a reply to:
Kandinsky
Sorry for the late reply, exactly my old factory also ended up basically and there is no other way of saying it but they got rid of the English
workers to replace them with foreigners.
The area around the Asda in Southport just up from the train station is typical of many part's of the town and you only have to go in there into the
shop the late evening to notice at least a third of there customers at least in the early evening are definitely for the most part eastern
European's.
It does have mixed blessing's though as we know but before they came Southport was already in steep decline, a lad I used to know, a former colleague
whom used to perform security (now he is a chef and I believe quite good) on the Pleasureland site was often having to move heroin addict's (smack
heads Which are or were also a very severe problem in the area - another symptom of social decay) away from beneath the roller coaster and other
attraction's were they would frequently trespass so that they had a quiet place to have there fix, he was repeatedly threatened by addict's with
syringe's and worse, even stabbed by them once or twice, my nieces ex boyfriend whom owned a novelty shop for a short time just off lord street was
constantly having to see off shop lifters - sometimes acting in organised gang's and helped on at least two occasions to nab hand bag snatchers and
pick pockets (he is a big lad and had considered at one time joining the police) - leaving his own shop unattended - he sold it pretty quickly
though.
The most notable scar on the high street is the empty BHS shop which is actually a prime retail location, like Ormskirk though but on a much larger
scale Southport has the problem of land lords wanting to charge exorbitant rent's to any potential business while the retail sector is in steep
decline which bites too far into there profit margin's.
It is a crying shame but barring a miracle in our economy, people having REAL paying job's again with the government starting to provide business
subsidies to drive the economy as they once did in order to help when time's are bad we are likely to see this get much worse before - if ever - it
get's any better.
Orsmskirk as I say used to be another but far, far smaller town center that was lively, had lot's of business and has also suffered this decline.
Many high street name's have vanished, the local's have been priced out of the local housing market as Edge hill teacher training college is now an
expanding university campus so student's are taking over everywhere in the town while non resident land lord's are buying up the property's and
converting them into student accommodation's effectively gutting the town for there own profit.
Many business have changed there tactic's, local butchers have closed, tea and coffee shop's were there were once real business are now opening and
often closing again after a short stint.
I for one lament the effect on this town but in this instance it is NOT migration but the demographic of the town as it slowly morph's into an
extended student campus made up of private student accommodation.
Now everything changes that is just a fact of life but it seem's to me that most of this is down to ineffective government, both local and regional
were the well being of the established populace and long term economic stability has often taken a back seat to short term economic gain's of a
minority of well placed individual's.