If you are visiting Britain for the first time and wondering what the locals mean when they direct you to ‘the main street’, you are not alone. High Street is one of those phrases, and places, that is such an important part of everyday life in the UK that local people almost never feel the need to explain it to visitors and tourists.
What’s in a name?
People in the UK use the term of the main street in the way Americans use the phrase main street. A main street is the main shopping and retail street in a city. In large cities, each neighborhood or district will likely have its own main street. In a small village, the main street may have little more than a mailbox, a public telephone, and a small convenience store. At the very least, a main street usually has a pub.
And just to confuse you:
- The main street of a city is probably not at the highest point in the city.
- It may not be called “High Street.”
- A street with that name may not be the main street .
What’s on the main street?
If a town is big enough to have some shopping (and many named places are not), the least it will have is a newsagent / convenience store and probably a pub. In smaller venues, the newsstand serves as a post office and sells some basic groceries and over-the-counter remedies. The store may have an ATM for emergency cash and a bulletin board where local people buy and sell things and announce help.
Move to a somewhat larger city and you will find a pharmacy / drugstore, a grocery store, and perhaps a hardware / hardware store. You can also find old-fashioned and service-oriented food stores: a greengrocer selling fruits and vegetables, a traditional butcher shop, and a bakery. Clothing stores, real estate agents, gift shops, banks and coffee shops will line the main street.
What you won’t find
Rents on the main streets are typically the highest for businesses in the city, so you’re unlikely to find quirky little shops for collectibles. You probably won’t have many fast food outlets either, unless they are part of large national chains.
So why is it called “the” main street?
It’s just one of those language quirks that are used occasionally in the UK. People say the King’s Road, the Fulham Road, the London Road, the M1 (a motorway). But they don’t apply the word “the” to every place name. To a visitor, it may seem pretty random, but you quickly get used to it.
Fashion
High Street fashion describes mass market retail style – the kind of clothing you’ll find in chain stores. High Street fashion can be made to very high standards and with good quality materials, but its high volume manufacture and sale make it non-exclusive. The more edgy and directional a retailer is, the faster it will interpret designer fashions for the high street . Interestingly, street fashion can be found anywhere: in department stores, in out-of-town shopping malls, in chain stores, and in independent local stores.
The phrase applies to the top of the line for items and clothing, reinterpreted for more budget-conscious shoppers, wherever you find them.
Award Winning High Streets
In September 2016, the UK Department for Communities and Local Government announced the finalists in a High Street of the Year competition. Several on the favorites list were among our own favorites. In the City category, Norwich Castle / Arcade District and Broadmead in Bristol made the list. The famous Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells, Kent were shortlisted in the ‘Local Parade’ category and Falmouth was shortlisted from coastal communities.
