00:01We're with residents in Shrewsbury today, finding out why Shrewsbury has been voted the best town in the West Midlands.
00:07I'm sure locals have got a fair few ideas why. We're with one Jenny now.
00:11Jenny, you said you've been in Shrewsbury for more than three years now.
00:15What do you love so much about Shrewsbury and why do you think it has been voted the best in the West Midlands?
00:20Well, I just think it's got everything that a person would want.
00:25We have places to eat, places to drink, places to go partying, if you want to, not at my age.
00:34We've got a lot of culture. We've got the lovely library. We've got the museum.
00:40We've just got... You can spend a day here and want to come back because there's just everything here, really.
00:48Now, in it, it said that Shrewsbury was better than Birmingham. What do you make of that?
00:52And I presume you would probably agree with that statement.
00:56Well, Birmingham's great because it's got a city centre and it's got all the, you know, the regular shops and the big stores.
01:03But here we've got a lot of individual stores and it's all very independent and people who care about their community.
01:11So it's... They support all the people who live here.
01:15You know, I just think it's a lovely, lovely, friendly place, really.
01:20Yeah, the historic town. What do you think is that's so striking about Shrewsbury and that you'd probably tell other people about if they didn't know anything about Shrewsbury and its history?
01:29Well, I think they've kept a lot of the black and white buildings, which is really good because lots of other places have gotten rid of all the historical buildings.
01:37And like this building here, the old market hall, it has an 81-seat cinema in it.
01:44So they're utilising the lovely buildings as well.
01:48So I feel like it's keeping as much of its history as they can, really.
01:53Excellent.
01:53Nicholas, Ian, thanks for stopping for us.
01:56Yeah, welcome.
01:57We're speaking to locals today. Shrewsbury's been voted the best town in the West Midlands.
02:01What's your reaction to that? Do you agree with it?
02:03I think it's all right, yeah. It's nice.
02:05Next day, yeah, I'll come and see him for twice a year, three times a year.
02:09Yeah, maybe, yeah.
02:10Have a drink, have a meal.
02:12What do you think is so special about Shrewsbury and so nice, really, that makes it worthy of that accolade?
02:16I just think it's a nice sort of town. It's pleasant. People are pleasant.
02:24Plenty of pubs. Plenty of pubs. Plenty of pubs, yeah.
02:26Weather. Weather helps.
02:28The weather helps. The buildings as well. Shrewsbury's quite...
02:30Do you think it's an attractive town? It's one that's pleasant.
02:32Yeah, I think the oldie-worldie side of it is good.
02:35There's not many good ones in West Midlands, no, is it?
02:37No.
02:38Compared to others, would you be surprised to see Shrewsbury at the top?
02:43Yes. No.
02:44No.
02:44I wouldn't be.
02:45No.
02:45I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
02:47No, that's fine.
02:48It's been my drift.
02:49Do you think there's possibly anything that isn't so good?
02:51Obviously, we're focusing on the brilliant things about it, but is there anything really wrong with it?
02:55I don't hear it. I don't come here much.
02:57No, I don't think there is, no. I think it's a pleasant place to live.
03:01Easy access to the train station, so...
03:03I've got to get to train here, so...
03:05Yeah, excellent.
03:06It's handy.
03:07It's brilliant. Thank you.
03:08Regina, thanks for stopping for us for a little chat.
03:11Shrewsbury has been voted the best town in the West Midlands,
03:13and it's been recommended as better than Birmingham as well.
03:17Why do you think that might be?
03:19What do you think is so great about Shrewsbury?
03:21To be quite honest, better than Birmingham, I would say yes,
03:23because there's a lot of green space here.
03:26The quarry, the riverside is beautiful.
03:29Really, really nice.
03:30In terms of, as I said, I come from Glasgow, so I've only been here for two years,
03:37so it's difficult for me to say exactly, you know, do I think it's the best town.
03:42But in that two years that I've been here, I really, really like it.
03:46You mentioned the river and things like that and green spaces.
03:48What else do you think maybe stands out?
03:50The centre here in Shrewsbury, I'm sure you might agree, is stunning.
03:54It's quite quaint, yeah, which is really nice.
03:57And if I go back to the river, you have a lot of festivals and, like, food festival.
04:03You've got the flower festival.
04:05Unfortunately, that's not here any longer.
04:07But all those type of things add to what is a great social area and social space.
04:12So, yeah, I think they've got a lot of that and it's really good for Shrewsbury.
04:15Well, we've noticed today a lot of people here are visiting the town.
04:20Do you think, you know, the more often you see people saying Shrewsbury's the best
04:24and things like that, that it's only going to make tourism increase even more?
04:28Oh, absolutely.
04:29And I know, like, my sister comes to visit.
04:32My sister came to visit from Glasgow.
04:34She now lives here because she loved it that much.
04:36Ah, that's brilliant.
04:36You know, and again, for her, it was, like, the quaintness of the town.
04:40It's just, like, yeah, it has got a lot going for it, I have to say.
04:44My hairdresser comes from Birmingham.
04:46She's moved to Shrewsbury.
04:47We'll have to go and ask her.
04:49Yeah, absolutely.
04:50So, again, she says in terms of, again, you're comparing probably a big, busy city
04:56as opposed to something that's, I keep using the word clean.
04:59Yeah, absolutely.
05:01Well, thank you ever so much for sharing your thoughts.
05:02Much appreciated.
05:03All right.
05:05Mark, local business owner.
05:06Great to know your perspective.
05:08Shrewsbury's just been voted the best town in the West Midlands.
05:11Do you agree?
05:12I do, yeah.
05:13It's got a nice feel to it.
05:15It's nice and spread out, so you get something for everybody.
05:18You've got streets.
05:19You've got a shopping centre.
05:21And there's lots of places to eat and drink, of course, you know,
05:24which all makes it more easy and nicer to be in the town.
05:28Would you be surprised if Shrewsbury wasn't at the top of that list?
05:32Um, I'd say it's hard to answer that one, really,
05:37because, I mean, although I do know lots of the towns,
05:39I can understand why Shrewsbury has been voted the best,
05:42because it's lovely architecture, it's a nice feel to it.
05:47It's got a nice balance,
05:49and I think a lot of cities and towns haven't got that balance.
05:51And because of the fact that there's a lot of boards boarding up on shops as well,
05:55that doesn't help very much either.
05:58Thankfully, your business is thriving,
06:00and things like this could only help, I presume, and increase tourism.
06:04Do you think that's another great thing, maybe, about Shrewsbury?
06:07What we find, and I'm on the big board as well,
06:10so I can actually vouch,
06:12is what we find at the moment is that
06:14the independents are actually benefiting from visitors.
06:17The locals, it's like everything else, like yourself,
06:20I'm sure, when you go visiting a town,
06:22you don't just go to your normal shops.
06:25You live at some of the gift shops and some of the nice little shops.
06:28Because Shrewsbury's full of independence,
06:30it's paradise for somebody who's actually here for the day,
06:34because that's a choice of the bonus.
06:37So I would say more than half of my business is visitors.
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