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The North Walsham article focusses, perhaps a little too much, on historical aspects. The modern town has a changing economy, marked in the last two decades by a gradual loss of local commercial businesses, especially small manufacturing firms and retail traders, and an increase in bank outlets and property traders. Its previously indigenous "bustling" market has declined to a few incoming traders each Thursday. The centre is in need of re-organisation, and increased pedestrianisation, if the town's trading status is to be restored. Based initially on a rural farming population, North Walsham is becoming increasingly a "dormitory town" for people who work in nearby Norwich, 15 miles away. A recent trend has been the local authority's sale of land, previously open to all the townsfolk, to private organisations. In brief, the rural nature of the town is giving way to urbanisation. I would like to see some of these realities reflected in the encyclopedia's text, rather than the gloss of a "Golden Age" of historical significance. Certainly, the town was historically important, but today, it mirrors the centralisation of the East Anglian economy, and the nationwide standardisation of "mall" retailers and service providers, to the detriment of its former local identity and uniqueness.
[edit] Update commentary
(I inserted the original comments above; apologies for not signing it back then) Those points still stand, but the improved page and structure is most welcome. Congratulations and thanks are due to the contributor/s who, especially in the last year, have made the North Walsham entry less perfunctory and laid the foundations for a really useful guide to the (albeit slowly) evolving town. Trevor H. (UK) 15:22, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
