Rotherham

20 years ago, each town and city in South Yorkshire had a thriving town/city centre and fabulous markets. Then they built Meadowhall (or Meadowhell as hubby calls it). Whilst it brings shoppers from far and wide to the area, it has slowly killed off every town and city nearby. Rotherham went one step further by building a fabulous little out of town high street 2 miles out of the town centre, and slowly one by one almost all of the high street shops moved out of town to Parkgate. When Marks and Spencers moved out, that rang the death knell for this once pretty and bustling little town. The only high street shops that remain are Primark, Boots and WH Smiths. If you want a bookies, mobile phone, or (rubbish and overpriced) charity shops, then head for Rotherham. They do have a "Renaissance" program, which so far consists of building a few apartments in the town centre, but there doesn't seem to be an overall purpose for the place anymore. I think it is really sad to see, and I know its not only happening in South Yorkshire, as last year, on the way home from London, we detoured to Brackley which used to be a lovely bustling town. This too looks as if it has died a death and we struggled to spend more than half an hour there.



Anyway, my reason to visit Rotherham, was to look at the newly restored Imperial Exchange building. This is a gorgeous building right in the town centre that they are hoping to attract artists and craft business's to.

I had planned the visit on my own, but I ended up with hubby in tow as they cancelled his work day at the last minute because of a mix up. When I got into the building, I wished that I had left him at home as some lovely ladies were sewing hearts with vintage fabrics and they were inviting the public to join in.

I loved this magnificent needle felted parrot.

The building was once part of the market complex in Rotherham, featuring butchers and fishmongers etc. The old tiles in the units are still there.

I hope it is a success.

The town has a magnificent church.

One of the unique features of the town is the Chapel on the Bridge which is only one of a handful of building like this left in the UK.

Its also famous - or should that be infamous - for being home to Jamie Olivers "Ministry of Food" the centre of his "pass it on" campaign. I feel that this is a bit of a half hearted attempt by Jamie Oliver (the fact that it is never going to make him any money might be a factor in this). Even the sign looks temporary and looks as if it will be whipped away at any moment. I thought his idea was OK, but I think it really needs kids to be taught to cook in school properly again. I was taught really well at school to cook and I cook almost all of our meals from fresh, but I cannot get the kids interested at all!! There are too many distractions for them at home, whereas when they cook at school, they are full of enthusiasm for it.

So what will happen to towns like Rotherham? What purpose can they serve in the future? I think that town planners have a lot to answer for. I did really well to take so many photos and not get a chav in any!!!