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the_elyanAbout 18 months ago, not long after I moved up here, my parents alerted me to a piece in the Telegraph (yes, I know...) about the local town of Downham market. I never erad it, but from what I gathered, the tone was "Jewel of the Fens Ruined by Council Vandals".
In practice, of course, it is nothing of the sort - Downham Market was, and remains in places, a solid East Anglian market town, with a scattering of decent buildings, and some fairly pleasant houses. It has, however, been ruined by something, and the council is one of the culprits.
Although I am not sure of this, I suspect that Downham Market in the 1960's may have taken the "London overspill" shilling. It was one of those things that sounded great in the brochure - more influence, plenty of shiny new housing, and a welcome injection of fresh blood into the town. Unfortunately, the reality has been somewhat different - the most extreme example in this part of the world (and probably anywhere) is Thetford, whose population has gone from 4,500 in 1960 to (I would guess) about 40,000 today. It would be very hard to argue that the experience has done anything other than wreck the town - you would not know to look at it that this was a own with 1,500 years of history, and was once the second or third most important town in England. Most the injection of fresh new blood, needless to say, has ended up on the pavement.
the effect in Downham Market has been a lot less severe, but is still noticeable. And it has recently been exacerbated by a spate of Council remodelling that is a particularly heinous example of "if you build it, they will come" town planning. the centrepiece of this is Town Square, which had been the main road interchange in the town centre, and had grown into a messy but accepted focal point around the town clock, with the main open space being the Market Sqaure 100 yards down the hill. The council blocked the whole centre up with roadworks for a year or more, and the result was Town Square - a windswept pale-stone openj space, with a modernist representation of the old town pump and (always a sign of hopelessly misplaced optimism) a giant chessboard set into the ground. It doesn't take much to imagine what the architect's drawings looked like - cafe tables, contented families stopping for a breather in the midst of their craft shopping, and children excitedly pushing brightly-coloured chessmen around. Inpractice, with a road up one side and banks and dry-cleaning shops up the other, it has become a white elephant. the only winners are the people most quickly drawn to open unused open places - the skateboarders and their mates, who ensure that any family strolling happily across Town Square wouldn't last long.
the rather sad irony of this is that the timing is just wrong. Downham Market has suffered from its misbegotten expansion, and from being trapped between three better shopping places (King's Lynn for near, Cambridge for interesting, and Peterborough for convenient). The Council may well had felt nadir had been reached, and that some sort of Bold and Exciting Gesture was required, to revitalise the town. The thing is, the town would likely have revitalised itself - as Cambridge grows ever larger as a centre for employment, and the Research and Science Parks along its north-eastern edge mean the A10 is the best feeder road to live on, Downham Market, though 30 miles away, may well come into its own, because Ely is reaching its green belt, and no-one in their right mind wants to live in Littleport.
How sad, therefore, that at the precise moment when holding their nerve and keeping the town going through the lean patch was what was required, the local Council decided to throw caution to the winds, and managed to drive away the last of the town's charms.
There are still echoes of what Downham Market once was - a fine church overlooking the town, solid stone houses along Priory Road and Station road, and so on. But many of them lie empty, the church's stonework is disfigured by rivets needed to hold stone-proof PVC screens over the stained glass, and the sense is of a town that doesn't know which way to turn next.
I do not know whether Downham market will rise resurgent in the next ten of fifteen years - it may do, and it would be a good thing if it did. But for now, the Council would be well advised to leave well enough alone...
In practice, of course, it is nothing of the sort - Downham Market was, and remains in places, a solid East Anglian market town, with a scattering of decent buildings, and some fairly pleasant houses. It has, however, been ruined by something, and the council is one of the culprits.
Although I am not sure of this, I suspect that Downham Market in the 1960's may have taken the "London overspill" shilling. It was one of those things that sounded great in the brochure - more influence, plenty of shiny new housing, and a welcome injection of fresh blood into the town. Unfortunately, the reality has been somewhat different - the most extreme example in this part of the world (and probably anywhere) is Thetford, whose population has gone from 4,500 in 1960 to (I would guess) about 40,000 today. It would be very hard to argue that the experience has done anything other than wreck the town - you would not know to look at it that this was a own with 1,500 years of history, and was once the second or third most important town in England. Most the injection of fresh new blood, needless to say, has ended up on the pavement.
the effect in Downham Market has been a lot less severe, but is still noticeable. And it has recently been exacerbated by a spate of Council remodelling that is a particularly heinous example of "if you build it, they will come" town planning. the centrepiece of this is Town Square, which had been the main road interchange in the town centre, and had grown into a messy but accepted focal point around the town clock, with the main open space being the Market Sqaure 100 yards down the hill. The council blocked the whole centre up with roadworks for a year or more, and the result was Town Square - a windswept pale-stone openj space, with a modernist representation of the old town pump and (always a sign of hopelessly misplaced optimism) a giant chessboard set into the ground. It doesn't take much to imagine what the architect's drawings looked like - cafe tables, contented families stopping for a breather in the midst of their craft shopping, and children excitedly pushing brightly-coloured chessmen around. Inpractice, with a road up one side and banks and dry-cleaning shops up the other, it has become a white elephant. the only winners are the people most quickly drawn to open unused open places - the skateboarders and their mates, who ensure that any family strolling happily across Town Square wouldn't last long.
the rather sad irony of this is that the timing is just wrong. Downham Market has suffered from its misbegotten expansion, and from being trapped between three better shopping places (King's Lynn for near, Cambridge for interesting, and Peterborough for convenient). The Council may well had felt nadir had been reached, and that some sort of Bold and Exciting Gesture was required, to revitalise the town. The thing is, the town would likely have revitalised itself - as Cambridge grows ever larger as a centre for employment, and the Research and Science Parks along its north-eastern edge mean the A10 is the best feeder road to live on, Downham Market, though 30 miles away, may well come into its own, because Ely is reaching its green belt, and no-one in their right mind wants to live in Littleport.
How sad, therefore, that at the precise moment when holding their nerve and keeping the town going through the lean patch was what was required, the local Council decided to throw caution to the winds, and managed to drive away the last of the town's charms.
There are still echoes of what Downham Market once was - a fine church overlooking the town, solid stone houses along Priory Road and Station road, and so on. But many of them lie empty, the church's stonework is disfigured by rivets needed to hold stone-proof PVC screens over the stained glass, and the sense is of a town that doesn't know which way to turn next.
I do not know whether Downham market will rise resurgent in the next ten of fifteen years - it may do, and it would be a good thing if it did. But for now, the Council would be well advised to leave well enough alone...
