I was walking down Pier Street late this afternoon. Several shops sported Christmas trees lit up above their signs. A reminder that some of us do indeed have a passing acquaintance with Saint Nick. Modest as those decorations may be, someone has gone to a good bit of effort to get them up in our streets.
Wendy at the Thistle cafe has been running around the last few weeks pro bono, trying to give this town a Christmas against the energy quenching indifference of one or two of the traders here. It got me wondering if the presentation of our town is being taken seriously enough.
Some time ago I wanted to raise a loan against my house and in due course the lender sent over a surveyor from Newport to value the property. The valuation came in more than twenty five percent below it’s realistic market value. As far as many of the other islanders and especially a surveyor from Newport are concerned Ventnor is simply a contusion on the backside of the island. Mention Ventnor and the good people of Godshill might just look up from fixing cream teas long enough to tut tut.
There’s no doubt that not long ago this town had become a shadow of it’s Victorian heyday. They took away our train station. They took away our other train station. They took away our pier and they gave us the prettiest little sewage pumping station on the south coast. Just as though it looked like Ventnor had reached the bottom, it had. Things turned around. They got better. Ventnor became chic. I no longer had to mumble and look at my feet when I mentioned Ventnor in polite London society. They even gave us back a modest marina. People started to ask me how my house refirb was coming on and could they visit? Ventnor had come back from the edge. I found that I like living here. I like my little house and I like the kind of people who have also chosen to live here. I have become as proud as only an immigrant can of this little town.
But much of our high street is still not reflecting the economic growth that this town has experienced in recent times. Yes, there are some nice shops but they are working against the negative drag of those regularly empty or short lease units. Traders are struggling. Perhaps some shops could improve their business model or presentation. But some are suffering because the perception that Ventnor is ‘that run down place’ still persists. All of the shops in Ventnor need to attract our own regular custom and even better, the custom of other Islanders.
Ventnor really needs to raise the bar. To wake the other islanders up to the idea that this is a great place to visit, to shop and yes, to live. And to carry ourselves along the road to increasing self belief as a thriving community. What better opportunity than to put on great Christmas decorations.
When I travel in France many small towns and villages throughout the countryside are exquisitely lit at this time of year. It’s not so much the money as the sheer effort they have gone to to say they are proud of their home town. Are we unable to step up to the mark and do as well?
Could we not have the damnedest best Christmas lights on this Island? How much trouble would it be to invite the islands VIPs to come and turn them on under the gaze of the press? It would help change the minds of the other islanders and make them think perhaps Ventnor is a place worth visiting to spend their cash. It would be good for our shops. It would be good for our town’s economy and it would be good for my loan.
Ventnor needs to start planning for next year very soon because Wendy and others like her may not want to do such a thankless task again. But for this year you might want to try the excellent Christmas lunch at the Thistle.
Merry Christmas one and all.
