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Ipswich has been a working, manufacturing, self-governing town since the seventh century; people have gathered here to share ideas, to work, trade and have fun. Today in the United Kingdom, most people live and work in cities and large towns. They are centres for education, entertainment, culture and relaxation. Ipswich is the key town in Suffolk for business, retailing and local government administration.
Ipswich has a history of periodic growth and wealth creation, and periods of decline: a cycle which applies to the population as well as the economy. The Saxons, the Tudors and the Victorians knew the value of the port and of the advantages of trade with our neighbours. Today the port is an important economic link with Europe and beyond, bringing in cement, aggregates, fertiliser and forest products, exporting grain – Ipswich is the country’s largest exporter of grain – and other commodities.
Ipswich Port handled two million tonnes of cargo last year generating £600 million worth of trade – a significant contribution to the local economy. In other respects, Ipswich has changed significantly over the past 50 years. Its Victorian specialism of manufacturing agricultural machinery, cigarettes and ladies clothing (notably corsets) has given way to the financial service industry – mainly insurance – and the administrative support of public services.
Like all major towns in the western hemisphere, bulk shopping has moved away from the town centre and is increasingly being replaced with facilities for culture, leisure – especially restaurants – and indoor sport. One noticeable major change is the provision of homes in the town centre: unfortunately a predominance of bedsits and studio flats rather than family houses, although 175 of the last of these are about to be built in Grafton Way. One question however, remains unanswered: with house prices half that of those in London, why isn’t Ipswich popular with commuters?
Perhaps it’s because of the opportunity of employment in Ipswich. There is demand for labour across all fields and at all levels, particularly for skilled professionals, from nurses and paramedics to doctors, teachers and accountants are required. There are increasing opportunities for part time employment, delivery drivers, care assistants and in the supply chain – from warehouse to retail assistants. Unfortunately, few of these opportunities pay enough to buy a house. Since Robert Ransome offered the rural population agricultural wages to work in his foundry, and on the assembly line, Ipswich has remained a low wage town. What has changed is the price of houses: from four times a man’s annual salary in the early seventies to nearer ten times that figure today.
Parallel with this is the increasing demand on the family purse. Today we happily pay for dental treatment, to watch television and carry a mobile phone, to drive a car rather than ride a bike and to enjoy concerts and eating out to a much greater extent than ever before. Our food from supermarkets has traditionally got considerably cheaper, but to compensate we buy increasingly more exotic luxuries and out-of-season staples which means we spend more on food than ever before.
Life in the twenty-first century is certainly different and, for an increasing percentage of the population, noticeably more difficult to manage.
One quick point on which to close, given that Colchester is now a city; am I right in assuming that it can no longer claim to be Britain’s oldest town?
John Norman