If you walk through Aylsham, especially on a Monday morning, Cittaslow is all around you. People walking and talking, using local cafes and shops (not national or international chains) and able to buy good quality local produce. Aylsham is a living, working town – not just a showcase for historic buildings or a dormitory serving the city. Aylsham Town Council noticeboard, 9 September 2004
On this day in 2004, Aylsham was accepted into the international Cittaslow network of towns “where the living is good”.
And 20 years later, we plan to celebrate Aylsham’s unique status as the only Cittaslow town in England and one of only three in the UK (the other two are Llangollen and Mold in Wales).
It all began when the livestock market closed following foot and mouth and swine fever outbreaks in the early 2000s and the imminent arrival of a Tesco supermarket outside of the town centre was causing concern.
It was felt that the town was heading into decline.
As a result, the community embraced the need for change and looked for a lifeline. With the support of the Town Council and other local organisations, it found it in a little-known movement called Cittaslow.
It was the 2005 carnival – focusing on the community involvement goal – that finally got it going.
So what, some people might ask? And what is Cittaslow anyway?
Cittaslow is part of a cultural trend known as the Slow Movement, set up in 1999 by a group of Italian town mayors who saw that the principles of Slow Food could be applied to life in general and help combat the stress of modern life.
Its simple message is to enhance the quality of life in the town.
Slow Food was formed in 1986 by another Italian, journalist Carlo Petrini, who was horrified that a fast food chain was opening on the Spanish Steps in Rome – the concept of fast food going against the principles of eating locally produced food, taking time to enjoy it in the company of family and friends.
Slow Food believes food is tied to many other aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment.
As a result, Aylsham established the Cittaslow council committee in 2005 to ensure that the town continued to live up to the movement’s aims.
What has it achieved?
Its most spectacular success came in 2008, when Aylsham attracted national fame when it became the first plastic bag-free town in Norfolk. More than 70 businesses – nearly every shop in the town – signed up to the project to rid Aylsham of plastic bags.
One of the main protagonists of the movement and an Aylsham resident, said: “Who would have suspected that the historic market town of Aylsham was a hot bed of environmental activism?”
This paved the way for numerous initiatives including the current environmental group, Aylsham Climate Emergency formed in 2021, and a town traffic strategy to establish an environmentally sound traffic system in which pedestrians and vehicles co-exist in a safe and practical manner.
Alongside this, the town supports its two historic weekly markets, a monthly Food & Craft market and the annual Food Festival which also involves the High School.
And for the first time in 20 years, Red Lion Street has not had an empty shop and is thriving with more food and drink outlets and independent shops than ever before – only Tesco and Budgens are national brands or franchises.
The arrival of Cittaslow came as a breath of fresh air at a very difficult time, generating a lot of publicity, local and national, which came to give residents a reason to be proud of where they lived.
Cittaslow ‘fits Aylsham like a glove’
By Slow Food Aylsham member MO ANDERSON-DUNGAR
I can’t believe that it’s 20 years since Aylsham was awarded Cittaslow status.
As we prepared the application, we soon realised that Aylsham was most definitely a Cittaslow town, as the goals aligned perfectly.
Cittaslow is an endorsement of all that Aylsham is, from its historic buildings to independent shops, sense of community, local food and much more.
Over the 20 years of membership, Aylsham has embraced the changes of new housing developments, awareness of climate change, and coped with Covid-19.
We have welcomed visitors from Italy, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA, and had regular contact with Australia and Poland, both relatively new Cittaslow networks.
In the UK, Aylsham is the only English Cittaslow, the other two UK towns are Mold and Llangollen, both in Wales.
And we mustn’t forget Slow Food – originally one of the requirements for Cittaslow status was to have what was then called a Slow Food Convivium.
Through Slow Food, Aylsham established the annual Food Festival, now a firm favourite in the calendar, and have run cooking workshops for local schools. A real highlight was the Aylsham High School catering students cooking one of the gala dinners at the 2005 Orvieto Food Festival – it’s a real honour to be asked to cook for Italians on “their home turf”.
Cittaslow and Slow Food have both raised Aylsham’s profile as a unique market town, and to quote the late Liz Jones, former Chairman of the Town Council, Cittaslow Aylsham and Cittaslow UK, Cittaslow definitely “fits Aylsham like a glove”.
Meanwhile, back in Abbiategrasso . . .
By member MIKE BUSH
Back in 2004/05 I was Chairman of the Aylsham Market Towns Initiative, which was a government project, backed by Broadland District Council, and Norfolk County Council, introduced to enhance life in selected market towns. Susan Flack was the officer appointed to administer the scheme in Aylsham.
Sue had read about Cittaslow and thought that it could be appropriate to Aylsham.
My first reaction when I asked her the English translation of Cittaslow and she answered, “Slow Town” was “Oh!” – I wasn’t sure how that slogan would be received by the people of Aylsham.
After more research into the scheme, it became apparent that Aylsham, being the community it was, wouldn’t have to do too much to meet the requirements.
We did however have to have the approval of the Town Council to apply for membership and also had to have a functioning Slow Food organisation in the town.
A few of the councillors, especially Liz Jones, saw this as a great opportunity for the town to promote itself and Liz took on the chair of Aylsham Cittaslow, when the time came.
I remember attending the Cittaslow conference in Abbiategrasso in 2005 in Italy with Sue Flack and Mo Reynolds, Aylsham Town Clerk at the time. Unfortunately, the conference was conducted entirely in Italian, with absolutely no English translation so we were unable to contribute anything to any debate.
However it was very picturesque town, the hospitality was exemplary, and we were able to enjoy the atmosphere of the Slow Food Festival which was going on at the same time.
The publicity which Aylsham received, once we had been accepted as Cittaslow was incredible. There were articles in the local and national press, television and radio broadcasts and indeed worldwide interest.
A most exciting time. Here we are 20 years later, and Aylsham is still Cittaslow.
Bangers ‘n’ mash – the Italian way
It was dubbed the Italian Job when a dozen catering students from Aylsham High School were invited to the Food Festival in Orvieto in March 2005.
The invitation came following a visit here by Orvieto’s mayor, Massimo Borri, to mark the town’s official status as England’s second Cittaslow town and to launch the Slow Food Convivium. He had also heard that the students had catered a three-course lunch for an East of England Development Agency conference in Aylsham, entitled “Focus on Cittaslow.”
The intention was to re-create the menu as one of the Gala Dinners during the week-long Food Festival.
Part of the brief for the students was not only to source the ingredients in Norfolk, but to work out how to get everything there.
Said Mo: “The sausages went in my cool box! Some veg was sent out in advance, and some ingredients were bought at the local market in Orvieto – another experience for the students.
“The Aylsham Ale, specially brewed by Woodforde’s for the occasion, went out to Italy in polypins and there was a near disaster as it arrived before we did and was put into refrigeration which distended the polypins – but we rescued it!”
The young cooks served up broccoli and stilton soup, bangers and mash, apple crumble tart and Norfolk cheeses, washed down with Aylsham Ale, to the delight of the dinner guests. They made a presentation to the Mayor – in Italian – and were a credit to themselves, the High School and the town.
Most of the ingredients came from the Produced in Norfolk co-operative and had been taken out to Italy by the party.
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