Granva
Morning, Dickens!
Thank you so much. You describe very much what we like about Winchcombe: a real place, with a life of its own, not just a pretty-pretty tourist trap. Broadway is lovely, but choked with cars and people; I couldn’t live there, for example. Painswick (where my aunt lived) is also lovely, in a different way, but seems to have lost its life. And Shipton under Wychwood, where my grandparents and uncle farmed, is lost forever.
Anyway, rant over. We often walk through or from/to Winchcombe, so we have been to the Co op, but I didn’t know there was a Morrisons. Is there a GP practice?
I once thought I'd like to live in Broadway when I first scoured The Cotswolds - but that really is a tourist town isn't it and, as you say, choked with cars and people.
However, you've probably noticed that parking is also a problem along the main thoroughfare - Gloucester Street - in Winchcombe. Further parking restrictions are being considered by the Council and residents are now banding together to have their say. There's basically two camps - one consists mostly of the older generation, those that don't drive, who want to ban cars from parking two wheels on the narrow pavement, and the other, a mixed age group that do drive and know that if the cars are prevented from parking partially on the pavement - the traffic quite simply will not be able to pass side by side on the equally narrow road! So that is a matter to be considered - parking really is at a premium.
Interesting to read your comments on Painswick and Shipton under Wychwood. There's a subtle but definite 'shift' taking place in these Cotswolds towns and villages - inevitable I suppose.
For example - the charity shop which has stood for years on the High Street is now folding, not sure why, maybe the rent is too high. A number of the younger residents who live in the relatively new housing are hoping to see it replaced by a 'burger' Take-Away. It might sound snobbish and elitist, but I believe that's the last thing Winchcombe needs. Having experienced a similar 'replacement' when I lived in Richmond in Surrey - the area will be littered with polystyrene containers, discarded bits of food, and there would most likely be a clamour of cars, motor bikes, and people late at night after the pubs close. If Winchcombe is to retain its character then a Take-Away has to be opposed. There is the Fish and Chip shop and I think that's enough.
There used to be a Post Office - but that too has closed and has been incorporated, not very successfully, in with Morrisons. Currently, there's no service available but no-ne quite knows why.
Another thing to consider is that there has been an increase in low-level crime - also, a spate of break-ins in the shops in the main shopping area. It has to be said that some of the younger generation in the relatively new, new-builds, are troublesome; racing around late at night on bikes and motor bikes. And litle, to nothing, is done about it in spite of the many complaints from residents. I suspect this is not peculiar to Winchcombe though, it's happening everywhere. I have not seen a police presence in the town for years, apart from the odd patrol car whizzing along Gloucester Street on its way to or from somewhere.
I still like living here, but the place is not the attractive town it was when I arrived in 2007. I suspect more shops will close and then re-open with another enterprise which will also be short-lived - that is happening a lot.
And, yes, there is a GP surgery - the Winchcombe Medical Centre (they offer a range of services including minor injuries treatment) but like all surgeries now is over-subscribed and struggling, though it is still possible to get a face to face appointment. The local pharmacy also deliver your medication free of charge.
So - more for you to consider!
