About this site
Something’s cooking in the town by the hill…
What are the ingredients that make a town interesting; that make it bubble with activity? And whose job is it to find those ingredients and throw them into the pot? Councils and governments spend millions trying to make places work, economically, socially and culturally, and rightly so. But they can’t do it all. The small local projects that bring neighbours together; the little shops that brighten up a street; the fetes and festivals, markets and fairs, plays and concerts - most of them start a long way from council offices.
So, here in Wellington, what can we do? What ideas have we got and how can we make them work? This website sets out to unearth the things that already make our town special, and to hopefully generate a few more along the way. You don’t need to set up a string of committee meetings to get involved, and you don’t need to elect a spokesperson to have an idea. Life’s too short for all that. Just throw it in the pot and see what people think… and if you see something you might like to help with, let us know by writing in the ‘Comments’ boxes
perhaps a good starting point is to share what we all enjoy about Wellington as well as what we would like to improve. The social media campaign to encourage shoppers back into the town after the closure during the English Defense League march worked but some people expressed disappointment about the facilities in the town centre. I love popping into the centre some Saturday mornings – dropping into the Methodist Church Coffee Morning and wandering down the High Street into the indoor market, where I buy flowers for my wife. I also think its great that I can walk to the Railway Station, although the smell of urine over the footbridge is off putting. Love being able to walk to the Bucks Head and enjoy a pint in the Learning Centre or The Cock prior to the match, which always has a great community atmosphere.
Look foward to hearing other people’s thoughts
Thanks for kicking us off, Paul. We certainly want to capture the things people like about the place. I guess the underlying premise of all this is that big off-the-peg regeneration schemes can only achieve so much, and have sort of had their day – now its all about building on the quirky, distinctive little things – about finding where the energy is and making the most of it. Incidentally, for the uninitiated, I imagine ‘a pint at the Learning Centre’ might sound a bit odd… followed by a brandy at the library perhaps?
Give me back the Wellington I remember 20 years ago, when you walked down New street you met people coming up and you walked with people going down. It was always packed. Now I read that the council are stopping the traders’ displays which they have been doing for as long as I can remember (and I am 80 in March). I ask the council to tell us how it can be dangerous now when there’s no traffic? I remember it when there where cars, lorrys and horses, and I cannot remember any one being hurt!
Thanks Howard… I’m hoping it’s just been a case of the council being a bit over-zealous, and maybe the traders being understandably panicked, but that when it comes down to it, they’ll still be able to have reasonably sized displays in the street. And I think we’d all like to see the town packed as often as it can be – the question is how to attract those shoppers back. I think we’re seeing it happen, gradually, so I’m optimistic. How exactly do we do encourage that process? Well this website is here to stimulate ideas, so keep them coming.
Wellington is on the up. The arrival of the Wetherspoon the William Withering has really worked well, bringing some life back into the town. And Shaves and Shakes next door to the Wellington News. The shakes are awesome!
Why are the Wrekin Council making a big thing about the shops advertising there wares on the pavement? I lived in Malta for many years and most of the shops in their market towns were allowed to use the pavements as they do in Wellington. They were given a certin area which they could use, and if they went outside that area the local council would tell them to move it. The Police would walk down the street and point it out and it would just be picked up by the vendor and moved.
I think it’s all sorted now, Howard – an agreement has been made. See the ‘Fruit & Veg vs Health & Safety’ article for more comments on this topic.
I’d just like to say that I think this is a brilliant website. It’s accessible, erudite and full of commonsense. It needs a wider audience – so my suggestion is can we get some publicity for it in The Shropshire Star? I don’t think there will be many other websites of such quality in Shropshire. The imminent opening of the civic centre would be a good time to alert people to the work of H2A and how everyone can have a say in the future development of the town.
I think that Wellington is beginning to rediscover its confidence. Elsewhere on this website, the signs are enumerated: a few new shops, the apparent success of the William Withering and the redevelopment of the centre to name but a few. However, We all want more people to come into Wellington so that our shops can thrive. It has always surprised me how the number of shoppers has not increased despite the sizeable housing developments that have sprung up, for example behind Aldi. Does anyone know how many of these people, who are possibly new to Wellington, actually walk in and do their shopping in the market? I think we would find it was a small number. Perhaps we should find out why they don’t see Wellington as their natural port of call. I have a hunch that it might simply be a matter of people not wanting to carry heavy shopping home – so could our local shops offer home delivery like they did in the 50s and 60s? Could the market traders get together and offer something that no other market town does. This would be great publicity as well as a really helpful service. (It would also provide employment for teenagers?)
Rob – thanks for the kind words! I really hope this can be a place where people share their good ideas and, better still, can find ways of turning them into action. Your comments about whether new housing developments have equated to increased footfall is an interesting one – my sense is that opportunities have been missed on that front. The growth in residential development on the town’s doorstep is a major strength – ours is already the largest town in Shropshire after Shrewsbury (and if Telford is considered in its constituent parts) – yet clearly many local people have been overlooking the centre of the town as a place to shop. That’s a negative, but the latent potential is a huge positive, and puts us in a much stronger position to grow trade than most other Shropshire towns which rely on small local populations and visitors from elsewhere.
I’m particuarly keen that we market the town to the big new developments at Lawley and Ketley – Wellington is their nearest market town and should be place they naturally look to for a pleasant shopping experience. They need to know we’re here and what we can offer- but businesses also need to make sure that once they’re here, they like what they find.
The future for Wellington is looking a lot brighter, although there is a long way to go to develop a new positive identity for the town. The community needs to have the confidence to develop a more ambitious vision and work co-operatively to establish a new image of Wellington reflecting its heritage but adapting to the needs of a rapidly changing hi-tec society. The town needs better shopping opportunites and enhanced leisure and cultural facilities to encourage investment and the ‘visitor economy’. The new Civic Offices/Library should become a catalyst for developing ‘the Walker Street’ area as a community arts and leisure quarter. The Edgbaston House buildings and the existing library have great potential and ‘could’ be developed into a museum, visitors centre, coffee/bar, small cinema (similar to the Old Market Square cinema in Shrewsbury operated by the Shrewsbury Council!), art gallery and education/conference facilites (to bring in income). Have a look at what they are doing in Market Drayton (without any financial support!!) at the Drayton Festival Centre (www.festivaldraytoncentre.com). This is an ambitious vision but there is some funding available from the Heritage Lottery fund/Arts Council (ie: The Flax Mill project in Shrewsbury is in line for a £12 million grant from the HLF) and as a community we could consider a co-operative approach with perhaps 100,000 shares at £5 each available to all interested residents to ensure community ownership. What do other people think of this idea?
It’s amazing what a few like minded people can do. I feel that we do need some new partners to help us develop Wellington into the place we all want it to be – no going back to the so called “good old days” I am afraid. Life, times, people and society have moved on. We need a new vision and inspiration that reflects what is needed now. Have a look at http://www.citizenpower.co.uk/ to see what they are doing in Peterborough. I am going to have a chat with the RSA to see if they would be interested in working with a few of us in Wellington – watch this space
I always disagree with people who say Wellington has too many charity shops. They add to a unique atmosphere that nowhere else in Telford comes close to. Take a look at the car parks on saturdays, for example. Full to bursting. A sign of success?
I agree with you James the car parks are full, most of the people seem to be in the market and Willkinson’s, we could do with a better mix of shop’s, we had every shop you could think of at one time like hardware, electrical, toy’s ,bike’s, fishing tackel and many more you could come to Wellington and buy anything now you have to go to the town center if you want to be sure of getting what you are looking for.
I was only saying to someone last week that I’d walked through Wellington and it was looking very smart – I came down Walker Street, past the new Civic Centre, past Rayners Opticians (looking very smart with it’s new paintwork and window boxes), down Crown Street (shop fronts all looking very smart), through the Square (new newsagents looking good and the shop on the corner being renovated) and then through the Church yard.
I agree that a better mix of shops would be good and not all the shop fronts and buildings look so smart. It does feel that Wellington is on the up though…