Tour of Britain collates mixed opinions from Southwell residents as race prepares to roll through once more

As Southwell prepares to welcome the Tour of Britain back to its street, however there has been some mixed thoughts about the race’s return.

The fourth stage of the Tour will pass through Southwell Town Centre tomorrow as it has done for the past two years, with the streets lined with yellow cycling themed decorations.

The Advertiser spoke with business owners and workers, who shared insights about what the race does for the town and if it’s a good thing.

Ros Adley, a volunteer at bookshop Bookwise, was very happy to see the bike race return.

She said: “I always go and watch it, it brings a lot of excitement to the town and I love it with all the bikes painted around.”

Ros, who had volunteered at the shop for the last 5 years, added that she’d been to watch the race every year it has been through and when ask about whether it was beneficial to the community, said: “Absolutely! Definitely, everyone loves it!”.

Rachel Litchfield, who works at Paper Kisses, said: “It makes the town even more special,”

“In Southwell and similar places to this they really have a sense of community, so anything like this we tend to get together.”

However, not everyone was quite as enthusiastic, with some level of negativity surrounding the fixture.

Deborah Marriott from The Chocolate Shop, said: “It causes more hassle than it does good,”

“Nobody comes really to watch it, especially when it’s a work day.”

Others had more mixed opinions on the fixture, such as owner of Stoppard’s, James Linacre, who said: “It’s normally a really good day — we had an extra busy day”.

James said that the event had given his business an increase in sales in previous years, but was critical of the roads and how they affect not only the cyclists on the day, but the community overall.

This was a sentiment shared by owner of Rode Cycles, Andy Swain, who was also critical of the roads.

He said: “When you see the route they’re going through and you see loads of pot holes, you think ‘that’s not very good’.”

After talking to members of the community, it is clear that there is support for the Tour of Britain’ but issues remain. While most seem excited for the event, there are some clear infastructural issues which are hindering full public support.

Written by Tyler Kay and Fionn Burrows.