SWINDON a town in ruins 😳 | is this the worse place to live in England? 🇬🇧
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- Hi guys !
Swindon, located in Wiltshire, England, is a vibrant town known for its rich railway heritage. It boasts the STEAM Museum, celebrating the Great Western Railway, and the historic Swindon Works. Modern attractions include the Swindon Designer Outlet and Lydiard Park, a beautiful country estate. With a mix of historical charm and contemporary amenities, Swindon offers a unique experience for visitors. However, this town as been rated as not just one of the worse places to live in but also the most depressing town in the United Kingdom.
My main purpose of visiting these places is to find out if the ratings are actually true, exaggerated or perhaps incorrect.
let me know what you think in the comment section!
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Watch the video to the end 😊
Hi Imole. I really liked your video. The way you moved and talked to people gave an insight to the lives of people of Swindon. Many residential places were an eye sore but this is not uncommon to many such places across the UK. Keep bringing such videos. I have subscribed😀
Aaaww thanks a lot ..much appreciated ☺️🙏🏾
We have old town too and my dad jas wax dummy in the steam muesum thankyou for this video x ❤
You welcome …thanks for watching 😊
Clearly not the worst place to live in the country, it’s just a fairly dull small town, but it’s not exactly poor.
@@ams1897 oh I hear that …I saw some pretty decent part of the twin too.
I live here just avoid town the best place is probably North Swindon
Ah I see
There are 1400 full time job vacancies in Swindon right now. The foreign guy who would rather sponge off benefits needs to be sent home.
I see …some of the guys I spoke to said you can literally get a job 30 mins after you lost one. So that makes sense.
He lives in the hotel across the road from the rainbow stairs where you were.
Unfortunately there are many hotels filled with immigrants in Swindon, 4 in the town centre alone, let alone the outskirts of Swindon, geographically a massive well spread town/city and so much history, 1st ever train was made there etc. The spirit hasn't died but the flame/wick is low.
That’s sad
Not only that but many job vacancies are places that have been made undesirable by immigrants. Wasdall packaging is a clear example. May as well be in India, the first rule there is speak English, and they don't even follow it ......
🤷🏾♂️
Back in my youth it was the place to go for your music, plenty of clubs and dance halls, decent clothes shops and a place to meet up with your mates, it had a good vibe back then, it had diversity, but everything seemed to fit, day or night it was a safe place to be. Then the planners backed by the council started to mess with everything, knocked good stuff down and replaced it with cold soulless buildings, they ripped the very heart out of Swindon, people started to leave, shops became empty or became charity shops, businesses left because of the rents and rates, it left it with nothing worth going into town for. I occasionally go the the theatre, but even that is getting less and less.
Awww bless ….
@@imolesquare Awww bless indeed sir.😉😉
I've lived here my whole life near enough and I can 100% agree. The town was buzzing back in the day (20 year ago and before) you had different garage artists every week in the brunnel rooms with people from all over coming clubbing here to see them, the bottom of town was the hot spot for night life, drinks were cheap and there was different music for everyone, but then about 2009 things changed massively and for the past 6/7 years the council don't seem to care much about its Tennants or if I'm honest anything. They have been slowly shutting the town down, rents too high for them to afford which is why it's empty. There is a bit of trouble but no different to most towns, cities. The homeless numbers have risen over the years too. But 1 thing I can say is that swindon always comes together when it's needed. Like with the protests, we all stood united (bar about 4 people) check put the swindon advertiser for community spirit. If you get outside of the town center you can find so many nice areas,. The main thing we lack is things to do or for Kids. I could say so much more of my 40 years here. But 1 thing I can say is don't rely on the council for anything.
“Dont rely on the council for anything”
I hear that 👌🏾
Good content …love your communication skill. How you interact with strangers and the type of questions you ask. Keep on the good work your channel will blow up soon.
Swindon looks like it’s got its ups and downs really.
Awww thank you so much for the kind words.
Thanks for watching 🙏🏾
That girl from Birmingham said there’s no places to eat?!! If you go up to Old Town there are loads of great places to eat. Italian, Lebanese, Himalayan etc.
Accurate 👌🏾
..no where to eat, next thing they will say no where to get a hair cut lol!!
lol 😂
@@imolesquarejust realised she said best thing is flannels...........is she stupid? That's a rip off, designer shoe shop, no class and only footballers buy products there...best thing we got is that? 😅
Swindon is far from the worst place to live anywhere in the world. It's quite a nice place to live, old town is nice and you're close to a lot of nice countryside.
👌🏾
Where you filmed the dancers around the 6 minute mark, on the building to the right where it now says 'Flannels', The Beatles played there before they were famous :) It used to be McIlroy's Ballroom. I was born and raised in Swindon but I left over 35 years ago. If you were to go to the estates, especially the ones beginning with P (Penhill, Pinehurst, Park South, Park North) you would find a different Swindon. Much more working class with areas just above the poverty line. I grew up in Park South and the P's have always been the rougher areas of the town. Thanks for the walk around though, it is always nice to see my home town.
Thanks for the informed comment 🙏🏾
Thank you for posting this video, I found it very interesting...🙏. I live on the out skirts of Swindon, and I dislike going to town now so much that I've not been in for a few yrs, because it brakes my heart to see things like smaller independent shops be replaced by large industrial corporations, plus so many magnificent old buildings etc., being trashed or pulled down.
So much change (for the worst) in such a short space of time..😢
Aawww bless ….thanks fore watching.
As someone from Swindon it's not the best but there are far worse places. You visited the town centre which is probably the worst part. The Old Town has plenty of nice bars and restaurants. Jobs are plentiful and housing is affordable compared to the cities and towns near Swindon. Also, for connectivity Swindon is a great place. Which is why so many businesses have come to the town. Crime is fairly low, wages pretty high. It needs more investment but far, far worse places in the UK.
👌🏾
Lots of love and respect to all the Swindoners I met there the time I was in this lovely place.
Greetings from Brazil.
❤️
Great effort and great content from Swindon .
Thanks mate ! thanks for watching 🙏🏾
Very interesting @IMOLE SQUARE.
born and bred in Swindon, there has been noticeable difference in the town centre area over the past decade. in my opinion the retail parks that have come along have cheaper rents than the town centre and much better parking facilities meaning companies will prefer moving further out and gain footfall. that leaves the town centre looking like a ghost town.
If you didnt know from timestamp 10;18, the grass verge in the middle where you are walking along was once the old canal that went through the town. A certain charity have been trying to get this back into the town centre but with no success, which is a shame.
Swindon has a good heritage but things do move on and past councils etc have let that erode away.
i have travelled extensively with my past job, over majority of the Uk and Europe and Swindon is a very middle of the road town for crime and investment.
Town centres all over Uk are struggling with businesses relocating etc. we also suffered massively with a council that were not proactive at all.
There is plenty of work available, for those that want to work. thats the issue.
Very detail write up …thanks for the info and thanks for watching.
I mean I live in Swindon and you went to the worst parts and make a decision based of that. Maybe try old town next time, coate water, lydiard park. There’s more to Swindon than the bottom of town and Manny road
Thanks for watching
Swindon borough council can be blamed for the state of the town to what it was back in the mid 70's
That’s disappointing
It’s just a standard Town in England that has been left behind. Lots of boarded up shops, lots of poundshops etc.
💯
In 18 years I've never walked that route out of town. Lol.I like Swindon.There are some really decent people. Plenty of nicer areas. It's a mixed bag. Thanks for the video. Will share on FB.
Aaww thanks a lot
Thanks for watching 😊
Should have had a look at old town you can look at the hole town from lawns wood it not all bad
Ah I see
Swindon: Definitely not the worst English small city, but in a very sad state when I compare to my childhood when it was vibrant on Regent St., Town Centre, Commercial Rd., Old Town, etc. Grew up on Marlborough Road, Coate, and Broome Manor area which was fantastic. Loved the countryside around.
I’m sure you are getting that nostalgic feeling watching the video.
No you didn't walk around the town, you walked around the Town centre. Different thing entirely. Visit Old Town up the hill.
Ok …thanks for watching.
Well Done Man.... i lived on Dunsford for a few years, that said you missed out Old Town Swindon, it has a lot to offer... you need to do a retake. :)
Sure will do if I can find someone to show me around ☺️
I went to swindon once back in 2010 and thought it was a shithole back then, but really its just the state of a lot of small towns and highstreets, big companies driving out small business owners, plus depressing architecture etc, so many factors
Spot on mate !
it was alot better in 2010. It's derelict now. Funnily all the big business have moved out (sainsbury's, starbucks, topman etc) the only small businesses are renting out units in town centre now (european grocers, food stores etc).
I was born here dad worked on the steam train as coal man i lived here did x factor bootcamp. Etc swindon only go down due to online shopping and rent prices and covid before town center great for nights out. Safe here as kids can go outside to play. But there is influx county lines here and drugs drink but up to each person what lifestyle to choose u can go to church work every day.. Or drink drugs everyday its up to each person. I love swindon but needs a council boost to rebuild brunel. And bottom of town ❤
I hear that. And you are right …I saw a lot of kids playing outside it’s pretty safe.
I lived in Haydon Wick for 3 years and its a very nice place
Ah I see
I was born in Swindon and lived there for most of life, until I emigrated to Adelaide in 1995. I have great memories of my life, but I can see the decline in your video...Sadly it's the same in many towns worldwide....
Awww bless you. And yh you are spot on …the same thing is happening to towns and cities all over the world.
I think the trouble in the centre is that lots of the population in that patch feels like its there short term, with a bias to recent arrivals from around the world or peope with addiction / mental health issues and, in turn, its probably reasonable that they don't really have much love for the space to work as a community to keep it clean, work together to minimise or remove bad graffiti etc. Those living there just don't have any incentive to do anything much positive.
As for the guy on the rainbow stairs, it blows my mind that you'd travel to live somewhere you don't feel safe and can't find work - I mean, I don't feel that either of those are really an issue here, the town may be boring compared to many places but it is safe and there are always job opportunities available, even if they aren't necessarily super high paying or glamorous roles.
Well articulated …well said 👌🏾
The problem with most of the houses in the town centre is that they have been converted into house shares so the people living there won't make any effort to make them look nice from the outside, and to be honest why should they. The landlords don't care about the appearance of their properties as long as they're making money. I travel around the UK for my job and unfortunately this is the situation in all big towns. Good video though 👍
Absolutely spot on!
Thanks for watching.
Parts of Swindon look like a sad place to live
True
I lived there about 30 years ago and it wasn't as run down then. The theatre used to be called the Wyvern I think. I saw a really good play there once. Is it still open?
Not sure 🤷🏾♂️
@@imolesquareYes it is!
Thanks for the good content 🙌🏾
Thanks bro
I wouldn't say it's the worse place in the country their are worse places than Swindon I am born and bred Swindonion and I can tell you now there are a lot worse places than swindon trust me
I hear that …just that it has been rated one of the top ten worst places to live in the uk.
@@imolesquareI can see why alley way are a complete mess with flytippers dumping rubbish on them the town center is a complete shit hole Heidi Alexander is our local MP she can sort it out
They can, they just need to be held accountable
@@imolesquareyep it would be great to see the town centre exactly as it was in the 1990s
Or even more better.
Taco bell is the only reason I go to Swindon. The outlet is also decent as the girl mentioned. There are so many shut down jobs and crackheads there too.
I hear that still ! 🙌🏾
I visited Swindon recently.I can tell it had a golden time but it's really messy here.
It’s sad to
See
It's just the town centre and a couple of neighbourhoods northwest that are shit. Have a walk through Old Town, Goddard Avenue and the way down the canal by Waitrose, complete different story
Calm.
Sad for me. My Farther was from Swindon. Always imagined it a nice clean place. Perhaps back then it was.
Well I think the town has been on a steady decline as stated by some of the locals
Swindon is decent i will be moveing thier soon as i have friends in the area lovely place better than london by a mile
Oh nice …are you moving for work ?
Great content!
Thanks for watching mate 🙏🏾☺️
Swindon till I die I’m Swindon till I die I no I am I said I am I’m Swindon tillllllll I die!!!!!
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
My suspicion was right....a dump
Hahahaha
Hi Imole 🤣 Imanolesquare too 🤣🤣 Sooo yeah Swindon Eh, OK I'm old bloke lived in Aussie for 43 years in tropee kaal North! Love it! But!! Hold on! I wuz a kid in Swidon England from age 9 to 13 ie June 1961 to July 1965 when we moved to Portsmouth Town!!! In those dim and distant, Pig Hill (Swindon literally translates from ye olde Anglesea to P.H.) wuz a very go ahead township! It didn't exactly sparkle like the diamond of the East!, "Swindon a Rose red city half as gold as green!??" Nah none o that! but it was OK, well as a kid I thought so, I later learned Dad hated the joint and couldn't wait to get us to Portsmouth! 😂 which I also loved and have great friends there to this day! I digress again, sorry, so Swindon, huge chunk of my young life, sad to see the old girl down the tubes 😢 we lived at 86 Beatrice right on the corner of Cricklade Rd, dad was manager when it was Tyre Supplies Ltd, I went to Gorse Hill Primary then Fearndale Road Sec Mod, from Swindon we witnessed The Cuban Missile Crisis that could have killed us all very quickly! or too slowly!?, The coming of the Beatles! ❤❤ The first James Bond movie!
The assassination of JFK 😢 (I arrived at school, ie Fearndale) to be given that terrible news 😢, The start of the Vietnam thing, Even though not a port, I bought a my first copy of "Ocean Ships" by Ian Allen from a bookshop on Cricklade road near the corner of Fearndale road, which eventually led me to be a ship lover and photographer then to a 42 year career as a marine engineer! Yep Swindon got a lot to answer for in moi life (Especially as I'm originally and again later a Readingight!) ❤❤❤ For my Friends Terry Gardner, Steven Wilkins, Henry Watson, Bob, God I can't remember his surname!, Oh and I must pay tribute to "The magic Roundabout" opened 7 years after we left But! Negotiated many times by me between 1972 and 1981! And I now have the T shirt! Swindon you may be a dump now, my mum and dad didn't like you! But you will always have a place in my heart! BTW Loved Coatwater! Even though you couldn't swim in it😢 we were always told polio infested!? Any info on that! Cheers Guys! ❤❤❤
Aww bless. So you moved your Portsmouth? Do you know it’s been rated one of the worst places to live in the uk ? I will be visiting the city shortly.
@imolesquare
😂😂😂 Hey
@imolesquare again! Yep! give "Pompey" the rap man! 😂😂😂 I can take it! Hope you can get the funds to do Aussie sometime! Would love to get your take on places such as Cairns for example! A tropical paradise man! Turned from a sleepy troppo city comatose laid back(loved it) 1982, to megga international tourist hotspot by 1988! It is now a tropicaaaaal tourist shithole! I moved to Tully a sleepy village 2 hours south! Love it! Swindon Portsmouth Reading (Hey do Reading man! I was born and raised then went back in 67 after Portsmouth, until Aussie in 81! Still fond mems of all towns lived in in UK, good with the bad! Like I said even the seemingly wonderful city of Cairns Austreliah has its issues! 😂😂😂
@setter501 raah ! I’m excited. Hopefully you’ll get to show me around Portsmouth! ☺️
Nice one bro👏👏
Thanks bro …thanks for watching
Come around Blunsdown St Andrews it’s so nice
Oh I see
This was largely a misrepresentation as you could have wondered into many better areas of the town - people now go to out of town shopping centres including the Outlet Village where people from Wales travel to to do their Christmas shopping, for example. All towns are suffering from the effects of the pandemic and cost of living but there are lots of positives you missed - am sure you had good intentions but need to do more research before randomly turning up. The first guy you interviewed was clueless and not sure what the cyclist was on but largely talked rubbish as well. Not great unfortunately.
Thanks for watching
Aww the little boy on the scooter 😊
Super lovely lad!
my home town havet lived there since 2008 i miss it and i dont, it used to be nice tidy and lively i wouldnt trust the place now and he was mostly around town center he should see the state of all thedifferent estates, perhaps next time visit penhill pinehurst or the parks, then the second video will show how deprived and awful this town get, i feel bad posting this since i was born and bred there but i just cant face going back there now
Aaawwwww bless
swindon is a nice place just not very lively
Fair enough
Its certainly the worst place Ive lived. But Ive not lived everywhere 😊. Horrid place though. Worst thing I did was move there. Best thing I did was leave.
@@DorisDay-lw4xs aawww bless you mate!
@@DorisDay-lw4xs aawww bless you mate!
@@imolesquareIt was a good video. Brought back some memories 😂
Haha glad it did. A lot of people that watch my videos always make comments about how it triggers that nostalgic feeling in them.
Thanks for watching.
Good video
Thanks for watching Jack !
My friend once said the best thing about Swindon is the way out of it 😅
Great video man !
Hahahhahaha that’s crazy!!! 😂😂😂
I have lived all my life. Must say it has gone down hill over the years.
😔
Even when there were good times Swindon was in ruins.
Oh wow 😮
I live in Swindon, and it’s slightly better than Gaza.
😂
No it isn't. Give me Gaza anyday
lol
Pricing still better than London
Pretty much
Utterly pointless!😢
What is ?
nice man
🙌🏾
It was the best in the 90,s.
I know right …I saw old videos of the town 😳
Swindon is a place you pass through on the way to somewhere else. I hated living there. Dull dull dull.
I can imagine. I does have good community spirit though.
@@imolesquare
So did the trenches in WW1.
@Jack-hy1zq hahahhahaha that’s hilarious 😆
bullshit jobs everywhere
🤷🏾♂️
You try luton
I’ve been.
See video here 👇🏾
th-cam.com/video/jAdAUuez4do/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AE8hEkVJs8aW9Z2F
Yeah its well depressing like. 3 years of pure torture.
Awww bless
Needs more diversity to cheer it up.
It is really diverse though
It has diversity.
Yh