I had such a big smile on my face today while shopping in my small local market town, like many it has experienced a downturn in recent years and has not always been an uplifting place to be.
But things seem to be on the up lately. The Welsh Borders have long been a mecca for artists and the town now has it's own art festival as well as taking part in a county wide one annually, along with a pre Christmas Food Fair and I think a summer one. There is also a Walking Walk in September which has proved popular, and all of these have boosted the town I'm sure.
This year, the council gave grants to the high street businesses to paint their shop fronts and what a huge visual difference that has made. But best of all, they have resurfaced the pavements!! They were in a shocking state and dreadful to walk along, so uneven. The street is very narrow and quite often you had to step into the road, it must have deterred wheelchair users and been a nightmare for those with pushchairs. My feet didn't know where they were this morning, it was just wonderful to walk along the new pavements!
we've got all the fireworks going off here. Strangely they don't seem as boomy as usually very sparkly but less noisy. At least it's not as stormy as last night. Hopefully everyone will have a good time.
they usually come from the opposite direction, no dogs, no green space, more houses and concrete!
