St Ives residents have been sharing memories and concerns as shops disappear from the high street, with blame falling on traffic schemes, big chains, and rising business rates
Readers of CambridgeshireLive have been responding to news about the disappearance of shops from the high street with a mix of nostalgia, warnings, and blame. Some have pointed fingers at large chains and escalating costs, while others reminisced about former markets and pubs that once gave St Ives its bustling atmosphere.
Locals have expressed their ‘disappointment’ over the ‘disappearance’ of some shops from their Cambridgeshire town’s high street. Over time, numerous stores have vanished from town and city high streets, leaving customers disheartened when their favourite brands depart.
This sentiment is shared by some residents in St Ives. Jackie Smith described St Ives as a “very safe” and ‘lovely’ town, but noted that more shops and cafés are vacating the high street.
She observed: “The bigger cafés are taking over from the smaller people. We used to have one café down the road that has gone now.
“There’s a big Caffe Nero, but also a Costa opposite. Younger people can afford to go somewhere like Costa now. You couldn’t do that in my day!”
Derek Green expressed his ‘disappointment’ that more shops are leaving the high street. He added: “That’s the only thing disappointing about St Ives. We used to have a lot more independents, like cafés and shops, but the bigger brands are taking over.”
His sentiments were echoed by another long-standing resident, who asked to remain anonymous. They lamented that the “high street is not what it used to be”.
Commenter Dcjo had this to say: “Large, foreign-owned chains have an advantage over local, independent shops, because they buy in quantity and have power to squeeze suppliers. Instead of staying local, the profits are removed from the country so the incomes of those at the top are not taxed. These outfits are also skilled at dodging corporate taxes on those profits as well. It’s a lose-lose for Britain.”
While MickJones2 comments: “I used to love St Ives, I worked there many many years ago at atcost:concrete [sic] buildings. And I used to go to the Manchester Arms for a liquid lunch, way before health and safety got ridiculous. I also used to spend many a night at a pub called the floods, and they had good music there, and other pubs in the area used to be lovely towns in those days, and the bank holiday, a massive market was there. It’s such a shame that I haven’t been there for years and years, but if it’s anything like March, there isn’t anything in my opinion worth visiting now. And I am born and bred and like St. Ives, it was a thriving town with everything, and now, nowt worth visiting.”
Whynot3 says: “I used to go to the Bank Holiday markets there rather than the ones at Bourn airfield. A nice walk around the market, then a good meal at the Golden Lion.”
Over on our Facebook page, Julian L comments: “Recently, the Ivo Lounge and Nero opened, and we have lost Black Robin and Rockerbillys!”
The Hunts Roast writes: “2026 rent. 2004 footfall. 1998 business rates. And we’re shocked the shops vanish. Same story up and down the country.”
Andrew Jackson says: “Seems to be the way of the world at the moment, the decline of the high Street with the Internet and the superstores selling everything on the outskirts of towns. Successive governments have promised to axe business rates. It does amuse me, though, that they keep on about the cost of living crisis, yet wherever you go, the big coffee chains like Costa’s are always full of people paying extortionate prices for a substandard latte. If I have a latte, I do try to use an independent coffee shop; the quality is so much better. Even Greggs, where you can get a drink and something to eat for the price of a latte in Costa’s.”
Using the comments section below, tell us how the High Street can be saved.
