Jessie J leaves a mud bath behind after Shrewsbury concert
What a difference a day makes – particularly when the great British weather is involved. These pictures show Shrewsbury’s showpiece Quarry before and after Friday night’s sell-out Jessie J concert.
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What a difference a day makes – particularly when the great British weather is involved.
These pictures show Shrewsbury’s showpiece Quarry before and after Friday night’s sell-out Jessie J concert.
Click on the image to the right for more photos
Up to 11,000 fans braved the rains – which lifted just before The Voice star took to the stage – to enjoy the concert of the year but left behind a sea of thick mud. The contrast with the lush grass across the park the day before could hardly be greater.
Shrewsbury Flower Show organisers now face a race against time to get the site back to its best for the 125th show next month.
But town leaders today said they were confident they would win their battle in time for the milestone flower show on August 10 and 11.
Jessie J fans who braved the weather said they enjoyed the show and despite torrential downpours throughout the day, the sky brightened ahead of the show and the rain held off throughout.
Comments for: "Jessie J leaves a mud bath behind after Shrewsbury concert"
Dave Minshall
I took a stroll into the Quarry Saturday,and seen what only could be described as a landfill site.I again strolled down on Sunday afternoon and it was completley different.The mud looked like it had been rolled and there were even signs of greenery returning.I dont know whether some super seed had been administered to the area,but full credit to the powers that be.I believe our Quarry will be returned to normal very soon.They certainly seem to know what they are doing.Well done.
julian
Though slightly less than well done to the litter louts who forgot to take their rubbish home with them.
andrew purcell
what a complete mess to one of shrewsbury great tourist traps.the cost of repairs must 20x ticket sales,so was it worth having a so called celeb in shrewsbury
Andy H
Its grass. It grows. Given a couple of weeks, it'll be back to normal. Cost? minimal. Perhpas a little bit of rolling will be required once its had a chance to drain properly but that'll not break the bank.
alex
Killjoy !!!
alex
Killjoy, i wouldn't be surprised to see it under water within the next few days anyway !!!
ShireFella
Our lovely Quarry now looks like Passchendaele battlefield. - So who's going to foot the bill for the repair job?
Nick
A slight overreaction and in some ways disrespectful to those who did face the horrors of that battle.
The Quarry will be fine in time to be trampled on by the thousands who attend the Towns’ premier event.
Jack
Don't be so pompous Nick. It does look like a scene from WW1. Everyone who saw it on Saturday morning pretty much said the same thing. It's a figure of speech, not a desecration of the Cenotaph fella!!
Nick
I too saw the Quarry Saturday morning and having seen plenty of pictures of WW1 battlefields it looks nothing like one. For a start nobody drowned in the mud.
Not being pompous, just stating a fact.
I suppose those who attended Friday showed some “Dunkirk Spirit” by standing in the rain......there’s another trite figure of speech.
ph7
How many weeks until the flower show?
twisting my melon
Which makes just as much mess only over a longer period..
Andrea
Those photos make me want to cry. Let's hope our beautiful Quarry will recover quickly!
twisting my melon
Chin up love, its not like anyone died
Andy
how about the 2,000,000 blades of grass???
Fascist! ;)
Pickpicker
Just get it back to normal no matter the cost, in fact you can forget about the price tag it's not about the money money money.....!
glyn
Would you all be moaning if it was the Flower Show that made the mess? no of course not, you all think that the Quarry is for you and for you only. Its grass and grass grows back no matter what.
We are lucky that the Quarry has a marvelous ability to withstand anything.
tony
you want stars to come to shrewsbury and yet your bloody moaning, shut up,
Simon Parton
Well said! .. The slightest little inconvenience and all Shrewsbury can do is moan!
I'm surprised they didn't start moaning about the noise like they usually do!
donna
i live right by the quarry, didn't hear a thing apart from the fire works, which were epic :)
Paul Farmer
No offence hear but its going to be tight and at best the grass will be really patchy. Due to the amount of rainfall the ground is really messed up down there and the grass will struggle to grow through properly because the ground in the quarry got brought up to mud from at least and inch down which destrys the roots.
The organisers and the town council have not though this through properly to be fair and the organisers of the flower show have every right to be concerned. That saying the flower show is a dying event and this years show is basically the same as last years but there will be less trade stands and exhibitors. The arena events this year are not great and many people already are commenting how disappointed they are and won't bother going. So if the quarry is looking a bit rough and ready it won't matter.
It's a shame but then life goes on and it's good that Shrewsbury is now having half decent gigs. Shame about the price of tickets though....
Lesley
aw the people who went had a great time and to turn up in that weather was dedication. its good to have a big act come to our little town and puts us on the map. the quarry will be good as new ready for flower show, im sure of it. i did not go but i enjoyed hearing how happy people were who did :-)
Katherine de Gama
What a dreadful spring and summer. I spent £500 on tickets to the Isle of Wight festival but the weather was so bad we stayed at home. I couldn't even give the tickets away for free.
twisting my melon
I would have had them, a wet Tom Petty is better than no Tom Petty..
Katherine de Gama
Ahhh, Twisting. You should have coame to the Nags. I had backstage passes for the lovely T om Petty. We have a mutual friend.
twisting my melon
I used to work at the Nags..
steve
WHO CARES ITS A FIELD. just think what them poor people have had to go through with there house and posetions have been washed away. you shrowsbury folk never manage to amaze me. " our lovely quarry has be ruined" I DONT CARE
Monkey
Oh dear, oh dear!
I think somebody played truant from school a little too often (during English i suspect).
Perhaps a message board isn't you natural habitat steve (or should that be Steve?)
Paul B
Yes, it probably should be Steve. But there again you should use a capital letter for the personal pronoun indicating first person singular.
If you're going to moan about another somebody's written English it's always as well to check your own.
towbar
Spot on comment Paul B.
Anon
Ooh grumpy :P
Tim
Steve if you don't care why comment
Nigel
"so was it worth having a so called celeb in shrewsbury"
A 'celeb' didn't cause the mudbath, it was the relentless rain and the presence of hundreds of Salopians who wanted to see a well known pop singer perform.
Any event attended by this number of people in heavy rain would have had the same effect.
Whether the attraction was a 'so called celeb' or not is an irrelevance.
groundsman
I dont no the costing of the event,but I would suggest in the future they could lay some turf protection not just to save the grass but for the comfort of the many people who payed a lot of money,Even if it was just around the main arena.The logistics are not that different from football stadia.
summers
Well I went to the concert and it was fantastic! The firework display at the end was also fantastic! Yes, the weather is rubbish and can really spoil things but sometimes we just have to get on with it and enjoy things as best as we can! It's grass, it will grow. The weather has caused a lot worse damage to peoples property and they have lost things that are irreplaceable. Sometimes people just want to find anything to moan about!! The children that were near to me were having a fab time, wellies, mud and all!!
Simon Parton
My niece went to see Jessie J also and said it was a fantastic concert.
It's not like we have a major top-40 singer do a concert every day is it?
Some people just moan for the sake of it I guess.
Dan Heyes
It's just about the money
Shrewsbury wants your money
Don't worry about the mub bath
because Shrewsbury got it's price tag.
Chris
Went past it now.. it looks fine!
Stop worrying and get on with life... there's far more important things...
sordid
Haa haa, chin up all you whingers.
Rog
Whether or the grass recovers - what about the terrible amount of rubbish? Why on earth can't folk take their trash home with them? I find that far more 'upsetting' than the mud covered turf.
novacane
Don't be too upset Rog.
The "terrible amount of rubbish" was cleared away within just a couple of hours on Saturday.
Sue
"Jessie J leaves a mud bath behind after Shrewsbury concert"
Well she did complain about having a dicky tummy during the concert!
Matt
10,000 tickets @ £35 = £350,000. You can bet Jessie J and the promoters didn't get all of that. The council decided to let it go ahead despite of the weather and good for them! However I bet they'll still make a decent profit after the clean-up and re-seed. Cost to tax payers, probably nothing.
If this rain keeps up all those flower show types will trample the rest of it anyway. Let's just be glad we have a great place like the Quarry to have these events and that this time the 'elf and safety killjoys were kept in their box.
Mark
Well I'm guessing most of the negative feedback comes from town centre residents ?
It's grass....it grows, get a life.
It's a bonus to have events such as this which puts such an awesome, beautiful place on the national map, boosting the tourism trade, creating JOBS ! , and pulling the town out of the dark ages.
If you can't accept progression, move to Cornwall.
Katherine de Gama
There are many town centre residents who enjoy the fact that there's is life out there. I disagree with you about Cornwall. I live in St Ives for half the year. It's very vibrant.
Mark
...P.s.
I'm a Shropshire lad in New Zealand. If you think a little muddy field is a major problem for a couple of weeks, try dealing with the results of a major earthquake for a couple of years.......
Telford Steve
I scarified my lawn for the first time in the first week of June and was left without a single blade of grass, three weeks later it was back and brand new. Grass is really hardy and at this time of year will re-grow in no time.
Rob, Telford
"I scarified my lawn for the first time in the first week of June and was left without a single blade of grass"
...are you sure you didn't terrify it by mistake?
Telford Steve
It was me that was terrified when the wife got home and saw what I'd done to our lawn.
Rob, Telford
How much longer will you have to sleep in the shed?
Telford Steve
And if anybody from SCC are reading, my rates are quite reasonable.
groundsman
Its town council not scc steve i think they will thank you for the offer but i know they can manage.Glad to hear your lawn is doing fine.
Telford Steve
is reading?
Woody
Glad you did that TS, otherwise you would have had a "Monkey" on your back! ;O)
Telford Steve
He must have a chimp on his shoulder.
groundsman
THE ground has been compacted due to all the heavy traffic ie pedestrians and vehicles,the ground needs to dry then maybe a surface scarification to get some air into the surface.the grass blade will have been damaged but now needs time to recover but i no for a fact they have a great grounds team at the council it will be repaired and looking great again,if not straight away,dont worry it will back again with some tlc
Davey
Wow, I'm shocked and surprised that it went ahead. Surely that wet grass would have been a big 'no-no' for the H&S brigade?
Mark Ingle
We have trains cancelled due to leaves on line, will the day arrive when concerts are cancelled due to grass to wet?
I am glad they have not gone that far yet with health and safety, some of the concerts I have been to in Europe have really been unsafe, the Pink Floyd in Versailles was so packed if anyone had passed out they would have been standing till the end and they had armed troops policing the event.
Still we are troopers here in blighty y'know, rain sun or snow we turn out!!!
Peter Nutting
I have just visited the Quarry and it is already starting to look much better. The grass is already recovering on most of the arena and there are just a couple of patches that may need some small amount of returfing to ensure the Quarry is at its best for The Flower Show. The cost of any work is being met by the promoter of the concert and there is no cost to the taxpayer at all.
May I thank all the staff in the Quarry for all the work they do to ensure the park is one of the very best in the country.
The concert was a great success and can only be good for the town.
Thanks to everyone involved.
PS I have asked the Star to take another picture showing the Quarry as it is now just to prove it recovers very quickly.
Peter Nutting
Shrewsbury Town Council
Chris
Well Said Peter.
Just to add I am a Town Centre resident that lives close to the Quarry and also a regular user of the Quarry.
I am only too glad to see the Quarry used for vibrant events such as this, and also having walked though on Tuesday it is rapidly recovering.
Katherine de Gama
@ Twisting. We probably know each other. Better known as Kat,3
carol
With some friends we hitched to Londons Hyde Park back in the sixties from Dawley to see the Rolling Stones concert in memory of Brian Jones. (Mick Jagger wore a dress on stage) It was a free concert, no massive screens for everyone to have a good view, people climbed the trees instead. After the concert we were given bin bags to pick up rubbish anyone handing in a bag of litter was rewarded with a signed Stones album, Keith Richard signed mine I still have it. The only evidence of mass tresspass was a few broken branches lying on the grass. Brilliant memory although it's said if you remember the sixties you weren't there. We definately were there but the date's a bit of a blurr. The concept would possibly be an incentive for todays concert goers CDs don't cost that much to give away!
bella
I was there last Friday and one of the main reasons there was so much litter left eas because all the bins were full by about 7pm!
Do we see all these complaints about grass getting spoilt and the mess left behind about other big events that take place around here? NO! The mess left in the Quarry is nothing compared to what the teams at Weston Park have to deal with after V Festival and at RAF Cosford airshow hundreds of staff have to do a Fod Plod the following morning to pick up all the litter and if its a wet day the grass at both of these places would be ruined!
If it had been the Queens Pageant there this week that had made the mess not one person would have complained it is only because it was a pop concert that anyone is even having this conversation!
Town_walls
This was inevitable - what did they expect would happen when they filled the Quarry with thousands of litter-dropping hooligans after several weeks of rain?
The attitude of our town council to the Quarry is a disgrace.