I found myself spending the day on Market Street last Wednesday for the entire afternoon (long story!) and I could not believe as to how empty the town became pretty much after 2pm. Shops shut, no shoppers passing through and quite frankly a rather gloomy atmosphere! With one or two shops aside I was surprised to see just how many shops closed despite it being Wednesday.
Albeit Wednesday is half day I would have at least thought people would have been passing through in their dozens on public transport... but even the Buses seemed sadly abandoned. What I also realised is just how many banks their are spread around. I was unfortunate enough that I had to go in most of them and quite frankly I was sick of seeing them! They seemed to be the only places with more than 2 or 3 people in at any one time and if the banks would have been closed I don’t think anybody at all would have been roaming the streets. What a sorry state Atherton looks when there is a lack of people... it seems that the crowds of people who fill Market Street every other day is what keeps Atherton going because it certainly isn’t the shops! Our beloved town is certainly crying out for something, anything just something different other than a pizza parlour and a supermarket... even a newly refreshed clothes shop to replace the old Just Looking would be nice.
Older properties and buildings across the street are in the need of a paint and certainly by eye are far from visually stunning. The banks and building society’s however seems to be where the parties are at on Wednesday’s... so if you are stuck for something to do on Wednesday’s when everywhere is closed, pop into the likes of Lloyds TSB out of the cold! on a serious note however, thanks to all the staff in the Natwest branch, a nice friendly bunch who where an outstanding example of customer service!
Matt Howarth, This Week [VIEW HERE]
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