As a decorator who has lived and worked in Malvern for a long time, I am someone who subscribes fully to the 'broken windows theory,' where an unsightly and antisocial activity (such as graffiti or broken windows or run down properties) shifts the normal standards of perception into a negative and makes people presume that such standards are the usual ones for that area. Minor incidents go unchallenged and uncorrected, and the whole area starts to slide down a scale as gardens go uncared for, properties aren't maintained, and a general resignation of the human spirit takes hold.
As a painter by trade, I believe that my eyes notice more than the normal person: I have become accustomed to taking in the detail about buildings - often as I walk or drive around our town I unconsciously appraise houses and shop fronts to evaluate them before I am aware of it. This is simply a result of the plasticity of my brain that has repeatedly made new connections amongst my neurones as I have carried out such work on a continual basis for years and years. Like a muscle, the more you use it for a specific task, the better the brain becomes at carrying it out.
But as well as noticing the negatives of an unkempt façade or property, I do take an honest, almost profound joy in identifying those undiscovered gems as I walk around Malvern town centre or peruse the shops in Barnards Green and elsewhere. It is a testament to the way people value their business and efforts that they keep things looking good.
So in the spirit of this, I would like to point out two recent jobs that we at Malvern Decorators have carried out.
The first is the signage and windows in the Malvern Tourist Office on Church Street. This is an important resource for townsfolk as well as tourists (each spring I go and buy my Conservators car park ticket so I can get free parking on the wonderful Malvern Hills - it costs about £5.00 for the year, and you have to prove you are a resident in Malvern to benefit from it - I'm amazed by how many people don't make more use of this!)
The second exterior paint job we carried out close to the end of summer (in fact, look closely and you will see the autumnal leaves skittering on the wind along the pavement!), was for Patrick at the lovely Cafe in the Green - and I most definitely urge local people to make the pilgrimage to sample the warm soups in these November days as the Arctic Oscillation takes effect. (With an excellent rating from Trip Advisor, and a bevy of local and repeat customers, you can't do much better!) I also have to admit to enjoying a cooked breakfast there once or twice - though I'm not certain Mrs. Malvern Decorators would rejoice in that knowledge - I fear that I'll be sent off in exile to the windswept summit of the Worcestershire Beacon with the dog as a penance!
Be sure to pay a visit to Cafe in the Green if you find yourself in Barnards Green in Malvern - they have a website for you to get a taster of what you might enjoy: http://www.cafeinthegreen.co.uk/
