If you ever get the chance I would highly recommend a visit to Shrewsbury, the county town of the mainly rural county of Shropshire. If you enjoy shopping in independent fashion, interiors and jewellery shops and appreciate historic buildings then you’ll probably love it. It’s where I grew up so I am particularly fond of it… it is the perfect place to escape to from the hectic pace of city life.
Blue florists and tea room, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
In recent years Shrewsbury seems to have flourished into a thriving hub of independent shops which is so lovely to see, especially when many town centres around the country have suffered badly during the recession with multiple shop closures and empty retail units. It is quite a different story in Shrewsbury, in fact the only retailers which seem to have been hit are the chain stores which have gone into administration (you will find the shopping centres in Shrewsbury rather depressing and unloved, but they are easily avoidable). Many new independent shops have opened in Shrewsbury during the recession as well as a number of independent cafes and bars. The Market Hall is also thriving and there is now a fantastic mix of stalls selling old and new goods including fresh food produce, books, antiques, music, arts and crafts plus more.
Rustic & White, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
As you can probably tell from these photos, Shrewsbury is a very attractive historic town with a largely unchanged mediaeval street plan. It has a charming higgledy-piggledy feel about it with many narrow streets and passages and a high proportion of very old buildings (apparently there are 660 listed buildings in Shrewsbury including a number of timber framed buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries). Some of the best streets to head to for fantastic independent shops include Wyle Cop, High Street, St Mary’s Street, Princess Street, Fish Street, Dogpole, Butcher Row and Grope Lane. It’s a fun town to explore and probably an easy one in which to get lost. Here you’ll find a selection of photos of some of the independent shops in Shrewsbury. Believe me, there are a lot more, but they should give you a taster of what it is like…
Vintage, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
Chocolate Gourmet, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
Ella Cru & It’s a Nomad Life, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
Appleyards delicatessen, Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury
Urban Folk, Grope Lane, Shrewsbury
White Orchid, Butcher Row, Shrewsbury
The Libertine, Butcher Row, Shrewsbury
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Ooh I visited Shrewsbury not so long ago and was pleasantly suprised. It’s so lovely to visit somewhere that isn’t only full of the usual suspects shop-wise. There are so many beautiful indepedent places – I think I must have gone in almost all of the ones photographed here!
Yes it’s a thriving hub of independents isn’t it, a great place to visit! It’s interesting to see that the shopping centres with the high street chains look very tired with lots of empty units though which shows the type of stores the recession has hit…