Shrewsbury ‘must do more to attract tourists’
Thursday 15th September 2011, 7:20PM BST.
The visitor experience in Shrewsbury is ‘weak’, with the town needing to find a greater sense of identity to attract more tourists, a new report, commissioned by Shropshire Council, has claimed.
The report from tourism experts Britton McGrath Associates said that tourists find it difficult to find their way to attractions such as The Dingle, The Square and Shrewsbury Castle when they come to the town.
The study found Shrewsbury attracts 2.6 million visitors a year, compared to 41.9 million in Chester and 17.5 million in Durham.
It also criticised the online marketing campaign for Shrewsbury run by Destination Shrewsbury.
“The challenge here is a lack of identity and focus on unique selling points that Shrewsbury has to offer. At the moment, the visitor experience on the ground is weak. There is a lack of welcome or sense of arrival,” it said.
“Throughout the town, it is a challenge for a visitor to find the ‘best bits’.
“Across the town, the visitor signage is hard to see or recessive.
Tangible
“Other cities, arguably with a lot less tangible historic ‘product’ to offer than Shrewsbury, have successfully marketed their assets significantly better.”
Nobody from Shropshire Council was available for comment.
But, reacting to findings, Simon Airey, president of the Shrewsbury Business Chamber, said the town had the potential to attract more tourists if it was marketed in the right way.
“Perhaps Chester is still viewed as a nicer town to visit. But I think Shrewsbury has overtaken Chester from a retail point of view and a cultural view.
“Perhaps we haven’t marketed Shrewsbury as well as we can,” he said.
“I’m hoping Destination Shrewsbury will make a good job of that. Things like the street theatre festival, the folk festival and the flower show all have a massive part to play.
“We have everything, we just need to shout about it. We have got fantastic restaurants, great businesses, we have got the history and the pubs, we just need to embrace it.
“We need to make a concerted effort between the council, Shop in the Loop and Destination Shrewsbury to make sure that message is put across.”
The study said tourism spend in the town stands at £137 million, supporting about 3,600 jobs in Shrewsbury.
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What?, surely the 1M Quantum Slinky is all we’ll ever need to draw the crowds?. Who are Britton McGrath Assoc and how did they charge to tell us we’re not Chester or Durham. The Destination Shrewsbury website is poor though. Id get a web designer in If I were you. Have the slinky as a giant roller deck loaded up with interactive tourist hotspots. Alright, it was just a thought…
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Shropshire Council paid Britton McGrath Associates an awful lot of money and found out that:
a) Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire;
b) Shrewsbury is not Chester or Durham;
c) Destination Shrewsbury markets the town; and
d) Destination Shrewsbury doesn’t have a website at the moment so they weren’t quite sure if Shrewsbury is in fact a destination at all.
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Not meaning to be facetious, if we are trying to boost the economy of Shrewsbury, why are we employing London consultants at London prices?
I’m sure there are people living in or near Shrewsbury with a tourism specialism – it’s win, win – their rates would be cheaper and the money that you paid them would go back into the local economy because they live here.
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Surely the tourism issue and specifically with being “off the map” is best grasped by an outsider!?
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Yes, you’re right Sam, people living in Shrewsbury have no experience of the outside world……because we’re all local as local can be……
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Did Shropshire Council have to commission a report to come to that conclusion. It would be interesting to know how much the report cost? So what is Shropshire Council now going to do about it? Shrewsbury should take note how Chester make the most of their attractions, town centre, night life economy and the riverside experience. Unfortunatley, the Council has no one who is capable of drawing a successful strategy. Why not ask Shropshire Tourism for their assistance.
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Well for one thing we’ve obviously not exploited the river as well as we could have even with the flooding to contend with. Too many roads or private land in the way. We may be an accident of geography but Chester and Worcester seem to manage well.
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Totally agree it is lame that there is no 5 star hotel and no michelen star restaraunt in the town when little places like ludlow have got that – we need to go up market and historic and stop ruining the town with modern buildings and street clutter, we need to attract nifty fifties and retired wealthy people to come to town for the day for food and shopping this is what will generate the most wealth, so stop appealing to main stream (malls and fast food) and start appealing to the high end (classy restaraunts and history)
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Thank you gareth, from a 70 year old.
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I thought this was all sorted out with the £1M Quantum Leap concrete spring! ;-)
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I know, why not make a start at strengthening the visitor experience by raising parking charges and then making them payable on Sundays?
Surely that will work?
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I can’t understand why, we have expensive attractions such as Quantum Leap & Darwins Gate, three big shopping centre’s full of empty shops to look at, attractive car parking fees and friendly understanding parking wardens to enforce the rules,an ideal outdoor venue for music concerts (provided the music is played quietly) an overpriced Flower Show every year and and Town Centre Residents Assosiation who would rather we had no entertainment in the town for fear of disturbing their peace.
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Time to spend another million on a statue?
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A statue would be quite nice. However the million would be blown on some nonsense like Quantum Leap or Darwin’s Gate.
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They could start by demolishing that Quantum Leap thing that would make the town more appealing at a stroke.
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Simon, we’ve never met but live in your parents’ old house on wyle Cop. I’ve lived in Cheltenham, Canterbury and Cheshire. I am happy to talk as a consumer. 289299. Very best. Katherinede Gama (Kat ).
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attract more by building statues that cost a million pound atime and wasting more money.
get more national stars to visit make certain days of the year event days.
arent there already commmities doing this? why do we have a council to do stuff but dont know how to do it?
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The world’s first music photography festival is coming to Shrewsbury in May 2012, attracting visitors from all over the world: http://www.shrewsburyphotographyfestival.co.uk
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What, all 14 of them?
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Excellent news!
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The first problem is that few people outside of the West Midlands actually know where Shrewsbury is. Signeage off the M6 doesn’t help. At Junction 10 the M54 is signed as “North (& mid) Wales – Wolverhampton and Telford”. The people that can find us aren’t likely to be thrilled with the poor (and mostly closed) shops and the limited and expensive car parks. When word gets out that we’ve spent a million quid on a twisted piece of concrete they’ll probably flock here to see who these mad Salopians are.
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I am sure anyone planning to visit Shrewsbury
will look at a map or use their sat-nav it’s not difficult.
As for the million £ piece of twisted concrete.
A number of visitors to the town when in a nearby pub have often asked
What on earth is that thing over there?
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all this is over come if they had a decent website though cos it would have a google map on it, so the website idea is very valid
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what like more public art ??
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I had to prepare a mock ‘Greenspace Strategy’ for my University project and one of the things that stood out immediately was lack of signage and the accessibility to our ‘tourists hotspots’. Apart from the little black signposts dotted around town (which are very quaint I will admit), you really would have no idea where The Quarry & Dingle were. If you were arriving by train, the location of the Castle isn’t obvious until you’re more or less ontop of it. There’s no sort of direction in the town – there needs to be interesting trails of the medieval routes, with little pockets of information/displays at various points.
Is that tourist point still next to the train station? If it is, that needs revamping for a start because I haven’t noticed it. If arriving by Bust Station, you couldn’t be greeted with a worst situation. The tourist info/shop is run down, as is the actually station and when the National Express drops you off in Raven Meadows, it’s all very unclear. Hopefully the new shopping ‘complex’ can add to this.
I love Shrewsbury and am very proud to live and work here, but it needs a lot of work if it intends to compete with like-for-like places such as Chester.
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Oops, few spelling mistakes there.
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If it’s any consolation, there isn’t much to look at in Hereford either.
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Theres a rather nice Cathederal, and the Bulmers cider museum
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I’m afraid Hereford is very disappointing.
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Can someone please tell me why Darwin’s Birthplace on the Mount isn’t open to the public? By allowing access to such a building tourism in the town would increase immediately.
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It is open during the week,[ office hours ] just ring the bell and ask to see the room where Darwin was born, you will be shown the room but there is nothing there, only a desk and a couple of pictures, a real disappointment.
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Visitors to Shrewsbury find it difficult to locate the castle? Not if they’ve arrived by train I hope? If they can’t find it after emerging from the railway station they probably don’t have the faculties to realise they’re in Shrewsbury, never mind look for anywhere specific…
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I have just visited York where the Destination Shrewsbury members could learn a great deal from. Excellent signage, free maps, attractions well presented some free, plenty of quality bars and restaurants. The river used to it’s full potential. Overall a welcoming city…
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When the Shrewsbury Quest was open visitors from all over over the World visited Shrewsbury
But it isn’t a tourist town now, have you ever walked around the Town on a Sunday, or Bank holiday, half the Shops are shut and even the only real antique market is not allowed to open
No buses and charges for parking how to kill a town
Go to Bridgnorth and see how it’s done
(I’ll now send my consultation fee for this report for £150k)
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surely if shrewsbury’s medieval history coupled with those old buildings that are left, were publicised this would bring in more tourism. for more than 200 years successive kings held their court in shrewsbury. the town was offered a charter to make the town a city, a king even installed a bishop but the town burgesses turned it down as they preferred shrewsbury to be the premier borough.
more should be made of the river. the art of punting should be introduced. there is so much space at the general railway station, that could house a railway museum.
much more could be done to improve the market hall. the town has excellent transport facilities
some one in shrewsbury tourism could do a lot better
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Preferred to be called “THE FIRST OF TOWNS” I think you will find.
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how about a regatta week on the severn, with pedalo racing etc. there are so many ideas that could evolve from salopians, and yet the tourism specialists in london are paid over a million pounds for a naff report.
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And that number came from where? I hope you didn’t just make it up.
We already have an annual regatta courtesy of the Pengwern Boat Club.
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Good ideas
see you dont need consultants to tell you the obvious, lots more river races of different types would be a great spectator event and bring people into town
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totally agree re the river
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You could watch the races through the planned fences the council plan on putting up along the river.. it will be a bit like watching football in the 80′s.
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no body wants to see art and monuments find something better to attract people
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Why I will never come back, highest parking charges I know of for what is a small rural town, hint rural, means rural families need transport, then the town rips tham off with parking. Lack of imangination as far as supplying enough to occupy youngsters, you have Darwin, so what about an interactive display, somthing more interesting than you have at the moment, you do have some great little pubs, of course the horrendouse Weatherspoon chain as well, you are not making the most out of the river, and you are planting hrendouse looking buildings amongst tudor buildings, have you goe mad, I refer to the library or is it a therte in Frank wells quay Sorry Shrewsbury you have to do better, a lot better.
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Why is the council spending thousands on consultants again? They employ several professional tourism offices, either these officers are overworked and need more help or they are not capable of writing a tourism strategy for the town in which case why are they employed at all? It seems pretty basic to me you ask tourists a few questionarres and then write a breif document stating what would attract people here i suspect it would be
shops
cafes
historic buildings
riverside
countryside
its not rocket science really is it
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So in conclusion, we just need signage on the M6 saying;
‘Shrewsbury (It has shops, cafes, historic buildings, riverside AND
countryside.)’
That should get the punters racing in.
Tsk, expensive consultants indeed!
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i have an idea – set up a simple online forum asking for ideas from both locals and visitors
actually this is very much becoming just that so why dont the council people look at the shropshire star and get ideas from that
my idea would be an ice rink in the town square over winter – its great in other areas – even oswestry are doing it now – i think that and the german winter market would be a good pull
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We had a German market in The Square once, complete with beer and band, fantastic success, sadly local residents complained about the disturbance of all those people enjoying themselves so it was banished to The Quarry the following year, sadly it flopped at that location and they didn’t bother again.Try and get any proper crowd pulling event and you will meet with resistance.
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Nobody wants to see art? Good grief…
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“But I think Shrewsbury has overtaken Chester from a retail point of view and a cultural view.”
Err… really? Have you been to Chester? It’s in a completely different league than Shrewsbury.
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Full of boring chain shops. S’bury has very good independents. Btw Chester architecture is mainly fake Victorian.
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from here i would probably rather go to Stratford upon Avon, Ludlow, Chester or Broadway in the Cotswolds is nice, i do like Shrewsbury but its just a bit run down and dirty and its not quality enough sadly parking prices is an issue too, but i think in the main its just not sophisticated and high end enough for a “special” day out e.g. anniversary or birthday or something, its ok but theres nothing really special such as the RHS in Stratford, the races in chester or the Michelen starred restaraunts in Ludlow if you want a special treat, so thats my opinion anyway you probably think I sound like a snob but I mean if you are treating yourself not for day to day shopping and stuff
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no mark you dont sound snobby you are spot on mate, i totally agree, shrewsbury has got a bit run down of late and needs sprucing up and needs more posh stuff to do here, a five star hotel would be a good start i reckon
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Not sure parking is an issue for staying tourists at all, they will get a free parking space in their hotel or b and b as part of the package, so thats that issue settled
Attracting shoppers and Daytrippers is a different thing entirely
what we need is staycationers who would stay in shrewsbury for a long weekend and spend hundreds like a holiday, out for dinner both nights, maybe the theatre etc at the same time, thats what is needed,
personally i think more pedestrianisation is the secret of all these places people rave about, think about it chester, york and durham and bath are all heavily pedestrianised it creates cafe culture, street theatre / buskers, less noise and pollution and shopping experiences all round better and more relaxing
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Shrewsbury never attracts young people and that is waht makes places buzz.
When we had the goth period a few years ago, we had young people dressed so wackily that tourists thought they were great and wanted to photograph them.
What did Shrewsbury Council do, played loud classical music and used the mosquito noise to drive these, what were considered nuisances away. The CSOs were directed to keep them out of the town.
Shrewsbury shouts,PRETTY TOWN BUT BORING!
A sea of grey hair is what you see in every photograph.
Nothing must change and little does. We have the same people running the place for decades. Councillors who have wielded power for 20 years + is not uncommon.
There are some good things that have been introduced in the past decade but all the multicoloured flower displays shout ‘twee’
The negative attitude towards something different like the Quantum Leap shouts parochial.
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yet again the council spending more on strategic planning than actual service delivery, why pay a consultant to write a report on attracting tourists when you could just spend the money on attracting tourists… perhaps a marketing campaign foucsed on places like japan and usa where really big spending tourists come from
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id like to see something like the boris bike scheme in shrewsbury – but of course it would be called the Darwin Bike
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i think if we had more trees planted around the town it would improve the townscape more, it would make shade in summer and shelter in the rain thus making our town more easy to shop in, i would also like stores to innovate with things like free delivery if you spend more than £50, so you can pop into town without the car and no need to carry so much shopping, i think the tourists would feel the same as me?
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i’ve an idea – a three point plan for making town nicer and attracting tourists
1. Ban Shropshire council from building anything in the town centre,
2. take planning powers off Shropshire council and give them to the national trust
3. hand over the running of the town centre buildings like rowleys house to charities which know how to look after them better
common theme = shropshire council = disaster bunch of muppets
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a demolition programme for the old 1960′s concrete mistakes would be a good start
sabc did good with the carpark and telephone house but there is more to come down please knock down the offices by the train station and create a new site here ideally just allow the traffic to flow better here, but there may be space for more offices and housing development to cover the costs
same goes for the colleges computer library place on barker street, that pebbledash ruins our town, some more car parking on this land would be sensible if not housing
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How much have we paid these “experts” for this
nonsense.
Shrewsbury is only a small town it only takes a short time to walk from one end to the other
so people will soon find the castle and the square etc.
When will the council stop wasting our money?
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actually public art is a good way to bring in tourists, but it neednt cost £1m!!!!
one of the best bits in shrewsbury, if you have ever noticed is a simple metal shape of the river loop set into the paving in the town square, must have cost a grand max, looks really nice, would like to see more of that and signs to link each peice together as a trail
i agree it is nonsense for people to arrive by train and not find the castle, if they are that stupid we shouldnt let them in!
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These statistics are promising. While Shrewsbury only gets a tenth of the number of Chester’s visitors, according to figures I remember reading in the Chronicle, visitors to Shrewsbury spend about 60% more than those in Chester. We must be doing something right!
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well having been the wonderful street theatre festival earlier in the month, i must say i think that they have the right idea, the place was packed and im sure the traders agree it was a good day.
Why not have one every month?
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Not rocket science:
1. reduce car park fees
2. clean the town
3. aim to reduce empty town centre units
4. adopt more friendly cafe culture
5. seasonal street festivals
6. use the natural resources i.e. parks and river, maybe river trips
7. promote the castle better
8. free tourist maps
9. reduce amount of takeaways and charity shops
No need to pay consultants rediculous amounts of money…..
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agree with some of this, especially the tourist maps, more leaflets and more marketing in general is what is called for, but it has to be well targeted, I am not sure parking makes much difference if people have come from miles and are staying in a hotel does £3 or £4 make any difference to the total cost of the holiday? i dont think so…
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Call me old fashioned but normally when you want to sell something you do some – marketing. How about marketing the town, e.g. leaflets put out at motorway service stations, website, tv adverts even.
just an idea from an ex-salesman
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How many people show up at a service station and are not on their way somewhere? The chance of someone picking up a leaflet about Shrewsbury and suddenly heading there is pretty darn slim.
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Shrewsbury is full of historic buildings and sites of historical interest but is a PITA trying to find them and people visiting don’t want a free map.
Hopefully some of the SS readers (and maybe council members) have been to Boston and enjoyed the Freedom Trail – no, the other Boston in the US.
A 2.5 mile red brick trail takes you to many places of interest either with a guide or a rented headset. Simple – the Darwin Trail.
And visitors like to feel safe. Increase the police presence in town at night and get rid of the drunks.
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Improved signange – NO THANKS
too much street clutter like that destroys the street scene, keep it medieval, the black iron finger posts in town at present are excellent, it MUST be kept top top quality like that to keep the town nice looking, no modern street clutter please that will put tourists off
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what makes chester special?
old looking buildings, well presved and strict planning laws preventing people putting up plastic signage and garish window displays,
i think we need to follow suit and be much more restrictive on businesses in thetown but in return charge them less business rates pls
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I would like to see them trial something like horse and carts or bicycle taxis around the flatter bits of town e.g. the quarry and the square
all the nice european towns i go to have a tour like that, its a great way on your first day to find the area and then you know where to go moer
old fashioned tour guides would be good too, a person in uniform, every hour at the train station then every half hour by the square, leading a group of tourists around on a little half hour walk for free just to plug local attractions with businesses sponsoring them to plug their businesses too
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Canterbury has many characters in medieval dress on the High St.
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a good website is better than a motorway sign its a massive great electronic sign saying come here we are nice
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Don’t worry, we will soon have a unique visitor attraction that nobody else has (except San Francisco)and that is Shrewsbury Prison, that should bring in the tourists, ( I’m not joking)
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Reading????
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They want people to come to Shrewsbury? Got it! I have that elusive X factor.
They could hold the inaugural World Concrete Slinky Championship; the winner gets two tickets of their choice at Theatre Severn and also has their name inscribed on Judith’s silver frisbee at the Golden Temple of Frankwell.
They’ll be beating them off with a stick as they descend upon the town.
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Nothing from marketing can beat the best thing ever – WORD OF MOUTH.
you cant beat getting a good reputation over time and people making a personal recommendation on that front
that said as people dont so much talk to each other as just text each other these days perhaps the facebook/twitter campaign is a better idea ??
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better linkages between town and the quarry park would be good (suggest a bike path and a fully pedestrian, well signed walk way – the cut through by bellstone / st chads would be good) and something in the quarry to attract people would be good
the new harbour/pontoon thing is a start – perhaps grant a liquor licence or coffee shop for the river bank ? allow some concesssions there for river related activities e.g. fishing, boating or something ?
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I can recommend a very determined salesman who came to my door recently. He was expounding on the benefits of secondary glazing when the front door suddenly blew shut,trapping my little finger. Despite my cry of pain and white face he continued as if nothing had happened!
#37Night owl
Have you ever heard the name Standing Stillsbury?
or Shrewsbury the graveyard of ambition?
TV dramas don’t help. People seem to be happy that we are heading back to a class system of Haves v Have nots.
The growing population of over qualified,debt ridden and under represented young people often now seen filling shelves in supermarkets will maybe bring about some badly needed changes to this town.
Those returning home with degrees but no careers will at least inject some new blood into a town that has always suffered from losing the energy and input from this particular age group.
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Agree the castle should be a focus, but it needs a square or courtyard around it, so the entrance way leads you in, the gardens are ‘pleasant’ but not open on all sides, some development round that area and making more of lauras tower may help open up the castle, also i have to say military museum? Yawn!
how about we make something of the norman heritage, ca 1066 and all that, this is a REALLY REALLY old castle so it should be more promoted and more accessible for all
a cafe there may well help as would flying some flags from the castle tower
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smithfield road is the problem, its dire – no shops, no walkway, its a desert of desolation
there is just too much traffic in the town generally, we need a by pass and atleast one more park and ride site
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never read so much nonsense in my life, they tried the whole history thing with the Quest centre and tour guides dressed as monks, it all flopped, what people need is a big cheap car park and some decent shops like primark and some food places mcd’s and such, thats what this town needs not more boring museums and old people looking at old buildings
how about people slosh their bed pans out in the street to add to the medieval vibe?
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How about a special offer to entice people, get businesses to work together so buy a nights hotel and get a free trip to the castle, or buy a theatre ticket and get £5 off your meal at a specific pub perhaps – im sure most businesses would provide the vouchers for free if it brings in custom
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There are some good comments here.
We have fantasic war museums like the one in Manchester. Amazing architecture and a building that celebrates peace and examines the politics that create war with historical information and artefacts too.
The museum here is dated and doesn’t educate.
Many people may wonder why Clive is seen as someone put on a pedestal when he stole masses of riches from other lands and was generally not a nice person.
The Castle could be developed into something more interesting and some sort of access from the train station would be ideal for the many folk who cannot climb steep hills.
Perhaps Rowley’s House could be the military museum but with a far more modern educational aspect.
I also agree with teken though and there is no doubt a lot of people like the shopping experience even if for many it is more window shopping!
Huw hits the nail on the head with the comment about Smithfield Road, a rat run and spoiler of a potentially attractive riverside setting.
The town may seem easy to get around for those who are young and fit but with a growing older population and a need to be less reliant on cars we need to do some long term thinking and I would really like to see some input encouraged from the younger generation to move Shrewsbury forward.
Why are we paying a lot of fogeys £3,500 per annum to rubber stamp planning applications, benefit from hospitality perks regarding the towns in bloom projects and supposedly care for our public conveniences?
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Agree knock down Clive and replace him with Darwin please
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For a town like Shrewsbury I would be looking at packaged bus tours for the elderly, they love those kind of things you know the sort with a tour guide on a microphone calling in at all the museums and such, that would be good business I reckon
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As an immigrant to Shropshire from the NE England, there are a few simple things that would make my distant relations much more welcome. The first is the one-way system in Shrewsbury – it is always easy to spot a visitor to the town as they weave from one lane to the next. Much better signage would help (and stop signposting Telford up Castle Foregate).
Car Parking – why can’t cars coming down Wyle Cop park in the NCP car park?! The multi-storey has to have the tightest spaces seen to man and surely the entrance road to St Julian Friars could have become circular by now.
OK – so now the visitor is in the town, can we put some signs up explaining what are the attractions of a Dingle, Cop, Bear Steps, Quantum Leap? Salopian language is not the easiest to decipher – would any other town highlight a Quarry as it’s main attraction.
Rowley’s House – plant some grass outside and stick a couple of picnic tables. It’s marooned in a sea of tarmac, much more could be made of it.
Liven up Pride Hill with some more high quality street entertainers and street vendors. Think of Chester and York – they make visiting town an experience, rather than a chore.
It’s a lovely town, but the lack of effective marketing lets it down heavily. I don’t think Shrewsbury can afford to remain Britain’s best kept secret.
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well said jack
esp about rowyleys house its just not got its full potential cos of its horid surrounding, bogs, fast food outlets and a car park! do me a favour and put some cobbled open space in there
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my ideas are: –
*sort out the flaxmill – initially just get the thing fixed enough to allow access and long term get it made into a unesco world heritage site which in itself will take care of the PR for you.
*sort out the wier so there can be boat trips all the way to ironbridge and bridgnorth
*link in with other shropshire towns like the ironbridge museum pass – so you can get entrance to ironbridge, wroxeter, severn valley railway and shrewsbury castle and eventually flaxmill all on one day/weekend ticket
*free tourist maps at all good stockists
*free postcards with photos of shrewsbury – encouage people to send to a friend
*a new visitshrewsbury.com super flash website
*extend the pedestianised zone initially to take in fish street, butchers row and st alkmunds but eventually to milk street and princess street (to link to the Square) and then ultimately to also encompass Hills Lane by rowleys house and then ideally one day perhaps even the top end of mardol, top of roushill and round the front of the indoor market
*free access to the top of either the clock tower or lord hills column – this always seems to be a big draw on city breaks allowing for a lovely town/roofscape photo opportunity
*free training for taxi drivers, shop keepers and anyone really who can speak to people about the towns history – would be good
*free shuttle bus?
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thank goodness shrewsbury town football club is helping to put the town on the map, i agree with night owl about the concrete buildings in the town. the one that replaced the old shire hall in the square would be first on my list to be demolished very quickly followed by the lloyds tsb building
i like the idea of say 2 horse buses in the town, walking up pride hill, dogpole, wyle cop and castle street can be tiring.
i certainly think more can be made of the river, i just hope the council and shropshire tourism read these threads and pick up some ideas.
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Wait a minute, do we really want tourists here? all that noise and litter, no thanks
shropshire is a hidden gem, lets keep it that way
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Better being a regional treasure than a hidden gem!
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a good thing of late is that old fashioned sweet shop on princess street selling pear drops by the quarter oz. Great stuff. I really miss the map shop on st alkmunds square and the tailors on butchers row. Still alot of good little shops are still there, the bakers on high street and the wysteria lane shop for the ladies, i also love allards traditional tobacconist and the chocolate shop on wyle cop, its these unique shops which make shrewsbury special and they should be afforded tax breaks and helped in every way possible
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Doesn’t help that since they stopped the cheap (and very good) direct train to/from London its now an effort (4hours, at least 1 change) and expect (£60-£180) to get to Shrewsbury from the south without driving.
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On a positive note we’ve had some good festivals this summer.
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