Worst towns in Britain?

[Ivo]

As a little side thing, what is Britain's worst New Town? For the sake of argument, you can also have Extended Towns (so as to avoid people saying "Swindon/Basingstoke/Northampton/Wiggumville doesn't count because it was designated Extended and not New"). Again insisting on only those I have been to, I am going to suggest that the worst is (as suggested above) Basildon. I would have actually said Slough, but apparently Slough doesn't count as either?

 

[Crossover]

As a little side thing, what is Britain's worst New Town? For the sake of argument, you can also have Extended Towns (so as to avoid people saying "Swindon/Basingstoke/Northampton/Wiggumville doesn't count because it was designated Extended and not New"). Again insisting on only those I have been to, I am going to suggest that the worst is (as suggested above) Basildon. I would have actually said Slough, but apparently Slough doesn't count as either?

Milton Keynes - the town that has an identity crisis and thinks its a city!!!

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I would also have to add (although some of them have been mentioned before)
Wolverhampton
Stoke-on-Trent


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I can remember a book ages ago entitled 'Crap Towns', but cannot remeber any of the top 50. I passed through Luton and leicester on Friday - my god are they horrible.

Anyone else care to share what they feel are the worst towns in Britain? Apart from Swindon of course

I'll get this started - Dewsbury, Guildford, Newport (South Wales), Middlesbrough and Croydon are all towns I avoid!

I feel as its my hometown, I should defend Dewsbury (especially as its the first one in this thread!!!). As with all towns, it has its places (*cough* Dewsbury Moor *cough* ) and the town centre is slowly turning into one large Poundland and is being held ransom by the Staiton group, but other areas aren't too bad IMO and the market is fairly acclaimed locally.

Generally I'd agree about Middlesbrough though on a visit last year to see a friend there, we walked down towards the art gallery, and that area seems quite nice, plus (somehow...) the station won an award, as mentioned on the forums some time ago)

 

[Caped Crusader]

After spending time living in Croydon I developed a stoop from constantly looking down whilst walking, both to see what I was stepping in and to avoid eye contact with the more over enthusiastic locals.
It's only redeeming feature is it's great public transport network.
I still breathe a sigh of relief every time I pass through Coulsdon on the way South, as I've survived!
I've also had the misfortune to live in Hailsham and Crawley, both are pretty hideous but far less life threatening.

 

[bse35]

I am not partial to Lowestoft or Hunstanton

 

[Ivo]

Between the choice of these two, and the eight choices you have provided in the Best Towns thread, anyone would think you were from East Anglia!

 

[Mojo]

Milton Keynes - the town that has an identity crisis and thinks its a city!!!

Most people from outside Milton Keynes think it's a horrible place, yet in fact it has one of the highest satisfaction rates amongst local residents in the country. I've always wanted to live there!

 

[Bellwater]

Not in any particular order...

Thetford
Kettering
Melton Mowbray
Selby
Newport(Gwent)
Nuneaton
Lincoln
Ipswich
Preston
Bishop Auckland

 

[Crossover]

Most people from outside Milton Keynes think it's a horrible place, yet in fact it has one of the highest satisfaction rates amongst local residents in the country. I've always wanted to live there!

I did live there for about 12 months while on placement - it is a great place (generally) if you have a car or bike and has been well planned for expansion (ie single carriageway roads have the space to become dual carriageway if required) and by car can be quick to get around (especially if going against the flow of peak time traffic as I was)

However, it is possibly the most boring place with every road looking like the one next to it and walking can be an absolute pain (and not sure on the trustworthiness of the subways either at such times as late at night) unless you are near the centre - eventually there seems to be a cut off of walking routes. Oh, and sat navs go crazy because of the number of roundabouts! A recentish (a few months ago) Auto Express article also said that MK was the most car dependant location too

The other thing that annoyed me was seemingly some of the infrastructure, modern when new, seems like it is struggling now...namely the phone lines which at times seem barely able to support dial-up speed broadband (we got 1-1.5Mb/s tops, and I think we were lucky to get that.

I'm now back at uni and it is nice to be able to walk places without being stuck to particular walking routes, from which you can see nothing but trees! (something I noticed was you could be across the road from a shop in MK, but could you see it, heck no!!)

I am aware though that it is entirely subjective and there are people who MK will suit, but I guess I prefer the more rural areas.

 

[David]

I've read about 10 posts in this topic, so I've no idea which towns and cities have been mentioned. Anyway, here's a few from my travels around the country in no particular order .....

Glasgow
Lancaster
Blackpool
Stafford
Macclesfield
Buxton
Wolverhampton
Telford
Any part of Birmingham
Leicester
Nottingham
Hucknall
Worksop
Peterborough
Wittlesea
Colne
Skipton
Bradford
Skipton
Sunderland
Gateshead
Washington
Peterlee
Middlesborough
Hull
Scunthorpe
Grimsby
Cleethorpes
Doncaster
Goole
Rotherham
Milton Keynes
Bedford

I could mention lots more, but I think the list is long enough as it is already. That list is probably influenced by the fact I used to be a lorry driver, and I got to see different parts of each town/city that others may not see.

 

[yorksrob]

After spending time living in Croydon I developed a stoop from constantly looking down whilst walking, both to see what I was stepping in and to avoid eye contact with the more over enthusiastic locals.
It's only redeeming feature is it's great public transport network.

Actually, on a visit a few years ago I was quite impressed to find that Croydon could still boast a Wimpey bar.

I don't remember whether they still served their famous "bender in a bun"* though

* I should perhaps explain that this was a long curved sausage with a milled edge served in a round bun during the 1980's. And delicious it was too.

 

[Ibex]

I am not partial to Lowestoft or Hunstanton

I'm very interested to know your reasons behind mentioning Hunstanton!

 

[sprinterguy]

Middlesborough
Gateshead
Sunderland
Peterlee
Seaham
Doncaster
Telford
Warrington
Wigan
Crewe
Rhyl
Northampton
Rugby
Central London
Swindon
Swansea
Port Talbot

There’s plenty of other places that fall into a “neither here nor there” category of indifference as well, which would include Derby, Leeds, Darlington and Oxford.

 

[142094]

* I should perhaps explain that this was a long curved sausage with a milled edge served in a round bun during the 1980's. And delicious it was too.

I remember those too, although the one we had in Newcastle closed down a while back. Shame as I liked Wimpey better than MaccyD's.

 

[OuterDistant]

Crewe - seems to be jam-packed solid with traffic all throughout the day, despite the rail connections!

 

[yorksrob]

I remember those too, although the one we had in Newcastle closed down a while back. Shame as I liked Wimpey better than MaccyD's.

Their puddings were much better than anything Maccy D's or Burger King have ever had.

Particularly the "Brown Derby" which was a doughnut with a huge dollop of ice cream on top, covered in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts. Very nice indeed.

 

[Ivo]

Thought you might like this: Store Locator

It suggests that there are 138 left in the country. Annoyingly for me though, 22 of those 138 are in Essex (including as far into London as Barking) - when I (and for that matter pretty much everyone I know there) don't even like Wimpy.

On that point...

If we define "South Essex" as Southend-on-Sea, Rochford, Castle Point, Basildon, Thurrock, Brentwood [which is Wimpy-less] and Epping Forest, there are 15 in the area, five of which are in Southend alone (with a further two in its ONS-defined urban area), which actually makes them the borough's number one fast-food joint. Some turn up!

So, if you like Wimpy so much, move to Southend. Just remember that you are over 100 miles from the nearest Pacer!

Way to mis-spell Westcliff by the way

 

[yorksrob]

Thought you might like this: Store Locator

It suggests that there are 138 left in the country. Annoyingly for me though, 22 of those 138 are in Essex - when I (and for that matter pretty much everyone I know there) don't even like Wimpy.

Cheers for that. There's one in Huddersfield so i'll have to combine it with a trip to the Head of Steam

 

[142094]

That has just reminded me that there is indeed one in Hud, going to have to make a trip out for it one day.

 

[MCR247]

Nottingham
Hucknall

Hucknall I'll give you, but what is wrong with Nottingham?! hock:

 

[WestCoast]

Skipton

Hardly the worst place in Britain? Quite a pleasant market town IMO

Lancaster

Traffic system is bad, but the city centre is quite nice really...

 

[David]

Hucknall I'll give you, but what is wrong with Nottingham?! hock:

Hardly the worst place in Britain? Quite a pleasant market town IMO

Traffic system is bad, but the city centre is quite nice really...

As I said in my post, I used to be a lorry driver, so I got to see the "rougher" parts of towns and cities. In most cases, it does give an overall picture of what the town is really like.

 

[WestCoast]

As I said in my post, I used to be a lorry driver, so I got to see the "rougher" parts of towns and cities. In most cases, it does give an overall picture of what the town is really like.

That's one way of looking at it, but I personally wouldn't judge a whole town/city by a few "rough" estates/areas, especially when the good areas outnumber the bad.

 

[LE Greys]

That's one way of looking at it, but I personally wouldn't judge a whole town/city by a few "rough" estates/areas, especially when the good areas outnumber the bad.

What if the rough bit is the town centre and the only nice bits are a few fancy estates on one side?

 

[WestCoast]

What if the rough bit is the town centre and the only nice bits are a few fancy estates on one side?

Well then it would be slightly different, but the examples of Skipton and Lancaster I used above are places where the centres aren't rough!

But if you could have a better standard of living with a larger/nicer house (for a lower price) on the edge of a supposedly rough place, some people might go for it..

 

[almark]

Fitzwilliam
Doncaster
Wakefield
Barnsley
Conisbrough
Mexborough
Sheffield
Dawlish (Certain parts,more and more chavs every year)
Liverpool (suburbs)
Lowestoft
Glasgow
Wigan
Warrington
Widnes
Bury
Leek
Stafford
Crewe
Hull
Sunderland

 

[37372]

Mexborough

I could be like some people on here and say "what's wrong with *insert hometown here*?! " But having the misfortune of living there my whole life I can only say...


So very true.

 

[devon_metro]

Dawlish (Certain parts,more and more chavs every year)

It's hardly a contender for worst town though! Shame about all the grockels really.

 

[LE Greys]

Well then it would be slightly different, but the examples of Skipton and Lancaster I used above are places where the centres aren't rough!

But if you could have a better standard of living with a larger/nicer house (for a lower price) on the edge of a supposedly rough place, some people might go for it..

Might explain Bragbury End, but the only part of Stevenage the residents ever see is the inside of Waitrose (and that's in the Old Town).
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I could be like some people on here and say "what's wrong with *insert hometown here*?! " But having the misfortune of living there my whole life I can only say...


So very true.

Difference is, I live near, but not in...

 

[Clip]

Sunderland. You may say it is a city but only because it won a competition. Still a small town in Durham if you ask me.

This. Also add boro to the list and all the medway towns.. And high Wycombe

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Aldershot. That's pretty grim in places.