now relying only on retail when the Town Centre should be a place to visit for education and enjoyment...oh and before you mention the Internet ....as far as Retail is concerned it only counts for not more than 30% so 70% is still spent in Mortar and Brick stores ...if you want to see a flourishing Town Centre come up to the Lake District ..it's always busy up here..
Speaking as a young man, I love a good market place. It’s such a great way to spend money on things you like and would typically get from larger chain stores for instance and have it go to local people and their businesses. The butchers as well, fresh good meat, the cafes too, for that breakfast bap or cob as I call them in the morning. They can be such wonderful social places for people to do their shopping. Sadly, too many market places have dwindled as a result of, when it comes down to the root cause, politics. Right now, we have a centre right to right wing party in power, that favours big business, big chains and the top dogs. That is going to keep larger chains you see everywhere open, so you have more people spending money in them than the market place stalls. They’re not making money, they close up. I live in Burton which has a good enough market place, but up the road in the city of Derby it’s got the Eagle Market. Not even a year ago it still had several stores operating plus a cafe, now there’s probably one left, and it’s just a space to walk through. I was actually half tempted to do a video similar to the kind that you make, and I started recording and talking about it, and EVERYONE who would walked past me just gave me snarky ugly looks. It is genuinely miserable that these places are being so neglected.
I don’t know if you’ve been to White Rose recently but I was there the other week and it felt like more than half the shopfronts were boarded up. Real ghost town compared to how it was 5-10 years ago.
Yeah it is boarded up! It’s just depressing there used to be so much more choice, it seems a bit more quiet there now, and there’s lots of unused stalls in the middle.
I think the internet had a massive hand in killing the high street. It's just too easy now to go online from the comfort of your own home and buy stuff. Most people even get their shopping delivered online now too. Doesn't help when all the big names, like woolworths closed, debenhams etc. British home stores. It's so sad. I grew up in the 80's, and we had a precinct not a mall, it wasnt all gated off at night either it was clean, safe and not overrun by silly teenagers causing trouble and destroying property. I dont understand how the kids in the 80's didn't do this awful stuff well not kids i grew up with anyway, yet kids of today 2024, get away with it. Drag the parents before the courts and fine them very heavy for their unruly kids behaviour. I feel bad for the older generation that havent got anyone or internet, and enjoy the trip into town to get their weekly shopping, but daren't go out now for fear of these horrible brats on the streets. Also rents for shops went crazy, councils are too greedy, they take take take and are never satisfied. High car park charges too, never anywhere to park, pigeons shitting all over, brats on every corner, homeless people in doorsteps. Who wants to go into town anymore. It's sad.
The art of retail died in the 90's Retail is about promoting and selling a product. Attracting customers with window display and inside with goods displayed properly. These days its window vinyls and stuff heapes on shelves. The retailer thinks it is their right to take your money without having to do anything. Buying I many shops is too much bother. People buy online without having to deal with or inconvenience a retailer.
That large Tesco, as you said, has everything - and that is why the High Street is dead - just go to Tesco free parking, get a pair of glasses, a phone, clothes, chemist AND of course, a weekly food shop. The catch is that when all the other shops have closed down Tesco will start to charge for parking and all the prices will go UP - Tesco is already the dearest and largest of all the other Grocers - Sainsburys next, then Morrisons, then Asda - then Aldi and Lidl. The supermarket is the enemy 😨😨😨
I live in Beverley, East Yorkshire. It’s a beautiful market town, with a racecourse and a massive area of common land called the Westwood, which was given to the people of the town in 1380. Our high street is doing very well, and there have been a lot of new houses built. It’s quite a wealthy area so there are many restaurants, and clothes shops, but there are plenty of useful shops too. There’s a Tesco in the town centre and then a Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi further out. The industrial part of town has everything needed for construction work as well. I’ve lived in a few different places in my life but not many of them compare well to Beverley.
The onward march of 'corporate socialism' is crushing commerce out of existence. That has consequences. Humans live in small groups and within those groups we pay great attention to 'status' (in essence that is about breeding rights) and commerce was a non harmful way of achieving that, it also proved resilient and surprisingly efficient. Chain stores offered some advantages but as the market settles out there will only be a few 'winners' and we will be faced with the restricted choice that the algorithms dictate. The parallels with 'soviet socialism' are really rather stark, and given the abject failure of the soviet union it represents a warning to us all. The chain stores lean on the government (bearing gifts and requests) ton introduce legislation such that accounting requires rooms full of dedicated staff, no problem for a corporation with 100 stores to support but deadly for the family owned shop. The loss of high street shopping means we also lose the 'walkable' living areas, even the octogenarians have to try and make it to the modern equivalent of the old Soviet Gum store to buy their necessities. We also lose that human interaction, and recent research has shown just how damaging that is and the social problems it will introduce and aggravate (one study looked at the effect on people participating in the antarctic survey, they were constrained in small groups and this actually had measurable effects on the physical structures in their brain, notably on the hypothalamus). The loss of 'status' associated with commerce also means we are dependent on 'corporate social responsibility' to fund things like local clubs and youth groups, and as CSR falls under the marketing department it is fickle, so those groups come and go, again undermining the social cohesion in the area. In the UK we used to have a network of pubs built up over hundreds of years by the breweries and operating on a (maximum) 3% profit margin. The governments former school chums decided they could do better and make much greater profits so legislation was introduced banning the breweries from owning their network of pubs (but with no such restriction on the new 'pub co's'). Sadly the whizz kids proved unable to run pubs and most have now gone, further undermining the social cohesion in the area (we now have to resort to 'trust pilot' to find a decent plumber). It would be wrong to criticise the MPs, research has shown how their motivation is derived from their life experience and Zhang's work on greed has shown how the lure of supposedly status enhancing 'exclusivity' serves to isolate them from the community, with all the well documented effects that has on their mental health. If you look at the work of people like Dr Martin Seligman we can actually put forward potential solutions that are in line with human physical, emotional and cognitive well being, but it seems unlikely that mere facts will overcome the inertia of the delusional paranoia (thinking you are more important than you are) that is such a characteristic of 'Great Leaders'. In support of that contention I can point to the lectures given by Dr Seligman, one of the lead researchers in the field of positive psychology (search TH-cam for Seligman Happiness). For many years he would simply launch into an exposition on the latest findings. Then he came to the UK and had a chat with our 'education minister' whalla (the chap reputed to have a fondness for Columbian marching powder). The Uk did not (unsurprisingly) adopt any of the recommendations and thereafter Dr Seligman prefaced his lectures with a segment on the difference between 'double blind, placebo controlled, published experiments that have been replicated and 'opinion'. One possible option would be to offer a discount for a specialist shop offering goods and services that are not readily available within a 3 mile radius (independent greengrocers, butchers, art supplies shops, newsagents and what have you). That would restore a semblance of 'community', someone would notice if old Mrs Whatsername failed to turn up to buy her bottle of milk one week, it would offer an alternative to 'click and pray' for purchasing those odd items we need, and also the support and advice from the shopkeeper who has a life long interest in 'flap back hinges' or what have you. This would of course be resisted by the corporates, they know they cannot compete on quality (they prefer marketing, a one-off cost, to investment in product development, an on-going cost). All is not lost however, AI may impact this area significantly. At the moment we rely on humans (those delusional pretentious apes with a limited ability to input and process information) to run things, a suitably advanced AI (it doesn't need to be 'conscious' any more than your body needs to consciously regulate your temperature, blood pressure and breathing) could implement system that maintain homeostasis, tailored to the needs of the community they serve. That will also be resisted of course, when it was call centre workers, car assembly workers and shop staff who were to be replaced there wasn't a problem, they 'Just need to train for the new jobs'. Then 'management' realised they were also in the firing line and there were mutterings. Then bankers realised they could be replaced all too easily by AI driven systems (it has already happened in some cases) and it became 'a worry'. When it got to replacing politicians and porn stars it became 'a problem' and when it was pointed out that AI could do a better job than most if not all billionaires (reinvesting the cash into the company rather than some 'status enhancing' yacht) it became 'a threat'. AI will likely win in the long run, those who harness its potential will prosper but some political and religious nut-jobs will inevitably spanner things by insisting that they remain 'in control' and try to use it to further their own ends (mainly seeking 'power' to assuage those deep seated insecurities all humans suffer from), but they will die off and sooner or later one of the descendants will either fail completely or realise the benefits of better metal health (and all the rewards that brings). Eventually things will settle out and those who invest sensibly will thrive whilst those who remain trapped in their delusions will wither, sadly that will not be in my lifetime.
Mate this is great thank you for taking the time to put this. I love that term ‘walkable’ areas. So simple but explains it all really. And I think you are right with AI. Amongst all the doom and gloom that is sent out by the news with it, it could provide worthwhile solutions. Anyhow, I really appreciate you writing all this and you have given me a lot of food for thought for future episodes My email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com - if you have any other comments/advice/feedback I would really appreciate it
The big names like Woolworths, Debenham, Bhs and C&A leaving the high street have a massive affect, they brought people into town. Now my local City Southend is full of phone shops,fast food places and pound shops. It will never be the same, we used to have a thriving market place. It got knocked down ,replaced by large expensive store.
I am from Ruislip West London nearby is Pinner both High St's are thriving, you cant easily find a vacant premises, they are being done up inmediately for new businesses. So whats different. It is Employment plain and simple! checkout Muswell Hill Broadway, or Chiswick also thriving high st's, if people have jobs everything falls into place, the UK gov destroyed the northern industries and failed to replace the jobs, it is by design, wake up, your government hates you, you are voting for traitors who WANT you to be poor, whatever party, dont be fooled by the labour party they got rid of Smith and Corbyn and anyone else who didnt bend over for their globalist agenda, an immigrant ponce is worth 10 British people to them, they want you to be poor, they hate you with a vengance, WAKE UP!
Love watchiing your videos, your enthusiasm is great. I live in Qld in AUS now but I'm originally from Truro in Cornwall. I loved the town centre but it is slowly declining now and the shops are all shutting up. I would love you to visit it as it has so much history, but is also suffering like so many towns there.
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The High Street needs a massive rethink. People's shopping habits won't ever go back to what it once was. We need to see more services delivered from the High Street - make sure the council buildings are in the city centre. The more services we can bring into the High Street, the more people have a reason to go there and you start to create passing trade. If that means you do away with business rates on these properties then that's fine. The High Street needs to be a socialising space with multiple uses, not just retail. If you ever visit Hamilton town centre, you'll see a massive waste of space.
I would love to agree good sir, however the younger generation are not interested lol
Couldn't agree more with this. Unfortunately shops aren't doing it for the high streets anymore, but by having work/office spaces in the same area then you will get far more footfall and likely make the town much more lively and attractive to shop in
@@Bi9Dre the younger generation aren't interested because no one has given them a reason to be interested. Create reasons to go there and people will naturally flock to it, fill it with bookies/pubs it will continue to decline. Corporations have gotten away with stagnated and antiquated views on customers for way too long, what we are seeing is a result to the lack of evolution of public spaces.
We have to stop this blanket generalisation of "younger generation don't use stuff", both yourself and the gentleman in this video outside the pub are both quick to blame them but haven't considered there is zero reason for them to use it.
Need more bookies,more turkish barbers, coffee shops, nail shops as well ..and pound shops
@@peterbushby9009 that’s not solving f*** all lad 🤣🤣
I live in the Netherlands, down south near a small town. The city centre seems to survive because the counsel actively promote new initiatives and devellopers are being encouraged to turn empty space above and between exhisting shops into homes which both help to keep it alive.
They also try and keep giant companies out of the centre (Like McD, Domino's, H&M and so on) we do have a few. I believe 2 the rest of them that we do have are miles out of the city near the highway.
In the centre we have privat owned restaurants and take aways, the more normal shops as well as tiny initiatives like a very upscale flower shop and a vegan clothing shop.
I think the local government needs to actively be involved and have a long term plan. Ever since I was young they were very involved and always looked at a balanced centre.
It does get harder as time goes on but we still are alive and kicking!
And indeed, an overabundance of tourisme kills towns.....the next town over is now seeing that and finally getting some tough regulations in place to prevent that. AirB&B is getting more and more restricted. It doesnt have to disapear but tourism has gotten out of hand and killed all livability in so many towns and cities..
NL customer shopping dynamic is totally different from that of UK and their Super-Supermarkets, The big five, Tescos, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose. Which have basically killed off the smaller independent baker, butcher candlestick maker etc. This was tried in NL and failed. The Dutch shop smaller locally and more frequently, daily to twice a week, and cash is used much more.
ive heard that tourism is a huge issue in amsterdam and the residents are pushing back HARD on this
It's not just shopping habits. Teenagers especially used to dress up to wander around town, seeing and being seen. They would hang out with their mates buying records and the latest fashion which was doing their bit for the shopping economy. Nowadays they stay home in their trakkies, playing games, texting and seeing much more than they used to on the phone. The parents are not much different and find their entertainment indoors online. People were once classed as odd if they stayed indoors all the time. Now it is becoming the norm.
Yeah that is a great point
Yes the good old days, unfortunately those days are long gone, buying your first record was a buzz, taking pride in your appearance, so much has changed and not for the better.
I'm almost 30. I used to dress up a bit when I was in my teens/early 20's, but now I feel like there's no point because everyone else walks about in a hoodie and joggers, so I do the same. Gets me less scowls from the people around my area. Only time I dress up now is when I'm travelling to somewhere that isn't a chav infested dump.
I would love to go out somewhere in my home town but if you don't drink or want to come home with ear ache from a club, you're goosed.
I would also scrub up better for work but our uniform is unfortunately T-shirts.
Completely true.. people live on their phones and social media..I think it would be soul destroying living a life that..
My missus is a geography teacher. The high street is a module covered in the coursework. She says there is a real shortage of good quality videos on the topic. Maybe worthwhile looking into what is covered in that module. If the Schools start using your content in their coursework, you could see a huge boost in your view count.
Great video by the way. Both my missus and I love your videos.
Hey thanks for this,
I could probably benefit from you misses knowledge as well so I appreciate any tips, if you’ve got any send to wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com
In doing my research, I was also shocked at how little this is covered. There was a big look at it about 5 years ago, and then since then there had been nothing
And thank you both for watching 😀😀
My daughter is doing a level geography and I found your videos through the barrow in Furness video , which is where I work , she’s already looking at the topic and your videos are really useful , I’m enjoying the content as well .
The High Streets of Europe are open and vibrant…..?
I am originally from the North of England but I now live here in Eureka (Northern California). Small town retail struggles here . There is a reason that Bezos Amazon) is one of the wealthiest men in the USA . Folks prefer to sit at their computer and order "on line". The concept of walking from store to store (shop to shop for you folks in the UK) seems to be a dying habit unfortunately.
in the UK you have an extra level of greed called city and local councils who did not adapt to the changing habits of consumers. There are plenty of up and coming businesses that would benefit from lower rents in such places
I would say that Eureka is “challenged” rather than depressed. We have a few boarded up store fronts but there is retail activity and at least a dozen good quality local restaurants ( not chains ) . This area was dependent on the red wood mills . However since de industrialization this area has revived invented itself .
Never been to America but I can imagine that online shopping is likely even bigger there as its home to big companies such as Amazon. The US is also full of chains and outer city industrial shopping areas which are cheaper for big companies to maintain and also often easier to access considering that the majority of American houses are detached and far away from city centres.
parking in a downtown is also a big issue.
Oh nice to hear from someone in your part of the world. I might have to come visit there (if I get the funds)
You have a natural talent Mr Turnip 👍A brilliant presenter 👏A production company should snap you up 😘
Totally agree 😀👍
A suggestion: do a bit of reconaissance work and put flyers out asking to speak with people about the things you're talking about. Right now you're repeating yourself a lot, and interviews hold people's interest and flesh out the story. It then becomes more of a documentary. Do some research on each town as well and show us that. It's coming off as a bit lazy because you're not really prepared. Just blah blah blah at the camera, same old same old. We want to know what makes a place unique, and also contrast with what other places are doing. Talk to the council, ask them about their plans. It will create interest and engagement. JIMO.
Online clothes shopping is a nightmare - the sizes and fabric are never like the photo online - i hate it - id rather try stuff on before i buy it ....also Christmas time the big window displays are amazing - you cant get that online . Its a shame .....i also think one empty shop can ruin the look of a town - its that broken window theory - everything starts to look scruffy and the place takes on a grim atmosphere .
I agree, I hate buying clothes online. Never works out.
If they are from China you can't send it back. They offer you a discount to 'gift' it to a friend.
One reason Primark does so well. Even in Scunthorpe, which was a very sad place to go shopping last time I went - so many empty shops, Primark's store sticks out. Grimsby is much the same - devoid of good shops.
Lincoln is sort of doing OK but even here, Debenhams and Wilco falling over have left big holes that need revitalising. But high streets all over the place need looking at. Maybe make them user friendly. Like put in seats etc.
I would love to show you the town i left 23 years ago,as i had foresight to see were it was going and moved only 18 miles away to another town,the diffrence is mind boggling,during the 70s the town i grew up had one off the wealthiest manufacturing in the country along with three working coal mines. Now 50 years later its a shadow of its former past,and thats putting it politely. Another great video
I emigrated to South Africa 43 years ago and I left a booming thriving town called Grimsby which used to be the biggest fishing port in the world ! There were also chemical industries and all kinds of manufacturing ! There was so much work it was impossible to be unemployed ! It has ALL gone !!! Boarded up shops lead to the once bustling docks ! Dead as a Dodo !!!!
Really interesting series. New sub here. I'm from Dudley West Midlands. Out of town retail parks (merry hill) killed the high street. Now those centres are also struggling and the high streets are full of bookies, charity shops, Greggs / knock off Gregg's, cash converters - it is just depressing. It's very much pushing me to buy online rather than go to the hassle of trying to find something in a declining centre. Public transport isn't good enough to get into town. I can order pretty much anything now and I'll get it within 24 hours. Sometimes less. Online shopping has shown a level of convenience that can't be matched on a high street.
Hey thanks for watching. Yeah you make some very relatable points there. I'm going to do a whole episode on online shopping
I look forward to the online shopping one, but will the Turnip be Wandering or will he be sat at a desk? I am in Colley Gate, 10 mins bus ride from the aforementioned Merry Hill so really convenient for me.
I really don't know what people have against Greggs...if they were eating the same stuff in a nobby coffee shop, they would think it's acceptable.
at least I'd actually want to go to a town centre. Merry Hell has no appeal.
It also represents modern day slavery for many of its employees 🤙
The only London boroughs high streets outside of the posh ones that are doing well are the ones full of rampant money laundering operations like endless barbers and minimarts . Other than that, its bookies, estate agents and money shops.
i love my suburban town, perfect view with curtains down. bleak curtains, but one more gregs will turn it down.
cex trade my phone for half a can of monster. th-cam.com/video/oIJuZbXLZeY/w-d-xo.html
If it hasn't been mentioned before it's also interesting to see how much of your high street is owned by offshore companies and landlords, who's primary interest is to make as much money off the premises as possible. This ties the prospective tenant store holder into feeding large monthly rents, despite fluctuations in monthly turnover. Over time the rent becomes unmanageable. Great videos by the way, keep them coming!
They also get tax breaks if they keep the property empty. Tax policy changes are needed. They also should removate shops and turn them into housing, where possible. Like the ones with attached accommodation. In the US they're turning disused shopping malls into housing. It is possible but it needs imagination and not short term rent gouging.
Great video as usual, mate. The High Street, sadly, has had a deluge of issues thrust upon it over the last 30 or so years: out of town/city retail parks, extortionate tax rates, car parking fees, development of online shopping, confusing street routes for drivers...
Kept up the brilliant work, fella 👊
Thanks for watching
Great film yet again . I live in Bristol. We have lost a Debenhams, Marks and Spencers and many town centre stores . In place are pop up shops and market and second hand shops , all temporary. In contrast where I live in Bedminster which was a working class area in the past has now become more and more expensive to live . Local business is beginning to grow as developers have decided this is an area to make a financial killing . There are numerous high rise developments being built as I make this comment . The estimate is a 44 percent population increase in the next 2 years . There are no more Schools , GP Surgeries, Health Centres, Dentists planned for Bedminster. Green spaces are being sacrificed for housing . There is no parking planned for any new developments or new residents. Thankfully I am a cyclist and that won't affect me .
If you walk down West Street to the Church on Food Bank days you will see long queues of people all ages , sexes , backgrounds, children , desperate. What a divide . It just reminds me of when I lived in The States . Abject poverty , no health care vs extreme wealth . Talking about shopping I am with you ! Every Lidl Helps ! Aldi , Poundland , Super Savers. Keep filming
Places like that have huge divide between classes and are generally not actually that nice to live in despite being all gentrified. You can't just build homes but no public services or parking or green space. It just makes people stressed or unhappy.
Thanks for this mate. I have a few pals down there so coming down in July so I will have to bring my camera down. My email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com if you have any other tips for when I’m down.
Nice one and cheers for watching 👍👍
Ok I will have a think over next week or two and let you know . If there are any specific ideas you would like to explore let me know before your planned trip . Two areas that never really get addressed are Bristol's homeless and the drug and alcohol problems that have such an impact for the people who end up on the street. I will take pictures before I email and attach them . Would be good to know which parts of Bristol you will visit
It's a shame that developers seem to avoid building the much-needed infrastructure to make an area work but they somehow manage to fit in more tiny apartments.
Bristol does seem to be doing a lot of building in the center and on a lot of Brown sites but a huge amount of it is linked to the university and students' accommodation.
You should remember it was the industrial towns that destroyed communities forcing people to live and work in the factories, who's wealth was essentially built on endentured labour. the posh version of slavery (which is still in situe and working well to impoverish). You can equate the decline of community, family and individuals with Cinema, TV. and now Mobile's. people have a complete doorway to a further disconect to what being a human means, with family, in a community. Its currious to mourne something that was essentially built on suffering, when what we have now by comparison is only going to get worse. Governemt/corporations want dependancey and exclusivity, they pretty much have it but unless everyone makes an informed choice, then we'll get "support" whether we want it or not.
I live in Loughborough. It's a student town and does really well when they're here then struggles when they leave. It feels like shops pop up then disappear within 6 months sometimes. But there is always a replacement to the space that does insanely well upon opening. We are also a market town, open on thursday and saturday, and it is absoloutely thriving, bringing life to the town. Also, smaller pubs, resteraunts and indie shops do tend to do well as it appeals to the younger population. A lot of people complain about students, but the truth it, there would be no highstreet without them.
People get grants to open up in empty shops by it there are not enough customers so shut down quick then it starts up again with someone else getting a grant.
I also live in Loughborough and it's just continuing to decline. We are about to lose the Carillon Court shopping centre as it's completely dead. The council continues to build lots of student accommodation. Shops are closing left, right and centre. It just isn't the great town it once was. So sad
Very interesting video. Being from Hebden and now Halifax as I was priced out of buying a house in Hebden which was annoying years back I preferred it as a industrial town where everyone knew each other and yes it was busy. Now if I go back its just full of rubber necks ( People aimlessly wandering around looking everywhere except where they should be and knocking into you). But that's what they wanted so fair dos.
As for Halifax I think moving the town down from Bull Green to the bottom end killed a lot of shops off years ago. But like you said just look up now and then and see the amazing architecture, one of my personal favourites is the old Burton Art Deco building now MacDonalds.
Now in my sixties I find myself going in the market for fresh food rather than the supermarkets and yes it costs a bit more but worth it and its more pleasant walking round than a boring supermarket. As for the Piece Hall I am not a big fan but it serves purpose and we are lucky its still there I'm sure I'm correct that back in the 70s and 80s when they were developing the bottom end of town they wanted to demolish it and it was only saved by one vote at a council meeting.
I am from Halifax too and use the market for fresh food, lots of people moan we have nothing but we will have nothing if we don't support business.
The Piece Hall was going to be flattened for a Tesco but thankfully never happened
Could this be an opportunity to repurpose town centres as meeting and well-being centres for communities. Places where people can exercise, meet, work remotely, eat and have childcare crèches. I’m based in south Buckinghamshire and town centres are the same here sadly lots of boarded up shops, all becoming vape shops, betting shops and kebab shops, feeding addictions and not good for people :(
Yeah I feel that would be the ideal thing. It all comes down to lower ground rent. People could then open interesting thing, that don't have to be a traditional 'shop'
I live in Northampton and the council commissioned a report to determine the future of a once thriving centre. What made this report different from those previously done and it was fascinating to see that prior to WW2 the town centre was mixed residential and commercial. Like a lot of towns post WW2 there was a shift to brutalist car centric architecture. Seems the future of the town is return to its roots and this is starting with the regeneration and repurposing of the market square.
I actually think the market square was fine as it was. Every time a council 'regenerates' a market place, it seems to be destroyed by it. See Kettering for example. Prior to WWII, most people worked locally because they didn't drive and there wasn't widespread public transport. It was a far more environmentally friendly way of life - but shopping, leisure and work has been displaced 'out of town' leading to the levels of traffic we have now, and dormitory towns.
@@wilfulsprite555 Born and bred in Northampton. Left home at 18 in 1978 for London and never looked back. Visited an old mate in Northampton a year ago and was astonished at the sheer desperation in the town centre. Nothing to go in to town for anymore. Tragic.
The state of high streets does depend on the local wealth. Wanstead High St in east London is booming and mainly with independents. Likewise where I live now, Bath where there are closed units for sure, but not as overwhelming as most and new places regularly opening.
ie abolish usage rules … let people do what they want to do where they want to do it
Also in Northampton and had to laugh, This sums up the area.
You looking forward, One looking Back, and One "It's crap moved out "etc etc etc. Myself I moved here 10 years ago from London because London was out pricing it's self (The area I grew up in £4000 a month rents are starting to appear and in some cases £4000 a week 🤯) Northampton has some very good things going for it, My main concern about the developments in the town centre are around the quality of them, We are seeing lots of "Student" flats getting built, but the Uni and Colleges in the town say there is no need for Student flats. A student flat is not considered a permanent residence so is built on a small footprint to a "Flat". So a town with pokey small flats isn't an answer. The Market Place is very historic but the current plans don't seem to appreciate this, it seems to be "Look we are doing something" exercise rather than what needed to be done, like advertise the market properly, get a larger selection of stalls involved, have things of interest. Last time I visited the market it seems to be 3 or 4 fruit and veg stalls all selling the same produce at the same price, a phone repair stall, a workwear stall and a stall selling oversized ladies underwear. All very good if that's what you wanted, but no pet supplies, no non worker or large nickers stalls etc.
Today the council have announced they are going to start looking at what to do on the old bus station site, They are going to spend £250,000 on developing plans for it. Why they have waited until 2023 to think about what to do with a building they flattened in 2015 sums up the struggle in the town.
Repurposing to.what 🤔. Our outdoor markets were destroyed to make car parks.
Its worth looking into Sheffield - the vast majority of locals are convinced that the city centre is dead, while the council is putting a hell of a lot of money into making sure that doesnt happen. Even if some of the plans (like a recreation of londons boxpark) really don't work out, they made some really good markets, and kept a decent balance of unique retail
I’ll have to come check it out nice one 👍
I grew up in north London and the high streets there generally thrive particularly in the higher income areas. Partly this is down to the fact that people have relatively more money to spend but an important reason is population density and people using their local shops rather than driving everywhere because London was never sacrificed to the car like so many other urban areas of the UK.
I love your videos!
You want to see a dead town? Look no further than Great Grimsby. I lived there for 40 years and it's now completely dead, broken, lost.
If you want to see a good high street, visit Driffield, I can do all my shopping up the high street and it's still a thriving town.
Yes, Grimsby is not very nice unfortunately😢 It's getting worse too I think just like Barrow in Furness
Thanks I’ll get it added to my list 👍
Funny I was going to say visit Grimsby too! I have recently moved here from Lincoln and what a difference! Really feel for this town as it feels lost and well underinvested 😢
There's another youtuber I watched called 'Adam Something' who discusses urban planning. He often compares American and European urban planning, but I think some of the points he makes about the experience of driving a car vs the experience of walking around a town apply here. Basically, a lot of new urban planning is centred around cars. Like the Trafford centre, you drive there, shop, leave. It's not really about the experience of being in the place itself. Now, the market in Halifax is the kind of place you walk around and experience, but a lot of the boarded up buildings in the town were ones that were on main roads with loud traffic going past outside.
Towns used to be less spread out, and people worked near where they shopped, went to pub, etc. But with cars, you can do your shopping out of town, (or online these days). There has to be a reason for you to go into town and if you don't need to go to the shops on the high street, the area starts to empty and the betting shops move in. People don't really want to walk around somewhere if it's all boarded up, lots of traffic going past creating noise and pollution, people living on the street, because it's depressing.
I don't know if the answer is to bring back 'useful' shops into highstreets necessarily, because big supermarkets can always offer more variety and low cost for essentials. That's the reason a lot of the small shops like butchers, grocers, bakeries etc. shut in the first place. I think it's more about making highstreets into places that people actually want to spend time in. Somewhere you want to catch up with friends, that has a bit of nature and that isn't just full of traffic. I think Hebden is doing a good job of that- but as someone who also lives in a tourist town, properties shouldn't be turned into Airbnbs. It's got to still work for the locals, otherwise it will be a ghost town half the year like some towns in Devon and Cornwall. There's a fine line between regeneration and gentrification, too often they end up looking like the same thing.
Lots of good points there, though I think there are two extremes. If you make everything car-centric then it’s awful, but if you make everything reliant on public transport which isn’t provided for then you get dead pedestrianised high streets with no passing trade in cars, which has happened to many smaller towns where most units are now cafes or charity shops. The best solution would be to like you say make the high streets more enjoyable but still provide proper useful shops which will attract all kinds of users. If you see Turnip’s video on the new Bolton Market (posh, uninspiring shopping centre) and the old one (bustling market with everything you need) this is a real eye opener.
The Car thing and forcing everyone to drive all the time. Hate it. I like to drive sometimes, but don't want to get in a Car all the time for everything I do. I get sick of driving as I'm forced to do it all the time, even for simple, rudimentary things. I.think its disgusting as it has been purposefully engineered this way. Nobody was ever asked if they wanted this. It was actually pressed on us, we are tricked and fooled into it and its been totally undemocratic as to how we've got here.
I love how you are so unaware of how naturally talented you are. You will have your own TV show. I guarantee it.
I concur with that, I think of Swede as our very own Simon Reeves., and I do hope he gets some funding for this project.
Thank you mate that comment really means a lot 😀
I’d rather he just stay on TH-cam and hopefully continue to grow, than sell out to woke TV.
If you believe he doesnt know hes talented you are probably racist
Come to Glasgow, it's a great example of change. Once the richest city in Europe, had it's guts ripped out by the Tories with the death of the shipyards triggering a couple of decades of austerity. Thriving again now and an amazing city to live in with stunning architecture, but like most other cities the high street is beginning to suffer.
I am actually up in Glasgow in August so will be good to explore cheers mate
Go to Northampton. The high street is now basically a homeless camp with tents in all the empty shop doorways. It looks very sad.
Thank you for your lovely comment I know Northampton I used to go there a lot it's very sad to hear that there are a lot of homeless people every where
Another town visited by Iain Nairn. The beautiful arcade lost because the town planners wanted to put a road where it sat.
On my list cheers 👍
I live in Lincoln and although its had money spent on its town centre, we have too many bookies and charity shops. A main railway line runs through the middle of the town. Lincoln University in the town centre is probably the only reason it hasnt fully died. Great documentary looking forward to where it goes
was going to put the same thing about Hanley used to be so busy in the 90s bunch of charity shops or gaming shops. greggs, and cash converters like they are trying to stop people from using cash I hope they do not push in digital currency be the end of the shopping center community is so important I do not mind not going out but so much will be lost forever
Same in Darlington. Bookies, hair and nail salons, vape and discount shops.. we do have a few independent businesses just about hanging in there, but how long for.. very sad
Paid parking is a massive disincentive to every day people. Free, more accessible parking would rejuvenate a lot of towns and cities in my opinion!
The quality of your content is truly remarkable, my friend. However, I would kindly request that when you embark upon your visits to these towns, you consider incorporating an assessment of their infrastructure, particularly the efficacy of public transportation. It would be hard to miss the noteworthy development taking place in Halifax, where an extensive and substantial investment is being made into the construction of a grandiose multimillion-pound bus station.
A little bit ‘off piste,” I know, but I was born and raised near a really posh area of central London - Sloane Street. In those days, there was macfisheries (excellent fishmongers) and Cobb the butcher, with sawdust on the floor. Nowadays, it is all frou-frou ladies’ clothes shops, where a pair of knickers costs a four figure sum. My point is that, in days of recession, how long can these shops, of no community value, last - and wouldn’t it be a good thing if they didn’t?
You got a new subscriber from New York❤️❤️Love all your videos, i’ve been on a binge watching them all!
And wow that lady at 2:46 shaking her head and laughing at you vlogging is so rude. This is 2023 where people vlog and it’s a public street which is legal, idk what her deal was.
Towns that are struggling is down to one simple thing, rent cost and business council tax rates are too high for people to trade or compete with big stores that get special treatment and relief and incentives to keep them in the town.
Halifax Is still a very a beautiful town despite the issues it has and it seems to be dealing with its problems much better than a lot of other Northern towns/cites, with it being on the up mostly unlike other places with have their centres in big decline.
Hebden Bridge, the hippie capital of The North is also so beautiful... I hope that it stays like this and always thrives💚
Halifax is a few years behind Bradford, hard to get car insurance in Bradford, they have more chop shops than chip shops.
@@hardlines2635 Bradford in my opinion isn't as nice as Halifax, it feels more run down and low in investment, I'd say that Bradford is behind Halifax
@dimfm9710 Judging by your comment Maybe it's you that don't integrate.
@dimfm9710 Yes they are most welcome. It will bring trade to the towns.
@dimfm9710 You are obviously stuck in your backwards mentally.
One thing i notice is all the bookies still around in the deprived areas and on high streets often 4 or 5 close by 🤔🤔 can’t think why!
Yeah sad that isn’t it
I work in Stratford upon Avon and over the last 20 years I have seen tourism to the town increase massively. This means a lot of useful shops have closed to be replaced by cafes and restaurants. There has been talk of BHS and Debenhams becoming hotels. Luckily M&S is still hanging in there despite having a Simply Foods M&S up the road in the retail park. I agree with you in that I find retail parks ‘soul-less’ and avoid them, much preferring the older buildings of the traditional towns. Whenever I go to less wealthy/touristy towns though I find myself feeling depressed at the level of homelessness and social deprivation. One change to retail I have appreciated is the rise of charity shops - I think we should all buy more second hand items where possible as it is more environmentally friendly. Really enjoy your videos and look forward to the series.👍
Yeah great points! I agree with you on the charity shop front as well. I actually really love having a few near by, I’m totally happy buying most of my clothes and trainers second hand. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pair of shoes new.
Thanks for watching 🙏👍
The M&S boss stated that, on average, rent in a retail park is about 3 times cheaper than a high street. This has encouraged them to close our local high street branches and move to a far bigger store on a retail park.
High Street in Chester is not doing too bad what's a lot of shops have closed after the pandemic has starte
I'm sorry to all the businesses that have lost out in this shambles
i5 from Chester UK 🇬🇧👍
Bro keep up the word
Maybe that is the problem we should have kept with the markets I don't know why the high Street is a biggest downfall but what do I know the hot weather got to me
I suppose we class a market as a bargain and that's probably why it's doing so well
We have a brand new market in Chester the old one still for now
Maybe that's the problem we should go back to the basics..
In my eyes the Trafford centre is a big shopping complex not a market..
I was watching one of your old videos from Blackpool it's like any other seaside town's
C&A, index (the mickey mouse argos), kwik save, happy shopper, leo's, rumbalows, tandy .....ahh the list is endless
Cheers for this
reason high streets are dying is because its same shops rents are too high you can never get what you need and its just same shops over and over again you go into any town centre and its just same shops selling same thing and the rents are too high its like the pubs thing high rents and nothing of use why people are going online all they'll be intown centres soon are charity shops and witherspoons and a witherspoons if ya lucky cause their in trouble as well and its yet another example of the destruction of the community
If your looking for a real town with shop and social decline try Newport, South Wales.
One of the most depressed deprived areas in South Wales.
Beautiful buildings from a time gone by left to wrack and ruin.
If you decide to come down give me a shout and I will be your guide.
If you go to Wales then Port Talbot has got to be the worsted... its town centre is literally a massive factory
Oh yeah nice I will thanks. Give me an email on wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com and we can sort something out 👍
Interestingly, many of our historical "town centres" here in Australia are thriving. In fact they get so busy, shopping malls are usually much quieter.
I hope the Main Street revival continues. The shopping mall experience doesn't compare favourably.
London is a city of "villages", each village has managed to do ok, the high streets might be messy but they are busy with lots of life. I think it is because each high Street is surrounded by a mixture of housing and apartment blocks, and they are well integrated into the transport network. The high streets in London are full of young people, they live in walking distance of the town, and many shops. So I think there are some lessons to learn here about how a town is structured and what people live there. That doesn't mean there aren't problems, there are still shut down pubs and shops but its not as acute as smaller towns.
Yeah good point there. I should make a stop to London on this series, it’s just hard to compare it to anywhere else in the UK as it really does just have its own economy
@@wanderingturnip thats true. And I suppose you could argue that its the density of all groups of people (young old and families) living around town centres that helps the high streets, naturally. Which of course is difficult to replicate in smaller towns. And of course since the very centre of London is less populated (at least with ordinary people), Oxford Street has been struggling as a high Street. Thinking of successfully English towns, Reading town centre is very lively and doing well with every shop along with cafes and bars. I've no idea how they've managed it.
Authorities always seem to underestimate the aesthetics of a town on its general sense of positivity and wellbeing. Luton has a history of smashing up its beautiful buildings: corn exchange, old market, theatres - can you believe even its Bodlean Library? all demolished. It looks for the most part grim as and I'm sure much of its bad reputation comes from how bleak it looks. Hemel Hempstead is a bit of a shocker too. It vastly expanded its shopping area just as the high street started to decline and is a model throughout of how not to plan a town. What a mess.
Luton is practical but not pretty. The only reason a lot of the people live their is due to it being close to London, the place is depressing though and completely lacking character. Despite this it still has a fare amount of investment, but is probably worse to live in then many Northern towns with far less money
@@LadyGagaLoveMusic Luton has had, and still does have, a planning policy that is wholly unsympathetic to the aesthetics of the town. Historic buildings can still be torn down with remarkably little resistance and the new buildings that go up invariably look cheap and nasty.
The planning department also continues to get the basics wrong; e.g. the newly paved area in front of the town hall is a cold light grey whereas the town hall itself uses a warm cream stone. Peterborough on the other hand chose a colour that matched its prominent architecture when it repaved its main pedestrian area. It's not hard to get that kind of this right you would have thought, but Luton manages to consonantly make basic design blunders to this day.
Then there is a huge private landlord problem in Luton, where a lot of the housing stock is owned by lazy and disinterested absentee private landlords resulting in its visible deterioration.
Although Luton has had some investment, a lot of money is also taken out of Luton; for decades now its biggest business have been owned outside of the town and so that's where the profits go.
Thanks for all this. I’ll have to come check it out
Same down South. Highstreets with charity shops and bookies!! Horrendous! I used to be able to walk to my Highstreet, 30 min walk, and get anything I needed from a pair of socks to TV! Always had a Woolworths. Now you have to get a bus and go miles just to get a tin of paint or whatever. Shame ☹️
It’s true of here in the U.K. where I’ve lived 21 years in Manchester but it’s also true of my native Ireland as well
Worksop is sadly declining. All boarded up and a few shops left near the car park. Out of town supermarkets, pedestrian walkways, and ring roads in my opinion, just took the trade elsewhere. But it's a bit mental for all these buildings to stand empty when people can't afford homes.
My sister in law is from there, I’ll have to come check it out cheers!
There's always a lot of hostility to the "younger generation" and online shopping regarding this topic, but I'd like anyone reading this comment to consider the following:
-The sheer cost of things nowadays, along with the growing wealth divide. We see on the news that more people than ever are using foodbanks. If necessities are unaffordable, then new, branded clothing (for example) is likely to be unobtainable. We also see that younger people today have less money as it is.
- The ridiculous mark-up on goods in general, and the inability of the highstreets to compete with online deals and prices (I think a big one is things like Paypal pay in 3 or Klarna). Again if money is tight, it's going to be better to be able to spread the cost and pay less overall, than to get the item /service instantly but end up worse off.
- The death of the massive shops like Debenhams and Topshop etc. Shops that rented huge buildings no longer exist, thus leaving a huge vacuum in the high street. Debenhams was good in that it was multidisciplinary (clothes and home etc.) and was worth going to for everything in one place.
- The lack of things to do i.e. youth clubs closing down, shops closing by 5pm (what are you meant to do if you work?), no hangouts for younger people without them being moved on.
- The price of a pint and eating out. The weekly food shop is expensive, never mind taking yourself and the nearest and dearest out.
- Lots of pubs and eateries are now chains = lack of choice = boring
- The cost of entertainment. Seeing that theatre boarded up was genuinely sad, however theatre tickets are wildly expensive even with under 30 schemes. I've just bought a ticket to a show near me that would've cost £38, but got it for £15. However these deals are limited on a first come first served basis. Anyone not in the scheme or wanting to bring someone else or multiple people is going to be forking out big time. I enjoy supporting the local theatre but I couldn't afford £38 a ticket on a regular basis.
- Getting into town. The cost of parking is mentioned, but what about cost and availability of public transport or cycle lanes? Maybe actually getting into town without a car is hard and once you're there parking is costly anyway. The suburbs might be too far away from the town/city centre that's it's easier to order online than to go in.
- The town centre is ugly. See this video with his bit on the ugly new building in comparison to the beautiful old style stone buildings.
It's very easy to blame """young people""" but I think the blame can be laid squarely at the council and local and overall governments feet. It's too expensive to have a shop with ground rent and business rates, the price on everything is jacked up out of control and without regulation (and is evident this time it's corporate greed and not inflation), wages haven't kept up allowing for the consumer class to consume, public transport and town centre services have been stripped back beyond belief leaving the town centre not a nice place to be even if you get in.
Dying sadly with more closures to come (Llanelli). I do see local business making something of a comeback however in parts. I often think a times did developments kill the nice balance there once was between large/medium sized towns and cities? Putting big stores into smaller towns killed off the need to travel on shopping trips to the nearest city, and in the process killed off all the private shops that made towns unique. All towns had the essentials like Tesco, Woolworths, WH Smiths, M & S, but then stores more associated with city centres like Debenhams and HMV came along, and in my opinion killed off the balance between them. I think it's mostly tourist trap small towns and villages that still thrive the best due to the demand for gifts and the like during peak seasons combined with high visitor volumes.
That was the story of Main Street America with the advent of "The Mall" in the late 70s into the 90s. Now the malls are dying and the main streets are rebounding! BUT...not in a lot of small towns. Many small towns are dead or dying.
Love this channel. I'm from Ipswich, where the town is sadly so dead and empty of people. There's no sense of buzz at all really. But I now live in Norwich, just up the road, and the town centre is one of the busiest and most thriving I've seen outside of London. Just down the road the difference is so big, I would love for you to do an episode on these!!
Ipswich is improving I think Lowestoft is much worse
@llanieliowe794 I've lived in Lowy and I'm hoping the 1st Light Festival helps to revitalise it. That said, it's a vast improvement on Llanelli, where I'm from. That town centre has been destroyed by the council concentrating all efforts on out of town shopping whilst allowing high rents in the centre to remain. The dead town is DEAD. Heads should roll.
@@FnXMusique Port Talbot is far worse area and high street than Llanelli if you go Swansea way. I don't think Lowestoft is the worst in the UK just the worsted in the Suffolk Norfolk area for me Cumbernauld is the least nice place in the country.
@@llanieliowe794 Not familiar with PT town. If it's worse than Llanelli, then it shall remain so. I've never a reason to go to Llanelli as it is. Now living in Ammanford, which has a selection of boutique type shops and vintage retailers. It's not great but I'd consider shopping there. Not Llanelli.
@@llanieliowe794What has happened to Lowestoft is terrible.
I live in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Within two hours of Sydney so it was settled early 1800. It's really a string of towns, each with their own high street shops, some very small, some medium sized. The high streets are going great, with no vacant shops. I think what has made the difference here is two fold, there are no big Westfield like shopping centres and it is also a heavy tourist area. We have a combination of shops such as chemists and bakeries, quirky arts and crafts, cafes and restaurants etc. Loving your videos.
Preston is really on the slide with lots of boarded up shops and too much emphasis on charity shops, betting shops and £ shops. It started to deteriorate before covid, but lockdowns have made it so much worse. Preston is officially a city but really comes across as a large town. Strangely, it has a large university and a big student population so you’d think the city centre would be thriving… but it’s on its ar5e. Go and take a look - it’s not too far from you.
Oh yeah thanks I’ll have to check it out. I’ve only ever been to the station there on the way up to the lakes 👍
In the US and London (what's the difference?), I've realized most of the more successful high streets have become almost exclusively 'food & beverage' on the ground floor... restaurants, bars and cafes. Plus services especially banks. There are very few true stores anymore and what remains are chains you can find anywhere.
There's a lot of things at play... COVID impacts, online retail, work from home habits and wanting places closer to home, generic bland retail, suburban big box centers with free parking, in the US crime has become a huge issue with shoplifting during the day & store break-ins at night plus major customer safety issues like muggings, car break-ins, or being caught in the middle of a store ransanking. Retail is about concentration and each closure is less of a reason to visit a particular location. It also needs to be a pleasant safe environment since shopping in person now is more recreational.
I would also argue there is nothing new in retail that is a draw - just the same stores as everywhere although dwindling due to mass closures and consolidations... remember when every high street had a music store, book store, toy store, and a handful of just one-off unique stores you'd only find on that street/shopping area? It's a lot harder and less fun to make a day or half-day event out of a trip to the high street or downtown like it used to be.
Lord Street Southport seemed to suffer from decline but now has slowly reinvented itself as a food and drink street. Its now actually better than its been in a long time.
Bold Street in Liverpool has done the same thing, I think its the new trend in towns and cities that can support this change of use.
Luton is thriving because those communities (Asian) simply will not allow their lives to be so affected and that is admirable af.
Interesting topic for a series, everyone seems to off-handedly mention the decline of the high-street, nice to have some long-form content on the subject. I'm sure everyone would say this about the places around them, but Swansea is truly Betting/Vape shop/Cash only barber central
Hi, the biggest problem with the High Street is that the local business rates are so high that it has strangled the small business people, this is part of the government plan to centralise everything including the banks, in 10 years everyone will have a smartphone or devices that we use to access everything, 1984 you all asked for here it comes.
Hi young man. The high street has been decimated by design in my opinion. My small town is just full of of takeaways and beauty parlours. No bakers no greengrocers. Just awful.x
My favourite memories are of Woolworth's in my childhood in the early 80s. It was a day out, they must have sold tens of thousands of different things including records. And Tandy, and rather later a bit of a successor, Maplin. More recently sad to see Debenhams go. I can see why many electrical shops have gone in general including opposite me where it's a coffee shop; 35 years ago a reasonable washing machine was £400. Today a reasonable washing machine is £400 but it costs far more now to run a shop. 35 years ago a coffee was 50p, now its £3.00!
Yeah great points there. I paid £4 for a coffee the other day 😂😂
Hey! Big fan of your channel here and I think this is a brilliant concept for a series and am looking forward to seeing where you go with it. I would like to point you towards Swansea as an interesting case study. The city centre was blown to bits in WWII and lost a lot of the architectural grandeur and harmony of it's industrial heyday. Dylan Thomas famously remarked "Our Swansea is dead" upon seeing the bombed out ruins. Regardless of that blow it was rebuilt and thrived all the way through to the 80s when deindustrialisation throughout South Wales brought on a drastic and quite sudden decline. Ever since then the collective idea of the city amongst native residents has been that's a dive, somewhere that's been failed - fatally and with little to no chance of recovery - by successive local and national governments. You know, the typical post-industrial British nihilism and despair. People have good reason to believe this, and with the impact of the internet on shopping habits and the resultant shutdown of big chains, along with a very visible rise in destitution and drug use, it's easy to create a narrative of decline.
However from my perspective Swansea is massively improved from when I walked around there as a kid (I'm guessing I'm about the same age as you are). The local council has done, in my opinion, quite a decent job of regeneration. They have introduced a lot more greenery and trees, pedestrianized the main nightlife area, attracted workspace/office developments into town, attracted developers to repurpose and save derelict heritage buildings brought the main library/civic space into the centre, built high density housing (yes, including student flats) in key neglected corners of the city centre, built a new Arena and urban park, and more. There are so many more projects on the way, and the fact that Swansea has such a spacious and inconsistent built environment gives it so much more space for growth than cities with dense heritage cores. Alongside all this I've noticed a growth in independents around the city. I've noticed that a lot of these businesses are spreading out into developing areas just outside of the main shopping streets - and in this I see a future where city centers aren't based around the extreme density of shop after shop on a crowded "successful" street, but become larger areas hybridizing leisure, parkland, high-density housing, and service industry, as well as niche retail. In a sense more of the city becomes "centre", with an improvement in pedestrian, disabled, and bicycle access. All the good 15-minute city ideas that conspiracy theorists hate. The change hasn't quite come on yet - the city centre can still feel like a ghost town at times and there are some big infrastructural issues that have to be worked around (the large arterial road that divides the centre from the beach being a large one) - but I think it's on the cusp, and hopefully in a few years other towns and cities will be able to look at Swansea that turned things around.
If you're interested in doing a work on Swansea or just want to know anything more about the city I'd be up to help in any way I can.
Thank you so much for your content!
Hey thanks so much.
I’ll get it added to my list to come check out.
Also, my email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com, if you have any other tips to shoot across and we can chat further there 👍👍
Come over the hill to Bacup on a Saturday. It’s very busy. Loads of history. Loads of shops. A small market. Plenty of places having loads of money being spent on renovation. I have a business in Bacup. I make dentures 😀
Valley Denture Clinic.
Come for a look.
Great local useful business owned by local people who mainly know each other.
Lots of mill history and of course the source of the river Irwell up above Weir towards Burnley.
Great videos. Love your wandering.
3:46 the stunning architecture you mention was constructed by African slaves. Liverpool was a hub for the slave trade. After auctions, stock was distributed to wealthy plantations where the slaves were used to construct the ornate buildings which require too much labour to reproduce today. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to pay for labour, eh?
Yeah good point. I guess Dubai still follows those building procedures…
Great video as always, I like the different stuff you are doing. Same here in Scotland, the town I was bought up in is full of vape shops, charity shops and bookies, with the occasional Wetherspoons thrown in for good measure. I moved to St Andrews three years ago because I can work from home. What a difference, butchers, fishmongers, bakeries, cafes, good pubs. Areas with a bit of money seem to support the local businesses but if people are struggling then this is what happens. Councils should help with repopulating the high streets with low business rates for consumables shops and free parking. Only way forward. Love your channel.
Cheers for watching.
Thats good to know that St Andrews in doing well. I might have to come check it out
Councils don't set the level of Business Rates - they only collect it. It is set by central government. It's simple- areas with well paid middle classes are thriving - minimum wage towns are not - they are like dole towns.
Brilliant work. Very informative and engaging. Would be mega if you could try arrange speaking with ideally the local MP or at least someone from the council to see their views on the situation (and why they're happy to grant licences to more and more bookies!!).
Hey thanks for watching. Yeah that’s what I’m hoping to do with future episodes. I want to get into as much detail as I can so keep an eye out 👍
Glad you are having some nice weather. Sad to see this on your High streets. People prefer to buy on line. Don't know why really. I don't. A bit of retail therapy and getting out and about used to be great thing to do. Maybe most don't have the money now with the cost of living crisis. Cheers from Brisbane Queensland.
Do you have boarded up streets like this over where you are?
It would be interesting to know how things are going in areas with high numbers of migrants. In my town in oz the old 1970's malls are now being rented out to migrant shopkeepers selling things for their community. It is bringing life back into it.
I do think they probably have low rents and lower rates from the council to encourage use.
Over here I don’t think any anybody is getting low rent or rates, they are astronomically high for everyone, and the result is clear
I don't think poor areas are sad, poor people need somewhere to live. 'Regeneration' causes homelessness cause locals won't be able to rent/buy the new places
Yeah too expensive to run a business. Too expensive to own a house. It’s nuts
I live in Norfolk and my nearest high street is Gorleston, and although it's nothing special everything is always open, and if a shop does go up for sale due to small businesses struggling etc. there is always someone else coming in to fill in the gap.
that's surprising because I always though Great Yarmouth was quite a run down place... I know that Lowestoft is full of run down boarded up shops on the high street but good to know Yarmouth is doing well
@@llanieliowe794Yarmouth is tatty but not doing too badly. Lowestoft has suffered far worse.
The High street is dying but retail parks seem to be in a healthy state. It’s free to park and easier access for people
Mate, i have been watching your channel for about a month amazing stuff.. keep up the good work.. big love from ireland
Thank you I appreciate it 😀
Also, I’m thinking of heading to Ireland to make some films. If you have any tips let me know 👍👍
It's nice walking around the local shops when the weather like this. But when it's wet and cold it's better to go to places like the Trafford centre or Meadowhall.
The big change I think is transport. Most households only had one car and the bread winner took it to work. So you either walked to the high street or took the bus which all went to the town centre.
My brother used to live in Hebden Bridge (and work in Leeds). But he was earning well. It's thriving on wealth. Same as Bakewell near me. Great for visiting not so great if you live there.
Yeah good points. Halifax in winter just isn’t the one 😂
Why has councils not helped high streets? I don't believe its a total result to online shopping. 😢
In my local (Gosport Hampshire) town. It’s dying. The shops are few, mainly charity shops and the few surviving chains.
In my opinion it is because needs are changing but also
1) the buildings are owned by large cooperations as hedge funds and they don’t care about the town.
2) shopping needs have changed, people need enticing back. The market has died 1 of 2 stalls only
3) pedestrian areas need reopening, places with successful high streets have cars driving through, this means people actually see the shops.
4) businesses rates are ridiculously expensive
Thanks for this, I will get it added to my list. And solid points there as well.
I'm from Warrington and what I think is the problem is that there is not enough variety and reason to bring people into the town. For example there's no branch of my bank and also the amount of same type of shops all selling the same products
Last bank near me just shut down. They said it was because of low footfall. They were open about 6 hours a week 😂 no wonder the footfall was low…
I remember when I was young there was a shop on the corner of a load of houses. Usually for sweets, paper and drinks. Then up the road on the high street was all the separate shops you needed. Butchers, Fruits, hair dressers, coffee shop, wallpaper shop, Bread and cake shop. ECT. Supermarkets came in and most closed.
Our parents had it best.
I remember too. Simpler and happier times in my opinion 😊
I had a small engineering unit in Birstall and had to give it up, not because of rent it was the rates that made my stay unviable, my rates were matching the rent i paid and not as a percentage of rent paid but a percentage of what Kirklees council said what the rent should be, scandalous at the time, anyway i now work out of a mobile workshop and never looked back. Don’t know whether it’s changed but the rateable value sucks or it did 10 years ago 👌👍
Ah mate very interesting. I’d love to come chat to you more about this for a future episode if you are up for it. Get in touch wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com
Paul: when you say 'mobile workshop' what do you mean?? I would like to hear more about this ... get in touch with the Turnip 👍👍✔
@@wanderingturnip yes, I would like to know more about this, too 👍👍✔
@@wanderingturnip oops late on picking this up but no probs at all, anytime 👌👍
You really need to make a video in Barnsley. The town centre has gone under massive regeneration and the footfall is increasing over time. It's a good place for property because there is easy work in warehouses like Aldi, ASOS, Evri etc.
In Newcastle we had pub after pub all along from Blaydon to Scotswood Road as in Blaydon Races song....all gone including go go rock club and Talk of the Tyne my uncle ran...places you see in Get Carter. The lovely old Grainger market is all tat now. Lost Mark Toney ice cream, individual shops. Even high street no more John Menzies. The local Co op , greggs and Fenwicks do well
Nice to see a thriving market. Years ago ours was listed in the top 10 best markets in the country. A long history of being an ancient market town, first they moved the outdoor market off it's original square and it dwindled a handful of stalls that aren't great. The High Street started dying. Now our indoor market has been turned into a fancy eat and drink feature where no one can afford the prices. 16 miles up the road the next town has a fantastic traditional large market just like ours used to be. I've watched your channel for some time now. Thank you for the interesting uploads and facts, always enjoyable 😊
Darlington?
It seems that every time councils 'regenerate' the market places, they destroy them. They should leave them alone.
Nottingham has 2 shopping centres. The broadmarsh was always a bit second rate and there were plans for developement for years. Westfield didn't get round to it and sold the centre to Intu, who began work renovating it. Then Intu went bust leaving a partly demolished shopping centre in the middle of the city, thats had a knock on effect on shops nearby. And gives the city an opportunity to reinvent a space now folk don't buy stuff in physical shops.
I live in Norwich and it's the same scene here as it is everywhere. I remember shopping in the city in the 1990s and you had every store imaginable, Virgin Megastore, Andy's Records, HMV, C&A Woolworths and so much more now all sadly gone. Originally Norwich had 1 shopping mall that really did thrive but once a second was built all the trades moved to the new shopping centre. A few pubs have been lost too. We do have a market that seems to be doing very well like it has always done. One deprived area Anglia Square was a hive of activity in the 90s but is sadly a shadow of its former self and many buildings have lain derelict since 1996. It's due for redevelopment but that has been on going for years. On a positive side it's still a beautiful city with lots to offer and a large number of independent shops seem to be doing ok. Unfortunately it's a sign of the times and one can only imagine what our high streets will be like in 20 years time.
You know the fine city is going down hill when an off licence opens up in an old phone box near the cathedral!
My view of Anglia Square is that it should be preserved, because such developments are being torn down and in a few decades it will become retro. Remember in the middle of the 20th century, people thought Victorian buildings were hideous. However the flooding from the cinema is such a problem, it's probably impractical. And the area feels very unsafe when there aren't many people around.The Sahara cafe nearby is great though.
This is one of the reasons I won't go back to retail as everyone can see what's happening to physical stores, its only a matter of time before it declines to the point where there will be only be stores that are making enough to stay afloat. Which at the moment a lot of shops i thought would never closed have closed, argos or debhanems for example used to hold up the high street. When I say to people retail is going to die out, I get a lot of confused looks but it's a fact we have to deal with now. We also have to think our own kids or grandkids will never experience the hay day of retail when it was thriving. One of favorite stores as a kid was a toy store called Gamleys it was always my most favorite store and the memories of getting your school clothes from BHS.
Great videos thanks. York is one of Englands most visited places but still has the usual struggles. Major high street stores are closing in the city centre (to be replaced by more bars?even though the locals hate drunk people)yet more shopping parks open up on the outskirts. The most interesting thing to me about York is called Spark. Have a look it’s shipping containers creating a unique space for startups and seems to be full of cool kids trying hard.
I think you have opened the right can of worms here chief 👊🏼
Ah nice one for this. My brother lives in York, im going over soon so I’ll go investigate that. Nice one 👍👍
York is 40 minute drive from us. It has a big artistic community yet no art shops…Most shops in town centre are selling identical tourist junk made in China. Way too many coffee shops and restaurants in town centre too. We go to York often but not for the shops anymore. Even the Shambles marked is all about eating out instead of actual shopping.
Online shoppings killed it guys ! seen it coming 2010 you want to come and see Huddersfield its like a 3rd world country so sad to see how much it has changed since the 80s/90s even our indoor markets gone big retail parks killed it too and all the beggars its so soooo sad 😢
@Wandering Turnip, I suggest you do a couple of things. Look down at the paving & street furniture, it's a really strong indicator of council efficiency. Have they spent a fortune on fancy materials? Have they maintained them? Also, observe how far you walk before the potholes and cracked paving start... The other thing is rents, business rates, and vacancy rates..
Yeah very interesting points. I’ll be sure to think of this whilst filming other episodes
You should come to my town Darwen , I promise you'll be disappointed !!!
😂😂 on my way
Have you heard of Ian Nairn? He was an architecture and urban design critic in the 1960s, and he loved the north. There are episodes on youtube, including one about Halifax. I really recommend it, and it should give you food for thought to compare his experience 60 years ago with yours today.
Oh nice one. I haven’t heard of him but I’ll take a look cheers 😃
@@wanderingturnip you're welcome! I think you're really onto something with these videos, and I'm looking forward to see where you cover next. I think having that conversation with the local man was a lovely touch as well.
Brilliant 👏👏👏 I’m living in Australia 🇦🇺 now. So it’s nice to keep up to date with what’s exactly happening over there. I hear you when you talk about the Tourist Dollar. This is what happens when we decide to live in tourist destinations 😂. Our property prices go up & so do our Council rates 😢 I grew up in the Medway towns in Kent. My first job was working at Maidstone market on a Saturday & freezing all day. I was only about 13-14 then 🥶🥶🥶🥶🐨🐨🦘
Love this guy! Keep it up mate!
Appriciate it thanks 😃
I passed through Weoley Castle in Birmingham where I used to live last week. Castle Square, the local shopping area used to have a toy and cycle shop, a car spares shop and a big shop selling TVs, washing machines etc. All gone. I had a few mins between buses so walked round and counted 10 fast food takeaways. Walking through nearby Northfield that used to have a Woolworths, a Burton's, Foster's (a bit like a Burton's till 80s) a record shop, a Halfords and many more I repeated the exercise. 17 fast food takeaways!!!!
The main reasons the High Street is dying is ...excessive car parking charges ...the many out of town sites and shopping centres ...and now relying only on retail when the Town Centre should be a place to visit for education and enjoyment...oh and before you mention the Internet ....as far as Retail is concerned it only counts for not more than 30% so 70% is still spent in Mortar and Brick stores ...if you want to see a flourishing Town Centre come up to the Lake District ..it's always busy up here..
I think I’m going to do a while episode on Parking and retail parks.
I’ve got family up there, in Ambleside. Such a good place
Speaking as a young man, I love a good market place. It’s such a great way to spend money on things you like and would typically get from larger chain stores for instance and have it go to local people and their businesses. The butchers as well, fresh good meat, the cafes too, for that breakfast bap or cob as I call them in the morning. They can be such wonderful social places for people to do their shopping.
Sadly, too many market places have dwindled as a result of, when it comes down to the root cause, politics. Right now, we have a centre right to right wing party in power, that favours big business, big chains and the top dogs. That is going to keep larger chains you see everywhere open, so you have more people spending money in them than the market place stalls. They’re not making money, they close up.
I live in Burton which has a good enough market place, but up the road in the city of Derby it’s got the Eagle Market. Not even a year ago it still had several stores operating plus a cafe, now there’s probably one left, and it’s just a space to walk through. I was actually half tempted to do a video similar to the kind that you make, and I started recording and talking about it, and EVERYONE who would walked past me just gave me snarky ugly looks. It is genuinely miserable that these places are being so neglected.
I don’t know if you’ve been to White Rose recently but I was there the other week and it felt like more than half the shopfronts were boarded up. Real ghost town compared to how it was 5-10 years ago.
Oh really that’s interesting. I’ll have to go have a look 👍
Yeah it is boarded up! It’s just depressing there used to be so much more choice, it seems a bit more quiet there now, and there’s lots of unused stalls in the middle.
I think the internet had a massive hand in killing the high street. It's just too easy now to go online from the comfort of your own home and buy stuff. Most people even get their shopping delivered online now too. Doesn't help when all the big names, like woolworths closed, debenhams etc. British home stores. It's so sad. I grew up in the 80's, and we had a precinct not a mall, it wasnt all gated off at night either it was clean, safe and not overrun by silly teenagers causing trouble and destroying property. I dont understand how the kids in the 80's didn't do this awful stuff well not kids i grew up with anyway, yet kids of today 2024, get away with it. Drag the parents before the courts and fine them very heavy for their unruly kids behaviour. I feel bad for the older generation that havent got anyone or internet, and enjoy the trip into town to get their weekly shopping, but daren't go out now for fear of these horrible brats on the streets. Also rents for shops went crazy, councils are too greedy, they take take take and are never satisfied. High car park charges too, never anywhere to park, pigeons shitting all over, brats on every corner, homeless people in doorsteps. Who wants to go into town anymore. It's sad.
iv never seen someone so facinated with a tesco extra
Haha this is my favourite comment ever!
The art of retail died in the 90's
Retail is about promoting and selling a product. Attracting customers with window display and inside with goods displayed properly. These days its window vinyls and stuff heapes on shelves. The retailer thinks it is their right to take your money without having to do anything.
Buying I many shops is too much bother. People buy online without having to deal with or inconvenience a retailer.
Wow Hebden bridge never heard of it what a lovely town!
It is nice, defo worth a visit
That large Tesco, as you said, has everything - and that is why the High Street is dead - just go to Tesco free parking, get a pair of glasses, a phone, clothes, chemist AND of course, a weekly food shop.
The catch is that when all the other shops have closed down Tesco will start to charge for parking and all the prices will go UP - Tesco is already the dearest and largest of all the other Grocers - Sainsburys next, then Morrisons, then Asda - then Aldi and Lidl.
The supermarket is the enemy 😨😨😨
I live in Beverley, East Yorkshire. It’s a beautiful market town, with a racecourse and a massive area of common land called the Westwood, which was given to the people of the town in 1380. Our high street is doing very well, and there have been a lot of new houses built.
It’s quite a wealthy area so there are many restaurants, and clothes shops, but there are plenty of useful shops too. There’s a Tesco in the town centre and then a Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi further out. The industrial part of town has everything needed for construction work as well.
I’ve lived in a few different places in my life but not many of them compare well to Beverley.
Oh cool I’ll have to check it out thanks
The onward march of 'corporate socialism' is crushing commerce out of existence. That has consequences. Humans live in small groups and within those groups we pay great attention to 'status' (in essence that is about breeding rights) and commerce was a non harmful way of achieving that, it also proved resilient and surprisingly efficient. Chain stores offered some advantages but as the market settles out there will only be a few 'winners' and we will be faced with the restricted choice that the algorithms dictate. The parallels with 'soviet socialism' are really rather stark, and given the abject failure of the soviet union it represents a warning to us all. The chain stores lean on the government (bearing gifts and requests) ton introduce legislation such that accounting requires rooms full of dedicated staff, no problem for a corporation with 100 stores to support but deadly for the family owned shop. The loss of high street shopping means we also lose the 'walkable' living areas, even the octogenarians have to try and make it to the modern equivalent of the old Soviet Gum store to buy their necessities. We also lose that human interaction, and recent research has shown just how damaging that is and the social problems it will introduce and aggravate (one study looked at the effect on people participating in the antarctic survey, they were constrained in small groups and this actually had measurable effects on the physical structures in their brain, notably on the hypothalamus). The loss of 'status' associated with commerce also means we are dependent on 'corporate social responsibility' to fund things like local clubs and youth groups, and as CSR falls under the marketing department it is fickle, so those groups come and go, again undermining the social cohesion in the area.
In the UK we used to have a network of pubs built up over hundreds of years by the breweries and operating on a (maximum) 3% profit margin. The governments former school chums decided they could do better and make much greater profits so legislation was introduced banning the breweries from owning their network of pubs (but with no such restriction on the new 'pub co's'). Sadly the whizz kids proved unable to run pubs and most have now gone, further undermining the social cohesion in the area (we now have to resort to 'trust pilot' to find a decent plumber). It would be wrong to criticise the MPs, research has shown how their motivation is derived from their life experience and Zhang's work on greed has shown how the lure of supposedly status enhancing 'exclusivity' serves to isolate them from the community, with all the well documented effects that has on their mental health.
If you look at the work of people like Dr Martin Seligman we can actually put forward potential solutions that are in line with human physical, emotional and cognitive well being, but it seems unlikely that mere facts will overcome the inertia of the delusional paranoia (thinking you are more important than you are) that is such a characteristic of 'Great Leaders'. In support of that contention I can point to the lectures given by Dr Seligman, one of the lead researchers in the field of positive psychology (search TH-cam for Seligman Happiness). For many years he would simply launch into an exposition on the latest findings. Then he came to the UK and had a chat with our 'education minister' whalla (the chap reputed to have a fondness for Columbian marching powder). The Uk did not (unsurprisingly) adopt any of the recommendations and thereafter Dr Seligman prefaced his lectures with a segment on the difference between 'double blind, placebo controlled, published experiments that have been replicated and 'opinion'.
One possible option would be to offer a discount for a specialist shop offering goods and services that are not readily available within a 3 mile radius (independent greengrocers, butchers, art supplies shops, newsagents and what have you). That would restore a semblance of 'community', someone would notice if old Mrs Whatsername failed to turn up to buy her bottle of milk one week, it would offer an alternative to 'click and pray' for purchasing those odd items we need, and also the support and advice from the shopkeeper who has a life long interest in 'flap back hinges' or what have you. This would of course be resisted by the corporates, they know they cannot compete on quality (they prefer marketing, a one-off cost, to investment in product development, an on-going cost).
All is not lost however, AI may impact this area significantly. At the moment we rely on humans (those delusional pretentious apes with a limited ability to input and process information) to run things, a suitably advanced AI (it doesn't need to be 'conscious' any more than your body needs to consciously regulate your temperature, blood pressure and breathing) could implement system that maintain homeostasis, tailored to the needs of the community they serve. That will also be resisted of course, when it was call centre workers, car assembly workers and shop staff who were to be replaced there wasn't a problem, they 'Just need to train for the new jobs'. Then 'management' realised they were also in the firing line and there were mutterings. Then bankers realised they could be replaced all too easily by AI driven systems (it has already happened in some cases) and it became 'a worry'. When it got to replacing politicians and porn stars it became 'a problem' and when it was pointed out that AI could do a better job than most if not all billionaires (reinvesting the cash into the company rather than some 'status enhancing' yacht) it became 'a threat'.
AI will likely win in the long run, those who harness its potential will prosper but some political and religious nut-jobs will inevitably spanner things by insisting that they remain 'in control' and try to use it to further their own ends (mainly seeking 'power' to assuage those deep seated insecurities all humans suffer from), but they will die off and sooner or later one of the descendants will either fail completely or realise the benefits of better metal health (and all the rewards that brings). Eventually things will settle out and those who invest sensibly will thrive whilst those who remain trapped in their delusions will wither, sadly that will not be in my lifetime.
Mate this is great thank you for taking the time to put this.
I love that term ‘walkable’ areas. So simple but explains it all really.
And I think you are right with AI. Amongst all the doom and gloom that is sent out by the news with it, it could provide worthwhile solutions.
Anyhow, I really appreciate you writing all this and you have given me a lot of food for thought for future episodes
My email is wanderingturnip2022@gmail.com - if you have any other comments/advice/feedback I would really appreciate it
The big names like Woolworths, Debenham, Bhs and C&A leaving the high street have a massive affect, they brought people into town.
Now my local City Southend is full of phone shops,fast food places and pound shops.
It will never be the same, we used to have a thriving market place. It got knocked down ,replaced by large expensive store.
I’ll have to add it to my list 👍👍
I am from Ruislip West London nearby is Pinner both High St's are thriving, you cant easily find a vacant premises, they are being done up inmediately for new businesses. So whats different. It is Employment plain and simple! checkout Muswell Hill Broadway, or Chiswick also thriving high st's, if people have jobs everything falls into place, the UK gov destroyed the northern industries and failed to replace the jobs, it is by design, wake up, your government hates you, you are voting for traitors who WANT you to be poor, whatever party, dont be fooled by the labour party they got rid of Smith and Corbyn and anyone else who didnt bend over for their globalist agenda, an immigrant ponce is worth 10 British people to them, they want you to be poor, they hate you with a vengance, WAKE UP!
Love watchiing your videos, your enthusiasm is great. I live in Qld in AUS now but I'm originally from Truro in Cornwall. I loved the town centre but it is slowly declining now and the shops are all shutting up. I would love you to visit it as it has so much history, but is also suffering like so many towns there.
Do you have any of the same problems where you are now?
Thanks for watching mate