06/10/2026
EDIT; We all know Ashington has lost a lot of its shops (like MANY other high streets in the UK this not just an Ashington or just a North East problem.)
If people had never started doing a massive weekly/monthly shop at a large supermarket or the internet and online retail (especially the really cheap retail like Boohoo, Temu, Wish, Amazon etc) had not started to operate then we would likely still have our high streets; (Covid also contributing to the downturn of the high street) Can you honestly say you don’t contribute to this type of buying?
If not then good for you but most of us do (and no blame from me, we all do for one reason or another; time limits, finances etc) and we have to accept some responsibility for this.
All I’m doing is suggesting we try and save the rest, do what we can. Why do people get so angry about a bit of positivity?
Original Post;
A market day shop on Ashington Main Street, or “ up the street” as it’s better known.
While campaigning over the past few weeks, the state of our High Street came up again and again. That’s no surprise to me or probably anyone reading this. High Streets across the country have struggled with the growth of online shopping, competition from out of town stores, huge supermarkets and rising costs.
But there’s still plenty to buy up the street and today’s haul shows just how varied a shop you can do; charity shop clothes and records, cards and birthday banners, sweets from a market store, signs from an independent furniture shop and toiletries from boots.
Where we can, shopping locally helps support the shops and market traders we still have. It doesn’t have to mean buying everything locally, even choosing to pop up the street for a few things is a good place to start.
We all have our part to play in supporting our town centre and as much as I wish the council had a magic wand, bringing empty premises back into use takes landlord’s, businesses, the council and the wider community working together. Shopping locally where we can is one way we can all help support the businesses already here. 
What’s your favourite local shop or market stall? 
