Yesterday morning I went into Ipswich town centre for the first time since January. The road to get to the car park I usually use was closed due to roadworks which meant parking on a big car-park closer to town.............it was virtually empty. There were very few people in town and as I was really only going for two shops in particular I just paid for an hours parking and didn't venture far through the town but Oh Dear the bit I did see was looking so sad - many, many empty shops. Some have been empty for years like Bhs and what was once a huge Co-op Department store but so many others now stand forlorn and tatty.
I went to the loo before driving home.........just the two disabled cubicles in use and the lady who looks after them and had to wipe handles etc after each person said that the other toilets in town weren't open and hardly anyone was coming into town, the car parks were still charging the full amount and the town is really dying. So sad.
I managed to get one of the things I'd gone to town for from the Fair Trade shop - Wooden name letters with animals on for Youngest Grandsons bedroom door - just the same as I first got for Eldest Grandson 4 years ago and for the two girls in between.
Into Lakeland and half their shelves were empty - and they didn't have what I wanted - made me wonder if they will go back to just mail order which is how they started years ago.
Not a great outing, it may well be another 7 months before heading to our County Town again.
The weather forecast for today looked a bit nasty with storm Francis (Frances?) blowing through so I thought it best to get the grass cut yesterday afternoon. I've got a lot of very nasty weed spreading all over the grass round the back. Not sure what it is but it's a very dense fast growing creeper with yellow flowers, possibly Creeping Cinquefoil?
I set the ride on cutter really low and went over that bit twice - hope that will help get rid of it but it's already spread right across all the septic tank lids where I can't cut.
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| There's a tank lid under there somewhere! |
Might have to resort to some weed killer or when the time comes for getting the septic tank emptied they'll be no hope of finding the lids.
Best to stay indoors today out of the weather, I'll get the breadmaker going and do a bit more book shifting. Youngest doesn't want the big shelves but I can't get them downstairs on my own anyway and when they are down I don't know what to do with them.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Your description of Ipswich town centre sounds exactly like Rachel's of Norwich Railway Station. East Anglia sounds as quiet as here!
ReplyDeleteThere's still plenty of traffic on the roads and supermarkets are busy but quiet everywhere else
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DeleteThat's so sad about Ipswich. In time, things will pick up but the individual and personal damage will be done and it will be very different.
ReplyDeletexx
I was surprised to see how many empty shops there were. The smaller town of Stowmarket isn't so bad
DeleteWell here in Carmarthen you wouldn't know there was a Pandemic! People going about as usual, and same volume of traffic as pre-Covid. Hardly anyone wearing masks (so I look like the Lone Ranger when I venture forth!) We still have free parking until the end of the month which is probably encouraging people in and many folks back at work now. Some charity shops open but those mainly staffed by elderly volunteers are not.
ReplyDeleteI've started the day by getting a loaf of bread in the breadmaker too. I think it will be a soup-making day as well, looking at the weather (currently raining stair-rods as it has half the night . . .)
Good luck with the weed - it obviously likes to roam.
There were people with masks and without and always with in shops
DeleteI am too frightened to venture into my village right now, it's absolutely heaving with tourists and to look at them you wouldn't think there's a pandemic happening. No masks, no social distancing, and frankly, it seems they are almost all highly intolerant of the locals who are wearing masks, limiting numbers into shops, distancing at cafés etc. I understand that Haverfordwest is nowhere near as busy, but is slowly returning to normality.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the coastal towns are the same here - I've not been to look
DeleteMust admit in our market town, there are the usual number of people walking around and many with face masks but times are beginning to get hard, goodness knows what the answer will be.
ReplyDeleteThere need to be another use for the shops in the town centres - back to housing perhaps
DeleteI have only been to our little town once since it's all started and do miss going on the bus and chatting to the half dozen people on it but I am very vulnerable so can't take chances.
ReplyDeleteMy son gave me lots of cooking apples so my job today is cooking them and freezing them. It's very windy and raining so pleased I did gardening yesterday.
Have a good day everyone.
Hazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈🌻🌻
The wind is ruining the fruit crops here blowing everything down too soon
DeleteI agree with Thelma that our county town seems just as busy - but I think two things help - a family owned Department Store which has been there for generations and a good M and S Food.
ReplyDeleteAs for that weed - I agree with you about what it might be - it is actually quite pretty. I think Thelma had the answer to its appearance when she saw my Birds Foof Trefoil in my lawn earlier in the year - seeds lie dormant until just the right weather conditions arrive until they sprout again and this was the year.
That weed is really bad here, not sure what to about it
DeleteMarket towns and county towns are different kettles of fish. The answer is that things will change. Before Covid it was internet shopping killing shops and after Covid it is more so but local shops for odds and ends survive, just, for the time being. What the internet started, Covid will finish
ReplyDeleteSo sad to see Ipswich looking so empty. I remember when it was packed
DeleteBrother-in-law went into Ipswich last Tuesday 18th for haircut and visit charity shops and said it was quite busy. He parked for free near Norwich Rd and walked into town.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be at the other end of town so drove in the 'back way' on country roads.
DeleteLuckily here at the Van I am near a Market Town that through sheer perseverance has kept itself alive and thriving. It was the first completely Fair Trade town in the UK and still lives up to the idea of moving forward and trying new things. I will shop there for everything once I am here full time, at the moment things are split between two locations and that means fully embracing this life is a bit awkward.
ReplyDeleteI promise not to shout at you again. PROMISE!!
The car park prices have put people off shopping in Ipswich for years and they are planning a huge new multi storey car park too - goodness know why
DeleteI went into my home city of Birmingham a couple of weeks back and it was empty at midday, hardly anyone around. So very sad and not the city I know, I think life will be very different for all of us in the future
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that buying on line is so easy - everything is there - whereas in town it might not be - as I found in Lakeland!
DeleteIt's an indoors day here as well. Very windy and showers. I think our town is maybe half the size as it used to be. Lots of closed shops.
ReplyDeleteThere was 10 minutes of sunshine this afternoon but SO windy, howling down the chimney like winter
DeleteIt must be sad to see all the closed shops. I wonder what High Streets will look like in the future.
ReplyDeleteIn Ipswich some have been closed for so many years - I can't see any companies ever coming back.
DeleteVery windy here today too but still warm and sunny. I have only been to the grocery store, library and liquor store since lockdown and am just happy that almost everyone is wearing masks. It's now a bylaw. Oh, I also got my haircut but, that's it!
ReplyDeleteI don't get out and around much, and don't know what is happening. I'm just happy the restaurants are opening again.
ReplyDelete