Two Towns on the Shroppie a Million Miles Apart

If Market Drayton represents one end of the spectrum of how our small towns are struggling to survive then Nantwich, just 12 miles and 22 locks along the Shropshire Union Main Line must surely represent the other.

In short, the place simply oozes money. The delicatessen is staffed by snooty men in brown coats who look down their noses at you - although you can't buy much because they obviously feel that wire baskets are beneath them so they don't provide any!  Off-licences are much more likely to offer you a bottle of rare Scotch or fine wine than a couple of cans of lager and the fishmonger directs customers asking for cod or haddock to the stall on the market. (I settled for a piece of Monkfish which I roasted with cherry tomatoes and onion - delicious!) The ironmonger, however, is just having a laugh with small tins of Brasso at £3.99! The town is best summed up by Moody's Jewellers. which at first sight appears to be selling rather nice watches at reasonable prices £64.00 for this one and £85.00 for that. It's only on closer inspection that you realise there is no decimal point before the zeroes and a top-of-the range Rolex will set you back £21,250! Can it really be so much better than those on sale in the market at £2.99?
Fortunately for lesser mortals the town has a branch of "Home Bargains" and an excellent indoor market (market days Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and, for once, the presence of a Morrison's supermarket on the edge of the centre may not be such a bad thing!

Nantwich market