Evidence for Sub-Urbanisation.
Over the last century Kempsey has become heavily sub-urbanised. Through the results of the questionnaire and my own knowledge it has become apparent that Kempsey is a split village in terms of employment. Of the people that work, approximately half, the majority, work in Worcester. The other half are retired. However all of the people questionned were in the possession of a car, except six, of which five were retired. The results of this question are as follows:
Of all the 50 people questionned everyone of them travels out of the village to do their shopping, even though there are facilities in the village, for example "The Original Stores".
"The Original Stores"
Kempsey also has numerous other shops/services. There is in the middle of the village a Post Office, ideal for the elderly collecting their pension. There is also a village school and Doctors Surgery.
Kempsey Village School.
The Doctors Surgery.
Community spirit in the village remains high throughout. Every year there are numerous fetes and for the past few years there has even been a village carnival, drawing crowds from far afield. Within the last two years a new youth centre has been built on a site on the playing fields to the south of Kempsey.
The new Youth Centre.
This along with the Parish Hall and Community Centre provide various locations for numerous activities for all ages, from Scouting through to Youth Group and even to Line Dancing. Also on the playing fields sporting activities take place from football in winter through to cricket and rounders in summer, all organized by local people. The people in Kempsey even set up their own tennis club of which there are over 200 members.
Plans are underway for a local bowling green on the playing fields and this now looks a reality in the not too distant future. While local policing may not be up to full strength there is an active neighbourhood watch scheme in nearly every road. This provides a useful deterrent to burglars and there is not much local crime.
Evidence of Housing and Service Change.
As population figures show Kempsey has expanded physically over time, effectively doubling its population as a result. Through the usage of a few photographs I hope to show this expansion, over time, of the village.
Originally just a cluster of houses with a few being added through the course of time, Kempsey underwent a massive expansion after the Second World War. Areas built up, which were council housing, included Ellsdon and Windmill Lane, shown in the following photograph :
Windmill Lane.
Also on Ellsdon is the site of Kempsey Primary School. This site was occupied when the school moved from its previous site at the top of the village in the early '70s'.
Kempsey is overwhelmed with other services too. There is the village shop in the centre, which supplies everything from newspapers to frozen microwave meals, an ideal and excellent service for the elderly. Another shop closed, in 1995, at the other end of the village, when the owner sold up and the new owners decided to turn it back into a house.
Just across from "The Original Stores" was Kempseys butchers shop. Until last year this was a thriving business, due to the large majority of its customers being elderly, until the lease ran out and the property changed hands as the owner died.
The old Butchers Shop.
Next to the former butchers is the Crown Pub and Skittle alley. In the early '90s' this skittle alley was extended, proving what strong community spirit Kempsey has. It has since been a hive of activity as Kempsey is represented in a local skittle league.
The Crown Pub and Skittle Alley.
In competition with the local pub, there are three other pubs/restaurants, though each one offers its own type of food. "The Talbot", shown in the next picture, has been extended within the last ten years into a steak house style restaurant, after the owners sold out to a chain. The clientele is mainly made up of passing trade, people from other areas and a few village dwellers. The other two pubs/restaurants are the "Walter de Cantaloupe" and "The Anchor". The "Walter", as it is known to locals, specializes in European cuisine and is more intimate, as it is privately owned. "The Anchor" is a bed and breakfast "pub", which offers cheap meals. This is successful with locals and holds regular quiz evenings, for which there is a good turnout.
As well as the local shop, there is a specialist hardware store, established in 1973 and run by the local scoutmaster. On the same side of the road, across the junction, there is the village Post Office which provides a much valued service for the elderly. If this was to close then Worcester would have the nearest Post Office. To get into Worcester it is possible to catch a bus, which have become more frequent over the years as Kempsey establishes itself as a commuter village.
Clarkes Hardware Store.
Kempsey Post Office.
There has also been a large amount of housing change since the completion of Ellsdon and Windmill Lane. While there has been no expansion for the last 10 or 15 years, Kempsey before was growing at a fast rate, shown by the population figures. Throughout the 60's, 70's and early 80's the size of Kempsey had grown dramatically with the addition of The Limes, Chapel Road and the area surrounding, Oakfield Drive, Squires Close, Napleton Lane and Elgar Drive, Meadow Close, Farlie Close, Byefields and Plovers Rise.
Plovers Rise, (leading to the playing fields).
All of these developments are more or less on the Main Road, with Kempsey being surrounded on all sides by farmland. However in the last few years development has taken place, with the addition of Christina Close, on the site of the old coach yard of Astons Coaches, and the development of clusters of houses. These such clusters can be found opposite the junction of Napleton Lane and Oakfield Drive, at the bottom of Squires Walk, near the Main Road, Lyfs Lane, and near the junction of Old Road North and Brookend Lane. All these houses have been built on either wasteland within the village or brownfield sites. There has been no development of greenfield sites.
New developments on brownfield sites within the village.
As such rural planning schemes have not affected Kempsey for at least 15 almost 20 years. However there have been various attempts to build on the periphery of the village, by housing giants Prowting, and later on a consortium of other developers in the '90s decade. Each time the attempts made have been foiled by villagers, by in the true spirit of the village, rallying together to voice their strong views against such widespread development. There wish to stay as a dormitory village or commuter village has been heeded. They possess no wish to become merely a suburb of Worcester. With the governments latest proposals on greenfield development and the southern link effectively stopping Worcester from sprawling, it seems that
it will be a long time before Kempsey will expand once again with such speed.
