Celebrating small businesses, 12/24
For my final column before Christmas, I wish to dedicate it to the many incredible businesses, charities and agencies in the Stourbridge constituency that make Christmas special and provide invaluable support for the vulnerable and impoverished.
After what has been a tumultuous year, with the world seeming a more uneasy and insecure feeling place globally, it is important to take stock of the local comforts. I can’t wait for the Christmas recess period so I can travel back to Stourbridge and enjoy the time with my family – cats included. I have always loved the Black Country during Christmas – especially Stourbridge. There are so many beautiful businesses to visit and shop for your loved ones. The British high street is so important to our national culture, and people are rightfully worried about their state. I am very happy to know that the government is making a revitalisation of the high street a priority over this Parliamentary term.
Allans of Netherton has everything you could possibly want – “if they doe avit, it ay worth avin!” The same can be said for the Brierley Market Hall with a selection of stalls and lots of friendly faces. For a place to grab some lunch, the Truly Scrumptious Tea Room in Victoria’s Passage is a beautiful café in a quiet part of the High Street, a great place to have lunch with family and friends. Although it isn’t to be outdone by The Drip Coffee in Wollaston, which is a joint café, tattoo parlour and a bike shop!
The pub scene is fantastic too. Our constituency is blessed with truly unique pubs, and they are never better to visit than during winter. My personal favourite, though it is so hard to choose, is The Unicorn in Wollaston. My staff members' favourite is The Plough & Harrow just off the entrance to Mary Stevens Park, and The Old Swan in Netherton is beautiful, and a lot bigger than it looks! Not forgetting The Duke William in Stourbridge and The Bull and Bladder at the top of the Delph run. All these pubs provide a different experience and a very warm comforting winter evening.
Our constituency is blessed with some truly amazing organisations and charities. In early December, I held a Health & Wellbeing Fayre in Netherton, which was very well attended, with the goal of signposting residents to local services. The Dudley Stroke Association, Council Adult Learning, Act on Energy, Age UK Birmingham, HealthWatch, Cranstoun, Black Country Healthcare and others attended. These services provide invaluable advice to residents, particularly regarding health and the easing of daily financial pressures. Feedback from residents was very positive and I hope they all got something out of it.
There are so many other amazing businesses and services in my constituency that this column would just be a very long list of places I love if I named them all. But I highly recommend that you get out of your house this Christmas and go somewhere you haven’t been yet and try it out! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
- Cat Eccles, December 2024
Published in the Stourbridge News
