What's so good about Eccleshall? We find out!

Express & Star

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Eccleshaw, here in Staffordshire. It's been voted one of the 72 best places

00:09to live in the country by the Sunday Times. I'm James McMirovich and I've been to see

00:13what this town looks like, speak to people about what makes it and above all see if it's

00:18actually worth having a look at. Let's go and have a look.

00:21So what is it about Eccleshaw that you've found to be nice about it since you've moved

00:25here?

00:26The people. I think so every place, people is there and people make the place the best.

00:34And people of Eccleshaw is very friendly, very cooperative and it's a very quiet, very

00:42nice place to stay because my son is also enjoying when he move from Birmingham to Eccleshaw

00:48but he likes all kinds of help he got from his friends and all that. So I'm happy, kids

00:53are happy, I'm happy because of the people.

00:56And that's the thing, people have spoken about this town and they've said that it's a nice

00:59town, it's almost got a nice village feel to it.

01:04It's a village town, everything, because it's connected with Stafford, Stone, every place

01:10is connected here. So easy to do everything and peace of mind, so that's important.

01:18But in general, if people were going to ask you about Eccleshaw, you would say it's the

01:21people, it's the place, there's just something about it that's very nice.

01:24Yes, it's the people, must say.

01:27So tell us about Eccleshaw, what is it that makes the town for you?

01:31I think it's the community. I mean it's a really historic place, all independent traders,

01:37lots of variety of shops but such a vibrant community, lovely people.

01:43You just find that people are welcoming to anybody who comes in?

01:46Yeah, absolutely, yes. Made me feel very welcome when I first came here and opened the shop

01:51and as I say, I think I'm going to move here.

01:54How long have you been here with the shop first of all?

01:56I've had the shop for six years, the shop's actually been here about 17 years. Had three

02:00owners so I'm the latest.

02:03And obviously being here, meeting the people, you said you now want to move here. Again,

02:08you can see why people say that this is such a nice town, it's got a village feel to it

02:12as well hasn't it?

02:13It really has and they do so much as a community. Have you been to the Eccleshaw show?

02:17Not yet but we've been told good things about it.

02:19It's amazing to think that a fairly small village town, whatever you like to call it,

02:24can put on an event of that size. Just mind-blowing.

02:28So you could go to the coast, you could go to big cities or you could come and visit

02:32Eccleshaw?

02:33You should come and visit Eccleshaw every time and spend some money in my shop. Look

02:39at this array of fabric.

02:41Well standing here on Eccleshaw High Street on a nice spring afternoon, you can understand

02:46why this town has been voted one of the best places to live in the country. Because just

02:50looking down there you can see the Tudor effect on that building there which looks really

02:54really nice. Walking down it seems like a nice street with a number of different buildings

02:59and designs to them. It's obviously a busy town, you can tell the traffic going through

03:03but there are enough people who stop here and have a look around and see things. And

03:08as you can see there's a lot of thriving businesses as well so I can see why this town is such

03:12a nice place to be able to walk around.

03:14It's got a lovely community feel, everybody knows each other, everybody helps each other,

03:18it's very friendly.

03:19That seems to be the general theme that we've had speaking to people so far, they've said

03:23the community is the thing that makes it the best that it is.

03:26Yeah definitely, it's a small town but it's got a village feel to it.

03:32And when you hear that it's being voted as one of the best towns in the country or best

03:35places in the country to live in, what's your thoughts? Do you get pride from hearing that?

03:39Oh definitely yes, I mean if you're coming through Eccleshaw at various times of the

03:43year, in the summer all the hanging baskets are out, for VE Day we've got loads of flags

03:47going out soon, we have all the pretty Christmas trees in December, so it has got a really

03:52beautiful feel to it at all times of the year really.

03:55And you said it has that sort of village feel, I suppose that extends to if somebody moves

03:59in they're going to not feel like an outsider, they're going to feel like they're part of

04:01the community straight away.

04:02I think so yeah, you can go to lots of the pubs and people will just chat to people even

04:06if they don't know you, even in here in my shop people come in and they're chatting to

04:10each other and so yeah it's definitely got a nice friendly feel to it.

04:13And what would you say to anyone who's not been here before?

04:15What to Eccleshaw or to my shop?

04:18To Eccleshaw first of all.

04:19To Eccleshaw, yeah definitely come and have a look, all the shops in the High Street are

04:21all independent, there's lots of lovely restaurants, there's lots of lovely pubs, like I say it's

04:26really friendly, there's lots of clubs, lots of activities on, so yeah definitely worth

04:30a visit.

04:31And your shop is top notch as well.

04:32Absolutely.

04:33So what is it about Eccleshaw you find that makes it so nice for people to live in?

04:38Well, I don't live here myself, I only live down the road at Stone, but I think it's quite

04:43a close community and since we moved here, what year did we move here, 2023, we've had

04:51quite a lot of regulars from Eccleshaw come in and just saying how lovely it is and they're

04:56all lovely and yeah.

04:57It's quite a close knit community isn't it, everyone knows each other and yeah, it's nice.

05:04That's the general feeling that we seem to be getting from chatting to people, they say

05:06how close knit the community is and I suppose how welcoming the place is as well.

05:10Yeah, yeah, Bury and everybody around us is all lovely as well, so it's yeah.

05:15It's kind of got that independent spirit about it as well because when you come here every

05:19business seems to be an independent one.

05:20They are, yeah, especially around this little area as well that we're on, so yeah.

05:25And I suppose for anyone who's not been here before, what would you say to them to encourage

05:30them to come along?

05:31What could we say?

05:32What about the Cat Cafe, for the fact we've got 19 cats or just in general with Eccleshaw?

05:39Well, the Cat Cafe is I suppose one attraction and it's obviously an attraction you want

05:42people to come and see, but in general, just the fact that I'm guessing it's just a nice

05:45town to be in.

05:46It is a nice town to be in, yeah, it is, and then you've got Fletcher's just down the road

05:50which is all animals as well and yeah, it's, I don't really know what to say, it is a lovely

05:56place, it is, yeah.

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