Letter: Time to smarten up our town

A reader letter by G B Greenwood from Harrogate.
Harrogate used to be the smartest town in Yorkshire, says G Greenwood, but efforts must be made to regain its former gloryHarrogate used to be the smartest town in Yorkshire, says G Greenwood, but efforts must be made to regain its former glory
Harrogate used to be the smartest town in Yorkshire, says G Greenwood, but efforts must be made to regain its former glory

I wonder why it is that Harrogate - once regarded as a smart and select space - can now fairly be described as a tatty town with a badly dressed and in the main scruffy-looking population?

I carried out a detailed survey to see if my current impression of the town was realistic. I set out some of the findings below.

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From a position of what used to be one of Harrogate’s smartest streets - James Street - I surveyed several hundred pedestrians, indeed the total number may well have been 1,000.

As regards the men and starting at the top of their appearance, only three men were wearing anything on their heads (other than hoodies), one had a cloth cap, another a baseball cap, a third, despite the poor weather, a Panama hat. Otherwise every man seen was bare-headed.

None were wearing a suit, jacket or blazer, all were wearing some kind of windcheater or bomber jacket with nearly all wearing them above a T-shirt.

The few who were wearing a shirt all had open necks and no neck-ties.

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As for footwear, polished shoes were not to be seen but trainers and other forms of sloppy footwear were universal.

One hoped for better things among the ladies. In fact, moving up and down James Street during quite a busy period, only two out of the hundreds passing could have reasonably be described as smart.

One lady - elderly - passed the test. She was well dressed from head to foot.

The only other woman who might have been described as smart (I am quite sure she thought she was) lost the right to be regarded as a smart lady, due to the fact that she was walking down the street with a cigarette in her mouth.

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Of all the women on James Street, only three out of several hundred were wearing dresses or skirts.

The majority - quite sensibly in view of the poor weather - were wearing trousers.

However, what a mess some of the trousers were. Some were sloppy, others baggy, none of them formed any part of a meaningful ensemble and a goodly number were wearing jeans and following the current mindless and stupid custom of having tears and holes at the knees thereof.

Unsurprisingly, none of the women in James Street were wearing a hat, nor did I see a pair of gloves.

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Perhaps I am hyper-sensitive to this question of personal appearance as a result of having spent very many years in the clothing trade - both men’s and women’s .

But the fact is I found it depressing to see so much sloppy and careless dressing in what was once the smartest town in Yorkshire.

I would like to think the time has come for an effort to smarten up our town, starting with its population.

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