Shrewsbury Flower show cancelled: what do local folk think.

Shropshire Star

We take to Quarry Park in Shrewsbury to chat to people about Shrewsbury Flower show being cancelled.

Transcript

00:00I'd be happy then, shouldn't I?

00:02No choice. You can be quite happy.

00:04Yes, it's been cancelled due to rising costs, which means that they can't run the show anymore.

00:09What are your thoughts on it being cancelled this year?

00:12I think finances should be sorted out.

00:15It's obviously you and me who should be sorting the finances out and not Trisby Council,

00:21if that's who has made that decision.

00:24So it obviously depends on the trade that comes in to the show as well as everything else.

00:32After 150 years, is it cancelled?

00:35No, absolutely. Well, it's devastating really.

00:38Once you've stopped it one year, to get all that trade back again is going to be very difficult, I'm sure.

00:45Maybe they'll have to think about what rates they're charging for the storeholders.

00:52And I haven't been for a long time. Years ago I was involved in providing music.

01:00And a friend of mine had a puppet show who came here.

01:04And that was great. That was great for the children.

01:08Mr. Moo. No, it wasn't him. It was him.

01:12Oh my gosh, Dennis Harkness. Oh, puppets, puppets. Hello Dennis.

01:17I'm sorry I can't remember your puppets. He always divides his own puppets and his wife and him made these puppets.

01:25That's something else. A side issue. These are the sort of things that people won't see now.

01:30So yes, the Shrewsbury Flower Show has been cancelled due to rising costs.

01:35Did you frequent it yourself ever?

01:37No, never, no.

01:38But you have heard of it?

01:39I have heard of it though, yeah.

01:41Yes, yeah.

01:42How do you feel about it being cancelled?

01:44I think it's a shame for the people who'd like to go, but I wouldn't go myself.

01:49So yeah, I think it's a shame overall.

01:51Yeah.

01:52Do you think it's a loss of Shrewsbury?

01:54I imagine so, yeah.

01:55Because I thought it would bring in quite a few more people into the town.

01:59But yeah.

02:00Yeah.

02:01If they brought it back, would you go?

02:03No.

02:04But I'd encourage some of my older family members to go.

02:07Yeah.

02:08Perfect.

02:10The Shrewsbury Flower Show has been cancelled due to rising costs at the running the show.

02:13Did you frequent it yourself?

02:14Have you ever been to one?

02:15No, but we're thinking of coming this year.

02:17So how does it feel to know that it's been cancelled in its 150th year?

02:20Well, quite blessed really.

02:22It's been going a long time, hasn't it?

02:24Yeah.

02:25Yeah.

02:26Had you heard of it being quite expensive or being good value for money or anything like that?

02:30No, we haven't heard about the cost, but it's still the sort of thing.

02:32When you're away from home and you're away, it's worth going.

02:34Well, we've just been around the prison, haven't we?

02:36There's things you'd do, isn't there?

02:37Yeah.

02:38If you'd come home, you'd come specially for it.

02:39It's a touristy thing, isn't it?

02:40Yeah.

02:41Yeah.

02:42Yeah.

02:43Do you think it's a loss for Shrewsbury?

02:44I think it will be.

02:45Obviously, yeah.

02:46It's been on in 150 years, yeah.

02:47100%.

02:48Yeah.

02:49Absolutely.

02:50Do you hope it returns any time soon in a different time?

02:52Yeah, people never did.

02:53Yeah.

02:54Yeah.

02:55Any other thoughts on the Shrewsbury?

02:57I'm still glad it'd be nice if it was on.

03:01So yeah, it's been cancelled due to rising costs of running the show.

03:05How do you feel about it being cancelled?

03:07I think it's rather sad for Shrewsbury.

03:09It attracted a lot of tourists and a lot of bus companies are going to be upset.

03:13I'm sure they would have sold advance tickets.

03:15But I honestly think that, for me personally, it was too expensive.

03:20As a resident of the town, we didn't come.

03:23Well, I think you should see some weird spending capacity to reduce, isn't it?

03:27Yes, but even so.

03:28Earning people can still afford it probably.

03:31And I do think it had lost its way for being the flower show, because it had become the

03:35trade stands and the kind of tribute acts in the evening.

03:40Trying to jazz it up a bit, which I understand.

03:44But it was, you know, an expensive thing to do.

03:46You come, you pay, you can do these things in the shops in town without paying to come in.

03:51I think in that respect, along with other agricultural shows, it had lost its way.

03:56How often did you come to it last year?

03:58No, we didn't really.

03:59We didn't live in Shrewsbury when we did come, it was years ago, wasn't it?

04:03We'd come from Wales, we did.

04:05We lived in Walesport at the time.

04:06Well, we were young then.

04:07Once upon a time.

04:09We wouldn't choose to come now because of the cost, really.

04:12That would deter us.

04:13And I have to say, we cheekily get some benefit from the fireworks, because we can see them

04:18without coming.

04:19Perfect.

04:20Do you think it's a huge loss to Shrewsbury?

04:23I think a lot of people are very disappointed.

04:25It's known about from miles away.

04:28Yes, it will.

04:29From another country like Wales.

04:32I was, well, on a wider set, I was staggered when we came to live in Shrewsbury about the

04:37amount of tourists that come to Shrewsbury.

04:39And in actual fact, my daughter has just rung me from near Windsor and said her friends

04:44are coming caravanning for the weekend.

04:46And she's aghast with amazement that they're coming to Shrewsbury.

04:49I said, well, you'd be surprised, Sarah, loads of people do come.

04:53I was amazed.

04:54Yes.

04:55The greenery here, and the river.

04:57It's phenomenal.

04:58People do.

04:59Walking area.

05:00It really is.

05:01It's often the case when you live in a town, you don't actually take advantage of what

05:06the town has to offer.

05:07Yes, yeah.

05:08We used to live near Stratford on Avon.

05:09Did we go to the theatre very often?

05:11Once or twice.

05:12But not often.

05:13So we live miles away and then we think, oh, we'll go get some theatre tickets and go

05:17all the way down the M40 to Stratford, which is silly.

05:20So we don't take advantage of what's on our doorstep.

05:23But I think a lot of tourists do come and the town needs that revenue.

05:27Would you ever want it to come back in a different way?

05:31Well, I don't think we need the evening razzmatazz, to be honest, but then I'm old and young

05:36people have a different view.

05:38I think the people who really want to see that flower show would want it to come back

05:42in a different format, probably.

05:44Perfect.

05:45Thank you very much for your help.

05:47Thank you both.

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