A once popular seaside resort is now a derelict town with most stores abandoning the high street – often with no warnings to the residents who are left behind
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Colwyn Bay: Views of pier at North Wales seaside town
A once-thriving seaside resort has turned into a ghost town and the changes even forced Poundland to abandon the high street – with one reviewer describing the area as a “crime-ridden hell-hole.”
The Welsh town Colwyn Bay has experienced a spate of shop closures – often with no warnings to residents who love to pop in. The North Wales town has waved goodbye to Costcutter and Subway, Poundland and Boots. Popular stores WHSmith and Peacocks also left the town, with reviews eight years ago stating how “shops are closing or have been closing for years.” The situation got so bad that, despite being a shopkeeper, one resident said that she often has to work from home as she can’t afford to heat a space no one visits anymore. It didn’t always used to be this way, however – and some residents have dropped their theories as to how a once-thriving seaside resort faded into such bleak obscurity. One of the strongest theories revolves around the construction of the dual carriageway A55.
The main road cut the town centre off from its popular beach and promenade, causing anger among locals. Another traced the demise to the loss of Woolworths in 2008. According to NorthWalesOnline, one resident wrote on Facebook: “They’re literally closing everywhere. At this rate Colwyn Bay will be known as a ghost town with just charity shops and few pubs along with the homeless on the streets.”
While the town’s MP blames the total pedestrianisation of the high street for stripping life and energy from the town’s main area, another resident apportioned blame on to online services, noting how “the high street has been dying for decades because of it”. Plans have been made to reintroduce cars to the street – although within a much smaller space than usual, in order to allow plenty of space for walkers and cyclists too. In addition, a pleasant strip of trees and shrubbery will be put in, while above-shop premises will be converted to flats to get more people living in the area.
