Town planners and their love of concrete

Town planners and their love of concrete - Bedworth

I guess this isn't really a gripe, it's more a kind of sad reflection on the way things are, disenchanted by the modern world and there's maybe a bit of longing for a past that looked interesting in there. Don't switch off yet - you'll understand if you read on...

I live in a town called Bedworth and I only moved here a few years ago having found it impossible to buy a house in any other part of the country. Garages and sheds were an option, but houses certainly weren't. Bedworth is an old mining town in Warwichshire and it caught our attention primarily because of the affordability and secondly it's not far from the M6 motorway (handy to go and visit relatives).

My gripe isn't about Bedworth because it's basically a nice town. My complaint is really about what has happened to it over the years, actually it's what has probably happened to a lot of towns and villages around the country. Change is inevitable but not all change is for the good in my opinion. I've moved around a fair amount over the years and when I live in a place, I like to find out a bit about it. It's fascinating to look at old photographs and hear stories about how things used to be. In some towns you can look at the old photo and compare it with one taken recently and still see familiar buildings and streets. There's an echo of the past in the modern version.

Bedworth town centre - town planning? Unfortunately, some places are completely unrecognisable in those old pictures and I'm now living in one of those towns. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy enough here and the new Bedworth has plenty going for it. I'm just left with a bit of an empty feeling, like I missed out a nice sunny day. In fact, the old saying "lost a pound and found a penny" seems to sum it up nicely.

It seems a large chunk of the redevelopment took place in the 60's and 70's as far as I can tell and I guess I'm asking, "What on earth were they did they think they were doing?" Many of the small shops and businesses were replaced by the big national chains. Tesco's, Boots, Woolworth.. etc. Great, so the place now looks like everywhere else complete with pedestrianised zone, flower beds, benches and teenage yobs roaming around shouting at night. Maybe everywhere was supposed to look like Stevenage or Milton Keynes, soulless concrete jungles with absolutely no appeal. Thankfully though Bedworth isn't in the same category as either of those monstrosities, but there's definitely something missing. I walked passed the spot where The Hit and Miss pub used to be, I imagined stopping there for a swifty on the way home. How many working men of yesteryear would have been able to do that and now it is all gone - replaced by a car park or a new block of flats.

In conclusion, sometimes change isn’t a good thing, especially when it ruins what was a nice looking town centre. I do hope that the architects and town designers of today will try to preserve some of the old and beautiful buildings that are left and that they will not be lost forever to a jungle of concrete and steel.

Town planners and their love of concrete - Bedworth

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