“I think the mark of a really crap town is whether you feel safe going out at night. I did a trip to Llanelli and was advised by a Welsh colleague that London hoorays may not be welcomed by the locals.”
This totally. And you don’t have to be hoorays. Or in Wales. Just outside of the Home Counties where most Rof live.
Re. Hotbalck D's comment at 8.33 above about why crap towns are crap (TLDR: de-industrialisation).
Sometimes, when I'm on the train home after long day of mindless international 'knowledge' work and TPS reports, I hanker for a time when people basically just got jobs down the docks doing something tangible, and clocked on and off, and hung out in the local town/pub with their community.
I don’t think crap townness has anything to do with either deprivation or crime. Bracknell probably scores ok on both those measures but is literally one of the worst places on earth.
I think the measure has not to be how grim/shithole it is (there are lots of grim places that are interesting), but how desolate and lacking interest.
Peterborough is a reasonable shout but probably escapes because (a) it has a football club, which makes it notable to visit as an away supporter and (b) it has a cathedral.
Most English seaside towns. Bright lights. amusement arcades, loud music and candyfloss. And 'saucy' postcards, pints of warm bitter, knotted hankerchiefs as sun hats and rows of deckchairs on the beach.
I'm English but not my thing to put it mildly. But some love it.
Many are built or were 'redeveloped' post-1945 for the benefit of the car, and in the 1960wsand 70s were carpet-bombed with ugly buildings (so hideous one couldn't even attribute a style to them such as brutalist). English town-planners must have been high on something.
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Bath. It's a disgrace how they pass off that 19th century church as 14th c.
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Bala.
Cinderford.
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“I think the mark of a really crap town is whether you feel safe going out at night. I did a trip to Llanelli and was advised by a Welsh colleague that London hoorays may not be welcomed by the locals.”
This totally. And you don’t have to be hoorays. Or in Wales. Just outside of the Home Counties where most Rof live.
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Re. Hotbalck D's comment at 8.33 above about why crap towns are crap (TLDR: de-industrialisation).
Sometimes, when I'm on the train home after long day of mindless international 'knowledge' work and TPS reports, I hanker for a time when people basically just got jobs down the docks doing something tangible, and clocked on and off, and hung out in the local town/pub with their community.
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Redcar. Only place I've been to where the road signs prioritize the chemical factory over the beach.
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Climate change has decided Peterborough needs cleaning up. Significant flooding happening tonight.
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Eastbourne. Well rough since the Albanian Kosovars took over.
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stop claiming that cities are ineligible for this thread you berks
the term “town” when used loosely as in the title clearly includes any substantial urban settlement t
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I don’t think crap townness has anything to do with either deprivation or crime. Bracknell probably scores ok on both those measures but is literally one of the worst places on earth.
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I think the measure has not to be how grim/shithole it is (there are lots of grim places that are interesting), but how desolate and lacking interest.
Peterborough is a reasonable shout but probably escapes because (a) it has a football club, which makes it notable to visit as an away supporter and (b) it has a cathedral.
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Blackpool therefore escapes because it is a shithole, but a vaguely interesting one because of its past.
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Keithley is not much fun
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Most English seaside towns. Bright lights. amusement arcades, loud music and candyfloss. And 'saucy' postcards, pints of warm bitter, knotted hankerchiefs as sun hats and rows of deckchairs on the beach.
I'm English but not my thing to put it mildly. But some love it.
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Most towns and cities in England are shite.
Many are built or were 'redeveloped' post-1945 for the benefit of the car, and in the 1960wsand 70s were carpet-bombed with ugly buildings (so hideous one couldn't even attribute a style to them such as brutalist). English town-planners must have been high on something.
Most of London tbf.
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