There is another consideration that may need a thread of its own. Is Swanage moving upmarket? All these takeaways serving day trippers and campers/caravaners rose in importance and number as the traditional holiday market declined back in the 60s and 70s and Swanage, like other resorts, responded by cheapening its product There are signs that this has reversed, for example with Nick finding it worthwhile to offer oysters. As well as short breaks we seem to attract lots of people for their second or third holiday in the spring or autumn. Has anyone else notcied this?
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Posted by Anonymous to swanage view at 7/29/2006 02:36:49 PM
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More upmarket-I would like to think so, but this is not a conscious policy, just the result of a national trend. And we start from a very low level. Pubs, guest houses, facilities in general in Swanage are sadly lacking. Nick may be selling oysters, but from a tacky kiss-me-quick hut on the Quay.
Hopefully we are seeing a transitional stage with new activities appearing within the old physical infrastructure. What upgrading of this is needed? I thought it was more a matter, for example, of the downstairs bar at the Mowlem selling seafood platters rather than pasty and chips at this stage. Investment will only follow if the way things are going is clear.
I take your point about the lack of a policy. If we had a chamber of trade and a hoteliers association that were more than talking shops they would be leading this. To give the Town Council its due they have been upgrading the municipal caravan site for some years and even refrain from advertising in the Sun and Mirror I understand.
im sorry to disagree there are a lot of pubs and guest houses that offer excellent services, but like anything theres always a bad few ones , I have posted on here before and was flamed that swanage has changed to people comming down for 2/3 day breaks, and doing more walking diving golf etc, gone are tha days of 1 or 2 week holidays, some of the problems are the huge loss in hotels to retirement flats, again a thirst for profit, then that reflects in what swanage wants ie more old people who come to live out their days. I have always said the area in general offers a lot people just need to find it.
Perhaps, and its a big perhaps, the "lunch is for wimps" work all hours ideology of the 80s is finally going out of fashion and people are more interested in their leisure and so come here for a bit longer.
What is noticable is that the contrast between the tourists we had in June and early July and those here for carnival week is greater than ever. The latter must be all thats left of the 1950s and 60s family holiday market but they are still what a lot of Swanage regards as the normal and proper face of tourism.
tourim is who ever comes to spend money, does not matter what sort of holiday maker (newquay hen stags excluded) but more people come down 3 or 4 times a year now. much better like that.
I have problems with taking the "more the merrier approach." I'm not saying this to provoke an argument but I am not convinced it is the best policy.
PDC did a report on tourism several years ago which said that Swanage had too many low spending day trippers and that is still true.
Can a small resort be all things to all men and their families? Does the sight of the tat which caters to the mass market deter a good many possible higher spenders? Can Swanage be both upmarket and downmarket at the same time? These are questions that need to be looked at.
to a point you are saying NIMBY how do you quantify high spenders ? do they have to send bank statements? all the "tat" people keep the camp sites and small b&b's going also the small takeaways and resturants as well as pubs and amusements. Day trippers are not holiday makers in the true sense I go to weymouth or taunton for a day im not on holiday am I. Swanage should be diverse catering for all, it happens else where so why not here.
Bottom line is we need people to spend money do we not!
Would lower cost parking give visitors more incentive to spend more time in the town?
I was shopping in Wimborne last week and its only 50p to park in the town centre for 2 hours which makes me more inclined to have a good look around and spent money than having to rush from shop to shop on an expensive hours parking ticket
Lew Grade famously said that nobody ever lost money by underestimating the sense of taste of the British public. How true in Swanage.
The Fireworks on Saturday night got the town off to a good Carnival week,I mean the firworks in the Lower High Street which needed several Police vehicles to attend to the battle, and no doubt a number of cleaning staff to get all the broken glass/bottles up before the super Sunday Carnival Parade started.
Whoever says Swanage is moving 'up-market' should get out, or away more.
By the way what happend to the CCTV which was to be installed in the Lwr High Street by last Easter ?
There was a lot more violence at the seaside in the 60s. Remember mods and rockers? Swanage was on the periphery of their range but the Yeovil bike boys used to come down and looked very scary. It dwindled away as they grew up or lost their licenses to the magistrates or their limbs to crashes and the last embers were slightly greying veterans pouring out of old Transit vans looking like old sailors with peg-legs and eye patches and heading into the Shades bar.
drunken violence is every where not just swanage blandford dorchester weymouth etc, just check the figures. as for the CCTV im led to beleive that your local council has shall we say delayed that it should be up and running soon. the lower end of the high street is run by the local chavs who get drunk and cause trouble if people we not so spineless and reported this and when its one of their nieghbours or friends kids causing the trouble tell them just dont say well im sure its not my or your kid causing problems, I went for a kebab recently at 1235 lots of young chavs ( 14/15 yrs old) drinking CANS spitting swearing making noise etc why were they not at home, usuall reason mum and dad out and p***ed themselves and when the police question either the kids or parents they get verbal abuse. again its down to this society to take responsibility but that will not happen in todays political climate. anyway over to the do gooders who will blame every one but the thugs.
Can we keep this thread to its subject as its drifting off-course. If Mr Moderator thinks we should have a thread on the behaviour of the young perhaps the last comment could start it. We could also have a thread about the old being rude to kids, parents who treat their children like dirt etc. and other examples of Swanage child-rearing practices. In other words how to run a chav factory.
is that not the point of discussion ie different views and threads appear? swanage has turned into chav hell and something needs to be done and quickly if you ask the majority of decent kids the words the chavs did it allways come up and to be honest these kids do back it up with evidence any im all for starting a thread about some of swanage finest (not)
The thread "Schools Out" is all about chavs. Can we at least contain them in one thread instead of letting them wander all over the blog creating mayhem and raising ire. A few years ago there was endless press and TV coverage of masses of kids terrorising housing estates so its not as if it is a problem only in Swanage
Getting back to "where is Swanage going" I wonder if the answer is "round in a bloody great circle." Here is how it was described in the 1890s:
"Swanage is what may be called a 'family place,' where wives and daughters may safely be sent without being exposed to the extravagant vulgarities of many watering-places, or the demoralising atmosphere of the aristocratic roues and loafers who delight in corrupting all brought within their coils, whether city dame or frivolous and unsophistocated rural coquette."
When did you last see an aristocratic roue in Swanage? The mind boggles. Cue for a new thread perhaps - "The roue problem" Something along the lines of "when I popped out at 1am suffering from an attack of the munchies after a couple of joints, I was set upun by a gang of champagne bottle wielding, ermine clad yobbos."
I suspect our rural coquettes can look after themselves as they have all those chavs to practice on but that leaves the question of whether our vulgarities can be as considered extravagant or just ordinary vulgarities or somewhere in between. Even their strongest advocates would fall short of claiming they are up there in the premier league of seaside vulgarity.
How threads intertwine! Only this morning I had to pick up an empty bottle of Dom Perignon and three cigar butts idly tossed over my garden hedge. Perhaps Swanage is going up market?
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