Ups and downs

After many years of ups and downs, Banbury seems to be undergoing some gentrification, centred on the canal-side area in the town centre. There is a lot of building development along the banks, and at least some of it is quite sympathetic to the surroundings. If it helps breathe some new life into the town it can only be a good thing. It certainly needs it; with various shopping centres on the outskirts, the shops in the centre have been slowly dying off, and what could be a fine market town has been growing more and more tatty.