Alas, poor Warwick
Sir: Richard West appropriately touches upon the sad mutilations of Warwick (11 September). Thrice-fold have they occur- red: naturally by the Great Fire of the late 18th century and twice by human hands. What both Henry and fire failed to do pro- perly unhappily 20th-century man has achieved. The main thoroughfare has been destroyed by traffic, both moving and parked — despite a by-pass constructed much too late. Vacant 'bomb' sites, antique shops, building societies and banks have replaced the traditional shops of a county market town — so much so that most peo- ple now shop in nearby Leamington.
When approached along the Birmingham and Stratford roads — where once the fine tower of St Mary's Collegiate Church com- manded the Avon Valley — what is visible now? A concrete block of substantial pro- portion devoted to the bureaucracy — of- fices and car park. Stand in the square, close your eyes to miss the monstrous Shire Hall (modern?) next to the excellent building called Abbotsford and — si monu- mentum requiris, circumspice — indeed a town destroyed by indecisive parochialism and a big brother county. Truly, as Mr West says, a 'most fitting' county town of a shell of a county. Warwick might have been the most picturesque town in the heart of England.
Paul Capper
42 Rugby Road, Milverton, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
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