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THE HIGH STREET 

Last summer I visited Britain. On the first day I needed some aspirin for my headache, so I asked the hotel owner where I could get some. She said: ‘There’s a chemist’s on the high street.’ I soon learned that a chemist’s is what British people call a pharmacy and high street is called main street in America. That was a classic illustration of two nations divided by a common language. 

The phrase high street is hardly ever explained to tourists because it is a part of everyday life in the UK. It means the main commercial street in every British town. What can be surprising is that a town’s high street is not always the most important place in town and is not often called High Street, but has another official name. 

In small villages, the high street has little more than a mail box, a newsagent’s and a small supermarket. 

In a bigger town, you will find a chemist’s, a DIY store, a pub and also traditional food shops like a butcher’s or greengrocer’s. In big cities, apart from pubs, clothes shops, toy shops, banks or an estate agent’s line up on the high street. But there are not many vintage shops or fast food bars, unless they are part of big, multinational companies. This is because high street rents are usually the highest for businesses in the town. 

Another surprise is high street fashion, which does not refer to the clothes that are sold in the high street shops – it only describes the clothes that are not too expensive but are fashionable. They are usually produced from good quality materials and you can find them everywhere, from big department stores to small local shops. Everyone can afford them. 

Is the high street going to disappear from the British culture? I don’t think so. Every year the competition for the Best High Street is announced. In 2016, there were 900 candidates. The title went to Blackburn, a big town in the north of England and one of my favorites.