Grim towns you've visited lately...

[Fozziebear]

lesstatt said:

Coalville Leicestershire, an old mining town, which hasn't moved on despite the pit closing over 30 years ago. Very grim place.

Twinned with Cotgrave (Nottingham) the town that time wished it forgot

[chris7676]

I find Southall fascinating rather than grim and Slough just unimpressive.

The most depressing looking places have been Croydon & Bracnkell, mind you I haven't been to that many grimholes in my life.

[Planet Claire]

chris7676 said:

The most depressing looking places have been Croydon & Bracnkell, mind you I haven't been to that many grimholes in my life.

Bracknell's town centre (which was the really the grim bit) has been knocked down as is being rebuilt as I type - due to open in Spring 2017. Here's a webcam: http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/regenerationweb... The building on the right is going to be Fenwick. Otherwise Bracknell isn't that bad; it's quite a green and leafy town.

[Puggit]

chris7676 said:

I find Southall fascinating rather than grim and Slough just unimpressive.

I was once driving along the main road through Southall (I worked in Uxbridge) and stuck in a traffic jam I watched a white traffic warden wait for police backup before ticketing a car.

That genuinely shocked me!

[cirian75]

Sim89 said:

sawman said:

I came from St Helens!

not likely to be going back anytime soon!

St Helens,Merseyside?

me too, now live in hipsterville (Chorlton, Manchester) after growing up in Warrington.

[cirian75]

Skelmersdale aka Skem

You could nuke that place and it would look exactly the same.

[anothernameitist]

cirian75 said:

Skelmersdale aka Skem

You could nuke that place and it would look exactly the same.

and make £1m of improvements too

[smithyithy]

MarshPhantom said:

Telford.

I work in Telford. I don't think it's too bad, it's just a bit odd, especially the fancy 'business parks' and groups of big office buildings that all sit completely empty.

The shopping centre's pretty average, as are the retail parks. Some of the housing estates are dreary but I haven't really had a good look at them all.

Parts of the town are quite new though and there's development going on, and there's the town park.

[ecsrobin]

smithyithy said:

MarshPhantom said:

Telford.

I work in Telford. I don't think it's too bad, it's just a bit odd, especially the fancy 'business parks' and groups of big office buildings that all sit completely empty.

The shopping centre's pretty average, as are the retail parks. Some of the housing estates are dreary but I haven't really had a good look at them all.

Parts of the town are quite new though and there's development going on, and there's the town park.

I've had the pleasure of spending a fair amount of time in Telford and there is certainly nothing good about the place, it's a really weird town though. However venture a few miles out of town and you're into a lovely part of the country.

[battered]

I want to know how our hero got on after his trip from Bradford, taking in the delights of Dewsbury, Scunny, Grimsby and finally Skeggy. Of all those places Skeggy isn't bad. It's a bit grubby in the way of faded seaside towns where the money stopped coming in 40 years ago, but otherwise OK.

[smithyithy]

ecsrobin said:

I've had the pleasure of spending a fair amount of time in Telford and there is certainly nothing good about the place, it's a really weird town though. However venture a few miles out of town and you're into a lovely part of the country.

True, one of the better things about Telford is you're not far away from some really nice towns and countryside, Wales is only down the road too.

I'm always looking at houses around rural Shropshire, it'd be really ideal for me as I'd be in good commuting distance but with Wales on my doorstep

[Thankyou4calling]

chris7676 said:

I find Southall fascinating rather than grim and Slough just unimpressive.

The most depressing looking places have been Croydon & Bracnkell, mind you I haven't been to that many grimholes in my life.

Agree.

I quite enjoy driving through Southall, but then I also enjoy driving (and walking)through East Hastings in Vancouver.

With Southall there is energy and culture plus lots of commercial activity. I accept it isn't Richmond but it's far from grim.

Grim is lots of boarded up shops, windswept housing estates, and an air of desperation among the locals.

[battered]

smithyithy said:

True, one of the better things about Telford is you're not far away from some really nice towns and countryside, Wales is only down the road too.

I'm always looking at houses around rural Shropshire, it'd be really ideal for me as I'd be in good commuting distance but with Wales on my doorstep

Absolutely this, it's a lovely part of the world. Towns like Ludlow, Ruyton XI Towns, Wem, and of course Shrewsbury, are lovely.

A mate of mine has the dubious honour of having been on the front page of the Shropshire Star. He was living in Shrewsbury as a young man, just out of college, he and a mate were staying in a chap's house, renting rooms. So far so ordinary. The house owner was carrying on with a married woman, on one occasion in the early evening they were upstairs when the woman's husband arrived. My pal answered the door, the man shouldered his way past and started heading upstairs. The other housemate went to stop him and got thrown down the stairs, at which point the 2 lads decided it was no longer their problem. Husband got upstairs to be met by naked wife and naked boyfriend, and all hell broke loose. My pal decided at this point to ring the police, around the same time as the rest of the street had done the same. Police arrive, man was arrested and charged with assault/similar offences, local paper had a field day.

[smithyithy]

That's a claim to fame of sorts

I know of someone that was in the Shropshire Star for being stopped by police for drug-driving

[KrazyIvan]

Have we had Windsford in Cheshire yet. I can promise you that there is no where on this planet as nasty, horrible, dull, violent, hive of scum than those that call it home.

When people say its grim up north, windsford is where there talking about.

[TEKNOPUG]

In the last couple of years I have had the pleasure of working in both Goole and Redcar.

Redcar has had a bit of money spent on it recently but it's still pretty grim. The worst element appears to be the inhabitants...

Goole on the other hand is utterly, utterly dreadful and even the people who lived there agreed. I knew that I was in for a bad time when the taxi driver announced with no small amount of satisfaction "we've got a Wetherspoons now!" And yet the 'spoons was by far the best thing about Goole. In fact, it was the ONLY place in town that as far as I could ascertain, you could eat food on the premises that you bought it...

Middlesbrough is also pretty awful - doesn't appear to have a single proper hotel.

I'm currently working in Jarrow (seriously need to reassess my career!) however, I at least get to stay in Newcastle, which is much more accommodating.

[DavesFlaps]

KrazyIvan said:

Have we had Windsford in Cheshire yet. I can promise you that there is no where on this planet as nasty, horrible, dull, violent, hive of scum than those that call it home.

When people say its grim up north, windsford is where there talking about.

I lived in Winsford for a few months back in the 90s.

I'd agree with your assessment.

The only benefits of living there were the loose morals of many girls I met at the dodgy nightclub there - might have been called Scarlett's or something?

Anyway - has anyone mentioned Larkhall yet?

[BenWRXSEi]

I have the dubious pleasure of travelling around much of the UK with my job, and usually anywhere more than two hours away will involve an overnight stay. I try and make the most of the places I visit and will generally explore on foot of an evening - and several places I wasn't looking forward to visiting have been pleasantly surprising (Shirley, Solihull for example).

I can usually find a positive aspect of pretty much anywhere - even Barrow-in-Furness has the saving grace of a lovely beach area and nature reserve. I think the only place so far that has really struck me as an out-and-out dump with literally no redeeming features is Stoke. What a fking dump.

[Crush]

Blackpool. It is like a real life Fallout game.

[cirian75]

KrazyIvan said:

Have we had Windsford in Cheshire yet. I can promise you that there is no where on this planet as nasty, horrible, dull, violent, hive of scum than those that call it home.

When people say its grim up north, windsford is where there talking about.

I went for an interview there for the security manager job at Windsford cross shopping centre, got to the last two, kinda glad I did not get it with the shenanigans that happened a few months later.