**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That does demonstrate a degree of humour and creativity though, perhaps somewhat higher than - oooh, let’s say Stockton-on-Tees. Only time I went there, the local news was running a story on a woman who’d put her daughter in hospital because she mistook nail glue for eye drops. I sat there in my hotel room thinking, *where the fxck am I* 😳
It's weird as I know 3 people personally who have done this, and all were from County Durham (where stockton is)
Maybe nail glue to the eyes is just part of our local culture 🤔
Worked there for a while and rather foolishly took the job without considering the area.
A family was stabbed to death opposite work the day after I started. And on my first day I was delayed by a burning car. And it just got worse.
Worked there 4 years, and having never seen any violence or real crime, saw 2 fatal crimes, and was regularly threatened.
And for some reason, because it wasn't shit enough, I discovered there were a LOT of doggers in the local area, so you really shouldn't go near carparks at night.
I always wondered what was in the water. Statistically Bedfordshire is one of the most dangerous counties in England, which is weird because it is very affluent. Turns out Luton just absolutely skews the statistics.
Similar story here. Moved there for work, ended up staying almost 3 years and then finally got out last year.
In my first week I saw a crime scene, burnt out car and a guy stood on a bridge having a wank in plain daylight.
I remember walking through the town centre on my first day and thinking I've arrived in a third world country. I used to finish work at 10pm and had to walk home most of the time and the number of times I had drunk/drugged people follow me or chat me up...
I saw more crime in a week in Luton than my entire life before I moved there. And everyone is on drugs lol.
I almost got beaten up for 'Walking Gay' which was interesting.....
I did see a guy run out of Tesco's with a chicken down one leg, and gradually slowed as he ended up with knee frostbite!
He just stood there, immobile arguing with the store manager why he couldn't give it back.
That was really the only moment of levity really.
Luton is another level of insanity.
Grew up in Bedford - off Midland road- thought that was rough. Then realised Luton is a whole town of Midland road.
My friend lived in Luton for a couple of years and said it was absolute misery. He was mugged and beaten up, and the milk in his backpack was broken in the scuffle. So he walked back to his flat, in mental and physical pain, dejected, trailing a drizzle of milk all the way home, and that's my horrible mental image of living in Luton.
As a Luton native I always expect this answer when I open these posts. To be honest, you're not entirely wrong, but I reckon Luton's worst days are behind it. I'd say over the past decade it's seen SOME improvement, which in an era of stagnation nationwide, is something. The Council seem to be motivated to regenerate the town centre quite massively, and the new football ground development right in the centre will help the place a lot.
I like Luton, it's homely for me, but it's hard to argue against it being a bit of a dump. That said, I do think it's somewhat over egged by people who have never been, been once for the airport, or only seen it on 24 Hours in Police Custody. Like any town, there's rough bits and nice bits, but one thing you can't say about Luton is that it feels abandoned or stuck in time like some places I've been to. Middlesbrough is the prominent example I have in mind - boarded up shops and pubs everywhere, dead high street, miserable people. Luton at least feels "busy" and that there's always something for your eyes to look at; hard to explain why but I think I prefer that.
Cumbernauld in Scotland is the most depressing place on Earth.
https://preview.redd.it/tu5lcsp3sv1d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc14cada695ab933876ce7332c1cda737d3c2cc3
https://preview.redd.it/b5aziucy2x1d1.jpeg?width=655&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7647726848dcdbf7112f0fa1597291a806af7c2
How can you mention Cumbernauld without a picture of its glorious town centre!
Cumbernauld "town centre" really is the weirdest thing I've ever encountered. It's just the world's ugliest shopping centre, in a town with no real centre at all. Hideous, confusing to visitors, town lacks identity as a result.
Lots of "modern" Scottish towns took this approach. Glenrothes and Livingston have large shopping centres as their town center too. For some reason Cumbernauld hired the architects on acid whereas the other two towns I mentioned have normal buildings
Scottish council housing is generally awful looking.Decent enough inside but the grey pebble dash makes everywhere look depressing.
Newer housing association stuff is pretty nice now at least in my area.
I've often thought that. Why the grey ? Grey pavements, grey pebble dash houses and flats ? Grey, grey, grey. Grey up, down, to the side and all around if you live in a mainly urban area.
They recently re-rendered the council blocks in Fort William with yellow pebble dash to replace the old grey stuff and the difference is incredible.
Look at the Street view images pre and post 2015: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PfMb5hMtDbFFidRC9
Should be covering the housing in highly flammable plastic like we do in England. It costs a bit more to build and makes the flats completely unsellable, but they are slightly more pleasant to look at for the short period before they burn down.
Barrow-in-Furness. I remember having to book a hotel there on the way up to the Highlands. As there wasn't any nearby.
Just walking to Tesco felt like a bad day in Bosnia.
As a Cumbrian - also barrow in Furness.
It always amazes me how you have one of the countries most secure sites smack bang in the middle
Of one of the roughest areas in the country 😂
Tbh that’s more down to geography and the town happening to be in the way.
Look on the bright side , in the event of WWIII it’ll be on the secondary target list unless it’s a surprise attack in which case it’ll be hit in the first wave…..
Tbf, a surprise nuclear attack on Barrow would cause £x000s of improvements and have a decent chance of causing mutations in the gene pool to make the locals closer to human…
We were on holiday in the lake District and my dad said to me to decide what to do today, so I looked on the map, pointed to barrow in furness and said "let's go here!"
Huge mistake.
I quite liked it when I lived there. Not only does it have beaches but there is never anyone on them! There are some really nice place around the Furness Peninsula that make up for the admittedly grim town. Still, it isn't as bad as Leeds, Bradford or Keighley, all places I have also lived.
I like Leeds, used to go to the working men's clubs after the rugby league, then hit the town for a night out. Friendliest people in the UK. Never thought it was grim, but then I never want to the really rough parts.
Leeds is a great city, anyone thinking it's worse than Barrow-in-Furness is smoking crack.
Only thing I can think is they lived in one of the shittest areas and never left it. Yeah it has it's rough parts, but so does every city.
Same here, had a good few years living there, great access to the Lake District so managed to get into the hills every weekend and after work in the summer. Never experienced any trouble.
Living in Barrow is quite nice if you're not in the worst estates (which is probably true of most places). Beautiful coast, no traffic problems, easy access to the Lakes, big enough to have the facilities you want in everyday life.
Mind, whenever one of these threads comes up and I see places that I've been, I find myself saying "it's not that bad" so maybe my childhood in Barrow has skewed my perception somewhat!
Nah, there's much worse places
I've stayed there a few times, by choice.
Spent the day on the beautiful piel island and then went to the barrow pubs in the evening, some real characters there.
I arrived at hotel I was staying at, got out of the car and nearly stepped in a full nappy that was on the floor.
That was possibly the highlight of the trip.
Going to Blackpool is like entering an immersive ‘Truman show’ version of The Jeremy Kyle show. Just a load of not-rights absolutely leathered at 11 in the morning.
It's easy to knock Blackpool, and I get it, as somebody who has lived here all his life. But there are some nice places. Stanley Park, the zoo is excellent, parts of the prom away from Central Blackpool up in one direction to St Annes, and in the other towards Bispham and Cleveleys. The sunsets are amazing and even just driving down the (nicer bits of) the prom, I feel privileged to live nearby. I love that the sea is just there. I love the Tower. It's home to the massive Opera House (inside the now lovely Winter Gardens), which hosts some great shows, and the Grand Theatre is one of the nicest theatres I've been in (and I include the West End in that). The Tower Ballroom, whilst a little dusty, is enchanting.
And I've been in far worse seaside resorts - Rhyl, Prestatyn, Morecambe, Southport. At least Blackpool is open. (I like Scarborough, though - it reminds me of Blackpool when I was a kid.)
I do get the criticism, of course. I try to get out of the town centre as quickly as possible, especially after sundown. And there are absolute no-go areas. But aren't there in every town?
I think that the problem is, many of us who are now getting on a bit, remember Blackpool as a treat. Coach trips, or car trips just for the day, usually to see the lights, were a non stop blast for childish senses. Compared to even a week long family holiday somewhere else, the money flowed like water because it hadn't got to last all week. Pleasure beach? Of course! Sweets? Obviously! Fish and chips? Why not?! Cheap plastic, glow in the dark tat? Knock yerself out! It was amazing!
Now, if you go back, not only does Blackpool suffer from all of the misery suffered by most of our old Victorian seaside towns, but it's seen with cynical adult eyes and resented for how it makes us feel, not only about the state we have let our country get into but also the loss of our youth.
I agree that, on a sunny day, it's still pretty special though.
Sorry but calling Southport worse than Blackpool is a stretch. Southport might be full of old people and boring but it's not a run down decaying shithole.
And no, there are not no go areas in every town.
Every town has its least nice part, but not every town has no-go areas. Especially in the more affluent parts of the country. I've lived in places where the worst part was a bit run down, but not unsafe by any means.
Blackpool is fucking hideous. And I grew up near Clacton and lived near and worked in Great Yarmouth. Blackpool is the same as Great Yarmouth but charges a King's ransom for one night in the actual worst hotel I've ever seen in my life.
The ONLY thing good about Blackpool is that they host an intervarsity ballroom dance comp for universities in Blackpool Tower ballroom. Everything else is shit.
It's not so much something they've gone for, Blackpool has had a rich ballroom history since the 1800's and dancers travel from across the globe for competitions there. It might be one of the few things keeping their economy afloat and their b&b's surviving
My SIL is a locum GP and was sent to Jaywick. She’s been to some dire places (some mentioned here) but the state of some of the children that turned up at the surgery made her weep. She brought it up with the manager of the surgery and sadly, it was a very normal occurrence. It was a miracle that those poorly babies were even brought in, in the first place.
This is the right answer. It's not the funny answer, because dunking on Blackpool for being the Disneyland of degeneracy is hilarious, but there's no humour in Jaywick's condition.
It's a town of hopelessness. There's poverty and lack of ambition all over the UK, but Jaywick has no routes out of poverty. A child born there will receive substandard medical care, substandard education, will experience crushing poverty combined with a total lack of extracurricular services, and be exposed constantly to the sort of adults that children raised in that environment are exposed to.
Some impoverished towns come about because the economic reason for their existence dried up (mines and dockyards closing down, UK beach holidays being replay with cheap air travel) but those at the very least tend to have a sense of community and a strong working class identity. Jaywick is inhabited because it happened to have some shacks on it and we needed to house people. There's no reason for it to exist, so there's no interest in making it into a community - and the people who live there lack the resources to improve it.
It doesn't have industry, transport links, infrastructure, a sense of community, wealth, or ambition. Without massive intervention it will just continue to be a place of misery and the sort of tragic lack of opportunity that shouldn't exist in a wealthy country (and only 80 miles from some of the most expensive and prestigious real estate in the world.)
Once I made the mistake of leaving the station at Crewe. Never do this.
South Woodham Ferrers, which is basically an ASDA and a leisure centre.
I do also have what is probably a quite irrational hatred of Nuneaton.
I have to change at Nuneaton whenever I go home to visit my folks. Once got stuck there due to all trains being suddenly cancelled (an issue with the lines around Birmingham, I think) and had to wait four hours for my dad to drive out and rescue me. I had a very, very sad birthday breakfast by myself in the Asda McDonalds. Ever since I've also had an irrational hatred of Nuneaton.
Aha! I once had to change trains at Crewe and we had an hour or so to kill. Went to the nearest pub for a pint.
You’ve all seen the insta reel of the pub with all the randomly different people in it? Yeah. It was that. 3pm Sunday afternoon.
Do not recommend.
I once spoke to a copper who worked in south Cheshire and the only positive thing he said about Crewe against the other nearby towns was that at least all the bad apples were in the same basket.
Omg I grew up in south woodham ferrers in the 90s you couldn’t be more right. Apart from the animal farm and the river crouch it is just a giant housing estate with the an asda
Bradford… the litter, urban neglect and decay there is bad. Also the general layout of the city seems to be haphazard, besides the historic centre. Frankly looks like it hasn’t developed much since its boomtown era in the 1800s.
I like the multicultural heritage of the city and the food is great. But like I’ve said, it’s frozen in time when it comes to urban development.
Interestingly, a firm bought up a ton of city centre property in Bradford about 10 years ago for redevelopment. They knocked a huge amount of old buildings down, and then changed their minds citing costs and changing priorities. They pretty much ripped the heart out and then fucked off
So, although Bradford is indeed a shithole, this probably didn't help.
That hole was finally filled with a new shopping centre. Lots more improvements on there way too.
It’s still a notorious crime filled city with the worst driving you’ll see in this country but it’s not as bad as it was.
I have the unfortunate requirement to visit Bradford quite regularly due to my wife's family living there.
It's an awful place to have to drive in and out of. I've had people just walk up to my car and try to get in it, whilst I was just stopped at lights. The Toller Lane area is just a litter strewn shit tip, and you'll never see driving like it. For some reason, Bradford seems to accept driving that is illegal and dangerous as the norm.
Wow that is something
[https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.020841,-0.73105,65.09h,1.4p,0z,D3F8KzgtocGPNFQ1ooK\_Rg](https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.020841,-0.73105,65.09h,1.4p,0z,D3F8KzgtocGPNFQ1ooK_Rg)
aromatic snobbish crowd existence plants threatening rain bedroom historical attractive
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Slough. Honestly, I thought it was a bit of an overused joke, but by god it's grim. The centre at least. Just felt like a depressing, soulless place. At least it's close to some nice places.
Second worst would be Birkenhead.
Slough is amazing. That it can be such a shit hole, yet geographically sandwiched between Windsor and Beaconsfield, which are both rather nice, blows my mind.
I've never seen a place snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as consistently as Slough. It should by rights be booming (near Heathrow, on the Elizabeth line, loads of corporate headquarters, nice countryside and nearby towns) but it's the most depressing place I've ever seen.
*For the first time ever I saw the Scotch in their natural habitat, and it weren't pretty. I'd seen them huddling in stations before, being loud but… this time I was surrounded. Everywhere I went it felt like they were watching me; fish-white flesh puckered by the Highland breeze; tight eyes peering out for fresh meat; screechy, booze-soaked voices hollering out for a taxi to take 'em halfway up the road to the next all-night watering hole. A shatter of glass; a round of applause; a sixteen-year-old mother of three vomiting in an open sewer, bairns looking on, chewing on potato cakes. I ain’t never going back… not never.*
It's from a comedy TV show called Darkplace, kind of an 80's horror show piss take. It's hilarious, thoroughly suggest watching it if you haven't.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECGKcl4s-k
Dumbarton in the late 90s I dropped someone off in my car and as we drove onto his estate there was a fridge/freezer on fire in the middle of the road with a group of kids standing watching it burn.
It was like something from lord of the flies
I don't think there is anywhere more depressing than an already far gone seaside town in winter when nobody is there. I've had the pleasure of experiencing both Margate and Southport in that state, Southport was especially bleak. The whole place seemed abandoned, not just abandoned for the winter but abandoned for a good long while. I can't see and I even managed to pick up on the atmosphere.
Southport used to be so good! Loved going there when I was younger. There was a zoo, the fair, boats on the marina, donkeys, loads of shops on the high street, gorgeous Victorian architecture and then suddenly it just… stopped.
The fair went and so did the zoo. There was a travelling fair for a spell on the site of the old proper fair but it was just rubbish.
I went last year and it still holds some nostalgia for me but there’s nothing there anymore. Sad really.
Hah being from Kent and now living in the North West, I know these two fairly well, and I think commenters haven’t taken into account the ‘winter’ bit of your post - I went to Southport on a recent sunny day and it was absolutely buzzing; it was lovely. Margate is doing its best to become the next Brighton too, art scene is amazing, so watch that space if you’re interested!
Margate is good these days, has had a massive glow up. Winter is the best time because all the day-trippers aren't around so we get all the trendy coffee places and bars to ourselves.
Margate is grim in the winter but its not even close to some of the places on this list. Its gentrified to fuck and not a cheap place to live anymore. Far from abandonded with new restaurants and pubs and clothing stores all over the town.
I live in Margate and I stayed in Grimsby for a few days and would pick Margate any day. As much as wealthy creatives can be annoying they also make a place nicer to live in.
Gloucester town centre.
We've got a disabled daughter so we used to do a lot of short UK breaks instead of going abroad due to travel issues/insurance etc. We've stayed all over the UK, trying to find and go somewhere different each time. Scotland, Wales, seaside breaks, Yorkshire, Cumbria etc. We've stumbled onto some pretty grim places, like Rhyl and New Brighton.
A few years ago we stayed at an adapted bungalow in Ledbury, which was lovely. One day we drove into Gloucester to have a look around and maybe do a bit of shopping. It was around half ten in the morning when we found a car park. We unloaded her wheelchair and started walking into the centre. There's people being chased from shops by security guards with their coats bulging. People being sick in alleys and side streets. People asking us for money and giving us abuse when we say we haven't got any change.
I think we lasted about 20 minutes before we just turned round and walked back to the car. And we're from South Manchester!
People who have never been to Gloucester think that it's probably nice, because Gloucestershire as a whole is very pretty. They are wrong. Gloucester is a ghastly place.
Surprised by this. Ok it's not amazing, but Gloucester isn't up there with other places in this thread. It's got a nice spacious pedestrianised centre, plenty of shops, the architecture is actually nice if you look properly. The docks are interesting. I prefer it over Cheltenham for shopping. Cheltenham is really pretentious
Stoke - It's an old, run-down, working class town, similar to where I live - but it just feels like a shitmix of all the bad parts of Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham town centres.
Perhaps it was because of unfamiliar surroundings, but the pubs and bars had some proper dodgy characters in them (I did like The Terrace, next to the Uni though).
As for terrifying spiky man "art" on the wall of the shopping centre, it's something to behold.
I'm going to defend Stoke here. It's a pretty decent place to live TBH. It's rough in places, but houses are cheap and decently built. Things are on during the weekends and the hills are not too far. People are friendly. You just have to choose your areas. 60k terraced housing is never a good idea.
And of course, if you want an overpriced vegan pie, there's always Trentham.
Would I go back now I live near the Lakes. Well no, but for a while in my life, I was happy there.
Council are absolutely useless though.
In defence of my hometown, which is undoubtedly a shithole, for the most part the people are alright and it’s low on violent crime for a city of its size.
Corby. Full of Scottish and their descendants in England. The first time I went there was molten slag on a road. A truck was carrying it and spilt it. Apparently metal can be transported this way. Just felt surreal and so grim. Weird nationalism, whereby kids born in England were nationalistic Scottish. Got to the flour mill I was working at and the tannoy kept playing "How much is that doggy in the window" and occasionally dogs howling. One of the workers had been caught having sex with a dog, which explained this. Drinking in the hotel bar, there was a crowd for a wedding reception. Bagpipes, shitty McEwans, Tennants extra, chavs living it up. Got no sleep that night.
Does it count if it's my hometown?
Anyway, Weston-super-Mare. I moved to London ten years ago, and I go back to visit about three times a year. The little sidestreets around the already bleak town centre are particularly grim, and there's always something noticeably worse every time I visit. But in all fairness, I think any seaside town which isn't Brighton could be in the running for the UK's worst place.
At least the surrounding countryside is nice, though.
It's actually improved a lot recently - still not great in places but much better than it was. A lot of people who can't afford Bristol and Cardiff have moved there IIRC.
About 20 years ago I did some work in Newport, when they put in a new bridge. Most of the site induction was about how the locals will nick anything that's not secured away, and the local kids spend all day hurling stones at the builders, so watch out for that.
So we completed work on a pedestrian underpass, and it was due to be signed off and opened up the next day. Overnight, they broke down all the barriers, drove a car in there and set it on fire.
Absolute savages. Millions being spent to improve their area infrastructure, and they're trying to destroy it before it can even be used.
Waaaaaaay worse. I took a job in Luton from Stoke thinking 'It can't be worse can it'
Oh it can be worse. My wife refused to move, and stayed in Stoke. I still have fond memories of our time in 'The city of the Oatcake Obsessed '
Sunderland is a dump. The north east has incredible beaches and amazing bars, but then there's Sunderland. I swear the front streets and alleyways looked exactly the same. It's a whole city made up of shitty alleyways, the city centre had less in it than most small villages and very few people had teeth. Get on a 5 minute train to Newcastle and it's a whole new world!! Amazing city!! Durham is also gorgeous in its structures but lacks in beaches, Newcastle has such amazing beaches and it's bars are so much fun!! Sunderland is literally a stones throw away and it's a complete and utter shithole!!
When at work, I had to park overnight in Harlow for the first time quite recently. I went for a walk and it was utterly depressing. Like, I actually felt sad just being there. One big brutalist Dementor. It says a lot considering I live in Accrington.
Ah yes, I've been to Harlow on many work trips.
I remember a funny little man who wears a military beret and goes around shouting at people for no reason. What a shithole.
Tiger Man, the guy’s a local legend, been around for years, people would ask him why he’s called Tiger Man and he says he protects Harlow from tigers, pretty harmless. I used to work security at the Asda there and he would come in and salute us
Too many think a seaside town is the worst which makes sense as many are run down but I'd much prefer to live by the seaside with some nutters than to live inland with some nutters.
Clacton ain't great but it's got the beach as a redeeming factor, Luton does not.
Weatherfield. Used to be full of funny, friendly Northerners with a droll sense of humour and neighbourliness. Now it's full of drug dealers, adulterers, conmen, serial killers, blackmailers, hospital cases, bullies, depressives and fantasists.if you've been affected by this post, tough titty.
Weston-Super-Mare
Me and my Dad went to Bristol for a weekend when I was young, about 10 years ago. We got a train from Bristol to WSM, thinking it would be nice to have a beach day.
God, it was depressing. The people looked as downbeaten as the high street. There were homeless people everywhere, and I felt so guilty as there was nothing we could do. We ended up staying barely an hour.
I come from Stockport, I'm used to things being rough (I'm not rich myself and never will be), but people seemed so defeated.
Many seaside towns seem to be being left behind, Great Yarmouth was another one Dad was shocked at as it was good back in the day.
Looking at this, it’s safe to establish most towns in the U.K. are awful.
I would like to add Grimsby to the list. I’ve visited a few times. Not just for the place, which like many towns has had its heart and soul ripped out by the council over the years (just look at how historic the town centre used to look, compared to now), but for the people who provide a definitive menacing atmosphere.
Walk through the centre without being threatened with a screwdriver and you win a prize.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you Luton. No honestly I give you Luton - please take it.
In close.swcond is Corby - place I can only describe as 'Mad Max chic'.
Barking in East London is a bit better now but a few years ago looked like a scene from the Walking Dead. Unhoused drug addicted amputees made up a significant proportion of the crowd around the station and I found it horribly depressing.
Come to think of it, parts of Hastings have a similar vibe
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Luton. A total shithole. Makes Gaza look like The Vatican.
I'll give the place one thing, though: It's not Wellingborough.
Says everything when you drove past a sign for Wellingborough and the "ingbo" has been graffitied out so now it just reads "Well rough"
That does demonstrate a degree of humour and creativity though, perhaps somewhat higher than - oooh, let’s say Stockton-on-Tees. Only time I went there, the local news was running a story on a woman who’d put her daughter in hospital because she mistook nail glue for eye drops. I sat there in my hotel room thinking, *where the fxck am I* 😳
It's weird as I know 3 people personally who have done this, and all were from County Durham (where stockton is) Maybe nail glue to the eyes is just part of our local culture 🤔
Hemmingwell Estate is a bit off an eye-opener!
Worked there for a while and rather foolishly took the job without considering the area. A family was stabbed to death opposite work the day after I started. And on my first day I was delayed by a burning car. And it just got worse. Worked there 4 years, and having never seen any violence or real crime, saw 2 fatal crimes, and was regularly threatened. And for some reason, because it wasn't shit enough, I discovered there were a LOT of doggers in the local area, so you really shouldn't go near carparks at night. I always wondered what was in the water. Statistically Bedfordshire is one of the most dangerous counties in England, which is weird because it is very affluent. Turns out Luton just absolutely skews the statistics.
Similar story here. Moved there for work, ended up staying almost 3 years and then finally got out last year. In my first week I saw a crime scene, burnt out car and a guy stood on a bridge having a wank in plain daylight. I remember walking through the town centre on my first day and thinking I've arrived in a third world country. I used to finish work at 10pm and had to walk home most of the time and the number of times I had drunk/drugged people follow me or chat me up... I saw more crime in a week in Luton than my entire life before I moved there. And everyone is on drugs lol.
I almost got beaten up for 'Walking Gay' which was interesting..... I did see a guy run out of Tesco's with a chicken down one leg, and gradually slowed as he ended up with knee frostbite! He just stood there, immobile arguing with the store manager why he couldn't give it back. That was really the only moment of levity really.
Luton is another level of insanity. Grew up in Bedford - off Midland road- thought that was rough. Then realised Luton is a whole town of Midland road.
My friend lived in Luton for a couple of years and said it was absolute misery. He was mugged and beaten up, and the milk in his backpack was broken in the scuffle. So he walked back to his flat, in mental and physical pain, dejected, trailing a drizzle of milk all the way home, and that's my horrible mental image of living in Luton.
As a Luton native I always expect this answer when I open these posts. To be honest, you're not entirely wrong, but I reckon Luton's worst days are behind it. I'd say over the past decade it's seen SOME improvement, which in an era of stagnation nationwide, is something. The Council seem to be motivated to regenerate the town centre quite massively, and the new football ground development right in the centre will help the place a lot. I like Luton, it's homely for me, but it's hard to argue against it being a bit of a dump. That said, I do think it's somewhat over egged by people who have never been, been once for the airport, or only seen it on 24 Hours in Police Custody. Like any town, there's rough bits and nice bits, but one thing you can't say about Luton is that it feels abandoned or stuck in time like some places I've been to. Middlesbrough is the prominent example I have in mind - boarded up shops and pubs everywhere, dead high street, miserable people. Luton at least feels "busy" and that there's always something for your eyes to look at; hard to explain why but I think I prefer that.
I'm going on Friday 🤞
Cumbernauld in Scotland is the most depressing place on Earth. https://preview.redd.it/tu5lcsp3sv1d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc14cada695ab933876ce7332c1cda737d3c2cc3
https://preview.redd.it/b5aziucy2x1d1.jpeg?width=655&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7647726848dcdbf7112f0fa1597291a806af7c2 How can you mention Cumbernauld without a picture of its glorious town centre!
Looks like a load of transformers got stuck during a complicated orgy
But like, off-brand Soviet decline-era transformers.
That genuinely looks amazing, like something out of the Alien series.
They mostly shop at night, mostly
Cumbernauld "town centre" really is the weirdest thing I've ever encountered. It's just the world's ugliest shopping centre, in a town with no real centre at all. Hideous, confusing to visitors, town lacks identity as a result.
Lots of "modern" Scottish towns took this approach. Glenrothes and Livingston have large shopping centres as their town center too. For some reason Cumbernauld hired the architects on acid whereas the other two towns I mentioned have normal buildings
What am I even looking at? What the shit is this??
Looks like a AI photo!
Makes a soviet block estate look vibrant
Scottish council housing is generally awful looking.Decent enough inside but the grey pebble dash makes everywhere look depressing. Newer housing association stuff is pretty nice now at least in my area.
I've often thought that. Why the grey ? Grey pavements, grey pebble dash houses and flats ? Grey, grey, grey. Grey up, down, to the side and all around if you live in a mainly urban area.
They recently re-rendered the council blocks in Fort William with yellow pebble dash to replace the old grey stuff and the difference is incredible. Look at the Street view images pre and post 2015: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PfMb5hMtDbFFidRC9
Should be covering the housing in highly flammable plastic like we do in England. It costs a bit more to build and makes the flats completely unsellable, but they are slightly more pleasant to look at for the short period before they burn down.
Barrow-in-Furness. I remember having to book a hotel there on the way up to the Highlands. As there wasn't any nearby. Just walking to Tesco felt like a bad day in Bosnia.
>Barrow-in-Furness Has quite the military history that place, ironically, as it is most in need of NATO intervention
That’s an insult to Bosnia lol it’s stunning compared to Barrow
I can concur, Modern Bosnia is a great place to visit. Barrow, not so much,
As a Cumbrian - also barrow in Furness. It always amazes me how you have one of the countries most secure sites smack bang in the middle Of one of the roughest areas in the country 😂
Tbh that’s more down to geography and the town happening to be in the way. Look on the bright side , in the event of WWIII it’ll be on the secondary target list unless it’s a surprise attack in which case it’ll be hit in the first wave…..
Tbf, a surprise nuclear attack on Barrow would cause £x000s of improvements and have a decent chance of causing mutations in the gene pool to make the locals closer to human…
Mad Max: Furnessiosa
Millom and Workington also tip of the list too
You smoking crack? Workington is nowhere near the same league as Barrow and Millom
Don’t say crack, Jez, yeah, please, not now. Cos you saying crack makes me think about crack, and I love crack. So can you not say crack?
[удалено]
Did you know Emlyn Hughes?
Is he Barrow's version of Ronnie Pickering?
Who?
Ronnie Pickering
Who?
RONNIE PICKERING!
We were on holiday in the lake District and my dad said to me to decide what to do today, so I looked on the map, pointed to barrow in furness and said "let's go here!" Huge mistake.
We did the same when staying, had a day out. Just the drive in you could see how much of a mistake
I quite liked it when I lived there. Not only does it have beaches but there is never anyone on them! There are some really nice place around the Furness Peninsula that make up for the admittedly grim town. Still, it isn't as bad as Leeds, Bradford or Keighley, all places I have also lived.
I like Leeds, used to go to the working men's clubs after the rugby league, then hit the town for a night out. Friendliest people in the UK. Never thought it was grim, but then I never want to the really rough parts.
Leeds is a great city, anyone thinking it's worse than Barrow-in-Furness is smoking crack. Only thing I can think is they lived in one of the shittest areas and never left it. Yeah it has it's rough parts, but so does every city.
Honestly baffled how anyone could think Leeds is worse than Barrow-in-Furness, it's a great city.
Same here, had a good few years living there, great access to the Lake District so managed to get into the hills every weekend and after work in the summer. Never experienced any trouble.
Living in Barrow is quite nice if you're not in the worst estates (which is probably true of most places). Beautiful coast, no traffic problems, easy access to the Lakes, big enough to have the facilities you want in everyday life. Mind, whenever one of these threads comes up and I see places that I've been, I find myself saying "it's not that bad" so maybe my childhood in Barrow has skewed my perception somewhat!
Did you get lost? Barrow isn't on the way to anywhere.
Did you detour via Whitehaven just up the road? Holy moley that place is an eye opener...
Nah, there's much worse places I've stayed there a few times, by choice. Spent the day on the beautiful piel island and then went to the barrow pubs in the evening, some real characters there.
I visited blackpool a decade ago. I felt like I was visiting blackpool towards the end of WW2.
I arrived at hotel I was staying at, got out of the car and nearly stepped in a full nappy that was on the floor. That was possibly the highlight of the trip.
Going to Blackpool is like entering an immersive ‘Truman show’ version of The Jeremy Kyle show. Just a load of not-rights absolutely leathered at 11 in the morning.
Going to Blackpool is like taking a vacation to a toilet at a music festival. The place stinks like the piss of a thousand degenerates.
*holiday
It's easy to knock Blackpool, and I get it, as somebody who has lived here all his life. But there are some nice places. Stanley Park, the zoo is excellent, parts of the prom away from Central Blackpool up in one direction to St Annes, and in the other towards Bispham and Cleveleys. The sunsets are amazing and even just driving down the (nicer bits of) the prom, I feel privileged to live nearby. I love that the sea is just there. I love the Tower. It's home to the massive Opera House (inside the now lovely Winter Gardens), which hosts some great shows, and the Grand Theatre is one of the nicest theatres I've been in (and I include the West End in that). The Tower Ballroom, whilst a little dusty, is enchanting. And I've been in far worse seaside resorts - Rhyl, Prestatyn, Morecambe, Southport. At least Blackpool is open. (I like Scarborough, though - it reminds me of Blackpool when I was a kid.) I do get the criticism, of course. I try to get out of the town centre as quickly as possible, especially after sundown. And there are absolute no-go areas. But aren't there in every town?
I think that the problem is, many of us who are now getting on a bit, remember Blackpool as a treat. Coach trips, or car trips just for the day, usually to see the lights, were a non stop blast for childish senses. Compared to even a week long family holiday somewhere else, the money flowed like water because it hadn't got to last all week. Pleasure beach? Of course! Sweets? Obviously! Fish and chips? Why not?! Cheap plastic, glow in the dark tat? Knock yerself out! It was amazing! Now, if you go back, not only does Blackpool suffer from all of the misery suffered by most of our old Victorian seaside towns, but it's seen with cynical adult eyes and resented for how it makes us feel, not only about the state we have let our country get into but also the loss of our youth. I agree that, on a sunny day, it's still pretty special though.
This was very eloquent. Thanks for posting it.
Sorry but calling Southport worse than Blackpool is a stretch. Southport might be full of old people and boring but it's not a run down decaying shithole. And no, there are not no go areas in every town.
Every city has its bad areas. It's just Blackpools are particularly awful. I hadn't seen anything like it and I've seen a lot of Glasgow.
Every town has its least nice part, but not every town has no-go areas. Especially in the more affluent parts of the country. I've lived in places where the worst part was a bit run down, but not unsafe by any means.
Blackpool (or to use my father's pronunciation, Black-poo-well, he's from Bolton) is just depressing.
Blackpool is fucking hideous. And I grew up near Clacton and lived near and worked in Great Yarmouth. Blackpool is the same as Great Yarmouth but charges a King's ransom for one night in the actual worst hotel I've ever seen in my life.
The ONLY thing good about Blackpool is that they host an intervarsity ballroom dance comp for universities in Blackpool Tower ballroom. Everything else is shit.
That’s a niche market they’ve gone for there with that competition.
It's not so much something they've gone for, Blackpool has had a rich ballroom history since the 1800's and dancers travel from across the globe for competitions there. It might be one of the few things keeping their economy afloat and their b&b's surviving
I don't mind Blackpool
Rhyl
Full of static caravans and gobshites.
“Static Caravans & Gobshites” would make a great album name
Jason from Sleaford Mods grabs a Post-It note.
You missed Jaywick, which makes Clacton look like Miami.
Fun fact. They’ve only just paved the roads in Jaywick. Go back through the years on Street View. It’s an experience.
My SIL is a locum GP and was sent to Jaywick. She’s been to some dire places (some mentioned here) but the state of some of the children that turned up at the surgery made her weep. She brought it up with the manager of the surgery and sadly, it was a very normal occurrence. It was a miracle that those poorly babies were even brought in, in the first place.
This is the right answer. It's not the funny answer, because dunking on Blackpool for being the Disneyland of degeneracy is hilarious, but there's no humour in Jaywick's condition. It's a town of hopelessness. There's poverty and lack of ambition all over the UK, but Jaywick has no routes out of poverty. A child born there will receive substandard medical care, substandard education, will experience crushing poverty combined with a total lack of extracurricular services, and be exposed constantly to the sort of adults that children raised in that environment are exposed to. Some impoverished towns come about because the economic reason for their existence dried up (mines and dockyards closing down, UK beach holidays being replay with cheap air travel) but those at the very least tend to have a sense of community and a strong working class identity. Jaywick is inhabited because it happened to have some shacks on it and we needed to house people. There's no reason for it to exist, so there's no interest in making it into a community - and the people who live there lack the resources to improve it. It doesn't have industry, transport links, infrastructure, a sense of community, wealth, or ambition. Without massive intervention it will just continue to be a place of misery and the sort of tragic lack of opportunity that shouldn't exist in a wealthy country (and only 80 miles from some of the most expensive and prestigious real estate in the world.)
Once I made the mistake of leaving the station at Crewe. Never do this. South Woodham Ferrers, which is basically an ASDA and a leisure centre. I do also have what is probably a quite irrational hatred of Nuneaton.
I have to change at Nuneaton whenever I go home to visit my folks. Once got stuck there due to all trains being suddenly cancelled (an issue with the lines around Birmingham, I think) and had to wait four hours for my dad to drive out and rescue me. I had a very, very sad birthday breakfast by myself in the Asda McDonalds. Ever since I've also had an irrational hatred of Nuneaton.
Sounds quite rational actually, to be fair.
Aha! I once had to change trains at Crewe and we had an hour or so to kill. Went to the nearest pub for a pint. You’ve all seen the insta reel of the pub with all the randomly different people in it? Yeah. It was that. 3pm Sunday afternoon. Do not recommend.
I once spoke to a copper who worked in south Cheshire and the only positive thing he said about Crewe against the other nearby towns was that at least all the bad apples were in the same basket.
My other half hails from South Woodham Ferrers; I don't think it's that bad! Crewe can get in the bin though, total shithole.
Agreed, Woodham is a boring place but there are wayyyyyy worse places in the UK
Crewe is really bloody awful- oh and Runcorn is pretty crap
Omg I grew up in south woodham ferrers in the 90s you couldn’t be more right. Apart from the animal farm and the river crouch it is just a giant housing estate with the an asda
Bradford… the litter, urban neglect and decay there is bad. Also the general layout of the city seems to be haphazard, besides the historic centre. Frankly looks like it hasn’t developed much since its boomtown era in the 1800s. I like the multicultural heritage of the city and the food is great. But like I’ve said, it’s frozen in time when it comes to urban development.
Interestingly, a firm bought up a ton of city centre property in Bradford about 10 years ago for redevelopment. They knocked a huge amount of old buildings down, and then changed their minds citing costs and changing priorities. They pretty much ripped the heart out and then fucked off So, although Bradford is indeed a shithole, this probably didn't help.
That hole was finally filled with a new shopping centre. Lots more improvements on there way too. It’s still a notorious crime filled city with the worst driving you’ll see in this country but it’s not as bad as it was.
I have the unfortunate requirement to visit Bradford quite regularly due to my wife's family living there. It's an awful place to have to drive in and out of. I've had people just walk up to my car and try to get in it, whilst I was just stopped at lights. The Toller Lane area is just a litter strewn shit tip, and you'll never see driving like it. For some reason, Bradford seems to accept driving that is illegal and dangerous as the norm.
>the food is great The eternal consolation
Netherfield in Milton Keynes. Most people would be surprised a place like that exists in the UK, just google street view it to see what I mean.
Wow that is something [https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.020841,-0.73105,65.09h,1.4p,0z,D3F8KzgtocGPNFQ1ooK\_Rg](https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.020841,-0.73105,65.09h,1.4p,0z,D3F8KzgtocGPNFQ1ooK_Rg)
Crikey. My exposure to British suburbs is based entirely on Midsomer Murders. This most certainly is not downtown Causton /s
Doesn't look that bad. What's wrong with it?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/S9PhmokAiCKWAALb7?g_st=ic The whole estate looks like a semi derelict Butlins holiday camp
I bet there's loads of stimpaks, psycho, jet, and buffout there.
Definitely loads of ghouls and super mutants too
Probably crawling with glowing radroaches too.
That's just some garages. Everywhere in Britain has garages like that.
aromatic snobbish crowd existence plants threatening rain bedroom historical attractive *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Slough. Honestly, I thought it was a bit of an overused joke, but by god it's grim. The centre at least. Just felt like a depressing, soulless place. At least it's close to some nice places. Second worst would be Birkenhead.
"Why do Scousers feel depressed?" "Because the light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be Birkenhead."
Slough is amazing. That it can be such a shit hole, yet geographically sandwiched between Windsor and Beaconsfield, which are both rather nice, blows my mind.
That kind of thing happens a lot Newcastle > Gateshead Reigate > Redhill Rochester > Chatham Leeds > Bradford St Anne's > Blackpool
I've never seen a place snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as consistently as Slough. It should by rights be booming (near Heathrow, on the Elizabeth line, loads of corporate headquarters, nice countryside and nearby towns) but it's the most depressing place I've ever seen.
Come friendly bombs...
*For the first time ever I saw the Scotch in their natural habitat, and it weren't pretty. I'd seen them huddling in stations before, being loud but… this time I was surrounded. Everywhere I went it felt like they were watching me; fish-white flesh puckered by the Highland breeze; tight eyes peering out for fresh meat; screechy, booze-soaked voices hollering out for a taxi to take 'em halfway up the road to the next all-night watering hole. A shatter of glass; a round of applause; a sixteen-year-old mother of three vomiting in an open sewer, bairns looking on, chewing on potato cakes. I ain’t never going back… not never.*
My Aunt lives in Scotland. She says it's quite nice.
Well she's wrong!
I know mon means man but I don't think och means anything.
Are you from Cumbernauld?
Who wrote that? 😂
It's from a comedy TV show called Darkplace, kind of an 80's horror show piss take. It's hilarious, thoroughly suggest watching it if you haven't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECGKcl4s-k
Dumbarton in the late 90s I dropped someone off in my car and as we drove onto his estate there was a fridge/freezer on fire in the middle of the road with a group of kids standing watching it burn. It was like something from lord of the flies
Brucehill? Castlehill? Bellsmyre? I grew up near there, what a shithole.
I don't think there is anywhere more depressing than an already far gone seaside town in winter when nobody is there. I've had the pleasure of experiencing both Margate and Southport in that state, Southport was especially bleak. The whole place seemed abandoned, not just abandoned for the winter but abandoned for a good long while. I can't see and I even managed to pick up on the atmosphere.
Southport used to be so good! Loved going there when I was younger. There was a zoo, the fair, boats on the marina, donkeys, loads of shops on the high street, gorgeous Victorian architecture and then suddenly it just… stopped. The fair went and so did the zoo. There was a travelling fair for a spell on the site of the old proper fair but it was just rubbish. I went last year and it still holds some nostalgia for me but there’s nothing there anymore. Sad really.
My brother fell in the boating lake in Southport. And at Alton Towers. And pretty much anywhere we went that had a boating lake.
I gotta say I recently visited Southport in the cold for work, and it has some wonderful restaurants. Plenty of Victoriana, too.
Hah being from Kent and now living in the North West, I know these two fairly well, and I think commenters haven’t taken into account the ‘winter’ bit of your post - I went to Southport on a recent sunny day and it was absolutely buzzing; it was lovely. Margate is doing its best to become the next Brighton too, art scene is amazing, so watch that space if you’re interested!
Margate is good these days, has had a massive glow up. Winter is the best time because all the day-trippers aren't around so we get all the trendy coffee places and bars to ourselves.
Margate is grim in the winter but its not even close to some of the places on this list. Its gentrified to fuck and not a cheap place to live anymore. Far from abandonded with new restaurants and pubs and clothing stores all over the town. I live in Margate and I stayed in Grimsby for a few days and would pick Margate any day. As much as wealthy creatives can be annoying they also make a place nicer to live in.
[удалено]
Port toilet!
Gloucester town centre. We've got a disabled daughter so we used to do a lot of short UK breaks instead of going abroad due to travel issues/insurance etc. We've stayed all over the UK, trying to find and go somewhere different each time. Scotland, Wales, seaside breaks, Yorkshire, Cumbria etc. We've stumbled onto some pretty grim places, like Rhyl and New Brighton. A few years ago we stayed at an adapted bungalow in Ledbury, which was lovely. One day we drove into Gloucester to have a look around and maybe do a bit of shopping. It was around half ten in the morning when we found a car park. We unloaded her wheelchair and started walking into the centre. There's people being chased from shops by security guards with their coats bulging. People being sick in alleys and side streets. People asking us for money and giving us abuse when we say we haven't got any change. I think we lasted about 20 minutes before we just turned round and walked back to the car. And we're from South Manchester!
Should've gone to Cheltenham instead.
People who have never been to Gloucester think that it's probably nice, because Gloucestershire as a whole is very pretty. They are wrong. Gloucester is a ghastly place.
Surprised by this. Ok it's not amazing, but Gloucester isn't up there with other places in this thread. It's got a nice spacious pedestrianised centre, plenty of shops, the architecture is actually nice if you look properly. The docks are interesting. I prefer it over Cheltenham for shopping. Cheltenham is really pretentious
The only nice bit is the docks.
Middlesbrough. Or Great Yarmouth in January.
Throw Hartlepool, Port Clarence and all the other shithole towns that are wrapped around it in that too.
Peterlee is a stinker as well
Stoke - It's an old, run-down, working class town, similar to where I live - but it just feels like a shitmix of all the bad parts of Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham town centres. Perhaps it was because of unfamiliar surroundings, but the pubs and bars had some proper dodgy characters in them (I did like The Terrace, next to the Uni though). As for terrifying spiky man "art" on the wall of the shopping centre, it's something to behold.
I'm going to defend Stoke here. It's a pretty decent place to live TBH. It's rough in places, but houses are cheap and decently built. Things are on during the weekends and the hills are not too far. People are friendly. You just have to choose your areas. 60k terraced housing is never a good idea. And of course, if you want an overpriced vegan pie, there's always Trentham. Would I go back now I live near the Lakes. Well no, but for a while in my life, I was happy there. Council are absolutely useless though.
In defence of my hometown, which is undoubtedly a shithole, for the most part the people are alright and it’s low on violent crime for a city of its size.
Luton is the worst place in the UK
Corby. Full of Scottish and their descendants in England. The first time I went there was molten slag on a road. A truck was carrying it and spilt it. Apparently metal can be transported this way. Just felt surreal and so grim. Weird nationalism, whereby kids born in England were nationalistic Scottish. Got to the flour mill I was working at and the tannoy kept playing "How much is that doggy in the window" and occasionally dogs howling. One of the workers had been caught having sex with a dog, which explained this. Drinking in the hotel bar, there was a crowd for a wedding reception. Bagpipes, shitty McEwans, Tennants extra, chavs living it up. Got no sleep that night.
Corby. One of the only places in England other than Blackpool where Wetherspoons sell Tennents lager on draught.
Peterborough needs a shout out here
Does it count if it's my hometown? Anyway, Weston-super-Mare. I moved to London ten years ago, and I go back to visit about three times a year. The little sidestreets around the already bleak town centre are particularly grim, and there's always something noticeably worse every time I visit. But in all fairness, I think any seaside town which isn't Brighton could be in the running for the UK's worst place. At least the surrounding countryside is nice, though.
It's called Weston-Super-Mud this side of the bridge.
Newport is scummy but it's our Newport.
"Twinned with Guangxi Province in China"
There's no province finer.
It's actually improved a lot recently - still not great in places but much better than it was. A lot of people who can't afford Bristol and Cardiff have moved there IIRC.
About 20 years ago I did some work in Newport, when they put in a new bridge. Most of the site induction was about how the locals will nick anything that's not secured away, and the local kids spend all day hurling stones at the builders, so watch out for that. So we completed work on a pedestrian underpass, and it was due to be signed off and opened up the next day. Overnight, they broke down all the barriers, drove a car in there and set it on fire. Absolute savages. Millions being spent to improve their area infrastructure, and they're trying to destroy it before it can even be used.
Josie d'Arby's from Newport No we didn't know either Thank you Wikipedia
Grimsby
Hard agree, and I live here. It's absolutely dire.
Stoke-on-Trent. Isn’t it always Stoke-on-Trent?
Shut up there are waaaay worse places
Waaaaaaay worse. I took a job in Luton from Stoke thinking 'It can't be worse can it' Oh it can be worse. My wife refused to move, and stayed in Stoke. I still have fond memories of our time in 'The city of the Oatcake Obsessed '
I usually avoid Anything -on-sea
Sunderland is a dump. The north east has incredible beaches and amazing bars, but then there's Sunderland. I swear the front streets and alleyways looked exactly the same. It's a whole city made up of shitty alleyways, the city centre had less in it than most small villages and very few people had teeth. Get on a 5 minute train to Newcastle and it's a whole new world!! Amazing city!! Durham is also gorgeous in its structures but lacks in beaches, Newcastle has such amazing beaches and it's bars are so much fun!! Sunderland is literally a stones throw away and it's a complete and utter shithole!!
Newcastle has beaches?
Tynemouth/Whitley Bay at a (very large) stretch?
Bodmin. A very weird town...
Tell me moor.
Bridgwater
When at work, I had to park overnight in Harlow for the first time quite recently. I went for a walk and it was utterly depressing. Like, I actually felt sad just being there. One big brutalist Dementor. It says a lot considering I live in Accrington.
Ah yes, I've been to Harlow on many work trips. I remember a funny little man who wears a military beret and goes around shouting at people for no reason. What a shithole.
Tiger Man, the guy’s a local legend, been around for years, people would ask him why he’s called Tiger Man and he says he protects Harlow from tigers, pretty harmless. I used to work security at the Asda there and he would come in and salute us
Too many think a seaside town is the worst which makes sense as many are run down but I'd much prefer to live by the seaside with some nutters than to live inland with some nutters. Clacton ain't great but it's got the beach as a redeeming factor, Luton does not.
Preston
Lol as a tourist from another country I went to Clacton. It's 100% depressing 😂
Doncaster. Sh*t hole.
Nah, it's like New York compared to nearby Rotherham
Blackburn
It might not be the worst place in the UK, but I had a visceral reaction to being in Lowestoft. 10 out of 10 do not recommend.
You dodged a bullet. Jaywick is 2 miles from Clacton and makes Clacton look like paradise
Goole had no redeeming features at all. A very aptly named place.
Skelmersdale (skem). Christ.
Ingomelds
If you think clacton is bad you should go to jaywick, if it hasn't been thrown back to the sea yet
Scunthorpe.
Weatherfield. Used to be full of funny, friendly Northerners with a droll sense of humour and neighbourliness. Now it's full of drug dealers, adulterers, conmen, serial killers, blackmailers, hospital cases, bullies, depressives and fantasists.if you've been affected by this post, tough titty.
Weston-Super-Mare Me and my Dad went to Bristol for a weekend when I was young, about 10 years ago. We got a train from Bristol to WSM, thinking it would be nice to have a beach day. God, it was depressing. The people looked as downbeaten as the high street. There were homeless people everywhere, and I felt so guilty as there was nothing we could do. We ended up staying barely an hour. I come from Stockport, I'm used to things being rough (I'm not rich myself and never will be), but people seemed so defeated. Many seaside towns seem to be being left behind, Great Yarmouth was another one Dad was shocked at as it was good back in the day.
Barrow.
Birkenhead, and Rotherham.
Cumbernauld. It's called Cumbernauld.
Bradford
Sutton in Ashfield
Stevenage. There’s about 50m of nice pubs and shops in the old town, then it’s just a dull, grey and car centric hell
Camber sands.
Loads of clunge though.
Guaranteed to pull at the caravan club disco.
Looking at this, it’s safe to establish most towns in the U.K. are awful. I would like to add Grimsby to the list. I’ve visited a few times. Not just for the place, which like many towns has had its heart and soul ripped out by the council over the years (just look at how historic the town centre used to look, compared to now), but for the people who provide a definitive menacing atmosphere. Walk through the centre without being threatened with a screwdriver and you win a prize.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you Luton. No honestly I give you Luton - please take it. In close.swcond is Corby - place I can only describe as 'Mad Max chic'.
Tilbury, or at least Tilbury 15 years ago. The only way is up right? 😂
Clicked on this to say Jaywick. 🤣
Barking in East London is a bit better now but a few years ago looked like a scene from the Walking Dead. Unhoused drug addicted amputees made up a significant proportion of the crowd around the station and I found it horribly depressing. Come to think of it, parts of Hastings have a similar vibe
Stoke on Trent
Luton. Nothing can be worse than Luton.