Its saffie I was on the streets with her in Truro Cornwall then see her when she was living on a travlers site near canbourne Cornwall the dump that it is
Melvyn is my Dad, and we are so proud of him. Since Mum passed 5 years ago, Dad has fought through his grief using his faith and by helping others wherever he can. He will be playing carols on his Euphonium all round Paignton for The Salvation Army. Please support him if you are able. Last of a special generation.
@Kirbster2309, I just commented that your Dad looks great for being 80-years old. May God bless him for bringing some joy to the people. ❤🎄☃️❄️🎁 Merry Christmas!
Meanwhile, The Police sit on bridges over the A30 nabbing traffic fines for the coffers, and all the time real Policing gets ignored . Absolutely useless
That's not always the case, in areas of high unemployment because of closures and jobs going abroad people with skills move away chasing jobs leaving the unskilled behind with no prospects and living off the benefits system. The local council suffers because it doesn't have the budget to maintain the infrastructure, some people become despondent and turn to alcohol and drugs. It's just a horrible downward spiral and without some major investment in the town to attract employers nothing will change
I moved from the UK to Australia 20 years ago. I try and go back to see friends every few years. Each and every time I go back I noticeably see a dramatic downturn in the quality of public infrastructure, high streets, quality of shops and quality of life. Nowhere is perfect but the UK really has fallen far and fast.
@@ashleelmb imagine the uk but with your towns next to golden beach’s, phenominal weather, nature and international shiny eyed backpackers everywhere. Couple that with heaps of well paid jobs. Work hard but at least you can drive back in your 4x4 convertible and swim in your home pool as it’s actually affordable here whilst sipping your favourite vice. Replace chavs with red neck bogans and your gold mate.
Makes me angry that she is homeless and the illegals get free everything. She looks like she didn't have a great childhood, I pray for her and her dogs. The UK used to take better care of it's own people, well, better care than they do today.
I’ve lived in Paignton and Torquay for over 25 years now.When I moved here to Torbay it was a lovely place.There was something magical about the beautiful well kept gardens and evening lights.Now the council can’t afford these things so they’ve gone or been reduced to a bare minimum.Which is sad. Life has become a lot harder for all of us lately with many turning to drink or drugs to escape.With so many parents addicted to drugs or alcahol what chance do their children have growing up?Whole generations are growing up lawless.Add to this underfunding for the police who are now non existent unless it’s to harass you for fines for minor traffic offences and you have the perfect mix for continuing degradation. This country has gone downhill fast.I for one am considering emigrating.
Britain has been in terminal decline particularly since the 2008 credit crunch......But more serious is the lawlessness emerging from broken homes and absent parents. We also now have a Woke justice system, terrible schools teaching evil things, no discipline or accountability which is leading to a disfunctional society engaged in violent crime. That's why we are witnessing a complete breakdown of communities across the country...Made my exit 8 years ago thank God .
Devon used to be such a beautiful place that's been neglected for years by our government who can't see any further than London to help out financially and the rest of the country is forgotten about
The government ought to stay out the way and let people do their thing. Their meddling is the cause of many area's decline. We don't need helping, we need the independence to sort out our own problems for ourselves. Everybody's too scared to say boo because they're told the powers-that-be know better. They don't.
Lack of discipline, and consequences they do whatever they want. It's absolutely spiteful, how people tolerate this behaviour, drug abusers and alcoholics it's terrible.
Crime might be better today than 40 years ago, especially here in Bristol. It feels safer each decade. That being said, the despair just seems to get worse. I hardly know anyone these days who isn't scraping by.
@@Destro7000the opposite. It's the people. We are out of touch. Everyone is expecting the government to solve all the problems, it's our problem and for being so stupid to expect a handful of self-centred morons to govern a country of 70 million. We need to take control, by taking back our lives.
@@spongeofsteel01we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects. We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated. Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist. We graft out arses off and have nothing. Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources. We have been robbed blind.
Enjoy watching your videos. Sad to see places I used to go as a kid on holidays are getting so run down. Love the way you took the time with the girl with the drum. It’s so easy to be nice, wish more people were like that. Keep up the good work
You're a good man, brother. Taking the time to speak to people who are struggling like the humans they are. That's what being a good person is. Helping people less fortunate..
I don't think he does that actually. I think he is making places out to be worse than they are. Why not focus on the good parts as well? It is all the doom and gloom.
The sudden change in that girl's face as soon as she started playing that instrument was wonderful. For a minute she was able to perform and be listened to and played really well. I feel for anyone with drug addiction, especially those who may not have had the same family support group. People rush to judgement on social media and it's disgusting to read sometimes the lack of empathy people have for those less fortunate. They're so sure of themselves that they know the reasons for total strangers' misfortune
Well said 🤝 I cried a little at that part of the video 🥹 To think such a young women is living on the streets, being judged, for an upbringing she had no choice over. Nobody knows what that person has been through, yet some will look down on them like dirt, which saddens me to the core. We have become a world of narcissistic ego maniacs, and social media is to blame for it all. I hope one day we realise the damage its doing to young people, and we try and stop them with age restrictions like we do alcohol. Addiction is a horrible disease, that can grab a hold of anyone at anytime. I pray for all who struggle in this world 🙏🌍 ❤
Yet here is Harry , on social media. Oppiniated and judgemental 😊 It's just human nature , arm chair mystics , haters , lovers , loonies and all the like want to spread their narrow minded nonsense these days. You take care 👍
The Victorian - pre 60's holiday seaside towns generally all look so depressing now. There are gems like Whitby that are still amazing to visit...but times changed with the advent of package holidays. Many former seaside resorts in the UK simply lost their way when the tourists stopped visiting them.
Seaside towns went down hill after cheap holidays abroad became more common place and people started going on cheap holidays abroad, besides some shops and pier and some amusements there's nothing to do in the seaside towns and alot just have B&Bs (Something good would be have a decent shopping centre in or near town)
Seeing you take the time to treat people experiencing homelessness and addiction like the humans they are is inspiring and incredible. This planet needs more people like you, bro.
What the old chap said around the 6 minute mark about councils not maintaining anything these days is painfully true, and it applies to almost every town the length and breadth of the UK. This rot set-in in the 90's, and buildings and facilities are now literally falling to bits.
That’s because 80% of council budgets is spent on housing benefit council tax benefit and care for the elderly. And large wages and pensions for council workers
@99.9ofmypostsgetremoved7 I agree with that I’m not defending the council as I say they have massive wages and pension just saying there are other things to take into consideration
You are talking total rubbish Valerie. The councils have been underfunded for a decade now. There’s nothing left to cut but your bins still get emptied, elections run and the dead buried.
I have lived in Paignton for 27 years and used to work at Nortel. The late 90s until around 2009 were good times but I have seen the decline in the town since. Kids are getting worse with their bad behaviour as many have noticed.
We stayed there few years ago for a weekend. Nice little hotel but some of the other guests were bog-life, feet up on sofas & chairs in the lounge area, loudmouthed swearing etc. Walking around the town we soon realised we'd made a mistake, it was shabby, run down! Luckily, there were better places nearby & lovely country walks by the sea.
Damn right. we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects. We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated. Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist. We graft out arses off and have nothing. Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources. We have been robbed blind.
The Salvation Army man hit the nail on the head…councils spend money on ‘other things’ now whereas they once spent some funds on flower displays, gardens, maintenance of the buildings etc.
we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects. We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated. Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist. We graft out arses off and have nothing. Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources. We have been robbed blind.
Tattoos are extremely expensive! Whilst you're looking at people with toos as scum they aren't skint and are very likely to have a good income. Folk complain about tattoo parlors opening near them but everyone who frequents them has plenty of spare cash, way better than a charity shop.
Easy to blame the government for everything, that's our problem in this country. The government will never save us and we need to stop expecting they ever will. Us common people are on our own and we need to re-build our communities again if things are to ever change.
but isn't that why there's such a thing as a government or at least originally was because we made or asked for it to be like that to help us all or not@@aka8876
precisely because so many refuse to work and demand someone else pays for them, there are not enough money left. At the beginning of this video, a grown up healthy man, instead of getting a job and contributing to society, he chose to complain about the government while mooching on the taxpayer.
Safi has a Steel tongue drum, used for healing, meditation etc. She's got a beautiful soul, Safi's gone through some real bad sh*t to end up where she is. I hope she gets help, and finds peace.
@@chrisworthen1538 Whereas you'd just be dead in a closet somewhere if you were a real person :^) Chris worthless is a good name for a bot account though, you're learning!
@@russellsage4953 If she's walking, it's with no shoes, and December on the south coast of the UK on a day that looks like it never got over 50F, or 10C, if that. That sidewalk looks cold.
I was there in the mid fifties…it was charming…..it’s still charming…it’s just people gossiping to try and get the silly house prices down..so that they can move in..if they succeed im coming down..
we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects. We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated. Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist. We graft out arses off and have nothing. Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources. We have been robbed blind.
I used to go to Paignton as a kid, it was a really nice, pretty place, full of really nice people. This decline is far too common in towns across the UK. It's really sad to see. People are quite rightly angry about the constant pressure we're all under, so people look for escape in drugs or alcohol, which brings the crime. There's lost generations in these places, and they're pretty much ignored. It's great to see that there's still nice, welcoming folks there. They are where the hope for the future of these places is.
american here, but i have to agree you're absolutely right. i'm all about lifting the impoverished and downtrodden into a better life, gainful employment, education, etc. anybody can go from rags to riches if they simply apply themselves with a bit of assistance but when a man's spirit is broken and he has degenerated morally, not even a forklift can raise him out of a life of squalor and crime. here in america, no one homeless on the streets has to be, but if you try to give them work and opportunity, they refuse, because what they really want to do is stay in their tent and smoke meth.
Same….im 51 and used to go Devon all the time as a youngster, remember crabbing ?? I was in a Christian cult and my parents used to let me and my brother buy “Rambo” knives……wtf happened to the world man 😢 (the knives where used for fishing btw as it had all the kit in the top part of knife, not that we caught anything😂)
Very well done on this and other reviews you have done. Sadly there are problems in many places in the UK and it is getting worse, the almost total lack of any fear of the law is a huge problem and unfortunately nothing is done about it and it is becoming more noticeable. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for treating people with kindness and respect on the streets of Paignton. I bought a seaside property in Paignton on Garfield Road and it isn't all bad. I've walked the streets at night and if you go looking for trouble you might possibly find it but I've never experienced any, and I'm non white in a predominantly 97pc white area. Yes there is poverty but in the Summer Paignton lights up as does the people and I've not witnessed any trouble.
We should all aspire to have Melvyn's attitude you can tell he is such a nice caring man. I believe compassion and caring for others is the only way this country is going to improve. we all need to do our bit for the community.
@@adrianmainz2716 Attitudes like this just ignore the problem. The problem isn't "laziness", it's a sustianed and continuous failure on both a national and local level by the government to give back. And it is giving back. The government takes taxes, supresses liberties, and imposes control on everyone. Doing all that, it has a duty to give back. A government that just oppresses and never gives back is less a government and more a caste system of the controlled and controlling. And that's ignoring the fact that poverty today is rarely the result of laziness, but a result of inhereted poorness, lack of economic opportunity, and larger systemic issues relating to a shrinking middle class and widening wealth gap. A fundamentally uneven economic system that prioritises the wealth of a few rather than the wellbeing and liberty of the many, is inevitably going to leave people in these conditions. The issue isn't laziness.
@@theonewhocomments367 any proof ? and if you are so sure that the problem is not lazyness, why don't you help those people ? You lie to them that they have "lack of opportunity" yet every single month hundreds of people try to cross the channel in order to get the chance to enjoy England's "lack of opportunity".
@@adrianmainz2716 Their lack of opportunity is born of the fact that many of these families can't afford to enter their children into higher quality education, and because within these communities there is very little to do for young people to do, both socially and academically, something that I can personally vouch for having grown up in the area. This lack of everyday opportunity leads to lots of antisocial behaviour, including drug culture, gang culture, and similar such activities. These then in turn hurt these young people once they grow older, as some will end up with convictions before they're even adults, and others will lack the necessary academic qualities to go onto further education or access high paying jobs, and no, you can't just handwave this away as being "their fualt", these are children in environments with limited options, not rich millionaires with all the freedom in the world. This in turn further feeds into the cycle of poverty. We can see now that in some places, action against this is being taken. In the nearby town of Kingsbridge, a skate park to act as a social place for young people is underway, and local groups are working to provide young people with more opportunities, giving them things to do with their time, rather than get wrapped up into drugs and crime. As for immigrants, of course an area with limited social and academic opportunities is enticing, when you're escaping a literal warzone. If we were so bad that we were unattractive even to war refugees, then I'd think we'd have some serious questions to be asking. Using the fact that people come to the UK to escape war as a way of handwaving the many issues that are present within the country, just helps to let the problems fester and worsen. They're escaping war, of course Paignton is attractive, doesn't mean that there aren't fundamental issues to do a lack of opportunity.
I used to live close to here & it was our go to place to take our daughter for a few hours on the seafront. It’s so sad to see the decline of a typical English seaside resort. The people of Paignton deserve better.
I used to love in Plymouth and loved to visit and Torquay. They were lovely then. There was a water park. Happening all over the UK with mismanagement of council money. It's not only because of less funding from Central Government.
I lived and worked there in the 80’s was a beautiful place with good friends and good memories... such a shame I’m gonna stay away n remember the good times we had ...
Appreciate your work, words and vids! My grandfather was from Devon and immigrated to the States after serving with the Aircorp during WWI. We had lots of letters from Devon and Wales so seeing the towns now as they are- thanks!
The problem is there’s no deterrent. Not suggesting we emulate the laws in Dubai, etc, but people are terrified to step out of line there. We do however need stricter laws which criminalise anti social behaviour. A country to emulate is Iceland - it has good standards of living and good social harmony. Sadly, I don’t see any way back for the UK.
We need to become a Christian nation again, living on and by the principles again that first made this nation great. Jesus is the way the truth and the life, He is the best example.
@@Zombiegeneration23 the average estimate by a group of professional historians is the christians have murdered in cold blood 175 million people, The most notable the various crusades, the african massacres and the attack on mostly innocent people in iraq. In which, up to one million people were killed, mainly by the very christian americans, helped by the barely christian british, led by a very christian prime minister. The very christian americans kill ten to twelve of their own for everyone killed by their own in the very atheist nordic countries and other countries in europe, Christianity is based on the bible, the most evil book ever written, It condones, forced abortion, kidnap. slavery, rape, infanticide and genocide. Just goggle where to find the relevant passages, Most who claim christianity wont, they are scared to find the truth
As a fmr lawyer i can tell you, when ppl see something on the news about young vandals or criminals they always say "If that were my kids id report them myself etc". WHEN it IS THEIR KID its "Oh no not my child they would not do that"😏
Let parents punish their kids for doing wrong like back in the days then it wont be as fucked up as it is now cos kids know they can do whatever they want without repercusssikn
Re. the high street at 09:08 : What Wendall didn't point out is that almost every shop was a chain store: Clinton Cards, Card Factory, Mountain Warehouse, TUI, Shoezone etc etc plus a bunch of charity shops, betting shops and pound shops. All chains. There will probably be a bakery or a cafe or two, but that's it as far as independent stores go, and every high street in every town in the UK is almost exactly the same. These shops employ a few people, but profits are hoovered up by the big chain corporations, many overseas, and handed out to shareholders. So the money from retail doesn't stay in the town. Independent stores can't compete with the chains, so there's no incentive for local people to set up a shop. Isn't this a big part of the problem? Go to a medium-sized town in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and while there will be some chains, there's a lot more independent stores too.
I was born and lived in Plymouth, in Devon, for the first twenty years of my life. As a child, Paignton meant two things to me: the beach, and the zoo. Going to Paignton meant a trip on the train to go to one of those two places, and it was a magical experience for me as a young kid. I've lived in Kent for the past thirty years of my life now, and it's weird to see Paignton today through my fifty-odd-year-old eyes. It doesn't look anything like my childhood self remembered it, but then I suppose I wouldn't, since kids tend to magicalise their best memories in ways that don't always correlate with reality.
Older photos of the place suggest it was a lot more upmarket when you were young. During the early 20th century it looked very posh and seems to have taken a turn for the worse since the 70s.
Wrong. I bet that in the 1970's the place was a middle-class paradise. Beautiful seaside area with beautiful people. Now it is a S-hole. Sad. We have the same in thee USA. Places that were a paradise....now look like large open-air slums.
@@keepcalmandblametheblackgu9164 Same thing has happened in America. Red Taker States, who all vote against their best interest for the former Republican Party, now the Rethuglicon Fascist Party of Demented Wannabe Fascist Dic(k)tator Donald Traitor Trump! These states are chock a block with pensioners on Social Security and Medicare who hate the idea of socialism, even though they live on it!
@@Exnavyjay Plymouth keeps evolving. The City Centre is being reimagined. Devonport and the City Centre has housing much superior than that post WW 11. The University and Major Hospital brings a plethora of diverse students and their families to the City. For the moment Plymouth still celebrates the marching of Marines out of the Citadel but Plymouth’s ties to the Navy begin to be lost
Happy to have found you Wendall. I'm in the U.S., central Illinois between St. Louis and Chicago. Years ago on a trip to the U.K., I fell in love with your country - the people and countryside. I'll keep watching. Take care as you trek around! 🇬🇧🇺🇸
The British tabloids were never known for truth and as a teacher who worked in England all I can say is some parents are not aware of how to bring children up . The factors are many . Great report. Many thanks .
When I was a kid my family always went to Paignton. My mum's family was from there so we'd go stay with my aunties. I loved it, it was beautiful, the highlight of my year when we went. I went again fairly recently with my Mrs, I'm in my 40s now. Couldn't believe how much it had changed, a lovely little seaside town, now an absolute dump. Really sad, my aunties would have been devestated so see how bad it's got.
Poole town centre in Dorset also has a railway line literally going through the street and when the barriers are down all the shoppers have to stop an wait. Poole's a rough horrible place too, don't be fooled by Sandbanks etc, that's well away from the centre.
This is so sad. I visited (from the US) Paigntion, Devon in 1988 for two weeks ( a friend lived at Blagdon Court, house) and I had a wonderful visit and enjoyed all the sights and beautiful area and the people were so nice. We have a big homeless problem here in the states and I'm near Asheville NC ( a big homeless problem) and they are making efforts to help and house the homeless. Gentrification everywhere is pricing working people out of finding affordable homes.
I live in NC for 35 years and Asheville did not have the homeless problem till the politicians let drug users and dealers get away with anything and handed out benefits. So now Asheville attracts addicts who are often homeless. Asheville politicians created the homeless problem.
I live in California, 80 miles south of San Francisco. I visited Paignton seven years ago. What pisses me off is the Trumpanzees from Southern States trashing my native state of California for homelessness, while they have homelessness too. I'd like to go up to everyone who did so on You Tube and tell them to shove it and take their hypocrisy to Russia where they belong!
I live abroad now but whenever I return to Britain I get the feeling the place is in serious decline. There are lots of reasons of course but one is that at night there aren't any police simply wandering around, listening out for any trouble. They're all in cars and can't hear anything. I stayed recently in a resort just north of Torbay, in the middle of the town where beneath my window was a drug dealer serving literally hundreds of kids over the course of the night. A police car did drive by but didn't stop of course. If they'd been on foot they'd have heard it. Probably everyone living around there knew what was going on but were too scared to phone the police. It would only take a coupe of bobbys per smallish town, out on foot in the small hours to identify where there's trouble, drug dealers, gangs or whatever. Or is it that the police don't want to know?
Police know about dealers and probably know the families too. They aren't there to make sure we are safe anymore. They are there to make sure we are oppressed and following orders!
When everyone knows there are drug dealers on the street. The police also knows. Probably they don't care at all. Years ago i had a drug dealer living in my street. (not in the UK) Addicts broke in to my car multiple times. Shouting screaming at night and other crazy things going on. The police did nothing about it. My guess is that they know probably every address and place where drugs are sold. When they know where, they can monitor is in some way. Keep an eye on it.
My grandmother lives here and I have fond memories visiting as far back as I can remember. Although it seems the council hasn’t done a good job of keeping up maintenance of public parks and spaces in recent years, Paignton and Torbay as a whole still feel like my home away from home, and I would argue it’s better than most other places in the UK.
Love the octogenarian brass musician on the corner! He's so sweet for continuing to fearlessly share his music with his townfolk. If all of us shared our gifts and goodness with others, maybe we could peaceably push back the encroaching darkness...
Fun fact: The building behind you @11:54 (being renovated?) was one of the oldest operating cinema in Europe back in the late 90s. I went there as a teen, it had lovely interior. Before I left Paignton, they built a big cinema (an Odeon I think) on the seafront. Just before the new cinema opened, The Paignton Picture House closed down.
Thank you for your video. I am from Czechia and I had an internship with my college in Paignton in 2011. I really enjoyed this experience and I found this place beautiful. When I visited this town in February 2020, I was shocked at how Paignton is destitute and deprived. It was probably a little bit rough in 2011 but I was younger and I did not perceive it. It was my first time in England and surprisingly it was not London. :
Hi, I found your response interesting as you are from Czechia and have seen a decline in Paignton. I went there for a walk very recently and really couldn't see any difference from how it was in 2013. The shops were doing good business, the roads fine, two new hotels had just been built. Paignton has never been my favourite place. However, it would be interesting to see what had changed in your mind?
Hello there, don't get me wrong. I still like the atmosphere of the town and the surrounding area which is stunning. My second time, I noticed more addicts on the street, especially young folks. Problems related with drugs are everywhere but not always in this size of the town. Otherwise, I agree that there are more deprived places in the UK.
I really enjoy your channel! There is substance and a depth here and clearly you have a natural way with people. I grew up in the UK, but left at 23 for various overseas assignments. I ultimately settled in the U.S., your videos remind me so much of my past life in the U.K.... thank you, Sir!!!
This really touched me...years ago I lived in Newton Abbot & worked as a doctor in Paignton & Torquay...seaside towns are often deprived & attract addicts & traumatised folk seeking a "better life" you are a good man, peace...
It's funny how the English have such an attitude when it comes to people from terrible abusive families and yet get no empathy, yet in the same breath will want to help forginers who often offer no value and are even worse than our own criminals.
@@CaseyDavies-od7iryour right about the foreigners there taking over our country the last time I went to Paignton, and Weston super mare 8 thought I was in another country as many were talking in there foreign language,
@@aerrae5608 dimwit there's nothing racist about the truth if you haven't visited those places then take yourself there learn what the word racist means,
I moved from Essex to Devon (Ivybridge) last year and have now settled permanently just outside Paignton not far from Broadsands beach. After having lived previously in places such as Barnsley, Portsmouth, High Wycombe, Tooting (those were the worst but there’s other places too) I can quite honestly say Paignton is absolutely lovely! The people here are very friendly, they actually smile and say hello which is something I’ve not been used to for a long time, I’m more used to getting strange looks for saying good morning etc everywhere else. I’ve been into the town centre many times at various times of day, and never had any trouble of any kind, yes there are a few homeless people around but I haven’t found a town yet without any (They’re allowed to be out there for a reason, to remind us and scare us all to carry on being good little wage slaves…fear is powerful). In fact my husband and I were made homeless ourselves a few years ago but thank God we never had to sleep on the streets. Also as you say, the town has less empty shops than I’ve seen for a while too and there’s many good places to get food. The beaches are beautiful, our dog loves it, the air is fresher and traffic is much less than I’m used to also. I just wanted to say how I feel about Paignton having lived here for nearly 3 months I’ve no intention of moving on again. A lot depends on your mindset…if you wake up each day determined to at least try and enjoy life, put on a smile and be grateful to be alive whatever life throws at you then things never seem so bad…if however you wake up grumpy, let things irritate you and decide to stay in that mood all day then yeah, life is gonna be a sh*t show, everyone will annoy you and you become bitter, hating everything. Life is what you make it. If you don’t like it get out and change it. Simples 🤷🏻♀️👍🤗
The land between the railway station and the sea used to be marshland and was reclaimed in the late 1800's about 25 years after the railway station was built, so originally the station was at the end of the town centre. I loved your interactions with people, showing genuine interest in their lives. A good honest video of Paignton, which has faired better than Torquay whose town centre is in real decline. You just gained a subscriber. Thanks TH-cam algorithm for suggesting Wendall's channel.
I can just see Colonel Hall indignantly holding his drink in the bar at Fawlty Towers, exclaiming, "No, surely not Torqay!" (or for that matter, John Cleese handling the interview at 4:00: "Excuse me, Queequeg...what can you tell us about Paignton?"
Torquay is supposed to be very tony, I thought. There's that seaside hotel made famous by Agatha Christie and all that. I visited Paignton seven years ago this March, stayed there in an OK motel near the shore. I got in a day trip to Dartmouth, by taxi and ferry, as the steam train wasn't running yet. Paignton certainly was a bit run down. Dartmouth was up market.
This is heartbreaking but all too common, I live in a village on the edge of Dartmoor, where I live and other nearby towns and villages are being swamped with new unaffordable homes destroying the culture and history and communities of places fairly unchanged for centuries, we are becoming a county of second homes , little work and a housing estate for people escaping diversity. Our precious countryside is being destroyed and true local people thin on the ground. Devons charm is fading, Paignton is one of the better seaside towns although i won't go there anymore, its gone down hill.
I lived in a small village on the edge of Dartmoor and remember when the local vicar and his wife would organise a summer day trip to Paignton beach for all the village children. It’s an enduring memory of my parents waving us all goodbye and there when we returned.
@@blademaiden4498 I can't believe in such a short time how much things have changed, my village in the last 3 years and the rest in less than 20, I too remember our vicar and the communities we had not too long ago.
@@blademaiden4498 I can't believe in such a short time how much things have changed, my village in the last 3 years and the rest in less than 20, I too remember our vicar and the communities we had not too long ago.
Same is happening here in Northumberland, all our villages are being swamped with unaffordable homes. They’ll never admit to escaping the diversity though, we know!
We've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects. We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated. Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist. We graft out arses off and have nothing. Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources. We have been robbed blind.
I moved to Torbay in 1997.I discovered that it is the most evil place, second only to Liverpool. During my time there I would never leave my flat unarmed. I would take a staff and a brass hammer and pepper with me to ward off attacks. In my first job driving an ice cream van around Torquay and Paignton, I would get attacked every day and the van was like a golf ball with all the dents in the body from constant flying rocks. In my first month of living in Torquay, four consecutive murders were committed in the same place on the seafront in the same week. I wondered where on earth I'd landed. It went into real decline in 1998 and now I'm told that locals are apologising to tourists for the state of the town. I escaped in 2010, I would have gone sooner but the wages were so low that it was hard to imagine. Everything cost four times as much as in my native country of Yorkshire. It was a very hard life there and living in appalling accommodation with massive rent. Flats kept getting condemned and sold off which meant moving once or twice every year. I will never return there. I don't believe that its any longer fit for human habitation. It certainly isn't safe. One of my assailants ended up in a prison for the mentally insane and another nutter by the name of Glen Skinner was banned from Torbay for 15 years because of years of terrorism of the towns. He ended up in Exeter, but all it did was move the problem. The papers branded Torbay Council corrupt and it's interesting to note that the claim wasn't challenged.
I went to Paignton last August with my wife and my youngest for a week, overall it was nice but there were some dodgy looking individuals and certain areas along the front looked a little worse for wear . But it’s the same all over.
I don't know about Torbay but bringing Liverpool into the conversation is just nonsense, if you walked around the city tooled up in the way you say you would be regarded as a dangerous weirdo, ask any tourist if Liverpool Is safe or not...
I've lived here since the mid 80's. The 80's and into the early 90's were amazing. So much of the bay was spotless and there was so much to do and see. The local councils gave up years ago keeping the area clean, and the gardens well cared for. The single most important thing for tourism is having a beautiful and well looked-after town. Sadly year after year after year, the towns get more run down, and without a policeman in sight, which in turn, attracts more and more undesirables and trouble makers. The coastal walks are stunning and because they require next to no maintenance, are still beautiful and will remain so.
Torbay CCLOWNSHILLS just cut down all the historic Seafront Trees! As did Plymouth a few years back. Most likely to hid the damaging effects of 5G Towers roll outs! DESPICABLE the LOT of the TREASONOUS ONES that they are!
From my experience what the tourist towns need most are tourists. you know, working families on their holidays with some money saved to do nice things on their vacation. Take the money out of the pockets of the tourists, and tourist towns die. It's not rocket science. Have you tried telling tourists not to spend all their money on new iphones and smashed avocado on toast, or is that just what people like you tell the homeless and unemployed?
Good point about the police. Unfortunately, but too much of a venerable fact to ignore, some people need to see the presence of police to know not to give into their worst instincts. Police make it clear that the community has standards and expectations.
@@dawggonevidz9140 sounds like someone is mad that he pointed out lack of policing leads to scum moving into an area. You know you don't have a point when you have to put words in the other guys mouth to walk away thinking you made a good argument lol. Your response addressed the one point you actually had anything to say about and glossed over the rest, leftist detected
We live in the South Hams not too far from Paignton and can honestly say, we don't go there! Overall South Devon is by far a beautiful place, don't let the problems of one town put you off. The good part is that holidaymakers drive straight through it on the A38 going to Cornwall to cram themselves on to the already overcrowded beaches leaving us to enjoy some of the most incredible beaches and countryside the country has to offer.
It's true that Devon is very nice and significantly closer than Cornwall to the rest of the country. We go to both, but would always pick Devon in the summer as Cornwall gets chaotic!
I really like it that you try to find out how big the problem really is and take us with you on your journeys. I always get so curious and want to go see for myself when reading such news items.
I went there as a child on a school trip back in the late 70's & one of the memories i have is beautiful flower displays literally everywhere & the cleanliness of it, everything was pristine.
I lived there for many years and loved it there. My late brother was a fireman there too. So sad to see what has happened to Paignton, it is heart breaking. Foxhole estate and Queen Elizabeth drive were rough when I lived there, but I do miss living in Paignton. I worked for a time in the pharmacy in Foxhole, giving me some memories of my time there. Also, it is the same everywhere, shops closed, homeless people, drug all over. I live in the midlands and used to live in a lovely village which is a horrible place now. So it's not just Paignton to be honest.
Interesting and I live in Plymouth but have had holiday breaks in Paignton. I think everywhere has its problems. I stay away from dodgy areas and never had any problems anywhere in Devon. I feel very safe living here.
I few years ago we went for a night out in torquay, there were gangs of young people 30 or so strong, (12 to 15 years old, possibly) They were walking down the street not hurting anyone, but forcing people , many of them 60 plus off the pavement into the road. My wife knew what I would do and said, dont make a fuss we just want a nice night out, Being 6' 6'' and well built I just walked straight towards them, they looked at each other, then split like the red sea. A little bit of fun but not for those of a smaller stature
I am not so tall but the young people like it if you communicate. If you start chatting they are invariably friendly actually. They hang about on the street because they want to socialise.
@@sarahstrong7174 These were intimidating people, I know there are many young people that are just out and being social, You can usually tell the difference. they dont walk towards people in a bunch and watch everyone step out into the road. The youngsters are worse, but all ages do it some walk 3 abreast and expect everyone to get out of their way, because whatever they are talking about or doing is more important than anything anyone else's
Those very large crowds of kids who force everyone off the sidewalks are from the language schools. There are 3 or 4 in Torquay and the students can be very rowdy in a pack but pleasant on their own.
I go to Paignton quite a lot because I live not too far away. My wife won't get out of the car when I have to do some shopping and she has a big dog to look after her. I have never seen any trouble but I have seen, during the day, about 1/3 of those in the main street clearly either on drugs or recovering addicts. And I have seen hundreds of these people in my job. But then I suppose the majority of people are hidden away at work. I used to go on holiday to Torquay a lot in the 1960s and torquay was up market then, with Paignton an honest to goodness down to earth popular resort. No longer unfortunately. What strikes me most when I walk in the centre is that most people I see are not at all well off and it must be a struggle for them. And yet behind the town centre are many hundreds of perfectly decent houses lived in by seemingly financial ok people. Where are they all?
Me too, similar age by the way. It was great when they opened Coral Island in 1977, what a nice time it was back then, no mobile phone zombies, independent shops, better mannered people, way less traffic, and the lights along the Rock Walk, it's still nice there but does not have nearly as much charm as it did when I was a kid visiting.
I used to live close to Paignton until about 4 years ago, even in the short time since I moved away I have seen various videos around the Devon area in general and sadly it's all slowly decaying away from what it once was.
14 years of conservative profiteering and neglect will do that to a country. Of course holiday seaside towns are suffering when the only group of people who can afford to take a holiday all go to the French Riviera or skiiing in Switzerland.
Good video mate - first I've come across from you. Interesting and relevant comment, with some great interviews. Nicely balanced, too. Some in the MSM could take a lesson from you. Well done!
Good stuff mate. These type of rawly captured videos will be absolute goldmines for future generations. Imagine having this type of insight into people who lived 500 years ago.
Wow! Melvyn looks so much like my father. My Grandfather was from Plymouth and had a few kids before he married my grandmother ooop north, which we only found out about in recent years. I wonder!?! I'm born and raised in Leeds but have done a lot of work in that part of the world. In fact, I shop-fitted the Ladbrokes behind Melvyn around 7 years ago. When I was working in Plymouth, people I'd never seen before were greeting me like they knew me, and now I know why. Cheers Wendall! You've a good heart and I appreciate what you do.
I did drainage surveys on both the Paignton and Foxhall Co-Ops too. In fact, I think there's a third Co-Op on the outskirts towards Torbay. They told us it was tricky in Foxhall but, being from East Leeds I couldn't really see it. Had to sit in that car park at Foxhall Co-Op for a few hours as they had a manhole in the shop they wouldn't let us open while the shop was open. Turned out it was the beer cellar for the pub that must've been in that building in the past. Thinking back, we did get a few looks in the car park and there were boy racers smoking skunk in their cars but, that's nothing novel today is it.
Awesome to randomly come across a vid with a guy playing a Baritone. I played the Baritone for 6 years in middle and high school. It's such a mellow and beautiful instrument.
Without austerity EVERYTHING would be more expensive because the government would have needed to inflate the money supply even faster to pay for its massive deficits.
I so nearly moved there about 15 years ago but after spending every weekend there for 6months or so it became apparent there was a massive unemployment and low wage problem ,so chose not to. But the one thing that really stuck out to me was how friendly everyone was. Its sad such a beautiful place has slid so far into a downwards spiral
I agree that everyone is friendly, I've found that, in Devon as a whole. The whole county has very low wages and proportionately expensive housing. South West Water, covering the area is also one of the most expensive in the UK. I work in Paignton a few days per week and also in the surrounding areas and haven't seen that problem side at all. I wonder if, after those newspaper articles and media coverage, that the police and council have felt any pressure to address the issue(s) properly?
Take note of the headlines in those papers, all using the same language. Lazy, sensational "journalism" which looks coordinated. The town is suffering from a low economy but let's pretend it's the "yobs" that are the issue. Even using the word "yob" is a throw back to the 80s under Tory rule.@@Angelaah.
Been over there as a youngster from Belgium, walking the coastpath. No internet back then, so I came a bit unprepared as a 19 year old youngster, no real plan...I traveled with a Belgian truckdriver (family of a friend of mine) to Bristol (on the boat via Dover from Calais... no chunnel yet at that time) . I just had a few paper maps of the region and once there I decided to eventually hike the coastpath. From Bristol I walked/hitchhiked to the coast... An older couple picked me up and they told me they were heading to the coast for the weekend once they've picked up their daughter at home in Winscombe. Got invited at said home and we sat in their garden for a tea and biscuits while we waited for their daughter to come home. Already at that time this couple told me that young people (just like their daughter also did) were leaving because of not enough jobs around. Lots of unemployment caused young people to leave for cities away from the coast. It was somewhere around the year 1986-87. As I hiked along the coast first from Burnham on sea to Barnstaple and after a hitchhike to Exmouth, I hiked from there to Bournemouth. It wasn't very busy as it wasn't summertime yet but i already remember some empty hotels in a state of decay. I mainly stayed in small B&B but also few times in hotels. Very few visitors around that time of the year for sure. As you hike it's easy to make many spontaneous encournters with both locals and non-locals and the story of young people leaving the region was a frequent subject.
I don't know why Wendle thinks waiting for the train at the level crossing is "a pain in the arse". I am a Brit living in Japan and not far from where I live, in Machida, there is a crossing near the center of town just like that. Pedestrians put up with the minor inconvenience of waiting because the public transport, particularly the train service, is so good.
I disagree. Physical resources and are the *_base_* medicine.This is obvious from the way the qualities you list become subsumed by antisocial behaviour when primary employers disappear and places become run down.
We stayed in torquay this summer using it as a base to explore the rest of torbay. Got the train to both Paignton and Brixham multiple times and enjoyed each trip. Obviously my experience in the summer would be different to that of the winter and what the locals see, but I would 100% recommend visiting torbay if you can. The beaches can be stunning and we had some incredible seafood.
You found the best in a worn out town, unfortunately there are lots of them world wide and always made out worse than they are. Loved the Tongue drum she was very good. Good luck to her and her two dogs.
Thanks Wendell for this lovely analysis. I have watched a few of your videos and I must say they are so enjoyable. Interestingly I started noticing your accent here and I am so glad to say that I had spent a couple of weeks in Walsall when I was younger. It is amazing that you bumped into a couple of others from your part of the world, here. Everyone here was really friendly. I just loved Melvin. He played so well.
Excellent video, I lived in this area in the mid-late 2000's so sorry to hear what has happened down there, bad parenting is the real problem, children reflect their parents in most cases !
Paignton is pictured to be such a beautiful town. Thanks for highlighting some of the problems. More coffee coming your way mate for the real effort of getting in touch with the souls of the downtrodden - The Malaysian Emmet
Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code WENDALL at MANSCAPED.com!
Its saffie I was on the streets with her in Truro Cornwall then see her when she was living on a travlers site near canbourne Cornwall the dump that it is
With subtitles please, because I am practicing Listening English. Thanks
Only gays shave their balls. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Alright mate, if you want another suggestion for a town to visit. Visit ilfracombe in north devon. Lots of decline.
Why are you calling it Fucksholes estate?😂
Melvyn is my Dad, and we are so proud of him. Since Mum passed 5 years ago, Dad has fought through his grief using his faith and by helping others wherever he can. He will be playing carols on his Euphonium all round Paignton for The Salvation Army. Please support him if you are able.
Last of a special generation.
❤
What a lovely chap. ❤
Ahh what a lovely man! He's doing a great job. Merry Xmas from Exmouth xx
😊my dad was called Melvyn he was born 1943 would of been 80 now you’re dad is a good man 🙏
@Kirbster2309, I just commented that your Dad looks great for being 80-years old. May God bless him for bringing some joy to the people. ❤🎄☃️❄️🎁 Merry Christmas!
Meanwhile, The Police sit on bridges over the A30 nabbing traffic fines for the coffers, and all the time real Policing gets ignored . Absolutely useless
Totally agree with you
Same all over
Haha those bar stewards have caught me out on those bridges before
It's a police state now.
Don't forget there dunkee doughnuts
Doesn’t matter where you live, it’s not the areas that make slums it’s the people
Too many stupid people is the problem.
Exactly i have venezulan housemates they are on low income but keep our area clean
That is absolutely correct
That's not always the case, in areas of high unemployment because of closures and jobs going abroad people with skills move away chasing jobs leaving the unskilled behind with no prospects and living off the benefits system. The local council suffers because it doesn't have the budget to maintain the infrastructure, some people become despondent and turn to alcohol and drugs. It's just a horrible downward spiral and without some major investment in the town to attract employers nothing will change
@@4Kandlezvery well put 👍🏽
I moved from the UK to Australia 20 years ago. I try and go back to see friends every few years. Each and every time I go back I noticeably see a dramatic downturn in the quality of public infrastructure, high streets, quality of shops and quality of life. Nowhere is perfect but the UK really has fallen far and fast.
I did the same mate and I feel the same every time I go back to the UK to visit family, seems to get consistently worse
I wanted to move back from Finland , but had the same experiences and my kids are better off where we are
How do you rate Australia mate? I wanted to move over there myself.
@@ashleelmb imagine the uk but with your towns next to golden beach’s, phenominal weather, nature and international shiny eyed backpackers everywhere. Couple that with heaps of well paid jobs. Work hard but at least you can drive back in your 4x4 convertible and swim in your home pool as it’s actually affordable here whilst sipping your favourite vice. Replace chavs with red neck bogans and your gold mate.
I emigrated to Cyprus in 2014, best thing I ever did in all ways. So sad too see how my old country is literally dying on its feet.
I wish more people engaged with the real people of the world like this, never underestimate the power of a simple conversation. Great video sir
Thank you 🙏
Makes me angry that she is homeless and the illegals get free everything. She looks like she didn't have a great childhood, I pray for her and her dogs. The UK used to take better care of it's own people, well, better care than they do today.
I’ve lived in Paignton and Torquay for over 25 years now.When I moved here to Torbay it was a lovely place.There was something magical about the beautiful well kept gardens and evening lights.Now the council can’t afford these things so they’ve gone or been reduced to a bare minimum.Which is sad.
Life has become a lot harder for all of us lately with many turning to drink or drugs to escape.With so many parents addicted to drugs or alcahol what chance do their children have growing up?Whole generations are growing up lawless.Add to this underfunding for the police who are now non existent unless it’s to harass you for fines for minor traffic offences and you have the perfect mix for continuing degradation.
This country has gone downhill fast.I for one am considering emigrating.
One has to ask 'where is the money going that we pay in taxes and council tax?' It's certainly not going to where it should be...
It doesn't matter what country you move to there is trouble
Britain has been in terminal decline particularly since the 2008 credit crunch......But more serious is the lawlessness emerging from broken homes and absent parents. We also now have a Woke justice system, terrible schools teaching evil things, no discipline or accountability which is leading to a disfunctional society engaged in violent crime. That's why we are witnessing a complete breakdown of communities across the country...Made my exit 8 years ago thank God .
@@markpallister9882 can I ask where you moved to
@@wendyhuggins5288pays for hotels for illegal immigrants
Big shout out for Melvin the Salvation Army man. A grand fellow and gentleman.
Wonderful man, told it like it is. I remember Torbay area from family holidays that started in late '60s. It truly was the English Riviera back then.
Melvin, the old guy with the horn was fantastic! What a lovely old man!
Devon used to be such a beautiful place that's been neglected for years by our government who can't see any further than London to help out financially and the rest of the country is forgotten about
The majority of it is still amazing. Lowest crime pretty much year on year in England.
Never a truer word said any thing outside London doesnt exist to them
The government ought to stay out the way and let people do their thing. Their meddling is the cause of many area's decline. We don't need helping, we need the independence to sort out our own problems for ourselves.
Everybody's too scared to say boo because they're told the powers-that-be know better. They don't.
Most of Devon and Cornwall are far better places to live than the big cities up country.
@@cornishhhno so much now. How many councils are bankrupt now. Reckon Devon will be one soon. 😮😢
Feral yobs are a national problem, even in rural areas.
The biggest problem in britain is the people running Britain who you pay your tax money to for their holiday homes and champagne.
@@kjp1232 stop deflecting.
@@-trixiespumpkins3846 I wasn't I was just pointing out what the biggest problem in britain is.
Lack of discipline, and consequences they do whatever they want. It's absolutely spiteful, how people tolerate this behaviour, drug abusers and alcoholics it's terrible.
Paignton isn't rural.
Sadly the whole country is becoming lawless
Crime might be better today than 40 years ago, especially here in Bristol. It feels safer each decade. That being said, the despair just seems to get worse. I hardly know anyone these days who isn't scraping by.
It's not 'lawlessness' that's the problem, it's Government policy.
@@Destro7000the opposite. It's the people. We are out of touch. Everyone is expecting the government to solve all the problems, it's our problem and for being so stupid to expect a handful of self-centred morons to govern a country of 70 million. We need to take control, by taking back our lives.
@@spongeofsteel01we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects.
We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated.
Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist.
We graft out arses off and have nothing.
Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources.
We have been robbed blind.
From the top down.
Enjoy watching your videos. Sad to see places I used to go as a kid on holidays are getting so run down. Love the way you took the time with the girl with the drum. It’s so easy to be nice, wish more people were like that. Keep up the good work
You're a good man, brother. Taking the time to speak to people who are struggling like the humans they are. That's what being a good person is. Helping people less fortunate..
that 1st girl, the drummer shows every sign of being a smackhed, mumbling & scritting like a flea ridden blanket. best wishes to her future.
It's all for the camera. He doesn't do that in his every day life
No he's a self-publicising opportunist trying to make money from spreading negative and false information to enhance his youtube channel . 😠
honest question= do u know him? im interested. thanks@@geoffallibone4026
GOOD ON YOU MATE!!! I WILL NEVER STOP HELPING THE DOWNTRODDEN AND DESTITUTE...
God bless you Wendall for being a kind humanitarian, lifting the spirits of those less fortunate.
I don't think he does that actually. I think he is making places out to be worse than they are. Why not focus on the good parts as well? It is all the doom and gloom.
meanwhile 20 year old islamists think were fair game and weak.
@@Bill32H-it3sv. He hasn’t done much for them in the last 20 years.
inshallah @@Bill32H-it3sv
@@Bill32H-it3sv . So your god gave us free will, but will punish us for using that free will? Some god.
Your genuine kindness brought tears to my eyes. I hate how we love to put down the very people that we need to bring up. Thank you.
Love that this video opens with a dog in the background taking a shit on the beach. Absolutely sums up Britain.
That's the first thing I noticed too watching this video from Canada. It could not have been staged any better. Lol.
Stinky stinky stink stinky stinky stink stink.
Stinky stink stink stinky stink stink stink
Stinky seaside.
The sudden change in that girl's face as soon as she started playing that instrument was wonderful. For a minute she was able to perform and be listened to and played really well. I feel for anyone with drug addiction, especially those who may not have had the same family support group. People rush to judgement on social media and it's disgusting to read sometimes the lack of empathy people have for those less fortunate. They're so sure of themselves that they know the reasons for total strangers' misfortune
It's a boy.
@@WebDesignSocal Don't think so...
Well said 🤝 I cried a little at that part of the video 🥹 To think such a young women is living on the streets, being judged, for an upbringing she had no choice over. Nobody knows what that person has been through, yet some will look down on them like dirt, which saddens me to the core. We have become a world of narcissistic ego maniacs, and social media is to blame for it all. I hope one day we realise the damage its doing to young people, and we try and stop them with age restrictions like we do alcohol. Addiction is a horrible disease, that can grab a hold of anyone at anytime. I pray for all who struggle in this world 🙏🌍 ❤
@@WebDesignSocal there's nothing more dangerous than someone confidently wrong. Don't forget that.
Yet here is Harry , on social media. Oppiniated and judgemental 😊
It's just human nature , arm chair mystics , haters , lovers , loonies and all the like want to spread their narrow minded nonsense these days. You take care 👍
The first kid seemed to be a good-hearted kid who’s never had the consistent love and guidance they needed.
She sounds and comes across as a lovely child. We must do more for these young ladies.
@@SemeshkoV Shame millions in tax payer money is going to house illegal invaders and not tge natives.
@@SemeshkoV I am hoping she gets a bit of money from being there and is quite happy
I bet she's one of the ones going 'round leaving turds allover the pavements. I can tell.
I think you’re right, very sad
Fair play to the footie player for appreciating his town and not saying bad things
The Victorian - pre 60's holiday seaside towns generally all look so depressing now. There are gems like Whitby that are still amazing to visit...but times changed with the advent of package holidays. Many former seaside resorts in the UK simply lost their way when the tourists stopped visiting them.
Seaside towns went down hill after cheap holidays abroad became more common place and people started going on cheap holidays abroad, besides some shops and pier and some amusements there's nothing to do in the seaside towns and alot just have B&Bs
(Something good would be have a decent shopping centre in or near town)
Seeing you take the time to treat people experiencing homelessness and addiction like the humans they are is inspiring and incredible. This planet needs more people like you, bro.
Shame all the various charities and services can't help, they all do BACKFLIPS for migrants.
Yes😊
Right fam Inni😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 uhuhuhu blud
Dignity....he gave that to her. ❤
Seems like he's being patronising to me
What the old chap said around the 6 minute mark about councils not maintaining anything these days is painfully true, and it applies to almost every town the length and breadth of the UK. This rot set-in in the 90's, and buildings and facilities are now literally falling to bits.
Same here in New Zealand 🤷♂️
Cash grab reset me thinks 🤔
That’s because 80% of council budgets is spent on housing benefit council tax benefit and care for the elderly.
And large wages and pensions for council workers
@99.9ofmypostsgetremoved7 I agree with that I’m not defending the council as I say they have massive wages and pension just saying there are other things to take into consideration
@@valerieknights9291 I also found it strange they took your comment as a defence of the council.
You are talking total rubbish Valerie. The councils have been underfunded for a decade now. There’s nothing left to cut but your bins still get emptied, elections run and the dead buried.
I have lived in Paignton for 27 years and used to work at Nortel. The late 90s until around 2009 were good times but I have seen the decline in the town since. Kids are getting worse with their bad behaviour as many have noticed.
Funnily enough, the Tories got in at the 2010 election !!!!!
No smack generation
@@garyh1572are there other explanations that don’t involve blaming political parties?
Bring back public flogging....
@@georgemulford2910 Not really. Brexit and the tories pretty much sums it up. You got any other thoughts?
We stayed there few years ago for a weekend. Nice little hotel but some of the other guests were bog-life, feet up on sofas & chairs in the lounge area, loudmouthed swearing etc. Walking around the town we soon realised we'd made a mistake, it was shabby, run down! Luckily, there were better places nearby & lovely country walks by the sea.
British seaside resorts are all run down and have been since cheap airfares took all the holiday spend abroad.
Very interesting to hear what Melvin had to say about the decline and people not being as relaxed as they were
The rot has set in in all towns now and it is irreversible. And there there is only one cause, government!
The biggest crime is ..................... Investment !
Government too large, enterprise over burdened with regulation, massive taxes etc etc don’t forget a massively inflated fiat currency
So basically more of what has caused this mess then? @georgemulford2910
Damn right. we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects.
We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated.
Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist.
We graft out arses off and have nothing.
Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources.
We have been robbed blind.
Yes because they creme our taxes instead of spending them properly
The Salvation Army man hit the nail on the head…councils spend money on ‘other things’ now whereas they once spent some funds on flower displays, gardens, maintenance of the buildings etc.
Most of the budget goes towards the social services, leaves nothing for niceties.
we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects.
We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated.
Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist.
We graft out arses off and have nothing.
Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources.
We have been robbed blind.
When you have to pay for the pigmented immigrant, not waste money on British people. Don’t forget the first British person was apparently black..
them puberty blockers aren't cheap
Paying for all the people who come here to help our economy 😭
You know it's bad when the guy with the face tattoo is complaining about how bad it is.
Having tattoos doesn't make you a bad person
Just because he has a load of tattoos doesn't make him any different to any other decent person!!
Tattoos are extremely expensive! Whilst you're looking at people with toos as scum they aren't skint and are very likely to have a good income. Folk complain about tattoo parlors opening near them but everyone who frequents them has plenty of spare cash, way better than a charity shop.
It's crazy that so many place in this country are being left to rot and die, this government really has done a number on this country.
Easy to blame the government for everything, that's our problem in this country. The government will never save us and we need to stop expecting they ever will. Us common people are on our own and we need to re-build our communities again if things are to ever change.
Good luck with that.
but isn't that why there's such a thing as a government or at least originally was because we made or asked for it to be like that to help us all or not@@aka8876
precisely because so many refuse to work and demand someone else pays for them, there are not enough money left. At the beginning of this video, a grown up healthy man, instead of getting a job and contributing to society, he chose to complain about the government while mooching on the taxpayer.
@@adrianmainz2716 What's your solution?
Safi has a Steel tongue drum, used for healing, meditation etc. She's got a beautiful soul, Safi's gone through some real bad sh*t to end up where she is. I hope she gets help, and finds peace.
She appeared to be high as a kite to me.
@@chrisworthen1538 never said she wasn't. But something horrible happened to her, that's why she's high on substances.
@@chrisworthen1538 Whereas you'd just be dead in a closet somewhere if you were a real person :^) Chris worthless is a good name for a bot account though, you're learning!
She’s a child, yes? Walk a mile in her shoes…
@@russellsage4953 If she's walking, it's with no shoes, and December on the south coast of the UK on a day that looks like it never got over 50F, or 10C, if that. That sidewalk looks cold.
Used to be such a lovely town , I used to take my kids on caravan holidays every year .
Still is this is right wing brexiteer thick bollocks.
I know i loved that place, sad to see its become a dump.
I usually blame it on foreigners and it feels kinda great. 😂😂😂
I was there in the mid fifties…it was charming…..it’s still charming…it’s just people gossiping to try and get the silly house prices down..so that they can move in..if they succeed im coming down..
There is a video from 1970's and it looks better less developed maybe.
Great investigative journalism Wendall wonderful work reaching out to the community that you met on your journey around the town..
Society in decline
Does filling the country with migrants fix that ?
we've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects.
We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated.
Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist.
We graft out arses off and have nothing.
Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources.
We have been robbed blind.
Society DECLINED already done
Very true, the Country and society is in decay.
😂 Love to see it.
It's not the drive to austerity as the government put it. No, it's the immigrants
I used to go to Paignton as a kid, it was a really nice, pretty place, full of really nice people. This decline is far too common in towns across the UK. It's really sad to see. People are quite rightly angry about the constant pressure we're all under, so people look for escape in drugs or alcohol, which brings the crime. There's lost generations in these places, and they're pretty much ignored. It's great to see that there's still nice, welcoming folks there. They are where the hope for the future of these places is.
american here, but i have to agree you're absolutely right. i'm all about lifting the impoverished and downtrodden into a better life, gainful employment, education, etc. anybody can go from rags to riches if they simply apply themselves with a bit of assistance but when a man's spirit is broken and he has degenerated morally, not even a forklift can raise him out of a life of squalor and crime. here in america, no one homeless on the streets has to be, but if you try to give them work and opportunity, they refuse, because what they really want to do is stay in their tent and smoke meth.
Drugs and alcohol..... The false Messiah of the modern world, promises peace and release but at a heavy price 😮
Same….im 51 and used to go Devon all the time as a youngster, remember crabbing ?? I was in a Christian cult and my parents used to let me and my brother buy “Rambo” knives……wtf happened to the world man 😢 (the knives where used for fishing btw as it had all the kit in the top part of knife, not that we caught anything😂)
Very sad what has happened to our once great country.
It's the decline of society....meltdown.
The 400 yrs r . Genesis 15;13&14.
I think we are back in the fifties now…we’ll soon be back in the Victorian era..
@@griswald7156why would that be a bad thing?
misogyny, class inequality, poverty, stiltedness etc@@Happyheretic2308
I blame the council for not managing the area properly and the lack of funding to police and to resources where it’s really needed
Very well done on this and other reviews you have done.
Sadly there are problems in many places in the UK and it is getting worse, the almost total lack of any fear of the law is a huge problem and unfortunately nothing is done about it and it is becoming more noticeable. Keep up the good work!
you would have the right to have fear of the law if the law served you well...in what way do people in the uk feel the law is generally on their side?
Because kids know they can do what ever they want and law can't do anything.
Thank you for treating people with kindness and respect on the streets of Paignton. I bought a seaside property in Paignton on Garfield Road and it isn't all bad. I've walked the streets at night and if you go looking for trouble you might possibly find it but I've never experienced any, and I'm non white in a predominantly 97pc white area. Yes there is poverty but in the Summer Paignton lights up as does the people and I've not witnessed any trouble.
@XvonPocalypse In Devon and Cornwall I'm not aware of such place.
We should all aspire to have Melvyn's attitude you can tell he is such a nice caring man. I believe compassion and caring for others is the only way this country is going to improve. we all need to do our bit for the community.
get a job, and stop complaining about the government not giving you "more"
@@adrianmainz2716 Attitudes like this just ignore the problem. The problem isn't "laziness", it's a sustianed and continuous failure on both a national and local level by the government to give back. And it is giving back. The government takes taxes, supresses liberties, and imposes control on everyone. Doing all that, it has a duty to give back. A government that just oppresses and never gives back is less a government and more a caste system of the controlled and controlling.
And that's ignoring the fact that poverty today is rarely the result of laziness, but a result of inhereted poorness, lack of economic opportunity, and larger systemic issues relating to a shrinking middle class and widening wealth gap. A fundamentally uneven economic system that prioritises the wealth of a few rather than the wellbeing and liberty of the many, is inevitably going to leave people in these conditions. The issue isn't laziness.
@@theonewhocomments367 any proof ? and if you are so sure that the problem is not lazyness, why don't you help those people ? You lie to them that they have "lack of opportunity" yet every single month hundreds of people try to cross the channel in order to get the chance to enjoy England's "lack of opportunity".
@@adrianmainz2716 Their lack of opportunity is born of the fact that many of these families can't afford to enter their children into higher quality education, and because within these communities there is very little to do for young people to do, both socially and academically, something that I can personally vouch for having grown up in the area. This lack of everyday opportunity leads to lots of antisocial behaviour, including drug culture, gang culture, and similar such activities. These then in turn hurt these young people once they grow older, as some will end up with convictions before they're even adults, and others will lack the necessary academic qualities to go onto further education or access high paying jobs, and no, you can't just handwave this away as being "their fualt", these are children in environments with limited options, not rich millionaires with all the freedom in the world. This in turn further feeds into the cycle of poverty. We can see now that in some places, action against this is being taken. In the nearby town of Kingsbridge, a skate park to act as a social place for young people is underway, and local groups are working to provide young people with more opportunities, giving them things to do with their time, rather than get wrapped up into drugs and crime.
As for immigrants, of course an area with limited social and academic opportunities is enticing, when you're escaping a literal warzone. If we were so bad that we were unattractive even to war refugees, then I'd think we'd have some serious questions to be asking. Using the fact that people come to the UK to escape war as a way of handwaving the many issues that are present within the country, just helps to let the problems fester and worsen. They're escaping war, of course Paignton is attractive, doesn't mean that there aren't fundamental issues to do a lack of opportunity.
@@theonewhocomments367 richard 'three private islands' branson ......... sir !! phil 'three yachts' green ......
The railway crosses through Poole high street as well.
I used to live close to here & it was our go to place to take our daughter for a few hours on the seafront. It’s so sad to see the decline of a typical English seaside resort. The people of Paignton deserve better.
I used to love in Plymouth and loved to visit and Torquay. They were lovely then. There was a water park. Happening all over the UK with mismanagement of council money. It's not only because of less funding from Central Government.
What have the people of Paignton done to deserve better?
@@Myrmecia I'm not from Paignton but I just dropped a really rancid fart and its lingering
I felt sorry for the Sally Army guy that lost his wife. Some really nice people down there. Take care everyone and good luck.❤
Paignton was a lovely place in the 80's, Like a lot of places it seems to have gone very down hill
Why???
@@a44489 Why what ?
I lived and worked there in the 80’s was a beautiful place with good friends and good memories... such a shame I’m gonna stay away n remember the good times we had ...
Appreciate your work, words and vids! My grandfather was from Devon and immigrated to the States after serving with the Aircorp during WWI. We had lots of letters from Devon and Wales so seeing the towns now as they are- thanks!
Thank you for your kindness, respect and encouragement towards the people you meet on your travels.
The problem is there’s no deterrent. Not suggesting we emulate the laws in Dubai, etc, but people are terrified to step out of line there. We do however need stricter laws which criminalise anti social behaviour.
A country to emulate is Iceland - it has good standards of living and good social harmony. Sadly, I don’t see any way back for the UK.
well said, not one extreme or the other
We need to become a Christian nation again, living on and by the principles again that first made this nation great. Jesus is the way the truth and the life, He is the best example.
@@Zombiegeneration23 the average estimate by a group of professional historians is the christians have murdered in cold blood 175 million people, The most notable the various crusades, the african massacres and the attack on mostly innocent people in iraq. In which, up to one million people were killed, mainly by the very christian americans, helped by the barely christian british, led by a very christian prime minister. The very christian americans kill ten to twelve of their own for everyone killed by their own in the very atheist nordic countries and other countries in europe, Christianity is based on the bible, the most evil book ever written, It condones, forced abortion, kidnap. slavery, rape, infanticide and genocide. Just goggle where to find the relevant passages, Most who claim christianity wont, they are scared to find the truth
@@Zombiegeneration23 100%
thing is, you don't get the social harmony when there's so much social and financial inequality.
Making parents responsible for their children's crimes is long overdue.
... Good luck on getting single mothers to take responsibility for anything
As a fmr lawyer i can tell you, when ppl see something on the news about young vandals or criminals they always say "If that were my kids id report them myself etc". WHEN it IS THEIR KID its "Oh no not my child they would not do that"😏
Stopping schools indoctrination kids and turning them against parents would help as well.
Let parents punish their kids for doing wrong like back in the days then it wont be as fucked up as it is now cos kids know they can do whatever they want without repercusssikn
@@davedeth8591the parents are in bed snorting coke watching Netflix
Re. the high street at 09:08 : What Wendall didn't point out is that almost every shop was a chain store: Clinton Cards, Card Factory, Mountain Warehouse, TUI, Shoezone etc etc plus a bunch of charity shops, betting shops and pound shops. All chains. There will probably be a bakery or a cafe or two, but that's it as far as independent stores go, and every high street in every town in the UK is almost exactly the same. These shops employ a few people, but profits are hoovered up by the big chain corporations, many overseas, and handed out to shareholders. So the money from retail doesn't stay in the town. Independent stores can't compete with the chains, so there's no incentive for local people to set up a shop. Isn't this a big part of the problem? Go to a medium-sized town in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and while there will be some chains, there's a lot more independent stores too.
I think he hinted at it by saying they are 'run of the mill' stores
Our town doesn’t have as many chain stores as that - they’re just empty.
I was born and lived in Plymouth, in Devon, for the first twenty years of my life. As a child, Paignton meant two things to me: the beach, and the zoo. Going to Paignton meant a trip on the train to go to one of those two places, and it was a magical experience for me as a young kid. I've lived in Kent for the past thirty years of my life now, and it's weird to see Paignton today through my fifty-odd-year-old eyes. It doesn't look anything like my childhood self remembered it, but then I suppose I wouldn't, since kids tend to magicalise their best memories in ways that don't always correlate with reality.
Older photos of the place suggest it was a lot more upmarket when you were young. During the early 20th century it looked very posh and seems to have taken a turn for the worse since the 70s.
This is what happens when you keep voting tory.
The zoo is still awesome, took my daughter there in the summer and we had so much fun.
Wrong. I bet that in the 1970's the place was a middle-class paradise. Beautiful seaside area with beautiful people. Now it is a S-hole. Sad. We have the same in thee USA. Places that were a paradise....now look like large open-air slums.
@@keepcalmandblametheblackgu9164 Same thing has happened in America. Red Taker States, who all vote against their best interest for the former Republican Party, now the Rethuglicon Fascist Party of Demented Wannabe Fascist Dic(k)tator Donald Traitor Trump! These states are chock a block with pensioners on Social Security and Medicare who hate the idea of socialism, even though they live on it!
Devon, while a bit neglected, is like Tolkein's Hobbiton compared to the inner-city shitholes of London & Birmingham.
Even Plymouth?
@@Exnavyjay Plymouth is ok. I lived there for most of my life. Exeter is a bigger shithole
@@Exnavyjay Plymouth keeps evolving. The City Centre is being reimagined. Devonport and the City Centre has housing much superior than that post WW 11. The University and Major Hospital brings a plethora of diverse students and their families to the City. For the moment Plymouth still celebrates the marching of Marines out of the Citadel but Plymouth’s ties to the Navy begin to be lost
There are no inner city shit-holes in London; only outside London ie up north
theres no such thing as shitholes in london
Happy to have found you Wendall. I'm in the U.S., central Illinois between St. Louis and Chicago. Years ago on a trip to the U.K., I fell in love with your country - the people and countryside. I'll keep watching. Take care as you trek around! 🇬🇧🇺🇸
It’s easy money, they don’t seem to like dealing with actual real problems.
Wonderful commentary Wendell. Thank you for sharing.
The British tabloids were never known for truth and as a teacher who worked in England all I can say is some parents are not aware of how to bring children up . The factors are many . Great report. Many thanks .
Beautiful video! I loved the whole thing. I liked the interaction you got with the busking girl.
🙏
When I was a kid my family always went to Paignton. My mum's family was from there so we'd go stay with my aunties. I loved it, it was beautiful, the highlight of my year when we went.
I went again fairly recently with my Mrs, I'm in my 40s now. Couldn't believe how much it had changed, a lovely little seaside town, now an absolute dump. Really sad, my aunties would have been devestated so see how bad it's got.
Poole town centre in Dorset also has a railway line literally going through the street and when the barriers are down all the shoppers have to stop an wait. Poole's a rough horrible place too, don't be fooled by Sandbanks etc, that's well away from the centre.
Not one person has ever mentioned the parents! They should be held responsible!
They never will be because it's single mums
Why is it the parents fault?
@@janicesmith975Because it's their duty to pass on an educated respect for courtesy and mannerisms
Yes they be drinking and snorting coke on a night and kids running wild.
@@-j308A parent is a parent, no matter their status. This is about integrity, responsibility and education.
This is so sad. I visited (from the US) Paigntion, Devon in 1988 for two weeks ( a friend lived at Blagdon Court, house) and I had a wonderful visit and enjoyed all the sights and beautiful area and the people were so nice. We have a big homeless problem here in the states and I'm near Asheville NC ( a big homeless problem) and they are making efforts to help and house the homeless. Gentrification everywhere is pricing working people out of finding affordable homes.
I live in NC for 35 years and Asheville did not have the homeless problem till the politicians let drug users and dealers get away with anything and handed out benefits. So now Asheville attracts addicts who are often homeless. Asheville politicians created the homeless problem.
I live in California, 80 miles south of San Francisco. I visited Paignton seven years ago. What pisses me off is the Trumpanzees from Southern States trashing my native state of California for homelessness, while they have homelessness too. I'd like to go up to everyone who did so on You Tube and tell them to shove it and take their hypocrisy to Russia where they belong!
I live abroad now but whenever I return to Britain I get the feeling the place is in serious decline. There are lots of reasons of course but one is that at night there aren't any police simply wandering around, listening out for any trouble. They're all in cars and can't hear anything. I stayed recently in a resort just north of Torbay, in the middle of the town where beneath my window was a drug dealer serving literally hundreds of kids over the course of the night. A police car did drive by but didn't stop of course. If they'd been on foot they'd have heard it. Probably everyone living around there knew what was going on but were too scared to phone the police. It would only take a coupe of bobbys per smallish town, out on foot in the small hours to identify where there's trouble, drug dealers, gangs or whatever. Or is it that the police don't want to know?
I suspect the police can no longer keep up with social media and general online boosted county lines that target the smaller towns
Police know about dealers and probably know the families too. They aren't there to make sure we are safe anymore. They are there to make sure we are oppressed and following orders!
Too right. It’s noticeable everywhere, the lack of police. Long gone is the bobby on the beat…sigh
When everyone knows there are drug dealers on the street. The police also knows. Probably they don't care at all.
Years ago i had a drug dealer living in my street. (not in the UK) Addicts broke in to my car multiple times. Shouting screaming at night and other crazy things going on.
The police did nothing about it. My guess is that they know probably every address and place where drugs are sold. When they know where, they can monitor is in some way. Keep an eye on it.
It suits the so called ‘police’ to ignore trouble and lawlessness. They are lazy.
My grandmother lives here and I have fond memories visiting as far back as I can remember. Although it seems the council hasn’t done a good job of keeping up maintenance of public parks and spaces in recent years, Paignton and Torbay as a whole still feel like my home away from home, and I would argue it’s better than most other places in the UK.
You obviously haven't been anywhere else in Devon or Cornwall if you think Paignton is nicer than other areas.
Love the octogenarian brass musician on the corner! He's so sweet for continuing to fearlessly share his music with his townfolk. If all of us shared our gifts and goodness with others, maybe we could peaceably push back the encroaching darkness...
Fun fact: The building behind you @11:54 (being renovated?) was one of the oldest operating cinema in Europe back in the late 90s. I went there as a teen, it had lovely interior. Before I left Paignton, they built a big cinema (an Odeon I think) on the seafront. Just before the new cinema opened, The Paignton Picture House closed down.
Nice
I’d love to urban explore that before they tore it down, bet that looked beautiful in there…before the wee runts probably smashed it to bits 😒
I grew up in a rough area in south east Australia but love the respect you show to the locals and show that the area does have its own unique beauty
Nice
Exactly. They're not all racist yobs outside London, but it helps (to be one)
@Jim-zd6mn Spoken like a non-Australian.
Let me guess, Broady?
@@gpet23 dandenong
Beautiful sound from that musical instrument.❤❤
Thank you for your video. I am from Czechia and I had an internship with my college in Paignton in 2011. I really enjoyed this experience and I found this place beautiful. When I visited this town in February 2020, I was shocked at how Paignton is destitute and deprived. It was probably a little bit rough in 2011 but I was younger and I did not perceive it. It was my first time in England and surprisingly it was not London. :
Hi, I found your response interesting as you are from Czechia and have seen a decline in Paignton. I went there for a walk very recently and really couldn't see any difference from how it was in 2013. The shops were doing good business, the roads fine, two new hotels had just been built. Paignton has never been my favourite place. However, it would be interesting to see what had changed in your mind?
@@mattcrispin6737 Maybe went in a different time of the year?
@@Pawel-rv1ek It was a sunny day yes, in November. Sorry I'm just not seeing all of this in Devon,
Hello there, don't get me wrong. I still like the atmosphere of the town and the surrounding area which is stunning.
My second time, I noticed more addicts on the street, especially young folks. Problems related with drugs are everywhere but not always in this size of the town.
Otherwise, I agree that there are more deprived places in the UK.
I really enjoy your channel! There is substance and a depth here and clearly you have a natural way with people. I grew up in the UK, but left at 23 for various overseas assignments. I ultimately settled in the U.S., your videos remind me so much of my past life in the U.K.... thank you, Sir!!!
Thank you for the kind comment, glad you enjoy the channel
This really touched me...years ago I lived in Newton Abbot & worked as a doctor in Paignton & Torquay...seaside towns are often deprived & attract addicts & traumatised folk seeking a "better life" you are a good man, peace...
It's funny how the English have such an attitude when it comes to people from terrible abusive families and yet get no empathy, yet in the same breath will want to help forginers who often offer no value and are even worse than our own criminals.
@@CaseyDavies-od7iryour right about the foreigners there taking over our country the last time I went to Paignton, and Weston super mare 8 thought I was in another country as many were talking in there foreign language,
@@joginns778 That's pretty racist. Like textbook.
@@aerrae5608 dimwit there's nothing racist about the truth if you haven't visited those places then take yourself there learn what the word racist means,
Only recently found your channel, but really enjoying your videos.... Keep up the good work
I moved from Essex to Devon (Ivybridge) last year and have now settled permanently just outside Paignton not far from Broadsands beach. After having lived previously in places such as Barnsley, Portsmouth, High Wycombe, Tooting (those were the worst but there’s other places too) I can quite honestly say Paignton is absolutely lovely!
The people here are very friendly, they actually smile and say hello which is something I’ve not been used to for a long time, I’m more used to getting strange looks for saying good morning etc everywhere else.
I’ve been into the town centre many times at various times of day, and never had any trouble of any kind, yes there are a few homeless people around but I haven’t found a town yet without any (They’re allowed to be out there for a reason, to remind us and scare us all to carry on being good little wage slaves…fear is powerful).
In fact my husband and I were made homeless ourselves a few years ago but thank God we never had to sleep on the streets.
Also as you say, the town has less empty shops than I’ve seen for a while too and there’s many good places to get food.
The beaches are beautiful, our dog loves it, the air is fresher and traffic is much less than I’m used to also.
I just wanted to say how I feel about Paignton having lived here for nearly 3 months I’ve no intention of moving on again.
A lot depends on your mindset…if you wake up each day determined to at least try and enjoy life, put on a smile and be grateful to be alive whatever life throws at you then things never seem so bad…if however you wake up grumpy, let things irritate you and decide to stay in that mood all day then yeah, life is gonna be a sh*t show, everyone will annoy you and you become bitter, hating everything.
Life is what you make it. If you don’t like it get out and change it. Simples 🤷🏻♀️👍🤗
High Wycombe is an absolute dive spent a lot of time there
I live in Barnsley. We have affordable housing. A responsible council. Beautiful countryside and nature.
Barnsley is a lovely little town, the people are so friendly!
I've heard lots of bad things about High Wycombe. I don't think I've ever been there, but isn't it in one of the most expensive parts of England?
Tooting in South London ? No wonder you left !
The land between the railway station and the sea used to be marshland and was reclaimed in the late 1800's about 25 years after the railway station was built, so originally the station was at the end of the town centre. I loved your interactions with people, showing genuine interest in their lives. A good honest video of Paignton, which has faired better than Torquay whose town centre is in real decline. You just gained a subscriber. Thanks TH-cam algorithm for suggesting Wendall's channel.
I can just see Colonel Hall indignantly holding his drink in the bar at Fawlty Towers, exclaiming, "No, surely not Torqay!" (or for that matter, John Cleese handling the interview at 4:00: "Excuse me, Queequeg...what can you tell us about Paignton?"
Torquay is supposed to be very tony, I thought. There's that seaside hotel made famous by Agatha Christie and all that. I visited Paignton seven years ago this March, stayed there in an OK motel near the shore. I got in a day trip to Dartmouth, by taxi and ferry, as the steam train wasn't running yet. Paignton certainly was a bit run down. Dartmouth was up market.
This is heartbreaking but all too common, I live in a village on the edge of Dartmoor, where I live and other nearby towns and villages are being swamped with new unaffordable homes destroying the culture and history and communities of places fairly unchanged for centuries, we are becoming a county of second homes , little work and a housing estate for people escaping diversity. Our precious countryside is being destroyed and true local people thin on the ground. Devons charm is fading, Paignton is one of the better seaside towns although i won't go there anymore, its gone down hill.
I lived in a small village on the edge of Dartmoor and remember when the local vicar and his wife would organise a summer day trip to Paignton beach for all the village children. It’s an enduring memory of my parents waving us all goodbye and there when we returned.
@@blademaiden4498 I can't believe in such a short time how much things have changed, my village in the last 3 years and the rest in less than 20, I too remember our vicar and the communities we had not too long ago.
@@blademaiden4498 I can't believe in such a short time how much things have changed, my village in the last 3 years and the rest in less than 20, I too remember our vicar and the communities we had not too long ago.
Same is happening here in Northumberland, all our villages are being swamped with unaffordable homes. They’ll never admit to escaping the diversity though, we know!
We've been robbed blind. We have royal families with bank accounts that by law are not required to be audited. We've got corporations siphoning off our expenditure. Governments pissing an untold eye-watering amount of resources into black holes. Pissing generations of wealth into the military industrial complex and secret black projects.
We've been utterly robbed blind. Raped, pillaged, deceived, coerced and manipulated.
Where and what is state funded? There is nothing not a damn thing. Unless it's a private business then it does not exist.
We graft out arses off and have nothing.
Hoe can be so blind to the fact that currency itself is a medium in which to rob us of our time, effort, energy and resources.
We have been robbed blind.
The lady with the tongue drum plays it really beautifully!
I moved to Torbay in 1997.I discovered that it is the most evil place, second only to Liverpool. During my time there I would never leave my flat unarmed. I would take a staff and a brass hammer and pepper with me to ward off attacks. In my first job driving an ice cream van around Torquay and Paignton, I would get attacked every day and the van was like a golf ball with all the dents in the body from constant flying rocks. In my first month of living in Torquay, four consecutive murders were committed in the same place on the seafront in the same week. I wondered where on earth I'd landed. It went into real decline in 1998 and now I'm told that locals are apologising to tourists for the state of the town. I escaped in 2010, I would have gone sooner but the wages were so low that it was hard to imagine. Everything cost four times as much as in my native country of Yorkshire. It was a very hard life there and living in appalling accommodation with massive rent. Flats kept getting condemned and sold off which meant moving once or twice every year. I will never return there. I don't believe that its any longer fit for human habitation. It certainly isn't safe. One of my assailants ended up in a prison for the mentally insane and another nutter by the name of Glen Skinner was banned from Torbay for 15 years because of years of terrorism of the towns. He ended up in Exeter, but all it did was move the problem. The papers branded Torbay Council corrupt and it's interesting to note that the claim wasn't challenged.
All true.
I went to Paignton last August with my wife and my youngest for a week, overall it was nice but there were some dodgy looking individuals and certain areas along the front looked a little worse for wear . But it’s the same all over.
I don't know about Torbay but bringing Liverpool into the conversation is just nonsense, if you walked around the city tooled up in the way you say you would be regarded as a dangerous weirdo, ask any tourist if Liverpool Is safe or not...
Jethro moved to Bristol and got a job as a rear gunner on a milkfloat
Liverpool is great I live there.
I've lived here since the mid 80's. The 80's and into the early 90's were amazing. So much of the bay was spotless and there was so much to do and see. The local councils gave up years ago keeping the area clean, and the gardens well cared for. The single most important thing for tourism is having a beautiful and well looked-after town. Sadly year after year after year, the towns get more run down, and without a policeman in sight, which in turn, attracts more and more undesirables and trouble makers.
The coastal walks are stunning and because they require next to no maintenance, are still beautiful and will remain so.
Torbay CCLOWNSHILLS just cut down all the historic Seafront Trees! As did Plymouth a few years back. Most likely to hid the damaging effects of 5G Towers roll outs! DESPICABLE the LOT of the TREASONOUS ONES that they are!
From my experience what the tourist towns need most are tourists. you know, working families on their holidays with some money saved to do nice things on their vacation. Take the money out of the pockets of the tourists, and tourist towns die. It's not rocket science. Have you tried telling tourists not to spend all their money on new iphones and smashed avocado on toast, or is that just what people like you tell the homeless and unemployed?
Good point about the police. Unfortunately, but too much of a venerable fact to ignore, some people need to see the presence of police to know not to give into their worst instincts. Police make it clear that the community has standards and expectations.
@@dawggonevidz9140 sounds like someone is mad that he pointed out lack of policing leads to scum moving into an area. You know you don't have a point when you have to put words in the other guys mouth to walk away thinking you made a good argument lol.
Your response addressed the one point you actually had anything to say about and glossed over the rest, leftist detected
Went to paington 5 years ago and it was bad then.
We live in the South Hams not too far from Paignton and can honestly say, we don't go there!
Overall South Devon is by far a beautiful place, don't let the problems of one town put you off. The good part is that holidaymakers drive straight through it on the A38 going to Cornwall to cram themselves on to the already overcrowded beaches leaving us to enjoy some of the most incredible beaches and countryside the country has to offer.
Yep, wish they would stop in Devon, we're overwhelmed in the summer.😊
It's true that Devon is very nice and significantly closer than Cornwall to the rest of the country. We go to both, but would always pick Devon in the summer as Cornwall gets chaotic!
Most of London have moved there
I really like it that you try to find out how big the problem really is and take us with you on your journeys. I always get so curious and want to go see for myself when reading such news items.
Outside of the former Rossiters. Paignton’s flagship store for decades. How far we have sunk. And they call it ‘progress.’ It should make us all weep.
I went there as a child on a school trip back in the late 70's & one of the memories i have is beautiful flower displays literally everywhere & the cleanliness of it, everything was pristine.
I lived there for many years and loved it there. My late brother was a fireman there too. So sad to see what has happened to Paignton, it is heart breaking. Foxhole estate and Queen Elizabeth drive were rough when I lived there, but I do miss living in Paignton. I worked for a time in the pharmacy in Foxhole, giving me some memories of my time there. Also, it is the same everywhere, shops closed, homeless people, drug all over. I live in the midlands and used to live in a lovely village which is a horrible place now. So it's not just Paignton to be honest.
Make Albion Great Again
True. We have similar issues on the other side of the pond.
Interesting and I live in Plymouth but have had holiday breaks in Paignton. I think everywhere has its problems. I stay away from dodgy areas and never had any problems anywhere in Devon. I feel very safe living here.
I few years ago we went for a night out in torquay, there were gangs of young people 30 or so strong, (12 to 15 years old, possibly) They were walking down the street not hurting anyone, but forcing people , many of them 60 plus off the pavement into the road. My wife knew what I would do and said, dont make a fuss we just want a nice night out, Being 6' 6'' and well built I just walked straight towards them, they looked at each other, then split like the red sea. A little bit of fun but not for those of a smaller stature
I done the same while walking a large rotti
I am not so tall but the young people like it if you communicate. If you start chatting they are invariably friendly actually. They hang about on the street because they want to socialise.
@@sarahstrong7174 These were intimidating people, I know there are many young people that are just out and being social, You can usually tell the difference. they dont walk towards people in a bunch and watch everyone step out into the road. The youngsters are worse, but all ages do it some walk 3 abreast and expect everyone to get out of their way, because whatever they are talking about or doing is more important than anything anyone else's
Those very large crowds of kids who force everyone off the sidewalks are from the language schools. There are 3 or 4 in Torquay and the students can be very rowdy in a pack but pleasant on their own.
Being nine foot tall the larger crowd of more worrying kids I encountered scattered faster
I go to Paignton quite a lot because I live not too far away. My wife won't get out of the car when I have to do some shopping and she has a big dog to look after her. I have never seen any trouble but I have seen, during the day, about 1/3 of those in the main street clearly either on drugs or recovering addicts. And I have seen hundreds of these people in my job. But then I suppose the majority of people are hidden away at work. I used to go on holiday to Torquay a lot in the 1960s and torquay was up market then, with Paignton an honest to goodness down to earth popular resort. No longer unfortunately. What strikes me most when I walk in the centre is that most people I see are not at all well off and it must be a struggle for them. And yet behind the town centre are many hundreds of perfectly decent houses lived in by seemingly financial ok people. Where are they all?
My parents took me to Devon when I was a child I am 55 now. Devon was beautiful back then. I am so sad at what has happened to our country. Gutted.
It still is very beautiful Patricia. Most towns still pristine and lovely.
Me too, similar age by the way. It was great when they opened Coral Island in 1977, what a nice time it was back then, no mobile phone zombies, independent shops, better mannered people, way less traffic, and the lights along the Rock Walk, it's still nice there but does not have nearly as much charm as it did when I was a kid visiting.
I used to live close to Paignton until about 4 years ago, even in the short time since I moved away I have seen various videos around the Devon area in general and sadly it's all slowly decaying away from what it once was.
14 years of conservative profiteering and neglect will do that to a country. Of course holiday seaside towns are suffering when the only group of people who can afford to take a holiday all go to the French Riviera or skiiing in Switzerland.
@@mattcrispin6737 I will go back to Devon in 2024. Thank you Matt ♥.
Good video mate - first I've come across from you. Interesting and relevant comment, with some great interviews. Nicely balanced, too. Some in the MSM could take a lesson from you. Well done!
🙏
Good stuff mate. These type of rawly captured videos will be absolute goldmines for future generations. Imagine having this type of insight into people who lived 500 years ago.
Great Social History nice one.
we do have quite a lot of social documents from that time ... Pepys diary for a start ;)
@@njones420 I absolutely adore Pepys' diary and happy you mentioned it! I'd love to see him pottering about in old London though :)
@@danbower88 haha, agreed.
Wow! Melvyn looks so much like my father. My Grandfather was from Plymouth and had a few kids before he married my grandmother ooop north, which we only found out about in recent years. I wonder!?!
I'm born and raised in Leeds but have done a lot of work in that part of the world. In fact, I shop-fitted the Ladbrokes behind Melvyn around 7 years ago.
When I was working in Plymouth, people I'd never seen before were greeting me like they knew me, and now I know why.
Cheers Wendall! You've a good heart and I appreciate what you do.
I did drainage surveys on both the Paignton and Foxhall Co-Ops too. In fact, I think there's a third Co-Op on the outskirts towards Torbay. They told us it was tricky in Foxhall but, being from East Leeds I couldn't really see it. Had to sit in that car park at Foxhall Co-Op for a few hours as they had a manhole in the shop they wouldn't let us open while the shop was open. Turned out it was the beer cellar for the pub that must've been in that building in the past. Thinking back, we did get a few looks in the car park and there were boy racers smoking skunk in their cars but, that's nothing novel today is it.
You manage to get really thoughtful responses from the people you interview, found out so much about the reality of the place from your video.
Awesome to randomly come across a vid with a guy playing a Baritone. I played the Baritone for 6 years in middle and high school. It's such a mellow and beautiful instrument.
Thirteen years of brutal austerity and our police force cut to the bone is part of the problem
National debt has doubled, what austerity caused that then?!
Thatcherism in 2023
Without austerity EVERYTHING would be more expensive because the government would have needed to inflate the money supply even faster to pay for its massive deficits.
@@villhelm OR, Tax the wealthy
Stop the rise in our population ...
I so nearly moved there about 15 years ago but after spending every weekend there for 6months or so it became apparent there was a massive unemployment and low wage problem ,so chose not to. But the one thing that really stuck out to me was how friendly everyone was.
Its sad such a beautiful place has slid so far into a downwards spiral
I agree that everyone is friendly, I've found that, in Devon as a whole. The whole county has very low wages and proportionately expensive housing. South West Water, covering the area is also one of the most expensive in the UK. I work in Paignton a few days per week and also in the surrounding areas and haven't seen that problem side at all. I wonder if, after those newspaper articles and media coverage, that the police and council have felt any pressure to address the issue(s) properly?
Take note of the headlines in those papers, all using the same language. Lazy, sensational "journalism" which looks coordinated. The town is suffering from a low economy but let's pretend it's the "yobs" that are the issue. Even using the word "yob" is a throw back to the 80s under Tory rule.@@Angelaah.
Been over there as a youngster from Belgium, walking the coastpath. No internet back then, so I came a bit unprepared as a 19 year old youngster, no real plan...I traveled with a Belgian truckdriver (family of a friend of mine) to Bristol (on the boat via Dover from Calais... no chunnel yet at that time) . I just had a few paper maps of the region and once there I decided to eventually hike the coastpath. From Bristol I walked/hitchhiked to the coast... An older couple picked me up and they told me they were heading to the coast for the weekend once they've picked up their daughter at home in Winscombe. Got invited at said home and we sat in their garden for a tea and biscuits while we waited for their daughter to come home. Already at that time this couple told me that young people (just like their daughter also did) were leaving because of not enough jobs around. Lots of unemployment caused young people to leave for cities away from the coast. It was somewhere around the year 1986-87. As I hiked along the coast first from Burnham on sea to Barnstaple and after a hitchhike to Exmouth, I hiked from there to Bournemouth. It wasn't very busy as it wasn't summertime yet but i already remember some empty hotels in a state of decay. I mainly stayed in small B&B but also few times in hotels. Very few visitors around that time of the year for sure. As you hike it's easy to make many spontaneous encournters with both locals and non-locals and the story of young people leaving the region was a frequent subject.
I don't know why Wendle thinks waiting for the train at the level crossing is "a pain in the arse". I am a Brit living in Japan and not far from where I live, in Machida, there is a crossing near the center of town just like that. Pedestrians put up with the minor inconvenience of waiting because the public transport, particularly the train service, is so good.
There is a bridge FFS
Transperancy, honest communication, empathy and love - the base medicines for social problems
I disagree. Physical resources and are the *_base_* medicine.This is obvious from the way the qualities you list become subsumed by antisocial behaviour when primary employers disappear and places become run down.
I agree. Maybe there’s petty crime but at least El Chapo isn’t running the place.
Utter tosh. People can move for work, they choose to stay, get free money, and complain
@@18yearsoldnot El Cheapo. Resource s are diverted into private pockets
We stayed in torquay this summer using it as a base to explore the rest of torbay. Got the train to both Paignton and Brixham multiple times and enjoyed each trip.
Obviously my experience in the summer would be different to that of the winter and what the locals see, but I would 100% recommend visiting torbay if you can.
The beaches can be stunning and we had some incredible seafood.
You found the best in a worn out town, unfortunately there are lots of them world wide and always made out worse than they are. Loved the Tongue drum she was very good. Good luck to her and her two dogs.
Interesting video thanks for sharing and being so honest with the visit.
Thanks Wendell for this lovely analysis. I have watched a few of your videos and I must say they are so enjoyable. Interestingly I started noticing your accent here and I am so glad to say that I had spent a couple of weeks in Walsall when I was younger. It is amazing that you bumped into a couple of others from your part of the world, here. Everyone here was really friendly. I just loved Melvin. He played so well.
Excellent video, I lived in this area in the mid-late 2000's so sorry to hear what has happened down there, bad parenting is the real problem, children reflect their parents in most cases !
Paignton is pictured to be such a beautiful town. Thanks for highlighting some of the problems. More coffee coming your way mate for the real effort of getting in touch with the souls of the downtrodden - The Malaysian Emmet