Our old familiar streets (From Worcester News)

Our old familiar streets

11:00am Monday 18th January 2010 in

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IT’S the way things were in Worcester before the motor car intervened. However, Ray Jones’ new book about the changing face of the Faithful City shows that, paradoxically, although everything has changed, nothing has changed... to slightly misquote rock legend Bruce Springsteen.

Worcester Through Time – 96 pages and 180 illustrations – is cleverly arranged with contrasting images on individual pages. One of the scene in bygone Worcester, the other of the same place today.

What immediately strikes you is that take away the flotsam and jetsam of each picture – the people, the street furniture etc – and the bare bones of many important locations haven’t altered much at all. Imposing buildings still dominate The Cross; Friar Street is still in its own little time warp and the Bull Ring in St John’s remains pretty much the same.

However, that tends to be overshadowed by the constant impression that Worcester is undergoing a facelift and in some parts of the city it undoubtedly is.

But not, these days, for the worse.

Unlike some bad experiences in the 60s and 70s.

Ray said: “Nearly all of us will welcome the redevelopment schemes taking place on large sites previously used by local historic industries such as Diglis Water and The Waterside (new homes both by the old canal basin) and the Lowesmoor redevelopment scheme.

“Also to be welcomed is the city campus development, taking place on the old Royal Infirmary site and the new library and history centre that is emerging in The Butts.”

What does bug Ray a bit is that Worcester does seem to have missed opportunities over the years.

He said: “I personally think it could be a better place to live and visit if government, both local and national, had shown greater foresight.

“Worcester has probably fared no better, or no worse, than countless other urban conglomerations but the problem really is that it should have fared far better because of its past historical significance.”

As a local lad, born, bred and educated – St Stephen’s primary and then the Royal Grammar School – and a published local historian to boot, Ray knows the form book better than most and it’s interesting to hear his vision of the future. He said: “Worcester is now a city of about 100,000 inhabitants and further expansion is deemed necessary by national government.

“Obviously expansion could be achieved, but this would be at a great cost. It could mean the remaining historic core of Worcester, one of the principal cities in England, is in danger of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of urban expansion.

“I believe that Worcester, constrained by its flood plain and history, has reached its optimum size.”

So there we have it. Make the most of what you have and don’t get thrown out of kilter by trying to appease government targets.

Maybe a call for the Faithful City that railed against Cromwell to hold fast again. In the meantime, dwell a while on the street scenes of the past.

● Worcester Through Time by Ray Jones is published by Amberley Publishing and costs £12.99.