A street busker performs a rendition of Silent Night, as two police officers observe the high street from a van across the road. The song is a fitting choice on this cold morning.
It is the beginning of December and many are looking forward to Christmas. But the city centre is eerily quiet for what should be a busy shopping period.
Amid the onset of Christmas, Wolverhampton has been revealed as the unhappiest place in the West Midlands. And it ranks among the five unhappiest places across England and Wales.
The findings have come from an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, which monitored happiness levels through the coronavirus pandemic. People were asked to rate their happiness out of 10
Wolverhampton came bottom of the region, with a score of 6. Stoke-on-Trent also gave the same score. The majority of residents agreed with the survey.
One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told BlackCountryLive: “I live in Codsall, but I agree with it. It’s the first time I’ve been to Wolverhampton in a year, I normally catch the train to Shrewsbury.
“There’s nothing here, not even a single good restaurant. As far as the nightlife – forget it, unless you are a teenager in a nightclub
A 67-year-old woman, who gave her name as Mrs Bagri, also agreed with the survey. She said: “I’ve lived here all of my life, it has gone downhill from when I was a kid.
“I wouldn’t want my grandchildren walking the streets at night now. I used to live down Park Lane in Parkfields.
You used to be able to walk into town.” She added: “But the people are still nice.”
Richard Shreeves, aged 76, of Castlecroft, labelled works happening in the city centre – outside the landmark former Beatties shop – a “mess”. He said he agreed with the survey because of the “state of the place and the shops closing down”. The road outside Beatties, Victoria Street, now resembles a construction site due to work taking place on the road.
A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, also echoed those concerns. She said: “It is the direst place, there is nothing here. All the shops have gone.
“Life is just abysmal. There’s nothing for young kids to do, just look at it
“To be fair, it is supposed to be a city. It is too small to be a city.”
The woman said the city centre should be “heaving” by now at Christmas time, including the Mander Centre, but said: “There is no one there. A few years ago, people used to have to queue up to buy presents.
Now you can buy presents at this time without queueing up. There’s no more WHSmith’s, Woolworths or TJ Hughes.
“It used to be good. All they’re putting up now is £5 shops selling s***.” Not all agreed with the survey though. When asked for his thoughts, one man simply said: “Bull****.”
Another man, who works at a pub, added: “I disagree, it depends on what part of Wolverhampton you go to.” The ONS asked people to rank their happiness in three different time periods over the pandemic
The survey collected scores for the time periods of April 2019 to September 2020, April 2019 to March 2020 and January to March 2021. Residents in Wolverhampton gave average scores of 7.3, 7.3 and 6 – showing happiness decreased during the pandemic, in line with national picture.
On average, ONS scores dropped to its lowest point at 6.4 during the first week of lockdown at the end of March last year
