The photo depicts yours truly (Jim
E) though not necessarily in Newport at
the time...
Newport is a Shropshire town (population: 10,000)
located between Telford and Stafford (UK). In term time Newport's night life
is enlivened by students from a nearby agricultural
college (
Harper
Adams) hence the relatively numerous pubs
(and a tacky little nightclub). The town
boasts a shopping High Street and
an indoor market. Ironbridge, the "birthplace of Industry",
lies within about 20 miles, a picturesque spot the other side of that ghastly town of the Devil, Telford.
I would urge fellow villagers to patronise
the local shops rather than burn their entire credit cards
in Telford. It is all too easy
to starve the local economy. So, favour a Newport
supermarket over those depressing Walmart-owned god-foresaken Telford Asdas. Even better,
where possible, buy some stuff in little shops instead
of the supermarket. (Supermarket profits tend
to vanish out of town to some evil (often foreign)
mega-corporation). Supermarkets encourage industrial
farming practices, crush organic farmers, and
import cheap, nasty food from abroad. Do
you really want your organic chicken to come
from Argentina? How healthy and green can it be, importing
meat all that way? Why not give the business
to local farmers? I'm boycotting supermarkets
for more and more items these days.
For example, instead of buying industrial-chemicals-drenched,
branded shampoos, that increase the risk of cancer of this and that,
from the supermarket, procure a bottle of a more natural
version from the health shop in St. Mary's Place. It costs more, but it is superior
stuff. And the distribution profit goes to
help a pleasant shop. Rather than buying taste-free supermarket
meat that was imported from half way across the planet, be a
patron of the local butcher. It is heartless to justify buying all your
garden plants from out of town garden centres when
you can get plants from a place in Newport centre that
I had overlooked until recently, or even Newport market.
Need a washing machine or other electrical appliance?
Spurn Telford "Retail Park"! Newport
has a perfectly decent shop and refreshingly they
do not try to rip you off with dodgy financial
"deals" involving interest trickery and getting screwed when you forget to fill in certain forms six months down the line. If we don't
support the local shops, Newport will become
a ghost town: a fate that has affected so many
other small towns. Please do your bit and encourage
others to do so, and help to stop the rot. Slow
the rate that your cash ends up in the coffers of
huge corporations that are intent on giving
you less choice, not more.
The above applies not just to Newport, of course,
but to any village threatened by a nearby metropolis or beastly out-of-town shopping centre.
Update 2008 - Useful shops are closing in the High Street due to high rents, alledgedly because most of the premises are owned by a small number of landlords. Horrible tat such as gambling emporiums and kebab shops seem to be invading... So please don't patronise *those* rubbish shops...
I tried using the library computers to print something once and they suck! Newport council (or
any council) should not pay Microsoft and other
(non-English) corporations with our tax money for licences etc. for software
such as Microsoft Windows and windows apps. There are free, open source alternatives, i.e. Linux/
Open source,
which should be used instead, for long term savings in money, and other,
even more important advantages, such as open document standards and greater usability.
It is particularly important that school money does not go to Microsoft (to hell with their total cost of ownership lies) but free
alternatives be used instead. It is
advantageous for children to learn open source software,
which is the future; free to own, generally superior to commercial offerings; and free of viruses, nefarious licences and ads.
I work in IT and am happy to provide free time and consultancy, please
contact me.
Like many people, I imagine, I find trees and greenery pleasant,
and abhor prairy-farming practices that wreck so much of the scenery
around Newport. It's a shame our countryside is relatively bereft of beauty and wildlife.
Below are some fairly random Newport links
Newport (and Shropshire)
Links:
Newport
online.org community pages for Newport in
Shropshire. That site, which appeared at a later
date than this page, has a shed load of Newport info.
Information
about Newport and area
Tourist
information about Shropshire
Harper
Adams Agricultural University College
Garages: I used to recommend Morgan
Motors on the A41 (as they were good) until, rather unprofessionally,
they flippantly failed to do a job they promised to do, despite several
very generous deadline extensions. No more custom from me. There are several garages in Newport itself
to choose from.
Ace
Computer Systems Computer shop.
Newport Computers There's another computer shop further down the road which also dabbles in Hi Fi gear.
Clubs and Social
Orgs:
There are a lot of social groups, organisations
and clubs the Newport area.
The Shropshire Astronomical Society: a county-wide group for anyone interested in astronomy, star-gazing or space exploration
The
Ramblers' Association Shropshire Area. Also
there's the
Shrewsbury
Rambling and Hill Walking Club
Shropshire
Linux User Group The pleasingly acronymed
SLUG is the Shropshire Linux User Group.
Share Linux knowledge, all abilities welcome.
Misc: If you are into that waste of time that
is
chess, Newport
has a club that meets at the Royal British Legion
Club, Audley Road. There are a "Newport And
District History Society"; photographic club,
bridge club; "Beaumaris Singers"; "Dalen Singers";
a meditation group; a male choir; the Nova Theatre
Club; Shropshire Caving and Mining Club; Church
Aston Wine Circle; and several other orgs I've
not mentioned. There is more info about most
of these clubs, and others I've missed, at
newport
online.org.
See also...
Accommodation:
Recommended (Disclaimer: possible bias: I've
played cards with the Landlord, Steve)...
The
Adams
House Hotel & Restaurant
Hotels
and other accommodation
The
Royal Victoria Hotel
Pubs:
There are a dozen or so drinking emporiums in
Newport, but they tend not to be online. Just
head for the High Street.
The Shakespeare
is worth a visit. Next door
is
The
Pheasant, which is aimed at more of a student
age species of boozer. Either one or the other is obnoxiously loud, depending on which year it is.
Ozzy's wine bar is now so loud (as of this update in 2006) that I avoid it completely these days. The Lamb Inn, in nearby
Edgmond, is excellent for grub, as is The Swan
in nearby Forton. There are other places, I'm not being comprehensive.
Finally, to plug an old enterprise of
my own (as a newport resident), I used to run a UK and
international models site
www.modelarc.com
until I handed it over to a couple of Telford media professionals, due to other time commitments.
Contact me
to provide a Newport-related link or some text
for this page, or to suggest a chat over a coffee/beer.
Meeting Newport people can be quite difficult,
as I work further afield much of the time.
As I write this particular paragraph in April
2004, I confess it has taken me 10 years to
discover that Newport, Shropshire, my home town
for that duration, has a chess club and it is
situated about half a mile from my house. They
play matches too. Isn't life surreal? I used
to play chess on the Internet until I gave it
up as waste of time. One of the first guys I
met at Newport chess club is a Linux geek too.
I've spent the last 3 years searching for a
fellow Newport Linux geek. Life can be a bit
surreal sometimes.
Cheers,
Jim
I received this feedback (June 04):
[
Our town isnt that bad. And students do not liven up the area at all.
You students are complete pricks
You cant handle your drinks, you spew in the street, your noisy, rude, ugly, and damn right annoying.
The youth of newport rule and we liven up the area. You students dont even go out into newport just stay in ozzy's cuz dats the only place you'll survive in our town u low life. ]
More feedback (January 2008):
I have been looking online at Newport trying to fing somewhere to write to for a ghost hunt/investigation without success. I just wondered if you knew of any old/new buildings I might be interested in or indeed locations that are allegedly haunted and might warrant investigating? I am a member of the renowned West Midlands Ghost Club and any information would be greatly received.
If you know of any Newport ghosts add a comment below and/or contact the ghost club. Likewise do so if you ARE a ghost, if your spectral fingers are able to manipulate the computer controls that is.
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