tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post1910276414957964030..comments2024-03-28T11:54:53.075+00:00Comments on Adullamite: Miserable CityAdullamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15537659871829290071noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-74873467299126358012015-02-07T20:47:25.904+00:002015-02-07T20:47:25.904+00:00Lee, The difference between shops now and a hundre...Lee, The difference between shops now and a hundred years ago was that most then were local, small shops, not giants.<br /><br />Mike, Indeed, one cannot argue!<br /><br />Soub, There is indeed money in Aberdeen. The countryside around is pleasant when not wet!<br /><br />Lady, Go to Scotland! The Yanks love it! Adullamitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15537659871829290071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-69632244203445811362015-02-07T15:48:48.093+00:002015-02-07T15:48:48.093+00:00Oh my now my imagination is constructing a Plastic...Oh my now my imagination is constructing a Plastic Town. How many bottles do you think it will take? I would love to go to Scotland and stand in the miserable cold for just a look at that enchanting land. PeaceLady Di Tnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13314994067842063387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-37804316654282574792015-02-06T20:56:52.279+00:002015-02-06T20:56:52.279+00:00Of the roads out of Aberdeen I prefer the road nor...Of the roads out of Aberdeen I prefer the road north. I love the Orkneys, or going up to the top end and left toward Cape Wrath, to me the most beautiful bits of Scotland are up there, and I wish I'd figured out a way to earn a living there. As one of my hats is as a combustion engineer, I was advised that oil and LPG heating engineers were in great demand. Add solar heating, I think it might have kept me fed.soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-12467296620188337912015-02-05T21:41:30.641+00:002015-02-05T21:41:30.641+00:00The rowie, Mr H, is the best thing to come out of ...The rowie, Mr H, is the best thing to come out of Aberdeen. Other than the road south...Mike Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04720759712556479993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-3684543976366011012015-02-05T20:41:16.189+00:002015-02-05T20:41:16.189+00:00Maybe you were riding around in circles and that w...Maybe you were riding around in circles and that was the one and only...the same High Street!<br /><br />I was surprised when I returned to Gympie in 1998 after many, many years away...it's main street, Mary Street those cheap. "dollar" stores had popped up throughout. And half of the Mary Street had turned into a no-car zone...a pedestrian-only mall.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15835982875620956300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-365532223609968032015-02-05T20:36:50.522+00:002015-02-05T20:36:50.522+00:00Precisely the problem! High streets could resurre...Precisely the problem! High streets could resurrect if helped by councils but they will not lower the rates! One or two small shops of unusual type have soon died here.Adullamitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15537659871829290071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16539163.post-34703398189245496212015-02-05T04:29:07.139+00:002015-02-05T04:29:07.139+00:00Way back, when I returned to britain, after years ...Way back, when I returned to britain, after years of making pottery for other people, I was looking for a place to set up my own business. And I saw an ad for the Grape Lane Pottery, in the middle of York, I think the proprietors were retiring, can't remember exactly, as this was thirty years ago. The deal included some equipment, and I figured I could manage the lease, so we did the number crunching, and it all looked good, position was right in the centre of the mediaeval City of York, a little off the main drag, but close enough to have potential. <br />Until I enquired about the business rates. I talked to the city council, who assured me that I was just what they wanted in the city, a handcrafted tourist draw., and they'd offer every help they could. "How about a rate-free period, while I get established". NO. "How about reduced rates?" NO. Well, that was it. No wonder the town's full of stores that are on every high street, leaving less and less of a special experience for visitors. Yes, I could afford a place in a village with lower rates, but no tourists.... The reality is that most small craft businesses can no longer afford to be in tourist towns.soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.com