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