Chairman’s Chit Chat June 2025
Nothing stays the same forever and that is certainly true of my home town.
St Mary’s Church and the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal, Kidderminster
The pilgrimage south to Kidderminster is made twice a year to meet up with family and friends. These trips are always looked forward to and never disappoint, as we always have such an enjoyable time. Jessie and I made the first trip this year a few weeks ago.
The winds of change had begun blowing through the town before we moved to York 33 years ago.
I can’t put my finger on it but walking round the town centre this time made me feel rather melancholy. It struck me that the place looked downtrodden, forlorn and unloved, as if the life and soul had been sucked out of the place.
When I was young, Kidderminster, to me, was a bustling, exciting town centre to visit.
The high street and streets off were the beating heart of the town, there was a thriving indoor market, three cinemas and all the top brand shops. Burtons, Woolworth, Littlewoods, Timothy White’s and all the others are no more.
In place of the market hall is The Rowland Hill Centre, a small shopping mall (almost full of empty shops), named after the town’s most famous son (some would argue its only famous son), Sir Rowland Hill, creator of the Penny Post.
I suppose the decline of the town centre is directly linked to the decline of the carpet industry and this in turn was linked to changing household fashion – carpets were out, laminate flooring was in.
The wealth of the town was generated by the carpet industry, which was by far the biggest employer and earnings were high.
Today I can still recall the names of nine carpet manufacturers which had factories clustered around the town centre.
Brinton’s, which opened a factory in the town in 1820, was a massive concern. Its factory covered a vast area, long gone of course. Where hundreds once toiled for their weekly wage, there is now a Tesco Extra and the town’s major retail park, Weaver’s Wharfe.
Now, I only know of two carpet manufacturers with premises still near the town centre; all the others have either closed as businesses or moved production abroad.
Nothing stays the same forever and when we next visit, we hope we shall see signs of regeneration.
Tags: kidderminster, regenerate, visit