As someone who has sometimes been a little critical of the Star’s journalistic style (you know, “County-based cat in tree drama rescued by Fire Service bosses”) can I congratulate you on the headline to this story – well it made me laugh anyway (OK, I know, I should get out more!).

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This store replaced the old “handyman house” DIY store, which was far more useful. – The works on this building have been going on for months and months, and really do we need this store at all ? – do we really need a marks and sparks in bridgnorth ??

St Johns Street has been closed 3 Sundays on the trot for the benefit if this, and now they are going to cause futher irriation by restricting Cann Hall road.

St Johns Street was closed a while ago for cabling works, along with Listley Street for resurfacing

Just WHAT is going on ??

And …

We had the A442 closed recently, gas mains are being replaced in the high town area – with road closures /traffic signals all over the place etc – It really is just TOO much and I’m getting sick and tired of it.

Now we read that the Long awaited Whitburn street relief road is being held up becuase of an issue with rights of way – and to cap it all, the powers that be are arguing how a “new one way system” in high town will be introduced when (if ever) the relief road is finished.

LOOK CAN WE PLEASE PLEASE just LEAVE things ALONE.

come on Bridgnorth …. FINISH all these works …. and LEAVE the traffic and the road systems ALONE …. it willl sort itself out.

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Hi David.

Can you tell me where the progress is?

Is it in continually digging up and re-digging up roads? eg: the top end of the Innage /Hookfield) which was TOTALLY rebuilt 16 Months ago – when a large 2ft diameter storm sewer was put in, only for it ALL to be dug up again to put a new gas main in over the past few weeks ?
Is that progress – we can’t even program utility works properly!

or .. is progress in:

The building originally occupied by Handyman house which has been undergoing months of building works (God Knows why?) for what in the end is going to be a rather small M&S outlet, with very poor access and parking.

or ..

Could it be the “high class” housing as you put it, who the very people who are likely to want to drive there? – the parking is bad enough as it is!

As to Sainsbury’s being the lower end of the “food market” – I don’t think Sainsbury’s would agree with you, and anyway – it’s what you do with the food that counts, not what a “perceived high class outlet” has done with it.

Many of these high class residents I’m sure would agree that basic, fresh produce bought from the market etc, properly prepared, cooked etc with skill provides far better results than many of it’s supermarket counterparts

And the rest of these Higher class customers, who prefer the lazy approach by buying supermarket readmade meals etc, should try taking a class in the culinary arts instead !

I have lived in Bridgnorth for 33 years, and as far as I can see, this is not an improvement over what was there before, and certainly, if it’s good food you are looking for, then certainly there is nowhere as good as some of the small retailers (and the markets as I’ve mentioned) that abounded the high town in years gone by – some now sadly missed. So no progress there either.

So there you are – what is progress? what is this inane desire to keep changing things ?
Why is it assumed that this is going to make anything better?

And I’d hardly call this a “progressive western country” right now – with our banking system having come so close to collapse, with over a million homes going into negative equity, with reccesion hovering over us, and GDP into negative figures !
Maybe right now -emigrating to far off lands as you suggest might not be a bad idea !

Regards

Askeric dot com

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David – I would have thpught you would have employed the poor serfs to do your shopping.

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Well .. Well.

Just Look at the headlines on Tonight’s Shropshire Star !!!

Seems like “progress” has clogged up the Wolverhampton And Telford Roads becuase EON couldn’t finish the job due to ….wait for it … “the weather getting in the way” (Source: EON representative)

So there we are – progress grinds to a halt – and causes chaos for hundreds of Road users.

Not many of those moving with times!

And Neil-aus – I assume the Horse and cart is aimed at me – though I fail to see the connection!

As far as horse and carts are concerned (thinking of a bygone age which you seem to think I belong …)

If some of the people running these projects were as technically advanced as me (As I run my own internet service provider company as MD and as a chartered IT/electronic/computer Engineer – then we might see some REAL progress.

You see – I HAVE moved with the times …
MUCH MUCH more than most. It’s people like me that are providing “you” neil-aus with the technology to write that “stuff” on these columns !!!

So there you are !
Regards

Askeric dotcom

AKA wheresme-horse-and-cart.com

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askeric
Clearly it is all subjective, and everyone has their own views on what progress is. I have lived in Bridgnorth for nearly 50 years and can well remember days gone by, and yes those memories are fond ones. I dont have an unhealthy obsession to remain in the past however, and recognise that change happens, and not without disruption. I personally enjoy the quality food that M&S sells. I dont eat it all the time, I also purchase meat, vegetables etc from local vendors, and recognise the advantages of doing so. However, I am also pleased that I will soon have the opportunity to visit a local M&S soon to purchase the food I desire there also.

M&S are a highly successful business, who clearly understand their market. They must believe that there are enough people like me in Bridgnorth to justify their store. If there are not, then it will not be viable and will close. Clearly there were not enough people like yourself, or the grotty DIY store would still be there together with the budget food store Kwik Save and the shabby car parts emporium that used to reside nearby.

I personally am pleased that Low Town is moving with the times, smartening up its image, and offering higher quality products, as I believe the majority of Bridgnorth residents recognise quality and are willing to pay for it. Time will tell. Perhaps you will be proved right and the new M&S will be a derelict building in two years time. I wouldnt hold your breath though.

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Y Mab Darogan that is possibly the most stupid comment I have read even by your standards.So people who live in smaller houses are not allowed, or even wish to shop at M&S. Get real man, my mother lives in sheltered accommodation and she and most of her neighbours shop at M&S. Maybe she should stick to Aldi by your reckoning.

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Y Mab – Your answer is anything but sensible.
Do you seriously believe the majority of Bridgnorth is in the ‘council house’ class???

Perhaps you live in a different ‘Bridgnorth’ to the rest of us. You will be hard pressed to purchase a house anywhere in the Bridgnorth I live in for less than £170,000.

M&S have done their homework and clearly recognise the opportunity here. They rarely get it wrong when they open a new store. I will happily bet my £170,000+ house against your council house that they are still there and thriving in 12 months time.

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Hi David.

I sincerley hope Your comment:

“Clearly there were not enough people like yourself, or the grotty DIY store would still be there together with the budget food store Kwik Save and the shabby car parts emporium that used to reside nearby”.

… is NOT intended to imply that I’m “Grotty”.

Now ….

1. The Car parts shop:

This closed, along with countless others around the country becuase the average motorist today can hardly open the bonnet,let alone do any form of DIY car maintenance. So, sadly no demand for that anymore.
This so called “progress” has also played its part in that the modern car is technically beyond most anyway. Such a shame – the young of today will never ever experience the thrill of rebuilding engines, gearboxes, suspension systems and the like as I used to do on all the “early” cars I owned.
No progress there – show me any “younger” driver who REALLY understands how a car /vehicle works! And this “lack” of “real” understanding is endemic in most other areas of “technology” as well. How many people understand even the most basic principles of houshold appliances, TV, radio, Ipods MP3 players, DVD’s computers, internet, telephones
etc. In my younger days (when I lived just outside London – the streets were full of interesting shops selling all sorts of mechanical, electrical and electronic goods, and I knew literally hundreds of local people (via amateur radio) who could literally turn their hand to “anything”. – Where are all these people today? … Are we all going to become so “dumbed down” so that we can do nothing more complex than drive (in a car you don’t understand in the remotest), to the local “high” quality supermarket ?

2. Kwik Save:
Yes this was a “budget shop” .. but .. did you know in its earlier days, the checkout staff had to know (ie memorise) ALL the prices of the goods, so as they passed through the checkout they “priced” them directly ? No bar code scanners then! .. AND they were quicker too!! How many people today can even reliably remember a 4digit pin no, let alone hundreds of product prices?
And I’m afraid to say that in the forthcoming months as the credit squeeze / unmeployment begins to bite – we may find cheaper food shopping attractive – and so – people may well wish that the old “kwik save” was back again.

3. Handyman house.

Now this store was a real Gem. YES they sold the cheap tools, paintbrushes, odds and bits etc, but, they stocked a lot of items that came in so useful at odd times – and where else would you go on a weekend etc for paint / wallpaper /sandpaper / drills / screws /fixings / cable etc etc . B&Q is a long way to drive as an alternative.
Yes you can go to Williams, or Jewsons, but they have their drawbacks too.

I’m afraid that perhaps the real reason that this stored closed is similar to that of the Car parts store – That is, as the “skills” of the population diminish – then even the demand for the traditional “diy” products is dissapearing. Another sad endictment on our present “skills base”

Whilst you may well be right that there is a demand for the Marks and Sparks store, I do have concerns about where all this is going.

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And David –

So “anyone can set up an internet company can they?

So what does the average person know about the internet? And I don’t mean “surfing” I mean technically – that is knowledge of:
Unix platforms / windows platforms TCP/ip, Http, HTML / php / flash / javascript webdesign, ADSL ADSL+ ADSL”+ (Broadband to you) leased lines, domain registration, (we are a nominet member/registrar and member of network solutions) IT in general also including:

Power engineering (I am a Chartered electricla engineer) 3 phase supplies + auto diesel generator ,backup + UPS, compliance with national standards for data security, Electricity at Work act regulations, HSE, Data protection act compliance .

And thourough knowledge of client end installions, IT support, knowledge of all popular client end software packages,operating systems, email clients outlook express, outlook etc MS office,

The list goes on …

So – anyone can setup an ISP company can they ?? Fancy trying it anyone?

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David – You just don’t get it, do you?

I see the introduction of the Marks and Spencer Store ….

(to use your own observation – “They know their market well” – and this therefore means they perceive a potential market in low town ..)

as …

“an indicator of the way society is changing”.

Marks and Spencer clearly attracts a specific part of society – as you have observed earlier by your statement:

“but it may have escaped your notice that a huge part of Bridgnorth consists of high class housing”

I chose a “technological” argument to try to show or, use as an inidicator of, the way society is changing – and I don’t entirely see that it is for the better, in the long term.

Thus – the fact that Marks and Spencer is coming to Bridgnorth may, … or may not (as you said .. “only time will tell”) .. in the medium to long term … be .. from an overall point of view .. a benefit.

I would ask you to read page 17 of todays Daily Mail. I do believe this shows where we are going .. a dumbed down society that will be reliant on major retailers (Marks and Spencer maybe?) to provide it’s every need, thus requiring on the part of the purchaser, no real requirement to know “anything”.
(A bit extreme maybe – but ….. funny how some things turn out… before you realise , when it’s all too late …just how bad it’s become)

Now – in any discussion – the route taken to reach a balanced, logical conclusion may embrace several different points of view, facts, figures and so on.

So – “sticking to the subject” may actually involve quite different areas of discussion in order to establish a point of view.

So there you are. That’s my last word on the subject !!

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askeric
I made no comparison between “internet” and “ISP”, I said there was a DIFFERENCE between the two. It was yourself in (#19) that used the two words as one and the same thing – at the start you quoted me – “So “anyone can set up an internet company can they?” and at the end you changed it to “So – anyone can setup an ISP company can they ??”
In (#22) you go to great length to explain the difference between the two – why??? Its you that got confused over it, no one else.

You write something which is erroneous, and which has nothing to do with the initial subject, then waste more time writing to explain your error. All of it is totally off-topic and adds nothing to the debate.

Going back to the topic – You asked if we really needed an M&S in Bridgnorth. My response was that I believe we do. I realise that quite different areas of discussion can be covered in order to establish a point of view. In order to do so they need to be relevent. Your claims to be a director of a successful ISP company are totally irrelevent. These are my last words on the subject. (Oh and that means I wont be writing anymore on it after this post – which I think is most peoples interpretation of ‘last words’ though clearly not everyones!)

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