Dd101

MY STREET The street I have chosen to write about is Christchurch Highstreet, mainly because I have lived there all my life so should know it fairly well (I hope). It started life in about the saxon times. and although didn't have the hangmans noose it had a graveyard close to one end of the street just like in city road (the street dvd), there is now a Waitrose and carpark there. Much of the street started with thatched houses along it untill a great fire burned them down (red house museum history tour). At the other end of the street is a church with grounds called the Priory. This church was built in the 11th century and is reputed to be the longest church in Britain (Wikipedia). The highstreet itself has some very old grade 2 listed buildings in it ie: the mayors quarters, The Ship In Distress and more. There were once 3 breweries and some 30 pubs along the street. Not because the locals were all drunks but because the well water was not fit for consumption (Red House Museum History of Christchurch). There is still the cellar doors to one of the breweries at one end of the street. Now there is a pub near the corner of the highstreet and one right in the middle both of which are grade 2 listed buildings (there are other pubs along the roads leading off the highstreet). The only other place like a pub was Strike Snooker Bar which closed down approximately 2 years ago. The shops in the street consist of coffee shops, cafes,clothes shops, food shops, a Pound shop, a newsagents, an electrical shop and more. This differs from City Road (The Street DVD) as in this street there are no shops, cafes or restaurants from different cultures at all. There are no ethnic clothes shops, African shops, or even Italian, Chinese or Indian restaurants. The people who frequent this street is also different because it is rather unusual to to see anyone from different cultures here. The people who do use this street are diverse in their ages rather than their ethnicity and by their social standing. Alot of the older generation are people who have retired here and have money and own their own properties. These people make the highstreet because they are the people who shop in the more expensive shops and eat in the restaurants in the vacinity. There are the older generation who actually grew up around Christchurch and these people are who frequent shops like the Co Op, cafes and also the market which is held every monday and which I will come back to later. There are also the younger families and youth generation who frequent the coffee shops as well as the Co Op and market place. Then there is the not so well of people who do their shopping in the Market and Pound Shop. There are also the holiday makers, sightseers and foreign students who come here every year. All these people help to make and remake the Highstreet by the time and money they put into it Besides the shops in the street there are other buildings such as banks, the Regents centre and the mayors quarters which was once part of the old Town Hall. There is also a square which is called Saxon Square on one side of the street which was built in 1982 and which hosts alot of the shops which makes up the economy of Christchurch, this area is completely pedestrianised. The Regent Centre is used by a wide variety of the public because it is very diverse in what happens in it, it holds coffee mornings and table top sales, has a nursery, and a cinema screen, puts on plays and pantomimes and even holds meetings there from time to time. B4879529 Every monday the street is closed off to all traffic and a market is held there. so the street becomes pedestrianised. I think the market although sells meat, fruit and veg is more for the older generation so I as many younger people don't go there. The most noticeable similarities to City Road are the road furniture. There is 5 roads that merge into eachother at one end although this is by roundabout and there are the normal cctv, electrical, water, gas, street signs, benches, bus stops, bins and short stay parking spaces along it So in light of the module materials I have studied I can see that societies are made and remade by the people, activities, buildings and street furniture on the street