Barnoldswick named as a winning Great British High Street town

Taking positive steps to halt the decline caused by the closure of local pubs and shops has seen Barnoldswick honoured by the Great British High Street competition.

Resident and councillor David Whipp and owner of Chubby’s Chippy Richard Milner set up Barnoldswick Town Centre Action Group and entered the competition.

“We have had a huge team of volunteers working tirelessly to make Barnoldswick such a great place. They’ve put on some brilliant events and everyone has joined in, including some talented local musicians. The relationship between the traders, residents and volunteers has been fantastic with everyone pulling together to create a very special high street.”

They highlighted the use of the market space for multiple events including ‘Bands on the Square’, a free three-day live music festival of local talent. The area’s economy is now benefiting from additional footfall, and vacancy rates have been substantially reduced.

David added: “Our Visit Barnoldswick Facebook post has now reached over 33,000 people and more than 1,200 people have watched the video we released about the town.

• Local Centre – Barnoldswick
• City category - Norwich Lanes
• Coastal category - Colwyn Bay
• Market Category – Belper (chosen also as overall High Street Champion)
• Village - Broxburn
• Town Centre – Wantage
• London - Kingston