15 miles (24km)
A short little day today, still windy, oh and raining again. But only a few hours cycling after a lazy breakfast and that included a stop to look at an abby ruin along the way.
Barnard Castle itself is quiet big but really only the outer wall remains, a large part of the inside is taken up with a sensory garden, which is pretty but seems out of place. The town is a classic market town, which these days means a few interesting stores and one of each of the standard set of 30 odd chain stores. 'Thomas the Baker', 'Cooplands','Greggs','Slug and Lettuce', etc etc etc. It's probably ment to feel all authentic, but only the truly unobservant wouldn't notice the sameness which has descended onto these once interesting town centers.
Treat today ? (apart from too much Indian for dinner ...) our host insisted on doing our washing, hanging it out and then bringing it up to our room once it was done.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Barnard Castle
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4 comments:
Thomas the Baker is not a chain store, it is a small family bakery business still run by the family. Yes it has grown to be a large business but only has 32 shops in the north east. It is NOT a leech of a chain store such as others mentioned. I would be grateful if you would retract your comment. I am a family friend and know as a fact they will be offended by this comment.
Many thanks.
I wasn't making any comment about the quality or value of any of the stores mentioned. Merely an observation of someone who's spent three weeks in towns all over Yorkshire which all have a nearly identical set of shops in their city centers.
Privately owned by the family or not, 32 stores certainly sounds like a chain to me.
Slug and Lettuce? How very Discworld...
i take your point and accept it but for someone who has lived in Yorkshire all of their life Thomas the Bakers is part of life in Yorkshire and is not seen as a chain store. I agree the stores are placed in city locations but they are not trying to take over the county. However, i do not think 32 stores is a large amount if compared to Greggs which i think is around 300.
Many thanks
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