'Broadgate Is Great' Reverberates Across The Blogosphere

"Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence" Ralph Waldo Emerson

The internet is like a constantly flowing body of water. If you chuck a big enough rock in, you can send ripples right around it.

Broadgate is Great is a very little blog, about a small, but pleasant, part of Preston, which is an ex-town trying a little bit too hard to be 'the third city of the North West'. You'd think a blog with such a small footprint would seem barely relevant to other people in other places.

Even so, in the short time it's been in existence, 'Broadgate Is Great' has certainly sent out a few ripples, and been noticed by quite a few people, and it is really nice to be noticed.

It's even better to be noticed by decent writers, and Jenn Ashworth is certainly that, she's Preston's brightest literary flame since Robert Service and Angela Brazil.

Jenn was kind enough to say about this blog:

Broadgate is Great does what is says on the tin. As a community news portal specific to the Broadgate area, this blog is hard to beat. The writing is clear, informative and characterful, and the look and layout of the blog make the most out of the template and include some amazing pictures of the area.

Read more of Jenn's opinions on our, and other Preston Blogs at Preston Writer's Network

A lot of people liked the post on '85 ways to build community', which got featured in the Britblog Carnival on Redemption Blues Here's their opinion on that post:

Riversider at Broadgate is Great, drawing on Professor Robert Putnam’s initiative across the Pond, lists, in a creditable effort at transplanting it to British soil, 85 Ways to Build Community. Predictably (though not without justification), "Turn off your TV or PC" features as admonition number one (on the original American list, top spot goes to "Organise a social gathering to welcome a new neighbour". Switching off the goggle box is to converse with friends or family occupies 71st position only). "Go outside" comes in at number two. Interestingly, "Say hello to strangers" is number 51 (85 in the US version). People still where I come from and it is part of the charm of the place, but nowadays chiefly the preserve of the older generation. "Join in to help carry something heavy" would be a non-starter in Waffleland, where nobody would dream of giving up their seat for a white-haired matron on a bus, never mind a pregnant woman.

Even our article on the Broadgate Flood Wall repairs made an impact on the blogosphere. Greentime said this;

Global warming brings with it heavier floods in traditionally flood-prone areas. Are our local flood defenses up to the challenge? Follow one example of posing and answering this question at Broadgate Is Great: Broadgate Flood Wall Repairs.

Closer to home, the admirable Preston Blog took up our post on the threat to build a 'Super Surgery' over the Hartington Courts play area.

The latest blog to feature an article from Broadgate is Great is The Soul of Rock and Roll the blogger there suggests our coverage of Damo Suzuki's gig at the Continental will lead him to seek this experimental underground rock adventurer out.

Lots of other blogs have also posted links to Broadgate Is Great, and we always try to reciprocate. If you look at the bottom of the right hand sidebar, you'll see the very latest posts from some of Preston's most excellent blogs.

Broadgate is Great has just been going for a few months, but we're already getting the word out about some of the great things happening in this area. We're proud to belong to a community that's starting to make some pretty interesting and exciting things happen for itself.