OUR MARKET TOWN GEMS
Today we visit Richmond,
THE GEORGIAN buildings that encircle the market place of perhaps North Yorkshire’s most distinctive town centre conceal more history than they know.
The inscription on the stone obelisk that tapers almost to a point as it touches the sky offers few clues. It enshrines the name of the mayor in 1771, one Christopher Wayne, Esq, but does not mention the hidden, 12,000- gallon reservoir that lies beneath. It also fails to note the town’s provenance as the “original” Richmond.
There have been at least 118 others, in various parts of the world, since construction began on the Norman castle at this settlement on the eastern tip of the Dales.
Next year will mark its 950th anniversary and Richmond will celebrate by reaching out to all the other Richmonds for a 12- month festival of their shared heritage.
“It’s a shame we had to abandon our application for lottery funding,” says Marcia McLuckie, chair of the Original Richmond Business and Tourism Association, of her plans for the anniversary festivities.
It was the second recent disappointment from that quarter. Last year, and for different reasons, the lottery commissioners turned down an application to turn the old, abandoned Grammar School where Lewis Caroll once studied into what might have been the country’s largest village hall.
This year, there were other priorities, Ms McLuckie acknowledges. But Richmond is used to falling back on its own resourcefulness. Its old railway station, for instance, which lies just across the River Swale from the market place, is now a thriving art gallery, café and community venue.
Like every other town, it has had to dig deep within its reserves to reinvent itself after the tribulations of the last few months. At least it was starting
from a position of strength, says Ms McLuckie.
“There are very few empty shops here – less than five per cent against a national average of 12. Now that they are back open, people are courteous. They avoid each other and everyone is tolerant. You don’t feel threatened.
“It’s a different experience to shopping in a city. You can enjoy the countryside and the museums, and wander down by the river.”
The town has already seen its first new arrival post- quarantine – a leather goods shop in Trinity Church Square which had planned to open in March, shortly before the lockdown was imposed. Alyson Swift, who runs the King Street Kitchen and Gift shop, said business since it ended had exceeded her expectations – though the implementation of social distancing measures had been “a steep learning curve”.
But Richmond’s appeal lies as much in the spaces between the shops. That expansive, cobbled market place, bounded by the Green Howards army museum in the old Holy Trinity Church, is one of the biggest squares in the country, and Prince Charles said it reminded him of the Piazza del Cam point he Tu scan city of Siena.
Currently it is alive with hanging baskets that were being cultivated for a Britain in Bloom entry before everyone was placed on gardening leave and the judging cancelled. “We decided that the town centre should remain cheerful and welcoming, for visitors and residents alike,” says Ms McLuckie.
“For such a little town we’ve got some amazing things,” says the mayor, independent councillor Lorraine Hodgson, whose ceremonial chains of office were handed to her remotely, in what she describes as “a first and hopefully a last”.
“It’s a cobbled market town in the middle of a conservation area. It’s full of unique, independent shops that are doing well, there’s a Victorian indoor market, nice places to eat, and of course beautiful, picturesque views.”
But in one respect, it has been a victim of its popularity. The hot spring weather saw hordes of people congregating at Richmond Falls, the series of waterfalls along the Swale. The area was said at one point to resemble the hedonistic Balearic island of Ibiza, as day- trippers ignored the new rules of social distancing and the old ones of taking home their beer bottles.
Councillors are now installing CCTV cameras to prevent a recurrence, and have made the falls the subject of a Public Spaces Protection Order.
“I think what happened was that everyone was enraged to see so many people not socially distancing,” says Ms Hodgson. “Now that the pubs are back open I don’t think we will have quite the same problems again.”
Meanwhile, Ms McLuckie is turning her attention to next year’s festivities, which will see the planting of a “people’s wood” of 950 trees on land made available by the nearby Zetland estates, as well as the composition of original music and a series of exhibitions, including one on how Richmond has communicated through the ages.
“It will take us from lighting beacons on hill tops to teleconferencing on Zoom,” she says.
There will also be productions at the town’s Georgian Theatre Royal, which is currently having its old benches replaced with plush seats. One of the few auditoria to retain its original wooden kicking boards on which audiences could stamp their disapproval, it is also one of the smallest theatres of its kind.
Ms McLuckie, who also runs a holiday cottage, is optimistic about the future. “As soon as people could travel, my bookings filled up. I’m turning people away now,” she says.
“Walking around the town you can see people who are obviously not local, and that’s another sign of visitors returning. I feel very positive about it.”