I was asked if I was OK!
Slow Rick stopping to talk to shop keeper
People chatting & saying hi to someone passing in their car
876 Lounge - Music blasting reggae, smiley man gave me thumbs up: 'you alright?'
In this post, we captured the street’s atmosphere filled with colour, activity, and pedestrianised streets.
(We decided to present our narrative through social media and instagram posts as we wanted to showcase what individual experiences might be like when experiencing the future High Street. Each of our posts captures a different element of experience on the High Street to form a collective scenario.)
Children at play
Not many smiles? People avoiding eye contact but curious as to what I'm doing...
It is 5pm in the evening and the shops are still full with customers. David has had a long and busy working day at the shop and can now finally take a break, and so he ventured out onto the street to get fresh air. David randomly bumped into an old customer, they both instantly recognised each other, and decided to share some conversations on a nearby bench. The old customer could not stop pointing out many of positive changes on the High Street since he last visited. He noticed the fresh air from more vegetation and less pollution, outdoor seating and a thriving enjoyable space.
PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE
To create a safe family friendly pedestrianised space on Dudley's high street. By changing up the landscape and introducing micro ecosystem on the high street we aim to improve the health and well-being for the planet as well as the people of Dudley.
Fellow detector friendly hello!
Golden Touch.docx
Golden Touch
It’s my wedding anniversary
Ari is cutting my hair
“To make you look younger”
He says
We guess each other’s age
A trick he’s pretty good at
We talk about daughters
Sons
Families
How he goes back every year
When he can
To northern Iran
But really his family’s here now
Round the houses in Brum
From a young age
Now his home is Dudley
Four years in the shop
Cutting
Blending
Trimming
The heat from the hair dryer
Beats the sweepings to the floor and
I escape for twenty minutes
In the stories
In the swift hands
The mirrors
Posters from a bygone age
Product on the shelves
The smell of wax and leather
Scissors sweep over the comb and
I learn that the skills are hard taught
From the first time with the razor
To the years later
Efficient
Precise
Art in my eyes
Soon his brother will join him
From Manchester
Where he’s currently learning
To catch up
The future is all about the family and
I hope the shop is still here
For when his son
Picks up the scissors
For the first time
Thanks for the haircut Ari
It took years off me
Friendliness outside the pub! copy
Shrewsbury Arms mates outside laughing. Work, play after.
Atifa lives nearby. During her free time, Atifa takes part in social work and welcomes the visitors of the High Street. Her main responsibility involves managing the food produced on street garden. A group of out of town visitors seemed lost on the street as they were wondering about what to do after shopping. Atifa suggested to participate in a workshop in the community kitchen. They plucked some berries and veggies from street and made a quick salad with a locally developed recipe that they had never tried. They thanked Atifa for the new recipe.
Nationwide.docx
Nationwide
Millions of members strong
Building society
Nationwide
Staffordshire
Portman
Nationwide
Since ’67 in Dudley town
Nearly sixty years serving a community
People love a building society don’t they
Not quite a bank
More like a club
They come clutching blue passports
A steady trickle
Popping in to do their financials
There’s bunting over the office door
Radio through the speakers
Comfy chairs to rest awhile
Friendly
Homely
Familiar
Certificates recognise commitment
From one to thirty years
Ashleigh, Sarah, Isla
Lisa, Samantha
Displayed on shelves alongside photographs
Pride of place
The buzzer brings a rush for the door
Scurrying footsteps on laminate floor
Jangle of keys on a lanyard
Always a thank you and a kind welcome
As chat starts up
About Covid
Hearing aids
Lost keys
Shopping up the town
Holidays
Pulled back muscles
Schools going back
Family
The drive to Cornwall
The cash machine whirs in the background
Dispensing spendies for the Full Moon next door
As an old couple
In matching purple fleeces
Shuffle up to the counter together
I look at the Community Board
Wonder if my wife is up for knitting
Bonnets and booties
For Russells Hall
Or if I know a charity that
Might benefit from the community fund
Or if I have some spare tins
For the food bank
There’s a lot going on
A lot to support
I see stability
Even though the future of the High Street
Is hard to call
Not sure where it’s going
Without investment in the shops
Which they watch come and go
Having looked out the window for six decades
Seen it all
In all its glory
This place is about people
Conversation
Continuity
Permanence
In a world that’s shifting fast
Leaving some behind
Who come here
To remember what helpful feels like
Connection
Belonging
Inclusion
The couple are at the door now
Saying their goodbyes
See you next week
Take care of yourselves
Tarabit
As they link arms and
Waltz out into the sunshine
friendly surveillance of spiders in the top right corner of the lab - be nice!
Market people chatting under the shelter
Friendly intro chat to Lorna!
Caribbean One Stop.docx
Caribbean One Stop
The sign above the door
Shows a tropical island
But in Dudley Town
There’s a chill in the air
As Earl runs nine miles
Before jam and toast and
A cup of tea with nine sugars
To recharge batteries.
He’s not getting any younger but
Age is just a mindset.
When you’ve worked forty years
On the wholesale markets
Grafting and providing
Your perspective shifts
To what is really important.
We talk family
Community
Among plantain and yams
We talk heritage
Education
Among chopped hake and Jamaican pears.
Gloria can’t find any mangos
Because Earl has stashed them
Behind the counter
Too soft and sweet for handling.
When he gets a ripe breadfruit
Earl thinks of Gloria
“Know your customers”
He tells me
“Know a little bit about everything”.
I ask Gloria about
Triple Blue Cross
She tells me about white shirts
Bed linen
Drying under a Jamaican sun
This shop is an education
If you just ask the right questions.
Earl’s father came in 1954
Bloodlines stretched
Across continents
Across boundaries
Nigeria
Scotland
Jamaica
Germany
A mix Earl’s grown into
Via Handsworth
Birmingham
England.
He knows a Bristol accent
When he hears one
They talk about Montpelier
Meat markets in Newport
Veg markets in St Pauls
She comes from Tipton each month
To get the things she needs
It’s personal
She likes personal.
The freezer is full of
Chicken feet
Ox tail
Turkey neck
Cow foot
Flavour is the thing
Even water gets spiced
For mash Earl tells me
As he trims Ghanian yam
With a very sharp knife
To just the right size.
There is barely anything
I recognise in this shop
But I’m drawn to the colours
The stories
The journey
The difference
Halfway around the world or
Baked up the road
For customers who bang on the window and wave
Who stand in the doorway
Giving back the banter
Who leave with the Caribbean
In a blue plastic bag.
I leave with a bag of Zoomers
Earl tells me
“That once I taste Jamaica
I’ll be back”
I stand in the High Street
Cheesy snacks in hand
Reminding myself
To buy two packets next time.
Together, dad feeding birds
Welcoming restaurants
A lady waving to a child
A harmonic and diverse community ["Everyone I spoke to was nice"]
Abundance of flowers welcoming everyone a "great night"!
A day out in Dudley
Time inside passes slow,
So we went out for the day,
My favourite place to go,
The high street in Dudley
I'm sure that you'd agree
It's not like any other town,
There is lots to do and see
And there's space to run around
There's a playground there
Just in the middle of the street
And fruit growing everywhere
The strawberries taste so sweet
There's lots of places for grown-ups
Where they like to chat and sit
They say 'hello ya right bab?'
And then Tarra a bit.
There is no need to in
When it's black over bill's mother
Because should the rain begin
The canopy is the perfect cover
The grown-ups pick the veggies
And call come get some grub
We jump down from our climbing trees
And head over to the food hub
We get the buz back home for tea
And get it down our wazzin
I look back on the day with glee
My Dudley town is bostin.
This post promotes the opening of a community kitchen, supported by the Participatory City model.
(We decided to present our narrative through social media and instagram posts as we wanted to showcase what individual experiences might be like when experiencing the future High Street. Each of our posts captures a different element of experience on the High Street to form a collective scenario.)
Friendliness inside the pub!
Bianca and her friends went clothes shopping. As they could smell the delicious food making in the community kitchen, they curiously went inside for the first time. Bianca and her friends were offered freshly made, delicious soup.
Lingered here chatting to the shop keeper!
Calm, relax, serenity, togetherness
This post captures the street qualities where the visitors experience the colour and aromas of the food.
(We decided to present our narrative through social media and instagram posts as we wanted to showcase what individual experiences might be like when experiencing the future High Street. Each of our posts captures a different element of experience on the High Street to form a collective scenario.)
Zoe - visitors economy - fellow detectorist from council
The first Stepping Stone project looks into designing multifunctional furniture for Dudley High Street to provide opportunities for a regenerative community, focusing on how the high street can be occupied with resilience. Initially, the stalls act as market stalls to provide opportunities for enterprises and small businesses to begin thriving and encouraging the High Street to become a place of inclusivity.
However, the stalls can extend out into outdoor seating arrangements, which can become an extension of the community kitchen and during events can become a part of the whole atmosphere.
By extending the furniture, they can connect together and become a large spread where people can sit together and enjoy company. It creates a lowered centre space so children can sit together, or paint on the surfaces. We decided to focus on furniture because we felt the importance of it can go unrecognised. We felt through the design of this market stall, many memories can be created and attached to these items, and become valuable assets within the community.
This post develops what the community kitchen has to offer with street grown resources and community engagement.
(We decided to present our narrative through social media and instagram posts as we wanted to showcase what individual experiences might be like when experiencing the future High Street. Each of our posts captures a different element of experience on the High Street to form a collective scenario.)
People chatting / laughing with one another "gossip"
I was asked about what I was doing [asked them what they think is beautiful] Old lamp posts giving the town some character
Davo Turkish Hairstyles - Laughs, ginger beer, smiles
Dudley young people of black ethnicity worked together to put on a Fashion Talent and History show to celebrate Black heritage and fashion for Jamaican Independence day 2021. This show took place at the African Caribbean Centre in Dudley.
(*imagining*) two Christmas spirited robins joining in with the festivities of the street, singing along with your Christmas joys.