Are our market towns becoming too touristy? (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Are our market towns becoming too touristy?

The popular Cotswold town of Stow-on-the-Wold attracts thousands of tourists and visitors every year but what do residents and traders think about this? Simon Crump reports...

STOW-on-the-Wold's inhabitants could be forgiven for thinking their town is suffering an identity crisis.

Is it still a community forged by locals or a place where the tourist sets the agenda?

Recent years have seen ironmongers, butchers and other practical stores close to be replaced by outlets selling postcards, toy bunnies, fairy statues, Union Jack aprons, chic wicker picnic baskets and numerous other trinkets designed to delight American and Japanese tourists.

Nowhere was this better highlighted than when Smalley the Ironmonger, Stow Square's last hardware shop, closed last year.

After about 240 years as a hardware store, it became a Past Times shop selling historical gifts, furniture and decorative home and garden accessories.

Nowadays, for much of the year, Stow Square becomes jammed with visitors' cars and tourist coaches.

Do Stow folk mind this trend or do they yearn for the days when farmers could park their tractors in the Square while supping a lunch-time pint in the Queen's Head?

Adrian Clarke is proprietor of Digbeth Street's A. Clarke Electrical Services which, after more than 15 years of trading, has been in the same ownership for longer than most Stow shops.

The retained firefighter believes changes began when local traders suffered economic difficulties in the mid-1990s.

He said: "The gift shops seem to be able to afford the higher rents.

"Nowadays, there's too much emphasis on the nice, pretty town but no emphasis on what the town needs.

"Flower baskets are very nice but they don't do anything for the serious shoppers.

"A visitor who has come into Stow to walk around the town will not spend as much as a local person who has come in to shop.

"There's a definite need for us and like-minded shops."

Peter Page agrees there will always be a need for such shops, even though running costs have doubled in the 12 years he has worked at Lambournes Butchers.

He and Roger Bragg run Lambournes, which occupies Digbeth Street premises that have housed butchers for the past century.

Peter said: "Small traders will survive because we're a surviving race.

"I don't think Stow's got any more or less visitors over the last 10-to-12 years. It's the tourist industry that has grown to accommodate visitors."

Roger revealed that Lambournes is something of a tourist attraction itself.

He said: "It's lovely to see visitors come here and say 'It's nice to see a traditional butcher's shop. Where we are, there aren't any'."

Gauging the views of the people who run Stow's main tourist shops proved problematic.

Scotts of Stow, which employs about 40 people at its five shops in the Square, declined to comment.

The company gave its reasons but I found its decision disappointing, given that Scotts, more than anyone else, has been the driving force behind the influx of tourist shopping.

Peter Rabbit and Friends' management refused to comment unless their quotes were first sifted through their copyright procedure. Ah, the corporate mentality. You can't beat it.

Only Past Times was relaxed about commenting.

Its assistant manager, Zoey Griffiths, a local woman, believes tourism is now the town's main emphasis.

She said: "The Cotswolds are becoming a bigger and better place.

"When foreign visitors come to Britain, the Cotswolds are on their itinerary."

Many visitors are also attracted by Stow's numerous antique shops.

Cotswold Antique Dealers' Association chairman, Sean Clarke, believes it is important to have a mix of different shops.

He said: "We are very lucky to live in such a beautiful town.

"People often spend a long weekend in Stow to do the antique shops.

"While they are doing that, they might be staying in a hotel and they might be shopping and spending money in pubs."

Tesco had a huge impact on Stow's commerce after opening its edge-of-town superstore six years ago.

It employs 176 people serving 17,000 customers.

Store manager, Paul Blake, said: "Tesco aims to be a local retailer and an integral part of the community.

"We also like to get involved with local initiatives and charities.

"For example, through the Tesco Computers for Schools scheme, local schools in the area have received over £80,000-worth of ITC equipment.

"We are proud to be a member of the Stow-on-the-Wold community.

"It is a great area and we hope the store continues to go from strength to strength in the future."

Councillor Alan Rose chairs Stow 2020, a committee working to improve the town.

Having already instigated the town fountain's restoration, it aims to build community facilities on King George's Field.

It is also consulting Stow's residents and businesses while devising a town plan for Stow Town Council.

This plan should be published by the end of the year and will be a blueprint for how youth facilities, leisure, transport and other services develop over the coming decade.

Cllr Rose, also Stow's Mayor, said: "Stow is very much tourism orientated. You can't get away from that.

"We've got the antique shops, which are an attraction in their own right.

"They're good for the town because they stop it going down the candy-floss route."

He said Stow 2020 particularly wants to provide youth facilities, which last year's town appraisal revealed were top of residents' wish list.

Cllr Rose said: "One thing I would like to see is more involvement from the residents of the town in improving their town."

John Young, 88, a Stow resident for 80 years, said: "I've seen considerable changes but I think Stow is a better place for them. It's much more vibrant.

"We were all so parochial 50 years ago.

"People have got imagination these days."

When John added that Stow's townsfolk are "blessed to live in such a lovely area" he was stating the obvious.

But this is something locals should never lose sight of because it is what unites them with the tourists.

The tourists essentially visit Stow for the same reason the locals live there - its beauty.

Stow should therefore be confident in what it is.

It need have no identity crisis.