To wonder what's happened to the once vibrant Merton Abbey Mills?

[HaydonWomble]

It used to be a flourishing, go-to venue ten years (or more) ago. We were there every other weekend. Somehow the loss of the indoor marketplace and the housing built nearby seems to have led to a slow but steady decline .

It's become a bit of a ghost-town despite there being some great places to eat and some interesting businesses on the site.

Do people who aren't local to the area even know of its existence?

It's such a pity to witness an historically significant and once thriving place on its knees, or is it?

I would love to see it loved a bit more. It is a great spot and worth supporting. The new deli, Cut and Cured, is fabulous and the Thai restaurant is best Thai I've ever had outside of Thailand.

I know at least one shop left because the rent went up (higher than for nearby High Streets) and footfall went down.

Was there on Saturday night and it was much more 'buzzing' than it's been for ages. The good weather helped (although the plague of flying ants less so). The demise of the annual summer happenings at Abbeyfest hasn't helped the cause at all really.

Why did Abbeyfest stop?

Think it was because there was too much trouble with attendees not behaving themselves (drinking too much and getting into fights). So what started out as mellow musical entertainment over the summer then turned into something that needed 'security' to keep some people 'in check'. So it became too expensive and possibly too much of a 'risk' to continue as a free event.

A great pity. But who knows, it may well still rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Some of the businesses that have recently taken up residence there are a bit more boho, so it could well regenerate as something William Morris would be proud of.

If this recent planning application development is anything to go by, Merton Abbey Mills is set to lose even more of its historic charm, boxed in to one side by a five storey-high "active new business hub.”

William Morris would be turning in his grave .