From Ely last weekend - some things that we could learn for our town? Some of these things are being talked about already, some may be longer term, but I suspect that all are practical.
* A train service that's vibrant even though the station is on the edge of town and in amongst some industry
* Free car parking
* Premises that back onto the town's car parks as well as the main streets
* A lively water front
* Pedestrianized areas
* Historic Vistas
It struck me that there's far more of a valid comparison possible than I would have expected. In Ely, although it's technically a City, you're looking at a SMALLER place than Melksham. Melksham is in a tourist area but has not pushed its tourist credentials ... Ely is very much "tourist" because of the Cathedral BUT there were hardly any tourists around last Saturday when it was thriving an busy.
(written 2007-11-09, updated 2007-11-11)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z200 - Places [66] A Taste of Ireland - (2004-09-28)
[70] Red Luas - early life and times - (2004-10-02)
[92] Hard work, Hard sell - (2004-10-18)
[186] Lull - (2005-01-22)
[218] Golden Nugget - (2005-02-17)
[403] Full circle - made it back to an old haunt - (2005-08-05)
[670] Architectural Heritage - Devizes - (2006-04-04)
[685] A couple of days away - (2006-04-15)
[713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
[727] A journey, an arrival, a people - (2006-05-21)
[730] Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions - (2006-05-23)
[740] Finishing up in Dhahran - (2006-06-01)
[778] Weekend in Ireland - (2006-06-26)
[886] Signs of Leek - (2006-10-04)
[1147] A picture (mostly in words) of Helsinki - (2007-04-14)
[1204] Spot the difference - (2007-05-25)
[1229] Where am I? - (2007-06-11)
[1244] FolksFest Bristol - German beer, Bratwurst and music - (2007-06-24)
[1298] From Leeds - (2007-08-10)
[1307] Troy, up state New York - (2007-08-17)
[1456] Right up to the top of the City - (2007-12-03)
[1457] A day in Ljubljana - (2007-12-04)
[1460] Christmas fare in Ljubljana - (2007-12-05)
[1524] Nottingham - just text! - (2008-01-30)
[1536] A Weekend in Liverpool - (2008-02-10)
[1537] To Wales - where theres still a toll on the bridge - (2008-02-11)
[1590] All Change, Portsmouth Harbour - (2008-03-23)
[1617] Steam Engines at Bressingham - (2008-04-20)
[1624] From Freddie the fallow - (2008-04-27)
[1638] Pictures far apart - (2008-05-10)
[1639] Minehead Marauder - (2008-05-11)
[1652] Old Sarum airfield brings back fond memories - (2008-05-24)
[1714] Hillier Gardens, Hampshire - (2008-07-20)
[1715] Pictures from South Hampshire - (2008-07-21)
[1730] Punting on the Cam - (2008-07-31)
[1755] Istanbul - (2008-08-15)
[1804] Colvin and Carlisle - (2008-09-20)
[1807] A sad town in the sunlight - (2008-09-22)
[1837] Alfred the Great - (2008-10-13)
[2205] An evening walk in Carrickfergus - (2009-05-29)
[2207] North Antrim Coast - a jewel thats well worth a visit - (2009-05-29)
[2316] Guadalajara - a special tour of a lovely city - (2009-08-01)
[2387] to Clifton Down and Avonmouth - (2009-08-30)
[2392] Lymington, New Forest - some pictures - (2009-09-03)
[2411] Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside - (2009-09-19)
[2624] Skyline and looking up in London - (2010-02-04)
[2733] Travel Troubles and Jesus again - (2010-04-21)
[2754] At Arlington and the Pentagon - (2010-05-07)
[2799] Nuremberg - some pictures - (2010-06-08)
[2802] After the Perl course in Nurnberg - (2010-06-11)
[2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
[2809] Frankfurt in 90 minutes - (2010-06-13)
[2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
[2907] Dartmouth, Kingswear and Torbay - (2010-08-07)
[2985] Right place, right season - (2010-10-04)
[3064] On the way to the course this week - (2010-11-22)
[3070] Belfast, on a cold November evening - (2010-11-25)
[3175] The Rhine in winter - (2011-02-19)
[3185] Day Trip to Hereford, in pictures - (2011-02-26)
[3204] Two views of a war memorial - (2011-03-17)
[3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
[3330] A lot of exercise this week - (2011-06-21)
[3353] Off the beaten track - non-quite-so-tourist spots - (2011-07-10)
[3393] Rodwell Trail, Weymouth - (2011-08-15)
[3529] Sharpness, Gloucestershire - a place in transport history - (2011-11-25)
[3595] Looking up - (2012-01-27)
[3603] Another cold night - (2012-02-03)
[3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
[3654] On a sunny afternoon in London - (2012-03-15)
[3667] A modern area of Cambridge - some thoughts provoked? - (2012-03-22)
[3803] A Walk on the South Bank - (2012-07-13)
[3854] Busmans Holiday - I like being a busman - (2012-09-02)
[4011] From Salford - (2013-02-19)
[4052] The PHP course this week is in... Salford - (2013-03-26)
[4125] The first Luas of the morning - (2013-06-29)
[4182] Welcome to Salford and Oldham - (2013-09-30)
[4184] A fond memory - (2013-10-02)
[4203] A weekend away - Four in a Bed returns to Happy Donkey Hill - (2013-11-09)
[4214] A busy week, and a long flight - (2013-11-24)
[4220] Thun, Switzerland - (2013-12-14)
[4331] Musings on a Welsh town - (2014-11-28)
[4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
[4411] Location, location location. And a chance of a giggle! - (2015-02-01)
[4477] Yesterday - off on leg one of our holiday - (2015-04-29)
[4479] Pictures from around Rekjavik - (2015-04-29)
[4480] Crossing between continents - (2015-04-30)
[4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
[4488] Election day, 2015 - (2015-05-07)
[4490] What and where are the Azores? - (2015-05-09)
[4497] Around the world from Melksham - (2015-05-25)
[4643] From last July (2015) - (2016-02-08)
[4671] Ruby training, half a world away - (2016-05-14)
[4683] Saudi Arabia or Weymouth? - (2016-05-22)
[4729] The oldest part of Los Angeles - (2016-11-23)
[4730] San Juan Capistrano - (2016-11-23)
Some other Articles
Remembrance day - inside a church and inside the dayTravel Across Wiltshire - the gameArrays in Tcl - a demonstrationBuffering up in Tcl - the empty coke can comparisonMelksham v ElyCloser than you think - the next stepMySQL - table design and initial testing exampleWiltshire - speaker / after dinner talker offerCastle Lodge Hotel, Ely, CambridgeshireThe Learning Perl crew, October 2007