|
An
objective
viewpoint
We
open this short report with something of a conclusion:
The future of Matlock Bath as either a scenic and popular
holiday venue with historic interest or a drive through
take-away-come-ghost-town, lies very much with the Derbyshire
Dales District Council – the Matlock Bath business
community as a whole may have good intentions, but will
mostly only ever take what seems the least line of resistance
– or be forced to by short-term financial considerations.
These actions will not lead to an invigorated Matlock
Bath, (have they ever?) but are a natural reaction among
concerned traders who suddenly realise the Matlock Bath
‘pot of gold’ is not as plentiful or as consistent
as it may appear when viewed on what seems to be very
busy weekends. We can also testify through personal
experience that those who try to invigorate Matlock
Bath with something new and different will certainly
meet the wall of contempt and indifference that has
made Matlock Bath both stale, irritating and unstable.
This wall can only be broken down by a concerted effort
from all sides of the community, but we particularly
stress the need for the Derbyshire Dales District Council
to take a key roll in both pointing the way and coordinating
a new policy of stability in this potentially wonderful
village that could offer such a lucrative business and
life-enhancing environment.
The object of this open report therefore is to help
a discussion which will hopefully define ways of improving
Matlock Bath for the benefit of all – its businesses,
the people who live in Matlock Bath, the Parish Council,
the DDDC and the general public, whether they be tourists
or local people visiting for the day. It would be foolhardy,
however, to think there can be a quick fix – the
questions posed will take years to answer, but be assured,
the fundamental degradation currently assaulting Matlock
Bath is a reflection of a vastly changed world, where
requirements among people in general and the pressures
upon them have become complicated beyond recognition
relative to the last two or three decades. Matlock Bath,
situated as it is on the edge of the Peak District,
is going to have to choose it’s future very carefully
in a ever more dangerous world of arrogance, ignorance
and abuse. This report comes from a successful trader
and interested resident. We are not asking for help
or support for ourselves, we don't need it. We are asking
for a better Matlock Bath that works for all and helps
to upgrade it's status as a Derbyshire residential village
and tourist attraction.
A Closed Shop
One
of Matlock Bath’s main problems is its seasonal
nature – an ugly, self-perpetuating malady which
is strangling the village. Its effect is to present
the often quite reasonable numbers of ‘off-season’
visitor’s with a virtual ghost-town. The uneasiness
this inspires among them is almost tangible and does
nothing to inspire confidence in future visits. Too
many units on the front are now geared to open, or forced
to open on a dwindling number of days – including
ours. Other units offer so similar a service that even
given a reasonable number of visitors on ‘off-season’
days they cannot all open at once and expect to break
even, let alone prosper – the result is more closed
shops which breed desolation on the Parades for much
of the year and apathy among those who do bother to
visit.
What Matlock Bath needs in order to attract and hold
a more reliable business supportive visitor base is
more ‘actual’ shops and venues offering diversity.
It is, of course, easier said than done. It is now difficult
to establish a new venture in Matlock Bath because of
the overriding preconception that Matlock Bath is only
about chip-shops, cafes, instant gratification and frankly,
dross. While this image is not the whole truth, having
worked in the field of advertising and marketing for
many years, I can advise that preconceptions are often
the most important to break and yet the hardest to do
so when relaunching any product. It was recently put
to me that an effort should be made to ‘put Matlock
Bath back on the map’; but the first problem to
overcome is that it is already on the map – very
firmly – but in a partly negative way. The first
step to tackling the problem is to admit it.
The
current approach to running businesses on the front
has created a catch 22 situation – ‘visitor
numbers are low for more than half the year because
there is little on offer, but there is little on offer
because visitor numbers are low’ – "it's
some catch that catch 22". The problem is not helped
by the fact that some traders will virtually not open
their doors until there is a large crowd outside (or
one expected), this is particularly so among those traders
who cater for the seasonal or regular weekend trade
– the potential here for perpetuating the catch
22 is blatantly apparent.
Having said that, it is not possible for most traders
to fly in the face of current reality and try to get
something new or sustained going. Believe me, we tried
and know from personal experience it is currently impossible
without huge financial backing. But addressing the ‘closed-shop’
approach to Matlock Bath is fundamental to making Matlock
Bath work for all the community.
A
Mecca for Bikers?
The
perception that Matlock Bath is 'primarily' a Mecca
for Motorcyclists is a bit of a myth. Bikers mostly
frequent Matlock Bath on Sundays or Bank Holidays and
even then, mainly in the summer season and in fine weather.
On other days they are no more numerous than you might
find in other places such as Bakewell or Buxton to name
but a few. In fact, Biker presence takes up a very small
percentage of Matlock Bath’s actual 'business time'
through the year as a whole and while it is undoubtedly
‘showy’ and 'interesting', it is inevitably
small and weather dependent. Having said that, and I
hope our own Biker regulars will not misunderstand this,
the effect it has on Matlock Bath’s general image
extends through the year by ‘implication’
as much as by physical reality – which is a further
handicap to the much needed diversity the village needs
if everyone, including bikers, are to benefit from a
visit.
Visitor Apathy
It is fair to say that visitor apathy plays a big part
in Matlock Bath’s difficulties and can be witnessed
on most days. This is because another area of allegiance
is with the ‘psuedoseasider’ – those
who use Matlock Bath with a promenading mentality and
whose sole contribution is perhaps to buy an ice-cream
or walk the dog. This has meant that the ‘front’
has been progressively denigrated to a level normally
reserved for coastal towns and has become so seasonal
now that it sometimes barely functions. Even in June,
July and August weekdays Matlock Bath can often be relatively
deserted, and many of those visitors who do come along
seem unsure of the place – almost as if to say
“where is this Matlock Bath? Why is it half-closed?”
– once again, the sense of uneasiness and apathy
among these potential customers is almost tangible.
The bemused and blinkered, zomby-like shuffle from one
end of the Parades to the other, reading out cafe menus
as they go – often while eating a tray of chips
is a regular sight, so disinterested are they in a broader
outlook.
In some ways it is these visitors, locked into a seemingly
obligatory apathetic state – dead from the waist
up – that are making Matlock Bath less worth visiting
– even for themselves! Matlock Bath has certainly
long since lost its title of ‘gem of the peak’,
but when I look around at the scenery and the potential
that is here I find it difficult to fully understand
why this is so. It seems something along the lines of:
‘we are what we eat’ – ‘Matlock
Bath is the people it attracts’.
Special Days
Because
of the above, far too much emphasis is placed on the
potential safety-net of 'busy' Sundays and those so
called ’special days’, such as Bank Holidays
and fireworks nights, but there is almost nothing for
the rest of the week – in fact, these weekend events
often leave a vacuum at either side of them and it is
very worrying just how desolate it can be before and
after a fireworks display – so much so that they
are detrimental in terms of lost trade for days either
side. Any casual observer will easily detect that even
on a the day of the fireworks itself the bulk of the
crowds often only arrive at the eleventh hour and leave
immediately the show is over.
From a Traders point of view It would be far better
to pursue a long-term course of making Matlock Bath
reasonably busy for more of the time, rather than incredibly
(unworkably) busy for a few hours three or four nights
or so a year. The general impression given by the "Traders
Association" (such as it is) is that the business
community are not only hanging onto those days ‘and
trends’, but they are hanging on to them by their
finger nails. The large amount of money wasted on fireworks
each year could be much better invested in improving
the now aging illuminations, which have seen better
days and need renewing. Modern lighting techniques could
create a whole new refined image for Matlock Bath without
greatly increasing the bill for installation and maintenance.
If this important investment is made then Matlock Bath
could truly enjoy an end of season improvement that
lasts a couple of months instead of a few minutes and
it would draw a whole new audience. The aura attached
to the current illuminations could also be improved,
since what is presented to the public in the name of
Matlock Bath is often far from representative of a regeneration
ethos. However, the illuminated boats can be staggeringly
beautiful and are a major asset to the village.
As already mentioned, much of the problem is that when
Matlock Bath is ’open’ it tends to give the
perception that it is nothing more than chips and slot
machines, tinged with a strange ethnic feel, which seems
partly a legacy from its historical past – but
has now become a detached hotch potch, lost somewhere
between ‘quaint’ and ‘hideous’.
Another by-product is that businesses of all types have
traditionally tended to lean in some way to cult, ethnic
or just tacky products – adding to the general
down-market ambiance. In some ways, it could be said
that Matlock Bath is not just famous for its once profuse
petrifying wells, it has become one.
Ideas Welcome
Matlock
Bath needs a complete rethink and an influx of fresh
money and ideas if it is to flourish and attract new
businesses (which bring new people). We need to alter
the perception that it is a ‘motorway’, to
be driven through without stopping (unless for a bag
of chips) or just an endless pavement-come-hard-shoulder
to be plodded from end to end with that destructive
promenading mentality.
A
way of doing this would be to introduced more seating
and planted areas onto the stark and totally wasted
pavement on the riverside of the main road. It would
also stop people laying around on the pavement as they
tend to do now on Sunny days. These areas may be open
to vandalism, but surely Matlock Bath does not have
to be bland and childproof all year round just for the
sake of a few hours on Friday and Saturday nights? Surely
this potential problem could be contained.
Seating areas on the riverside pavement for much of
its length would break up the flow and at least allow
people to stop and become part of the place – take
it all in – perhaps even consider making use of
the surviving shops and other venues. This would inevitably
encourage further trading possibilities. It would also
help change the atmosphere from a mixture of either
‘Desolation Row’ and ‘short lived frantic
indulgence’, to a calm, more measured approach
that might help to get Matlock Bath working most of
the year rather than what is probably not much more
that 180, weather dependent, disjointed days at best.
It may also be appropriate to organise some sort of
Matlock Bath awareness campaign to include regular visitors
to actively participate in supporting the village, or
at least appreciating what is done on their behalf.
A way of attracting more shoppers, giving the current
scarcity of actual shops might be to rent the parking
strip along North and South Parade to stall holders
on Saturdays and Sundays. Given, time, this would attract
a much larger visitor population with more interest
and spending power and add a better ambiance to the
place – those that would normally drive on through
might well stop and take a look. Rather than compete
with businesses, this approach would actually help it
grow by bringing in people who ‘actually shop’.
Another idea which needs consideration is to increase
the parking time allowed on North and South Parade on
Winter weekdays from November to May to two hours. This
would have the effect of allowing people do more than
just walk from one end of the village to the other and
back, before having to drive off. It would also force
more people into the car parks who would naturally become
longer-stayers. Perhaps an experiment with losing some
of the parking at the narrowest places on North Parade
and widen the pavement to to road edge, use seats and
planters and and get rid of the unproductive conveyor-belt
feel that naturally draws everyone blindly along. This
would serve to make the place more comfortable for pedestrians,
as Councils are now doing in towns and cities around
the world. The A6 doesn’t have to feel like the
M1 and certainly not in such a beautiful and public
area.
Presentation
A
more effective policy of promoting and enhancing the
traditional look of the front would be beneficial, while
still offering businesses the chance to flourish. Matlock
Bath is a unique place and many of its unused features
and current half-hearted attitude at conservation are
an opportunity completely wasted. Take a look at the
first and second floors of buildings in any town in
England outside a conservation area and you will not
see anything much different to Matlock Bath, but the
shops fronts in many of these towns are often far better
preserved, restored and generally considered.
There
is also a tendency now for the Local Council to seeming
turn a blind eye to inappropriate signage and illumination.
Some of which is seasonal, but seems to adorn the buildings
that suffer from it like a cancer throughout the year.
It is starting to become like garish parasitical ivy
- in short – do we have to have 'Christmas' and
untidy illuminations all year round in a so-called Conservation
area? Surely not. When we bought our own building here
in the late 1990's we were reassured that this would
not happen, and worked with the Council to make sure
our own plans did not infringe upon any Conservation
Area, or Buildings Regulations code. Looking around
us now a some very blatant rule breaking, we feel very
let down – but the problem can be easily solved
with a little practical application and diplomacy.
The conservation attempt in Matlock Bath is weak-willed
and needs strong guidance and direction in order to
promote a beneficial return to its former status. It
is clear that a great many visitors still come to Matlock
Bath for its scenery and historical ambiance, but more
and more they are heard to complain how seedy and down
market it has become and how different Matlock Bath
would be if it were almost anywhere else in the country–
it is a hugely wasted tourist resource and the people
who complain most are those with a natural inclination
and the income to spend more; this is not a wholly mercenary
comment – Matlock Bath needs cash badly and the
current majority of regulars are spending their limited
resources in only one or two areas and are starving
out attempts at diversity – this is market forces
at its most negative and extremely dangerous for Matlock
Bath. It will take a great deal of time and effort to
recover what has been lost, but Matlock Bath has been
here for a long time and will outlive us all. I think
she deserves a great deal better than the tatty legacy
of decline and abuse she has currently had bestowed
upon her.
|
|
