Is Shaw town centre ‘dying’?

The high street in Shaw is surprisingly busy for a Tuesday lunch time.

Workers dodge into discount bakeries for a spot of lunch, mums with prams linger at charity shop windows, pensioners make sharp beelines for the town’s homely cafés.

Yet ask a local, and you’ll likely hear that not all is as well as it seems in Shaw.

Residents say the town is ‘dying’ and its community is ‘breaking down’.

Years of losing local hotspots such as the Shaw baths and former town hall have taken their toll on the township, with the pandemic and online shopping putting the proverbial nail in the coffin for the proud post-industrial neighbourhood, according to locals – or ‘Shaw Gawbies’.

“Every year something on the high street dies,” Luke Divine, 26, tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“And gets replaced with a vape shop.”

He’s watching over his baby daughter in her pram outside a charity shop while his partner Jordan, 26, buys a stomper suit.

Jordan grew up in Shaw but recently moved down the road to Royton.

She only comes back to visit family – and the second-hand shops.

“It used to be a great community.

"Quiet, safe, everyone knew each other and all the kids in the neighborhood would sort of look after each other,” Jordan recalled.

“But now nobody really knows each other anymore.”

Jordan believes lots of factors have fed into the community’s apparent decline – from the pandemic lockdowns making people ‘forget how to be sociable’ to rising crime intimidating Shaw’s elderly population.

“We’ve also lost a lot,” the Shaw mum went on.

“The market used to be packed, I remember coming there as a kid and you had to suck in just to get past people.

"Now there’s only half the stalls and it’s not thriving like it should be.

"“We’ve got no banks. The youth centre is gone.

"There’s not really any activities for kids to do around here anymore.”

She looks down at her nine-month-old, who stares back at her with big, attentive eyes.

“I want her to grow up with a good surroundings,” Jordan said.

“But it’s hard when there’s nothing for her.”

Driving instructor Warren, 69, also believes the sense of community is fading – and says he ‘can’t wait to leave’ with plans to retire to the seaside.

He links the town’s decline more directly to a change in the type of homes – citing a growing number of rentals and HMOs.

He’s not alone.

Recently, an application to turn the town’s former health centre into a huge 22-bed HMO sparked outrage among locals, inspiring a town centre protest.

The application was turned down by Oldham Council – but local activists say the town is being ‘flooded’ with unlicensed HMOs.

Another resident, who didn’t wish to be named, believed the problem was broader than housing situations.

“The community is not the same as it used to be,” the woman in her fifties said.

“It was a lot friendlier.

"People don’t care about each other as much anymore.

“The high street’s only charity shops and takeaways.

"It used to be a good little town with lots of different shops.

"You could come out for the afternoon, you couldn’t do that now.

“The council are trying to do things to improve the town.

"But I think it’s gone too far. There’s no saving it.”

But there is an alternative view.

While speaking to residents, the LDRs bumped into sisters Cheryl, 60 and Olivia Brock, 55, who travel from Failsworth every week to visit Shaw.

“We love Shaw,” Cheryl exclaimed, weighed down by shopping bags from nearby shops.

“Look at the highstreet, it’s got the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker.

"You can find anything you need right here, at independent shops.

"Where can you find something like that these days?

“It’s full of friendly people and it has that lovely high street feeling.

"You don’t get that in Manchester.”

The sisters travel from Failsworth by tram to have tea and cake and do a spot of shopping.

They used to go to Chorlton – but ever since discovering Shaw in January, they’ve been die-hard fans.

“You don’t get a £7 lunch in Chorlton,” Cheryl said.

“And you get real personal service here.

"I can see why Shaw people keep it quiet. It’s also quietly very multicultural.

"I’ve been so impressed with it.”

Cheryl is convinced Shaw people ‘don’t know what they have’ after hearing some of the comments from locals.

“They don’t make a song and dance about it and they should. Although, maybe that’s part of the charm,” she said.

While many bemoaned the loss of community spaces, Pat Beecroft, who has lived in the town for 30 years, argues there’s still plenty going on.

“I actually think the town has changed very slowly,” she said.

"“I’ll admit, it’s not as vibrant as it once was.

"I think it’s mostly because of a change in retail.

"People don’t care as much about the high street anymore. It also feels less safe.

“But we’ve still got a good community. We lost the swimming baths and the town hall but gained in other aspects.

“There’s a whole sign up by the town library with classes and groups,” she pointed out, having come fresh from a yoga class.

Another unsung institution in Shaw is Donnely’s cafe.

Packed full of mostly pensioners whenever the sun is shining, the cafe offers an important meeting place for the town’s elderly residents.

Jordanna, the warm-hearted owner who seems to take orders from her regulars almost telepathically, kept the cafe open on Good Friday just so some of her customers could see each other.

“I just worried that some of them might not see anyone all weekend otherwise,” she said.

“I think a lot of people come here just to have a chat and speak to others, share a laugh with us, that kind of thing.”

She admitted the local community caters for an older clientele.

But work is underway to bring more community spaces back to the town, according to leader of the recently rebranded Shaw and Crompton Town Council, Marc Hince.

As well as bringing back a bigger monthly market, Hince, who is also a ward councillor, says the town council is working on rescuing the Lifelong Learning Centre and converting an old agricultural building in High Crompton into a new community bistro.

“We’ve seen 30 years of decline,” he said.

“People feel like the town centre doesn’t reflect who they are. But it’s not hopeless.

"There’s still a big community spirit and lots of potential.

“We need to bring back investment, community assets and regenerate the town centre – and we’re already working on it.

"It might be taking longer than expected, but it is happening.”

Shaw has clearly changed over the years.

But while many the LDRs spoke to seem pessimistic about the town’s future – others argue the town is not given enough credit for what it has to offer.

“I mean look at it,” Shaw-loving Cheryl says.

She gestures outwards at the road, which slopes downwards between red-brick terraced homes, pointing at the bright green Pennines.

“It’s just beautiful!”

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