With its pretty high street, ancient historical sites and renowned food festival, Mold should be regarded as a must see tourism destination. Why then does a new tourist book dismiss it as dull and slow paced? Jamie Bowman speaks to those looking to turn the town into hot spot for visitors.

A NEW tourism guide to Wales has been published and it makes rough reading for Mold.

The Rough Guide to Wales is the latest edition to the hugely popular travel series which has been inspiring travellers on all budgets for 35 years.

Across 500 pages, the guide gives a wealth of advice on where to sleep, eat, drink and shop across the principality with recommendations and coverage of all the major tourist destinations.

A whole section of the book is dedicated to 'The Dee Valley and around' but despite such attractions as Chirk Castle, the Clywedog Valley and the International Eisteddfod folk music festival according to the guide, "few of the sights top most people's lists".

While Wrexham is said to have "a boisterous charm", Mold fares badly, being described as "historic but dull", having a "slow pace" and perhaps worst of all, not giving visitors "much reason to linger".

“It’s a disappointing and inaccurate portrayal of Mold that features in the current edition of Rough Guide to Wales and quite clearly the author hasn’t managed to gather a true reflection of the town," said Mold town manager Dave Hill.

"If they had and actually undertaken more than a superficial assessment, they would have discovered that Mold is a small town which hosts the biggest and best street market in North Wales, a great range of independent shops, a renowned theatre, wonderful restaurants, cafes and pubs, a fantastic calendar of events and above all the most amazing community spirit.”

Although Theatr Clwyd is described as "a powerhouse" and the likes of Alexander's ("buzzy"), Glasfryn ("high-class pub food") and Y Delyn ("cosy") all get a mention as places to eat, the overall impression given by the guide is that Mold is somewhere to pass through on the way to places like Loggerheads or Moel Famau and little is made of the historic Bailey Hill site or the 15th century St Mary's Church.

One man who has been trying to change this perception is Mold's Mayor, Cllr Bob Gaffey, who alongside Flintshire Council, Mold Town Council and the Friends of Bailey Hill is currently developing proposals to improve Bailey Hill with the support of a Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People award.

Located at the top of Mold High Street, the site one was once the location of a Norman Motte and Bailey castle and Cllr Gaffey believes it holds the key to Mold's future as a tourist destination.

“Our history here in Mold is based on the hill at the top of the High Street," he said. “When I came here in 2006 I couldn’t believe how such a place with wonderful potential lay virtually unused.

“There is plenty of potential there and we want to transform that into a major attraction.”

Last year, a Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People award of £43,900 was received with further plans to earn a £900,000 Heritage Lottery Grant being put forward with ambitions for the site including having an open air amphitheatre performance area and an exhibition centre with a cafe to transform it into a thriving outdoor attraction.

Back down on the High Street, one trader believes more should be made of Mold's retail offer which sees a genuinely old-fashioned main thoroughfare which is relatively free of the Identikit chain stores, tanning salons and vaping shops which seem to blight most UK town centres.

"Most high streets now look the same these days with the same big players offering the same stock in the same colours at the same prices," said Martin Jones from Mold's Vaughan Davies clothing shop.

"Mold hosts a plethora of independent businesses where individuality is the key, where service and human contact are valued."

Mr Jones also believes that Mold's status as a Cittaslow member should also count towards its reputation as a must-see destination.

Cittaslow was first formed in Italy in 1999 and grew out of the Slow Food movement. In just over 10 years, it has grown into a network of over 140 towns in over 20 countries that stretch from Norway to New Zealand and from Spain to South Korea.

Membership of Cittaslow is open to towns with less than 50,000 residents and towns must undergo a strenuous accreditation process to be recognised as members including assessing each town’s achievements and objectives against over 50 membership criteria that cover environmental management and protection, provision of people-friendly infrastructure, conservation and maintenance of the urban fabric and promotion and support of local produce and local products.

"For the town to be to be awarded Cittaslow status means that every aspect of life has to be of a high standard and quality and of course the standard of food outlets has to be exceptional," added Mr Jones.

"The Cattle Market is one of the best in Wales; the street market is the biggest in North Wales and for the outdoor explorers, Mold is the gateway to the Clwydian range and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty."

Despite the Rough Guide's opinion this week did see some good new for Mold with the announcement of the line up and dates for this year's Mold Food Festival.

Attracting more than 13,000 visitors a year, the festival will be held on Mold’s New Street car park on September 15 and 16.

Festival chairman John Les Tomos added: “Mold Food and Drink Festival is the perfect recipe of exhibitors, activities, music, and cookery demonstrations – something for everyone with a dusting of a little Mold magic."

The festival draws visitors from across the country with a packed programme of activities including masterclasses with well-known chefs. Previous chefs have included Jean-Christophe Novelli and Nick Nairn.

Perhaps someone should send an invite to the Rough Guide reviewers...

How do you think Mold could improve its image as a tourism destination? Send your ideas to jamie.bowman@newsquest.co.uk