Shakespeare’s marvellous emporium has crashed. Rutter’s garage is history.
“You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…” says the song.
Remember the Crown Hotel in the High Street? Maybe it was in there that you last ordered a Sidecar, or a Manhattan. Or a dry vermouth with a twist of lemon. A pink gin, perhaps. Cocktails have long since gone out of fashion. Now the sales in wine are blooming. You can offer someone a glass at any time of the day as an aperitif, or a liqueur, instead of a cup of tea. Nothing wrong wth that. It’s like wearing jeans. They’ll fit any occasion. It’s permissable to wear them so they expose half of one’s backside, whether one is in the supermarket, or on a building site or at a Game Fair: or to any ‘ posh do’ just as long as they’re teamed with a well cut jacket. And don’t bother with a tie.
Well, does it matter? Fashions change. Or are standards slipping?
Nothing stays the same, of course. Fifty plus years ago, in the High Street Saturday market, I bought an oak pedestal table and a blue and white Spode bowl from Mr Jones who had an antique shop in Cartway. The table cost me £5. The bowl was half a crown . Estimated value of both is now around £600.
What I missed buying doesn’t bear thinking about. Those were the days when children walked to school and went off to collect frogspawn without fear of being abducted. There were skylarks in the neighbouring field and every Spring for years we’d hear the haunting cry of the curlew. Cowslips grew. Hares were two a penny, and Ipads were still purely cosmetic: teabags or slices of cucumber placed over your eyelids.
That time has gone, taking with it Charlie Brawn’s fish shop, Belcher’s ironmongers, Deighton’s Vaults, Burtons’ pies, Corsers (Horrocks’s frocks, Gor-ray Skirts, Berlei bras) Van Twist’s…..to name only a few. And that includes all the Characters who went with them. Cyril Rogers stood outside Corsers greeting everyone who walked up and down the High Street. His shiny smiling face is an abiding memory..
How many of us remember how Bridgnorth was a half a century ago and more? And how do we ‘see’ it? Have we lost more than we’ve gained etc? Naturally we all adapt to Change. Large swathes of the countryside may be disappearing beneath the concrete, but at least we can buy ready meals from Marks and Spencer’s. We can Skype grandchildren in Australia. And we’ve gained Aldi.
The most enduring thing about Bridgnorth, and one of the Town’s biggest assets is the High Town Saturday market. Its unchanging face is a tourist attraction beyond price. Historically, we have a treasure right on our doorstep. Like the River Severn it is vital and cannot be messed with.
But if you happen to be in Bridgnorth without wearing a wristwatch, don’t try to find a policeman. And don’t bother to look up at the Town Hall clock…..
That’s another story.
Written by Clio – a Bridgnorth Resident
