I’m not a real Highworthian.  I have only lived here (almost) 23 years.  But it’s long enough to love and be proud of this beautiful market town.  I am looking forward to our Year of Culture.

I have seen many changes and welcomed the not insignificant achievements.  The roof on the pool, improved signage, the library, the determination to keep our market going, thriving clubs and a population who are, on the whole, genuinely interested in their community and its environment. 

I hadn’t been here long before I heard of its accolade by the author and broadcaster John Betjeman.

“Highworth is extraordinary because it has more beautiful buildings than ugly ones”

and

“When I am abroad and want to recall a typically English town, I think of Highworth”

When I visit a town or city, I make a point of looking upwards.  I love to examine the rooflines of buildings, eccentrically placed windows, evidence of the passage of time.  Try it; you will see even more evidence of beauty in Highworth.

The High Street is a credit to the town. It contains many splendid buildings (and rooflines!) and in recent years the addition of period lighting, sympathetic shop fronts and pretty floral displays has added to its appeal.  One of our latest arrivals has a very attractive shop front, as good on the outside as it is on the inside.

But something concerns me.  Why does Swindon Street, with equally lovely buildings (remember, keep looking up) not have the same appeal?  Anyone travelling through Highworth would be forgiven for thinking we are not the lovely town Betjeman described. (They may even think that many of us can’t cook!)  They would have no idea that we have such treasures around the corner. 

It made me wonder, could Swindon Street be tempted to embrace and enhance the beauty, and dignity of our town.  Yes, some have achieved it, but could we do better?

I know what I would like to see: sympathetic frontages in colours and styles in keeping with the buildings.  In the future: more diversity in the types of businesses there.  Swindon Street is literally our town’s shop window.  It would convince those who pass through that we really are “The Gateway to the Cotswolds”, as we claim, and persuade the visitor to stop and stay a while.  And to shop, eat and drink here, thus helping the town’s commerce.

2010 is our Year of Culture.  Have we set the scene to tempt those who haven’t discovered Betjeman’s Highworth? 

Would he come again or just drive through?

Anne Fisher