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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2024
- Welcome back to Turdtowns the channel that shines a light on some of the lesser known places in the UK. For good...But usually for bad reasons.
This week we headed off to Wiltshire county which is a pretty nice place. Lots of open country, rolling hills and .....SWINDON.
It was pretty nice here but we managed to make a case for five towns to be called TURDTOWNS. We were actually suprised how bad the top four were too.
We visited every town in the county. Including Chippenham, Salisbury and Calne and we were mostly greeted with pleasant towns. But we're not interested in them!
We are most likely covering some posh towns next because it's time to make fun of some Toffs! - ตลก
The problem with those 12 youths is that they’ve been left to their own devizes
😂
Brilliant 😂
Funny when the Wiltshire Police Hq is in Devizes, obviously not enough to take care of the “Devizes 12” !! 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷
😂😂😂
Sounds like a WARminster zone
Swindon resident here - The town centre, where most of this video was recorded, is really grim. The shops are all slowly closing down and there's a generally hostile atmosphere about the place. I don't like walking around there on weekdays, when there's a higher concentration of weirdos and people looking for trouble. The town also feels like a building site, especially right now because every major road seems to be having work done.
Beyond the town centre, there are some nice parks and the designer outlets provides a really nice place to go shopping or grab food. It's definitely not a bad place to live but the death of the British high street has definitely hit the town centre particularly hard.
What’s it like having the football or do you not really have to see much of that?
Not a resident here: I wonder if they’d gone to the designer outlet or Steam, they’d have still kept it at number one?
I did cycle through Swindon a fortnight ago, and it’s worse than I ever remember it. But worse than Trowbridge? Wow. 😂
I've not been to Swindon town centre for a few years, but it certainly looks a lot worse now compared with what i remember. The outlet centre is still decent though.
Agreed , the Town centre has been dreadful for a long time. This was all filmed in the New Town part which is ugly and depressing. Old Town is much better plus more people will likely shop in the outlet centre or in out of town places like the Orbital.
@@Turdtowns I've honestly not seen any trouble on matchdays. There's usually a bigger police presence in town, especially if it's a big derby game, but the County Ground is far enough away from the centre of town that you don't see much football-related trouble there if you're just going about your day.
Comparing Swindon to Chernobyl does Chernobyl a huge disservice.
😂!!!
They speak better English there, for a start.
Yeah chernobyl is atleast a little livable
@@just_saw_dust The magic roundabout is broken, people have been trying to make Swindon disappear for years!
At least Chernobyl has woodland and animals there now, I’d rather live there than Swindon!
I’ve lived in Wiltshire for the last 9 years, and I totally agree with this list. How the council justifies the high tax rate is completely beyond me.
Paying for gimmegrants of course.
@@r.h.8754 Population density is a big factor. Is your 'professional idiot at the head of its council' the paid professional Chief Executive or the well remunerated elected Leader of the Council (assuming you don't have an elected Executive Mayor, I can't be bothered to check). The Leader of the Council will represent a political party and, if Tory, will have had 20 to 30 years of ideology to reduce to a rump and accept the near complete collapse of funding from central government taxation. If Labour, they will be struggling to provide essential services within the loss of central funding. If you mean the Chief Executive, they will have been appointed by the elected council members under the elected Leader of the Council. So, the phrase 'professional idiot' is particularly imprecise. Breaking it down to mean something, it would be like the fool in the middle ages - paid to be a fool so, if they act foolish they are doing their job. Who appointed them? Who wanted a fool in the job? Who wanted to run down Wiltshire? What do they gain from it (eg they have the cash to buy up properties that plummet in value due to wider degeneration? Who are they trying to blame while trying to remain anonymous themselves?
To line their own pockets, that's how
@@geoffmilner Yes I got slapped an extra £350 on my council tax just for that.
The council is a private company and not government or local authority. They are unable to provide proof of your lawful obligation to pay them. So don't.
Trowbridge absolutely should be on this list. I worked for the local council, and one of the trainees they appointed to work in Trowbridge literally ran away. After one month, he left without telling anyone. We never found out what happened to him. As far as Swindon was concerned, people kept throwing themselves off the car parks, but they aren't high enough to kill yourself. So they just ended up in hospital to be let out to try again. It was that depressing a place.
Holy Molley! Life is like some dark Roadrunner cartoon these days…
Correct about Trowbridge my Lord. What makes it worse is that the surrounding towns(except Westbury) are really quite nice, Frome, Bradford on Avon etc.
I lived in Trowbridge for about 4 years and yes I agree although I lived in very quiet and nice area. Now I'm in Edinburgh.
I liked, but then quickly unliked, your comment because I focused in on the individuals you refer to and their obvious plight. My own experience of Swindon is limited to what I've seen from the window of a moving train, and the lasting impression is that the town (other more derogatory but probably more appropriate terms are available) seems to start at least nine miles before the station is reached if you're coming in from the east. Also, said station has a 'long stay' car park. Of that I remember thinking 'why would anyone want to?'
I moved to Trowbridge from a town near Bristol I’m 2021. We absolutely love it. I’d probably never leave.
A few people have pointed out that Swindon is no longer part of Wiltshire. It has its own town council. So blame Swindon council. It is still historically Wiltshire and that’s how most people see it.
You’re butchering Salisbury it’s pronounce Sol not Sal .
@@alangordon3283 Or if your local we call it smallsbury :)
@@alangordon3283good thing I didn’t cover it then 😂
Do Hampshire next
It's still in both the historic county of Wiltshire and the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. When I talk about counties, I'm usually talking about the ceremonial counties, I feel that makes the most sense.
Thank you.
This channel is essential viewing for anyone considering moving home.
You can’t go wrong with most towns in Wiltshire. Chippenham, Calne, Melsham and Salisbury were all nice. Bradford too but I wouldn’t like to deal with that traffic!
Move to Trowbridge. Sounds bad but you get a lot more property for your money and it’s not that far from Bradford, Bath, Bristol.
@@Turdtowns you have to pay a premium to live in those towns. Chippenham is also full of plenty of scrotes, melksham is on par with Westbury for me except poorer transport (westbury at least has excellent rail connections making it easy to get out of the place)
Poor Swindon. We moved out a couple of years ago to Cheltenham. I just had enough it was sucking me dry mentally. There is a really heavy atmosphere over Swindon. It is shame as it has fantastic potential but it has just been bled dry by the Council and oppurtnists.
We did the same. Moved out a couple of years ago to the country from Swindon. Awful place now. Go back every so often to visit relatives. Can't get out quick enough.
I moved to Cheltenham for university from Swindon, and I don't think I can praise Cheltenham highly enough. Sure, it has its dodgy areas, but everywhere does. I personally love Cheltenham, it's a really nice town and I feel safe there.
@@samhobbs6517 yeah it is lovely. You very rarely come across a bad area. Loads of parks, places to walk etc and you are on the heels of the Cotswolds too it is a great location. So much for kids to do also, for free...
I feel sorry for Swindon it has just been left to rot and fade into nothingness, it is a shame.
Sin e the 1st of April 1997 it has been bled dry
Your Turdtown videos are highlighting how bad things have become in the UK. This dereliction and decay is everywhere. I remember the first time that I had to ride a motorbike across the Magic Roundabout. At least I survived. TT has shown that parts of Wiltshire mirror the worst of the Welsh Valleys. They are that bad.....
The valleys are surreal and shocking. Before heavy industry closed, it was like Mordor. Unimaginable. The road works across the Heads of the Valleys road reminds me of the introduction to The Dunwich Horror by HP Lovecraft. There was one area where the old road went through a cutting and only 15 feet below the surface above one side there were occasional tunnels blocked by crudely placed iron bars. Shocking stuff. Most of what I remember has been swept away by the new road but you only have to take a wrong turn and it becomes unsettling quite quickly. It's worst in the autumn with the rain and mists.
@@AallthewaytoZ2 I stopped motorcycling for around 20 years, so hadn't been up there for that long. I was truly shocked. The dereliction of 20 years earlier had got even worse. I'm used to it now, but so much for the Welsh assembly improving the place, but still they vote for that colour. It's shocking. At least England changes political colour regularly, albeit still nothing improves, but at least there is hope. In Wales it soon will be, 'last one out turn off the lights'.
@@bigglestornado3882 I remember driving home through the Rhondda for the first time (days pharmacy work exerience when I was at uni). It was dystopian. In the upper area, the sides of the river valley were very steep and close together. I crested a hill and slammed on the breaks there were concrete bollards across the main road. I got out of the car and there was some sort of land slip and there were no more houses or road. I felt like a camera had panned out showing the whole scene. Dystopian. It had twight zone vibes. Also, nobody else was on the road or even outside.
Wales was a net contributor to the UK economy until 1968 after that it was dumped by London. Scotland's surplus was so large they hid the figures in the mid 1920s and that was before oil. The UK will probably break up within 10 years. The level of mismanagement and corruption is incredible and it affects all parties. Not to worry because most people will be unemployed when AI rolls out!
I was born and bred in Swindon Wilts. Untill the age of 32 when I moved oop Norf. I remember taking my driving test and going through the magic roundabout. Yes, I failed 😢😅 passed at age 47 oops norf 😅 still have family in Swindon, so it will always be home. I have a very strong Wiltshire accent , and its noticed up here 😅 oooh arggggh
The commentary on Turd Towns gets better and better each video!
I live on the outskirts of Swindon and it's a DUMP. The local Govt/ council/ councillors are largely to blame for Swindons demise. It was once a proud town with a lot of industry and skilled workforce. It had some lovely old buildings that were allowed to become derelict, fall into disrepair then demolished. It is a great shame what has happened to swindon town
The local politicians don't run the immigration, foreign aid, foreign wars, welfare policies etc. I'm surprised so many people don't understand the badics of how a country works... or doesn't. This country is living beyond its means, us racking up debt and in danger of having a run on the pound. Councillor Smith isn't responsible for that.
Born and raised in Swindon all my life and I feel very sad when I look at old photos and videos of Swindon pre WW2, the scale of destruction that has been undertaken by the council over the years is shocking.
If citizens don't get involved with the Council and Councillors they become a society in their own little world. Endless big debates, nice consultants fees and so on producing nothing of benefit to the community, only to their own egos.
@@totaltwitcitizens should be encouraged to get involved on that level! 100%
But also people are just tryna live their lives, keeping busy to afford life because they have to, while slowly things just get worse and worse around them.
There’s not a lot people can do.
You can tell the ones that run the place live in a different world.
That’s the thing about Wiltshire, it’s got these really nice towns and fields, hills, valleys and countryside beauty spots
But then the other half is run down and depressing like this
Swindon Borough Council don't listen to us! They have their own agenda and they're interested in little else! 🤷♀️
You may be shocked (or not) to know that you didn't visit some of the worst areas of Swindon.
That said, one thing it has in its favour is the sheer amount of lovely parks and green areas and the fact that it's surrounded by beautiful countryside. It's a town only a native can love.
Yea I heard a rule that you shouldn’t visit anywhere in Swindon beginning with a certain letter?
@@Turdtowns Anywhere beginning with a P! Park North & Park South, Pinehurst and Penhill are all pretty rough areas.
@@654jimbob654 The Parks aren't that bad these days tbh. Add the Prinnels to that list though.
He probably values his personal safety too much.
I mean unless it's been updated in the last 20 or so years, the bus station was one of the grimest places I remember about the place
I live in Warminster and the town centre is dire. Full of charity shops and barbers. The retail rents are so hight that small independents struggle.
As a Swindon resident I understand a lot of the negative comments the place gets, particularly about the Town centre which is a dive these days. However, I was born and raised in Old Town, i now have a house in North Swindon whilst working in West Swindon. All 3 of those areas feel safe, look a lot more pleasing on the eye, have plenty of local businesses based within and make for a great place to settle down with a family. Being an hour away from plenty of nicer towns/cities helps too and for me is more than enough to want to continue living here!
I used to live in England at a time when it was a fantastic place to be. I've watched a few of these Turdtown videos and it really depresses me to see a number of places which i knew back then now turned into such ghastly dumps - so sorry for the people still living in these awful places.
I lived in Devizes between 2003-2005 in a pretty little cottage next to the canal near the town centre. Every night, drunks on their way home from the pub to the council estate used to urinate in our doorway. Every Saturday morning, half of the shop windows on the town square would be stoved in by drunks after the pub closing time on Friday night. Apart from that, it was a nice place to live. Locals used to say to us, "if you think this is bad, you should try living in Calne".
I once went for an interview in Swindon, luckily I didn't get the job.
That's one of the problems with assessing Wiltshire for it's bad points.
Pretty little towns and villages that LOOK nice and quaint on the outside, but dig a little deeper under the surface - and hang around until after sunset - and all the seedy, nasty, bored and drug-riddled kids emerge to wreak havoc everywhere, while the local plod are parked up outside the all-night coffee and donut shops.
Hamble Hampshire is same
... and crusty jugglers
Same in Somerset. All day pretty thatched cottages,nice ladies arranging the flowers in the church,and tourist cream teas on the village green. After dark,yes,a different village populace emerges but mostly stays "in the shadows dealing with it's own". It's a reality check for escapees from the big inner city and their drug habit. The poor souls think that if they go to live in the countryside close to nature and bird song and trees there won't be any of the demon that possessed them available,because the countryside is pure and innocent,but they soon find out.
Yarp
I don't think there are many "all-night coffee and donut shops" in Wiltshire.
I grew up in Swindon and moved away for uni when I was about 20. The only times I've ever been back are to visited friends and family but I would NEVER live there again and actively recommend for everyone to avoid living there. The town was already diclining massively when I left back in 2010 but it's gotten even worse now.
😅😊😊😊😊😊😊
Your right mate if only I could leave swindon I would believe me
I feel both an overwhelming sense of pride and also shame that you featured my house and local coffee shop on your travels of Trowbridge 🤯😂
I used to love walking up Fore Street and down Wicker Hill in the 80s and early 90s. I guess it must have changed. At the time I lived in a small terrace on Frome Road near the ANCHOR AND HOPE pub, which probably no longer exists. I used to love walking along the canal to Bradford and the newish housing estate at Staverton Marina with the red coloured balconies.
@@MartinMilnerUK The Anchor and Hope still exists :)
I genuinely can't stop laughing at the 'Devizes Dirty Dozen' LMAO
It's nicely alliterative
Ah, Swindon. As the comedian Jasper Carrott once said "Swindon, it puts the wilt in Wiltshire" 🤣🤣
I always enjoyed the irony of Mark Lamarr, a Swindonian, saying that we, as a people, don't know how to laugh. Not only does that include him, it also just goes to show how crap a comedian he is! 😆🤷♀️
I believe Swindon also has the honour of having the "most expensive train journey by £ / mile in the UK" - peak time day return to London is.... £160! Classed by Great Western Railway as "inter-city" and not a commuting town for London, which is pants as it's an hour to Paddington and could have encouraged more commuters into the area, and the former home of GWR - aside from the P area's and new town, the rest of it isn't at all bad
100% agree with this, lowering train prices so it would be commutable to London would do wonders for Swindon. As house prices in places like Reading and Oxford are sky high it would encourage more investment.
Just imagine the air quality of Westbury when the cement works was running!
Devizes is now just a giant housing estate with very little amenities.
Warminster was, like a lot of Wiltshire towns, a nice market/barrack town.
There are very few towns in the whole country that haven't been destroyed by recent global events and on-line shopping.
Sad, but that's progress for you!
Does not sound much like progress to me
Exactly!@@MartinMilnerUK
The Great Financial Global Reset. Shut down and close all the Mom and Pop shops, for the Oligarchy on line and their big box stores! Resist as much as possibe. They are shutting down the working class, middle class, as we say back home.
In the words of John Dutton... "I am the wall that progress butts against. I shall not break!"
As a child of Trowbridge and a life spent surviving the town and surrounding shitholes, this video gave me such a good laugh!
Recently moved back to the town only to get shit on by a pigeon within 2 minutes of walking through the town centre. I also worked in the centre of town for the first time recently and it was just so bleak. I remembered being 15 and walking home from school to see a man fly from the back of van outside the Town Hall and everyone carry on with their day like it was nothing. Must also mention the legendary fight in the Albany Palace (Spoons) that made Sky News and the gateway to hell that is Zinc, or Boutique, possibly the Beach, it’s best if you don’t know. The only good things about the town are that it’s not far from Bath, and Stavs’ Kebabs.
As someone who works in Devizes (but lives in Chippenham, thank the gods!) This hit the nail on the head!
I like Chippenham as I have family who live there and I have been going there at Weekends all my life. Traffic isn't the best but it does have really nice shops and 2 beautiful parks to walk in Monkton Park and John Coles Park
Chippenham is crap... Really , really crap
I lived in the centre of Devizes from 2014-19, and never saw any trouble. So it must have gone dramatically downhill for Chippenham to be nicer.
@@MrJoshiejSame. I live in Chippenham, and it is probably the best town for me as of today.
I've lived in Devizes for the past 8 months. The most I've see is a shop lifter... with a 5x Police car response. The part of town I live is dead and quiet. In fact you can barely hear the cars on the mai road driving past.
You see a lot of Police around however you have the Wiltshire Police HQ based in the town. How ironic that the town with the Police HQ has the highest crime rate in the County... wtf are the Police doing?
When I go to Chippenham and then go back to Devizes, I must admit, I'm always happy to see Devizes again.
Wiltshire and Swindon councils are to to blame. Trowbridge is the county town because that's where the county offices are that's all. Towns in wiltshire are dying slowly because of crap investment in the towns themselves. Losing green fields all over the county just for housing with virtually no facilities going in to support the areas concerned. Ridiculously high retail and business rents leave more and more empty shops. My local social club closed because the council wanted just short of £20,000 per year rent. It's happening all over the county with lack of investment. That's what the tories have done for this lovely county.
and yet all of Wiltshire (except occasionally for a Swindon seat) continues to vote Tory. Pretty stupid eh?
@@anthonyschell9225 Swindon Council is Labour now, surely they can't do any worse than the Tories?
Absolutely spot on, I am tempted to send this video directly to them and ask what they have to say.
Thing is, it's not a matter of tory/labor, it's systemic mismanagement and incompetence across the whole county council, it would continue regardless of who is in power.
Trowbridge is the county town because it was found to be the most equidistant, rail-wise, of all the surrounding Wiltshire places. Therefore it was deemed the fairest place for all towns to come-to and meet. It's simply a matter of rail travel distances.
I grew up in Trowbridge and the place has always been a tale of two cities.
Run down estates and chavs with high end lovely suburbs only a couple of streets away. The town centre does seem to be slowly closing down too. It does have one advantage over Westbury in that it has some semblance of night life, utterly absent from Westbury.
I know it'll be a while, but I would love to see Norfolk.
Where is the nightlife in Trowbridge?
Swindon might be rough but The great western hospital deserves a Pat on the back ! Very caring sympathetic staff and so well
organised in the departments we ve had the pleasure of visiting !
Trouble is, all that the rest of the town deserves is a cow pat on the back.
Hugh Cornwell formerly of The Stranglers has a song titled "Please Don't Put Me On A Slow Boat To Trowbridge" on his solo album Hooverdam, I always pondered the meaning of that song, now I get it.😀
The River Biss is very narrow and not navigable. LOL
Thank you for giving Wiltshire the TurdTowns treatment. It’s encouraging to hear that you think Wiltshire is such a nice place to live that you could only manage to put five towns in the list, and to be fair, it is a lovely county and some of the villages are beautiful, just a shame all the major towns are so dire. I grew up in a village which had Westbury, Trowbridge and Devizes as it’s closest three towns, so you’ll understand why I know live in Devon!
You have pretty much nailed it with all these towns, in particular TrowVagas, which is where I went to secondary school and started my working life. It was on the slide even back then but has nose dived rapidly in the thirty years since I moved away, especially with the loss of several of its core businesses. Its time as a proud and impressive town, during its hay-day as a major player in the woollen industry has long passed and how it remains county town still baffles me.
I was surprised that Melksham and Chippenham didn’t make the cut, and would probably place them before Salisbury.
On a positive note, Bradford-on-Avon is probably the one shining gem in Wiltshire’s fairly sorry crown. It is really just a suburb of nearby Bath, just over the border in Somerset, and might just be slightly more affordable. It does at least retain a level of beauty and character.
Why is Trowbridge now called TrowVegas? Are there a lot of fruit machines or something?
Swindon was booming in the 80’s. That seems to be too long ago, as the place has completely nose dived
I lived there for 2 years 1984-86 and it was fine then. I’ve never been back so it’s a shame to hear it’s so bad now.
Yeah I was born there and back then it was a safe place to live. I remember some UK first cashless experiment there with the place being seen as a test bed. I also used to work in the Sainsburys in the centre which was always busy. Sad to see it so run down, no wonder my parents who have lived there for almost 50yrs are talking of moving
Swindon born and bred. Was a nice place to grow up in the 80's and 90's. Plenty to do, up and coming town. The decline in the last decade or so has been rapid.
Agree; I grew up in the late 90s, early 2000s and Swindon was nice then; town centre was busy, clean and rarely saw weirdos off their face on some drug unlike today. Swindon post probably financial crisis of 2008 is when things started going seriously downhill, the Conservative council let Swindon rot away. Out in the suburbs it's nice.
Moved here 2012 and it was alright. The decline has been truly rapid.
@@Ftek470 I was a regular back then too. Remember DJ Lee well 👍
Westbury was a tiny and quite pretty town when I was a kid but is a classic product of just chucking up random estates. Insane to see it now abutting the by-pass rail line. As for my hometown I’m shocked to still see all those abandoned buildings in the town which I recall as a child being in that state.
Westbury was never pretty
The whole of west Wilts is just new build hell
Were you born in the 1800s? Born and raised here and it's always been minging lmao. The old bits are as ugly as the new builds.
I remember this and when I left school I worked for an Engravers there called Matthew & Son.
I was born and bred in Westbury but thank goodness left and joined the Royal Navy. Still go back from time to time as family still there.
Very amusing video. I chuckled out loud. I am from the west country, i know all these places. You hit the nail on the head. Nice that you keep an excellent balance between edgy critical sense [and a real feel for what it is actually like to live there, day to day, night to night] and a sense of humour. Also, you point out the upsides: cheap properties, if you aren`t bothered about the dismal aspect of these towns.
Very enjoyable video, and informative [you do reveal quite a lot about how each place is in a limited period of time]. Keep up the good work. For me, the way you do it is perfect.
Trowbridge has sadly turned into a suburb of Warsaw. You will be hard-pressed to hear English spoken on the streets.
These video's and the way you narrate them are absolute comedy genius, Keep it up mate always give me a laugh😂😉
I’m from Swindon growing up in the 80s it was buzzing .people used to come from everywhere for the shopping and the nightlife glad I saw the best of it .its now like a third world town ,more decay than a mouthful of rotten teeth 😢
Manchester road night life
Probably one of the reasons it's so nice is all those army bases, they take mostly young lads from the North and Wales worsening the local economy there and then ship them down south so they can boost the economy down there.
I LOVE the aspirations of the, sadly closed, Warminster Pet Shop at 3:15 ... With the graffiti Lion on the boarded-up window. That did make me chuckle. 😆😆
😆 🤣 😂
Town pets
Shows a bloody lion 😆 🤣 😂
Used to be a good shop. Closed down a couple of years back.
Sad to see Devizes in such a state nowadays. I worked there for a year in the mid 90s and it was a nice quiet little family town back then. Stopped for lunch there on the way back from a family do earlier this year, and I was shocked by the empty shops, squalor and litter in the town centre.
I lived in Devizes for 20 years. I moved to Swindon to get away. Says it all. A beautiful small town ruined forever by councillors who don’t live there and an apathetic and toothless self-righteous criminal justice system that showers sympathy and rewards on scumbags because of their hard early lives spent without Sky TV, dawn to dusk Big Macs and holidays to Ibiza four times a year. Come to think of it Ibiza has much in common with Swindon except for some decent weather
@@Wrongsideofnow The only logical reason to move from Devizes to Swindon is the fast train to London. If you moved for a better quality of life, as you appear to be suggesting, then you must be suffering from brain damage.
Yes it has declined. I worked at a Greengrocers in the Brittox 50 years ago. It was very different then.
I've been waiting for this and you do not disappoint. The thing is I live in Trowbridge and it has the bones to be a great Town, but too many people not making decisions that benefit the town and sky high rent on the shops, so they all close down, honestly with good planning and strong leadership Trowbridge would definitely be a cracking Town worthy of the County Town Mantra.
High rents for shops in Cities and Towns is a common theme these days. A cynic might say it's all by design and just a matter of time before lots of public land gets sold off to the wealthy for development, for a shiny quid while they still exist.
Trowbridge person here too I've lived here for 10 years and seen the decline its sad because most of the people here are some of the nicest people I've met and I've lived in several places but the residents of Trowbridge are helpful proud people who despite its decline love this town and want to see it succeed but the council couldn't care less they would rather waste money than spend it on things the town needs
@@mickymouze1224 The Shires Centre with the chapel cafe used to be really nice in the 80s. It's hard to think that it may have deteriorated these days. Is ASDA still an anchor shop?
@@MartinMilnerUK Better to tag OP mate, I don't come from there. I only replied as his words resonate with towns and cities across the country.
Have to agree, my friend and her family have lived there for years and tbh I’ve seen a lot worse. People are really nice.
Grew up and moved out of Swindon 45 years ago. It was nicer then, honest!! Passed my driving test at the magic roundabout. There are still nice parks and open spaces around the edges of the town, though the town centre has been killed off by out-of-town supermarkets and online shopping. I also remember Swindon Town beating Arsenal 3-1 in the League Cup final in 1969, so the fans were happier then! Anyone remember Don Rogers, Peter Downsborough, Roger Smith and the other lads in Red and White?
I've lived in Swindon almost all of my life, funny thing is I've never considered myself to be a Swindonian. My mum and dad moved to Swindon from London when I was a few months old, in the 1950s and I've always felt as if I was a Londoner. I followed STFC for quite a few years and was lucky enough to be at Wembley when we beat the Gunners 3-1. I remember the condition of the pitch. A few days before they had held the Horse of the Year there and it had turned the pitch into a quagmire. Peter Downsboroughs performance was outstanding and the Don Rogers goal, Swindon's third was the most amazing experience. He had a sports shop in Swindon in Fleet Street. Did you mean John Smith? he lived in a house, just off Queens Drive not far from Lainesmead School, previously known as Walcot Juniors School. That was a great side A lot has changed since then and not for the better. The town centre is just horrible and pretty pointless. Old Town is still a nice area though and as I always say the good thing about Swindon is that its a short train ride from London or Bath
@@rogerhearn5243yes John Smith my memory is not improving!
Don't forget that general sir Margaret Thatcher and her junta of bean counters shut down the B.R.E.L facility in Swindon. The former great western railway work shops. Where countless steam locomotives rolling stock and eventually deisel multiple units and locomotives were built and serviced through out the yrs. The railway workshops closed in. 1985 at the start of the great western 150 yrs anniversary and the staff refused to cooperate with British Rail in the comemarations.B.R.E.L was a key employer in Swindon.
Derby is also a big rail centre - so I know just what you mean
Swindon was vulnerable as the BR western region went alone in developing diesel hydraulic traction to replace steam, all other UK regions went diesel electric, or electric. When the bean counters sought standardisation, Swindon stood out and was cut.
Swindon. When the railways died, so too did the town.
Devizes, irony that has the Wiltshire Police Headquarters, Warminster typical squaddie town., Westbury drive through town, Trowbridge where I used to live. No surprise it's Swindon. Absolute dump of a place. Well done Wiltshire. Keep up the good work.
Trowbridge used to be a great place to live. It was called TrowVegas unironically in those days! 30+ pubs, 4 nightclubs, including the snooker club which doubled as a 3 storey night club. Big factories, lots of work.
Really busy town centre, easy road access to it.
It was great only 20 years ago!
Then the factories shut down or moved abroad. Then the clubs, pubs, shops all started dying as cost of living increased. The roads were turned into one way nightmares, roundabouts every 100 yards with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings right fkin next to them!!?
The council then spent MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of £'s on tarting up their old office buildings or building themselves new ones.
And now you have Shitsville UK.
I've just discovered your channel and I absolutely love the whole concept! Please do the best and worst places in Hampshire!
Quite a few calne residents are breathing a sigh of relief
It looked nice when we’re making an effort with huge flowers everywhere
@@Turdtowns Nice flowers but nothing else.... Nothing whatsoever
A lucky escape
Calne has improved a lot over the years. When I moved to wilts in the late 80s it was grim, seems quite pleasant these days.
@@MrFuckwit999 Looks can be deceptive... Most of the pubs and independent shops have gone. The roads are overcrowded and in a terrible state, as housing has massively increased but the infrastructure has failed to keep up.
Very funny especially Trowbridge and Swindon, Accurate, and quite hilarious Accounts, My dad worked in Trowbridge for years, and he described it as a place that you’d go out at 9 pm to buy some cigarettes and wake up the following evening in A&E. My husband said you missed out, Melksham
I live in Melksham and agree wholeheartedly!
Nice video! I’m from Wiltshire and agree with this list, although Devizes was a bit of a surprise. Melksham and Calne are also dire!
I visited both of those. In melksham there was a few boarded up shops but I didn’t have anything else to say. and in Calne they were busy putting up a giant flower display throughout the town. Clearly trying.
@@Turdtowns Junkies from Devizes used to buy their 'gear' in Calne.
@@Turdtowns We do win the "town in bloom" competition occasionally...And our christmas light display is the best around....
So I didn't stand a chance in Semington then, trapped between Trowbridge and Melksham
I think Devizes is the smallest of the towns. Therefore the crime rate will be disproportionate as 100 crimes in a town with 16k people would look worse than 100 crimes in a town of 20k plus people.
Great video but Wiltshire Council isn’t responsible for Swindon, it’s an unitary authority! Otherwise spot on with everything keep up the good work
Yea I didn’t realise that. I need to yell at Swindon council now.
That's right - maybe Melksham needs to be in there instead.
@@paultucker3918Did you teach at John Bentley school?
Went to Trowbridge a couple of times. Is it twinned with Bridgwater Somerset?...If not, it should be.
At least Bridgwater has the electric carnival in November. - That has to be a redeeming feature.
If you're interested in the effects of Road Closures, you may be interested in visiting Midhurst, West Sussex. The town itself is lovely, but the atmosphere has recently become very negative, as our pub on the high street burnt down and the road was closed for three months. This road is the only stretch of road that goes through the entire town, and contains two major A roads. Now it's finally open, but the effects are still there that it's left. A bypass would be amazing but unfortunately physically impossible due to all the surrounding farmland and privately owned estates.
Two words; compulsory purchase
@@ballscrusher4 exactly, but it will never happen
Wiltshire, the county you drive through to get to somewhere else... The last people to stop in Wiltshire (other than new age travellers) were the Beaker People who hid a stolen Welsh sun calendar there.
Thank you for making this series, it saves me a lot of trouble looking for a place to live.
What has happened within the last 40 years, for these towns to become this way? I can remember going to Devizes and Swindon in the 1980's, and they were nothing like this. I'd say this has been caused by subversion. That subversion was done by councillors under the control of Common Purpose.
I haven't seen that one for a while, Common Purpose, fair play. The World Economic Forum and the Jews will be relieved they're in the clear.
I think Devizes is really nice. Cycled through it at the weekend and have done running races there. Swindon... God knows what the council do. I remember one of the local mps got in trouble for taking money from Wonga! The other was the blind Justice Secretary for Boris Johnson when he kept breaking the rules.
@Jack, or in other words Cultural Marxists
@@princebuster93yeah, got to be someone secretive and malicious planning these…. empty shops in Devizes.
Hmm, what happened 40 years ago? 🤔 Oh that's right, people voted for Maggie, and she and her bunch of Chicago School neoliberal degenerates spent the next 40 years braking society. But who could possibly have known that greed and selfishness weren't going to be good for society?!
The fact that Devizes has the worst crime rate in the county when it's the home of the Wiltshire Constabulary says a whole lot about the effectiveness of our police.
As far as Warminster is concerned, I was driving through it about 25 years ago late on a Friday night. The town centre was closed off because there was a pitched battle going on between squaddies and young farmers. The rozzers had closed it off and let them just knock 4 parts of sh1t out of each other. Doesn't look like the damage has been repaired since!
Salisbury I used to go to college, there is a small run down council estate next to the college which we all avoided but the rest was lovely.
One of my top 3 channels on TH-cam. Brilliant videos please keep going as you are.
I was born in Swindon. It was once known as a boom town. The greedy bankers of 2008 hit it hard.
I now live in Gloucester. It's not much better to be fair, but it does have some beautiful countryside. I saw that you did a video about that. It made me laugh babberz.
I enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing
I wonder where Melksham came on the list, I lived there as a kid and hated it. Totally agree with your choices, my parents can’t understand why I hate all the towns on your list. I have lived in rural Wales for the last 40 years, we have no local amenities ( not even a shop) and I love it. A much nicer place to raise a family. 11:03
I lived for 3/4 year in Semington and used to walk into Melksham to the chippy that was just south of the town because they offered mushrooms in batter, which I absolutely loved. Walk would start at the lovely Somerset Arms.
The highlight of melksham is the tip aka recycling centre. The place stinks of rubber and mcd's! A shyte hole!
As an ex-Swindonian, who moved away 30 years ago I am abolsutely appalled by the state into which the town has decended. The local councillors should be absolutely ashamed of how it has been left to rot. Growing up in Swindon in the 70's & 80's it was a boomtown, with leisure centres and shopping unrivalled in the UK. Industry was booming too, now you're lucky to even see a factory with the loss of the Railway, Honda, Plessey, Square D, Metal Box, Raychem... the list is endless. The local policies must have been made by morons of the highest calibre. They have perfectly unwound all of the fantastic work carried out by David Murray John....who the distintgrating tower block was named after. Still love Swindon and it's people, but hate the idiots who claim to run it.
It is the national macro economic and social policies that are most responsible, however the local politicians will be cut from the same cloth as those in parliament. The BBC has done a great job in helping to make much of the population useless as well so they wouldn't vote for the right candidates even if any were available. The country is in an undending state of decline, with Swindon vying to be leading the way.
Local govt has been progressively stripped of money for 40 years.
Swindon Oasis is symptomatic of the place. How has that been allowed to fall apart. I think it's got special status too...
@@somersetfan1oasis is closed
@@somersetfan1 It got that status because of the dome, it will reopen but the dome needs work doing to it to make the building more energy efficient.
No surprise Swindon tops this list. If Putin was gonna start a nuclear war, I'd suggest to him to land the 1st one in Swindon town Center. It would look better afterwards. I do think you should do a Posh Towns list for Wiltshire as there are a lot of nice Towns and Villages
It used to be Slough in Bucks.
I can't wait for you to make it to the north east. Only picking 5 towns will be difficult because just about every town makes Swindon look nice.
Thank goodness you have the sanctuary of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Late reply. Agree, I lived in Burnley, Nelson 2003 to 2005. Utterly dire, they were turdtowns and caused by all the gimmegrants. All the crime done by Asians NEVER made the news.
Moved to Swindon after 10 odd years in Chippenham. Honestly, I prefer living here. There's just a lot more to do, more facilities, better choice of shops and plenty of green areas - and actually semi-functional public transport, which is highly unusual for Wiltshire. It's not going to win any beauty awards especially so close to fancy-pants cities like Bath and Oxford. But it's really not that bad in my experience after having been here for over a year. I do agree though that the town centre is pretty rough and run-down :(
My friend was hospitalised because he was stabbed and robbed In Swindon, then the same happened to a lady the day after. F*k swindon
Lived in Swindon for 11 years and honestly its depressing to see the town to progressively worse with each year. It's largely down to the mismanagement from the local council and politicians as well as a general disregard for the largest town (by far) in the county. Got a bunch of rennovations going on right now tho.
Always felt the real Wiltshire is located in the west of the county with the collection of towns and villages in that location.. Salisbury and Swindon are major settlements in Wiltshire but i have always believed them to be a little bit out of the way. There are a few places like Devizes, Westbury, Warminster and Melksham with similar population sizes and have a similar feel to them. High streets are dead, some military presence and not much for young people to do in these places. There are good people in these towns but there is a spiteful and petty underbelly to them where people like to get in each other’s business and revel in each other’s misfortune.
I lived in a murderous, drug-ridden, violent, hell hole for 10 years; people openly walking down streets with machetes and axes, OAP's beating the shit out of each other in vacant shop doorways, and cars being smashed up in drug-related feuds were weekly occurrences.
Luckily, I had the chance to move out to a nearby town, where I feel totally safe, where crappy Sainsbury's isn't the dominant supermarket. It was the best move I've ever made.
The murderous shite hole was Bath, a place many people who live in the towns in this video would aspire to live, and the nearby town is Trowbridge.
I'm not saying that these places don't have issues, but remember, the grass ain't always greener.
Yes,the aspect they never show in the tourist promotion videos.
What in the hell are you talking about? Do you honestly expect me to believe your description of Bath?
Some parts of Bath are like this, it’s not all pretty posh tourism. Ever been to Snow Hill?
@@laurendamasoruiz I am not sure I have, but just found where it is, off the back of the uni and Vicky Park? What are you saying, is it rough? I’ll have a wander through later
@wrcoles Parts of Whiteway, Southdown, and Foxhill are also worth a wander in the early hours on a dark Friday/Saturday night. There's a reason the red open top busses don't visit these parts (mind you, for a while, even First stopped running their buses to Foxhill in the evenings because of the violence). As turdtown mentioned in a different video, you've only got to scratch the surface of Bath to find it's not all Romans and London priced pubs.
I'm from Swindon but now live in Westbury. I remember Swindon in it's heyday when the town Centre would be absolutely packed, a sea of people, and the Brunel statue was always the hang out for the bone heads and glue sniffers. Oh the good old days haha. I do like Westbury, a very quiet place where the gangs roam around in twos. Cheers!
You should do a full-length feature on Swindon. Contrast the Old Town area with the main town centre.
Also the areas on the outskirts of Swindon because I think it's a little off to judge Swindon solely on the town centre
@@terminusaquo1980exactly. It's fashionable to shit on the place, has been for years, but it isn't anywhere near as bad as people like to make out. Sure, the town centre is pretty awful, but decline is happening all over the UK. Visited Poole in Dorset recently and it was pretty dire. Always assumed it had a good reputation!
On Trowbridge, there is resident Phil Cornwall who did “golden brown”. But he also did “ please don’t put me on the slow road to troubridge “. And mentioned Mount Crushmore.
Hugh Cornwell 😉
@@absinthe4breakfast299 Who came from Guildford in Surrey!
I was looking to see if anyone had mentioned “Don’t Put me on a Slow Boat to Trowbridge”! 😂
@@alishanty An ex girlfriend of mine lives there and hated my favourite band The Stranglers, It cracked me up when I found that Hugh had produced that song. I often wonder if she's ever heard it, she would not be amused....I am though :)
I think The Bolshoi were the most successful band to come from Trowbridge although they moved to London to make it. Their videos are on TH-cam.
I visited Swindon today and a man kindly swore at me. The nicest things in Swindon are probably the modern buses (although stay away from Stagecoach). West Swindon isn't too bad.
Great video once more , Keep it up my Friend , always look foreward to watching these , Best wishes to you .🙂👍
Thanks my friend
I suspect that Warminster has one of the largest collections of charity shops in England. The 'main' Shopping Mall is about 50% charity shops, and there are loads more in the main streets; also don't miss the Barnardos and Heart Foundation shops near the station. The Heart Foundation is pretty good if you are after cheap furniture.
I live in Swindon and trust me Trowbridge is a lot worse 😆
That's like saying dog shit is worse than cat shit
I lived in Swindon for 12 months. It felt like 12 years. Nose-bleedingly soul destroying.
Jesus it’s not that bad. I moved to Swindon in 2004 thinking I’d be here 5 years. I’m still here and I have good friends, nice neighbours and I know where to go and where not to go. Sometimes you get out what you put in.
@@mogznwazthe key part of your message about Swindon was "get out" 😋 Seriously though, worked there for years and always reckoned it had good bones and could be a really great place if the relevant authority got it's act together and stopped doing stupid things like filling in the canal and 'all of new town'
You missed Calne!!! But of course another brilliant video. Thanks Turdtowns!
One onf Swindon's many problems is that all the development has been on the outskirts as the center has ben left to decay and die. It's overrun by drunks and addicts so nobody sensible ever goes in there. As the town expanded, new retail areas were set up which are much nicer so everyone spends their money there. Leaving the centre to rot like a metastisizing tumour
Thanks for your bravery to find these utterly crappy places. All five centres are so run down and ruined I can’t see them ever becoming bearable again. I feel your pain for having to go to Swindon. Civic pride? Vanished! Great report!
The tent in the shop doorway - that says ALOT!!
Hey Swindon, you have a big competitor in the world, My home town of San Francisco! Turdtown in the most literal sense, like people there now act as though plumbing were never invented. Closed shops? One of the biggest upscale malls in downtown had so many problems that last month the MANAGEMENT company walked out, on what tenants were left as well as the banks! Most of the drug stores are gone, as well as grocery stores. Any place I loved is likely long gone. Most if not all of the huge business conventions have cancelled. Big hotel chains closing. Bums everywhere, people living on the walkways, if your car isn't vandalized, it will be. And it's one of the most expensive places in the world. Leaving there years back as it was getting worse was kind of sad, my family has a lot of history there. but I'll be damned if I ever go back after the last couple times I went to visit people.
Nailed Trowbridge, was born there in 1993 and i moved out the first chance i could. At least Chippenham isn't that bad.
Chips and Ham was nice. We were told to include it but there was no angle it was nice.
I love Chippenham. Making the most of the £2 bus tickets from Swindon. Emery Gate and the surrounding town centre is really nice.
I really like Chippenham got some really nice Shops and I have family who live there
Can you do a series about the number of criminals Eton,Harrow & Stowe private schools have produced as they`re the source of changing nice places into turdtowns.There`s some good content to be had there for our International viewers
THIS.
There are few things more depressing than an empty, newish shopping mall. Unlit shop units selling things that were mainstream only a few years ago, now host to outdated sales literature and unopened envelopes. The occasional shops that are doing business feel isolated and time limited, waiting for someone to turn the lights off permanently. Shudder : (
See my entry above.
Well this video was perfectly timed as I'm in Warminster this weekend on the military ranges.
Just found this gem of a channel😂😂the narrator is really witty...favourite joke is the Bath/toilet joke😂😂😂
Yeah please do Cumbria next, I narrowly avoided moving to Maryport last year
The Harbour and Town Centre is nice. Cross the Road towards the Housing Estates and bloody awful. Has alot of potential as a Town tho.
You should do worst towns in Hampshire next. Known as a posh county compared to Wilts but with massive wealth disparity so a lot of our towns are dangerous and run down.
Andover 🤢
@@user-rk3oi8bi4u Andover had it all. Now it's like Beirut. Everyone one tries to open up coffee shops and it closes within in months. No big act plays at the Lights anymore if they do it's not often.
@@andrew6382 OMG that sounds dreadful. I was always under the illusion that it was a pretty and sophisticated place.
@@MartinMilnerUK Oh God no, I live near there. Everyone does their shopping in Salisbury, Basingstoke or Southampton. I go to Andover for the weekly shop then home. You can do Andover in 40-70 mins. The theatre was a venue for the college it's about 250 capacity a lot of 80's stars played but they can't be bothered now. It's tributes or local theatre groups who book it.
China Crisis played there just weeks before the pandemic they look underwhelmed and sort of boasted they played in better venues which were crappy dives.
@@andrew6382china crisis hahaha
Love your videos! Suggestion for next time - IF you’re brave enough - try the City of Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire - the city is made up of five towns that make Trowbridge look like Monte Carlo 👍
I grew up in Malmesbury and nothing fills me with joy quite like hearing someone hating on Swindon
Come to Lancashire, youd be spolied for choice, bolton, blackburn, burnley, blackpool to name a few, probably take a good month or 2 to get round them all, but would most definitely be the worst ones in your expanding list..... love your channel by the way awesome, original and funny 😊
Nelson and Accrington are shitholes. Been a few times with work.
I could take a holiday to the lake district and do Cumbria and Lancashire 😂
@@Turdtowns Great idea! I think you'd enjoy it. Some bad places to film, and some decent places to relax in. Perfect! 😂
Is Bradford close by? A friend went to Uni there and told me they issues rape alarms, to him and all the other male students
@@Turdtowns you wouldn't be able to leave it at 8 towns for Lancashire there are just to many as mentioned above plus Morecambe is another level then there is Lancaster, Bury, stockport, Oldham, Nelson, Colne the list could go on.
Omg I laughed so much it hurt, amazed Chippenham and Melksham escaped.
No way, Chippenham is a lovely town. I live there, and so does my childhood.
You've got to do Kidderminster, jeez ! I'm sure anyone that's been here will tell you the same jubilee drive, horsefair, park Street to name a few. Seriously look into it you'll have to do a 2 hour special lol 👍
Best thing in Swindon is the Podcast of The Lotus Eaters. Their studio is 100 yards from the train station.
Yeah Carl of Swindon!
I'm truly surprised there are so many bad places in England. The country has gone down the pan.
Nothing to do with Brexit 🤭
@@dasautopilot7097 Cuts to local authorities are by far the biggest factor, I think- Brexit still hasn't worked its way through yet.
@@dasautopilot7097Do me a favour - Swindon was a toilet long before Brexit, so don't try to link it.
Thatcher's decimation in the early 1980s has never been recovered from, the cool Britania era of the 90s brought a few sticking plasters but the rot was still there and as soon as 2008 hit along with pandemics and Tory theft of everything that was not nailed down we are back to the state of things in 1981.
@@ThisWontEndWell Goes back further than that. Edward Heath was Prime Minister in the 70s who lied to the British people about the benefits of joining the EU, he was a German agent, believe it or not, and so infiltrated from the inside to destroy our Nation but the plan for world domination is all revealed in the Bible, so we can know the truth before it happens
Decline is caused by the slow loss of primary industry. Secondary industries (retail and the service economy) recycle money locally but don't bring wealth into the area. I don't know the current state of Wiltshire but I know there used to be more manufacturing based there (vacuum cleaners, helicopters, carpets, sofas - IIRC etc.). The armed forces have been downsized over recent decades, and Wiltshire is more affected by that.
People need to stop buying cheap foreign imports at the pound shop, and start new industry if they want things to improve.
Deindustrailisation has totally stripped Britain of its manufacturing base, and this will never come back. It seems to me that this is happening in once prosperous country like the US etc... Progress is something Government's don't want. Only regression. Why, because its all about replacing progress with sustainability and the green agenda. The future is everything online. People will live a more isolated lifestyle as more invasive technology takes over. You'll see Britain become more like China. In some ways, the economy already is. Zero hr contracts, dead-end jobs and more social deprivation and crime.
This is exactly it.
Hyped for the Cumbria edition! Having a look up there soon, be good to see where to avoid
Very pleased to have found this channel through my recommendations. 🙂
Please consider doing a similar video on Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire.
He has to leave the home and southern counties first.
I used to live in Wootton Bassett and damn Swindon is looking rough! I'm surprised Chippenham wasn't on this list. Everyone there has some kind of face deformity and the towns dead.
I love Chippenham I have been going there all my life I have family who live there yes I know its bad for Traffic but I still like the shops on the High Street
The town is no different to most high streets. High rent and overheads can't compete with online shopping. Chippenham is a nice place to live. And I say that having lived near Brum for the previous 38 years. Now that is a shit hole
I live in Devizes now and like going to the shopping centre in Chippenham. I'm also from Birmingham and everytime I go back I just want to go home back to Devizes. That city has gone down hill massively and it's getting worse!