In last week's Free Press was a letter from a Rhuthun/Ruthin resident entitled "Ruination". It began, "How to ruin a market town such as Ruthin" and the writer listed five facets that he believes are the source of Rhuthun's ills. I didn't quite follow of a couple of them but point 3 was that Rhuthun has "Welcomed Tesco". Readers haven't long to await my concluding posting, on the series on Tesco in Rhuthun, five years on. This subject was, after all, responsible for the genesis of this very blog, trying to establish whether Tesco was positive, negative or neutral.
Meanwhile, the first point in the Free Press letter was the most interesting: The correspondent felt that relocating the livestock market to the fringes took away the town's atmosphere.
The removal of the livestock market did more than that. When the mart was on what are now the Co-op site and the Market Street car park, it attracted farmers into the town's heart, who spent money. More than that, it brought with them farmers' wives, who would spend more. This wasn't just during the days when farmers' wives were unlikely to drive. Even more than 20-odd years ago, when the mart moved, farmers and their wives would continue to arrive together.
Mind you, there was quite a lot of shopping at the nearby earlier Tesco!
The move resulted in land being available for the new Lo-cost supermarket that became Co-op Pioneer, then plain Co-op and now the Co-operative. It was after the arrival of Lo-cost that we began to see a reduction in the number of convenience town centre shops.
But all that was 20 years ago, and the town has adjusted & survived what might be considered a cataclysm, then went down, bounced back up and, today, well, who knows.
But the mart's relocation had positive benefits. It was a necessary move. The modern site is:
Meanwhile, the first point in the Free Press letter was the most interesting: The correspondent felt that relocating the livestock market to the fringes took away the town's atmosphere.The removal of the livestock market did more than that. When the mart was on what are now the Co-op site and the Market Street car park, it attracted farmers into the town's heart, who spent money. More than that, it brought with them farmers' wives, who would spend more. This wasn't just during the days when farmers' wives were unlikely to drive. Even more than 20-odd years ago, when the mart moved, farmers and their wives would continue to arrive together.
Mind you, there was quite a lot of shopping at the nearby earlier Tesco!
The move resulted in land being available for the new Lo-cost supermarket that became Co-op Pioneer, then plain Co-op and now the Co-operative. It was after the arrival of Lo-cost that we began to see a reduction in the number of convenience town centre shops.
But all that was 20 years ago, and the town has adjusted & survived what might be considered a cataclysm, then went down, bounced back up and, today, well, who knows.
But the mart's relocation had positive benefits. It was a necessary move. The modern site is:
- More spacious and better serves the needs of farmers
- Offers more facilities within
- More accessible than the previous ones
- One that offers considerably more parking options, even if large machinery sales bring out 4x4s onto the verges of the Northern Relief Road and the A525.