In terms of the imbalances facing towns up and down the country, Denbigh is a great example of where it has all gone wrong. Of the working population living in the town, two out of every five are employed in the Public Sector. As a proportion, this is one of, if not the, highest in the United Kingdom. As I write, about one in five retail premises in the town is vacant. Can you spot the connection?
The town is a shadow of the one I grew up in. Now, we are the takeaway capital of North Wales with a quite mind blowing array of shops catering to our greed. At the last count, we have three Indian resaurants, two chip shops, two kebeb shops, three (yes, three!) chinese takeaways and a solitary bakery to fly the flag for British! Three cafes also fight for our seemingly unremitting committment to gorge ourselves to death. To complement this gourmet feast, we are also spoiled beyond measure with a hospice charity shop whose front window would grace Harrod's. Imminently, we are also to have an animal rescue charity shop. Luckily, these are supported by no fewer than ten pubs (there are more down the hill), one of which even serves food where you actually have to sit down to eat it. Curiously for a town which boasts so many vacant retail premises, there are also three estate agents. In the midst of this galaxy is the ubiquitous Co-Op which continues to thrive. A lone butcher soldiers on providing truly excellent fayre and a newsagent fights against the tide. In terms of national retail, we have Boots and Holland Barrett both of which are more synonymous with health - ironic given how many fast food establishments we have.
There are other premises of course, but my point is to concentrate on why there are so many vacant retail premises and why there are so many Public Sector employees. The two go hand in hand. The arrival in the 1990s of Safeway, as it then was, away from the town centre coincided with the end of the livestock market. I would guess that livestock market had been in Denbigh in one form or another for more centuries than Denbigh has takeaways. In it's place came the dreaded supermarket since occupied by Morrison's. In addition, a new Council Building appeared which continues to dominate our landscape in more ways than one. Quite what all the people do there is rather a mystery but I'm sure it's all for a reason.
To add to the woes of the original High Street, three in ten of the working population now work in areas more than fifteen miles away from the town. It is not difficult to see why money is being spent elsewhere while the High Street sleeps it's way through a gradual demise.
We have a castle here built by Edward I not that you'd know it. As castles go, it is a good one too which has fired the imagination of every child who has ever visited. Outside the town is a little old cottage which slowly crumbles with the passage of the years. This was the residence of no less a person than the celebrated lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson. A little further on, a monument to him still stands in a spot so beautiful, you would never want anyone else to know about it. And few people do. The country walks surrounding Denbigh are steeped in history and reveal this part of North Wales in all its beauty.
There are sadly a number of buildings here which stand empty. Sad because they were the hubs of our community not so long ago. The cinema, the Church Institute, the Crown Hotel, I could go on. This town is crying out for its people to come together and start using it again. The council with its over inflated workforce pertains to have plans to change things for the better but this is an irrelevance. Councils do not effect change and seldom do they facilitate it. Communities and the people within them are the real agents of change. If you are from Denbigh or have a connection with it, I would welcome your comments on how we can restore it to the town where the community once made things happen.
The derelict North Wales Hospital would never have been built without the will of the local people. The annual Roll the Barrel competition on Boxing Day would not have started without the local community making it happen. I could go on all night but my point is made. I care passionately about this, the town of my birth. Do you?
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