"It's even busier now than it used to be." That's what one lifelong Nottingham resident had to say about the city centre street that was once labelled the busiest shopping street in Europe by retail experts.
Seeing the sheer number of Christmas shoppers packed into Clumber Street, it certainly has a 'big' feel about it. And yet, bigger doesn't always mean better, with Nottingham shoppers recalling the way things used to be compared to the changed face of the perpetually lively road.
A survey in the 1980s described the Nottingham street as the busiest pedestrian thoroughfare in Europe. London's Oxford Street is now widely known as Europe's busiest shopping street, beating Madrid's Gran Via by almost 12,000 visitors a day. But shoppers we spoke to in Nottingham, meanwhile, say they believe Clumber Street is possibly busier than ever - but some said they feel it may have lost some of its charm.
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Shoppers remember a time when the street had "three pubs", and more independent stores. Shops like Birdcage, Plain Clothes and Paraphernalia were all mentioned.
Some of those we spoke to said they feel it might be fair to say the street has become become "saturated" - with too many shops "people don't need."
Kimberley resident Kevin Brooks, 69, used to work for Paul Smith in Nottingham city centre. He said: "Cars used to be able to drive up and down it - they could never do that now. They could drive all the way round it.
"It's definitely busier now than it used to be, far busier. There's too many chicken shops and things like that now, though. They're all over the place. It's too many.
"All the good shops that used to be here years ago, there were three pubs round here, up at the top of the road. Not now. It's not as good as it was. There were pubs, better clothing shops.
"Every town you go to you've got Next, Zara, they're all the same. Nottingham had so many independents; I mean Birdcage was down here.
"I used to work for Paul Smith's when it was just starting up. Plain Clothes, paraphernalia, all these shops down here.
"Coffee shops - proper coffee shop. You know, Italian coffee shops, not chain ones where people are just in and out. Back when Clumber Street was it's best Nottingham was a great place to be."
Jeremy Ruddock, 55, who lives in Arnold, said: "It's still incredibly busy, especially now - it's the Christmas rush. But even during the rest of the year I've never seen it not full of people. Ever.
"It's obviously not the busiest in the world or whatever it once was, that's somewhere in London I think, but still. It's never going to be now as there just aren't as many people living here as there are in other parts of the world.
"I'd like to see some more designer shops up and down the road to be honest. There used to be more.
"It doesn't put me off coming. I need to do my shopping as and when and I enjoy doing it around here.
"You could say it has become saturated. There are a lot of food places, probably too many.
"If you've got this many people walking up and down a street you're probably missing a trick if there aren't more, shall we say posh shops. I think they'd make a lot."
Caroline Roberts, 41, said: "I don't come into the city quite as much as I did. I can't remember a big difference in terms of how many people you see - there's always loads.
"I think a key difference is that people used to actually stop on the street, go into places, and buy things. Now it seems most people are just walking past because they need to get to somewhere else.
"There probably aren't as many shops you'd stop and think 'yeah I need something from here.' Those are in other places in the city, like the Victoria Centre.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but still always seems to be packed."
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