I went to Dartford, so you don't have to! 🇬🇧
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- Dartford! The least visited town in the UK. Despite in the 1600s being a popular trading town between Canterbury and London, now it holds the name of being the least visited town.
Join me as I show you around and explore the Kent town of Dartford.
The overall crime rate in Dartford in 2023 was 129 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Kent's overall crime rate, coming in 43% higher than the Kent rate of 90 per 1,000 daytime population.
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/ @edbrinton
#british #reallife #uk #kent #homeless #documentary #poverty
There is a theatre there… the opening of Bluewater killed the high streets for both Gravesend and Dartford. The opening of Lakeside, Essex started the rot. It did also have a great swimming pool centre complete with wave machine, tubes you could ride etc - it was called Fantasies but it was built on marshland and sunk into the ground. It’s being re-built upon now. I remember it being so much busier when I was a kid. The one way system was essentially a race track in the mid to late 90’s before they changed it. The Iceland car park is where all the boy racers hung out. I think Dartford has bounced back a bit in recent years.
@@mrorangepeel659 very good points
It is Central Park. it says so on the sign a 2:44
It’s always been Dartford Park since I was a kid. If that is true then they are trying to rename it.
Just started following. I live in Dartford but was born and grew up in Gravesend. At least your videos look for the positives! 😂
Thank you so much I appreciate you. Which town do you prefer? :)
Gravesend 😉
@@lisabernard1797 me too hahah I weirdly loved it
No in between in Dartford sums it up perfectly. There’s either really horrible bits or really nice roads where you can find houses in excess of £2m. The town has had some money pumped in recently with new paving and housing as well as million pound splash park referb in Central Park 👍🏻
@@chickenrun24-r8d thanks mate! It's definitely two sides of coin
London’s tentacles have their grip on Dartford…
@@clearlynotwoke4929 they do indeed mate.. let's hope the rest of the UK doesn't turn into London. The stab capital of Europe
London is awful. I heard it's no longer English
London sucks
It is Central Park Ed😂Not sure why that guy said it is Dartford park.If you watch your video back you walk past a sign saying Central Park mate😂👍
It's been a dormitory town for London office workers since the 60's, maybe even before that, it's chavtastic.
1.10 - It is called Central Park, but most locals know it as Dartford Park.
1.25 - While the town is very urban, over 50% of Dartford Borough is green space. Your video started on the Heath next to housing with 125 hectares of green space. You are never more than a 10 minutes walk from a large open area.
3.47 - The church is one of the few in the world where the cemetery is higher than the church steeple.
@@A190xx ahhh intriguing! Thanks for the insight 😊
I have lived near London with a Kent address for 41 years and am 6 miles from Dartford and have always considered Dartford a "Nothing" place. Nothing seems to happen there apart from excess traffic when The Dartford Tunnel encounters problems and the area gets a large overspill of traffic.
Not for me.
Yeah it didn't feel bad or good. Was just a little lack luster. Gravesend love it or hate it was very intriguing to me in comparison
I hope you mean the town and not the Borough of Dartford??
@@mikekaraoke I've only been here since 1983 so it's too soon to see the Borough. The Town was quite enough for me and I got out of "Dodge" sharpish, in as much as you can with that traffic:)
@@Isleofskye LMAO love your sarcasm!
So where you from then, I'm in the Kent part of Bexley-+ I have visted every part of the Dartford Borough-Joydens Wood is a nice part!
@@mikekaraoke Hi. Yes,I have heard good things about Joydens Wood but never been. The truth is Mike that I never have any reason to go beyond BexleymWelling, Sidcup or Eltham for things and haven't been through The Dartdird Tunnel since 2017 so haven't been diverted through Dartford when there are problems.
Not far from Bexley Woods, Danson Park, and less than 10 minutes from Avery Hill, Oxleas Wiids, Eltham Park North and South, and Footscray Meadows(5 Arches) I love it, and being a South East Londoner, originally,I, often go back and like you, can, easily get out to Kent, Surrey and East and West Sussex. Love it here.
WoW. One cannot compare the town with London. It looks calm. Its so green, clean and there is less pollution. I am wondering when people say UK is overpopulated what do they mean?
Thank you for the view and sightseeing bruv.
Thanks for your comment and support as always mate. Yeah it wasn't too bad at all. Nice park also.
It still has a great Saturday market..
@@rominaahmad5188 very true!
I definitely wouldn’t go to Dartford for my holidays ???
@@simonallchin7436 not me personally mate :)
That shop with the closing down sign is still going and still closing down soon (for refurb only). 🤣 Places to visit you missed are the Manor Gate House, which Anne of Cleves was given as part of her divorce settlement by King Henry VIII. Platform 2 of Dartford Train Station which is where the Rolling Stones was formed (there's a plaque) and Mick Jagger's birthplace on East Hill. East Hill also has the park which was a former cemetery, you'll still find the Martrys Monument there. And the Darent Valley Path, which runs 19 miles between Dartford and Sevenoaks, you'll see signs on the pavement to follow! I'd only recommend a visit to Dartford for St George's Day as they do a decent parade, a night visit for the Festival of Light in November and of course the Dartford Lions Club fireworks display. Historically there was a fireworks factory in Dartford, paper production and one of the first and perhaps worst Air Corp Airfields ever!
@@CliveBilby thanks for the comment mate I appreciate all the insight 😀
I once attended a Speed Awareness Course in Dartford, nice church I recall. Try out Catford, especially the shopping centre. You won’t be disappointed.
@@andrewjones4006 will do mate, thanks for your comment! I appreciate you
Dartford is just dull. There used to be a vibrant market on Thursday but that seems to have gone. West Dartford is one of the most expensive places in Kent, East Dartford is one of the worst. Theres a good theatre called the Orchard but I think it is curently closed due to the RAAC issue. The only claim to fame is that Wat Tyler, leader of the peasants revolt, came from there.
@@normanwood1994 agreed and yeah lots of history there!
Dratford. I worked there once.
@@emzicoolintheuk how was it mate
Spot on unfortunately, there's nothing to do here. I've lived here all my life unfortunately 😂 the issue was when Bluewater came along because that took most of Dartford's businesses away and no companies would invest in Dartford as a result. Jeremy Kite (leader of Dartford council) doesn't invest in the town, everything is being sold off for new flats which leaves not much else. It just leaves a very dreary town full of depressed, aggressive people. It's a commuter town really what with rail, buses and the Dartford Crossing which can make Dartford as polluted as central parts of London🤦🤦All the industry has gone along with the businesses. All along Lowfield street (where those new flats are being built) there was an endless row of abandoned buildings, I used to help at a foodbank in one of them and it was a haven for drug addicts and rats. It also has the most overcrowded hospital where it can take up to 30 mins to queue up to get to the car park and yet they keep building more and more new estates🤦🤦🤦 It can't cope the area and It's not down to immigration as people will have you believe, just rich companies being allowed to build wherever they like to make a quick buck😮💨
Summed up 100%. ✔👍
@@will_n775 exactly this, retail parks are town centre killers
@@EdBrinton Yeah massively, retail parks and online shopping kills the high streets
@@will_n775 all guilty of it but I guess it's inevitable hmm
Even after 41 years in Bexley,I don't know Dartford as (sorry) it appears soulless but what is the immigrant situation now and what was it like 20 years ago? Has it changed as I, genuinely,never go there.
As others have mentioned. Bluewater killed Dartford and the surrounding area. In the 80's Dartford was lovely, vibrant. A bit middle class. Bluewater hit it like a sledgehammer hitting a peanut.
Did you notice not one big major supermarket. A big one was built in Crayford a few miles away forcing people to go there instead of Dartford. No shops, nothing to do. Why bother going into Dartford.
Very sad as it used to be really nice.
I think at 5:58 they are statues of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as they are from Dartford
Thanks for the insight mate, I appreciate you
@@EdBrinton Great videos, good work 👍
@@seniorMustard91 thanks so much, I'll be doing some in Poland, Laos, and if course more UK soon :) cheers mate
@@EdBrinton You must of known who they were meant to be, was also mentioned on TV, Radio, SocialMedia etc they were doing them statues of Mick Jagger + Keith Richards ages ago lol
@@mikekaraoke no mate 😁
Dartford is soulless oh my god 😮😮
Outskirts of London innit
THAT is the wod I was striving for. Soulless.
@@Isleofskye it is innit mate
@@mandymclan Been there once and through there once in 41 years though I am in Bexley.
Hopefully,never again:)
👉Do Sheerness next button👈
And as Ed drives to many places, he'll be able to visit Blue Town, Queenborough, Minster and Leysdown. Certainly a lot of developments over there. 👍💯🇬🇧✔😎
@@InvictaView good point yeahhhh blue town what's that
@@James-m9k4w Another district there. Very historic Naval connections. 👍🇬🇧😃💯
Nice fleeting visit. I've been there many times, but not many reasons to return these days. As others say, Bluewater killed Dartford, and the constant gridlocked traffic at the Tunnel has affected it badly too.
The market @ 6:20 area used to be very good but has died too. The Orchard theatre, now temporarily shut because of concrete cancer, is the best bit. I saw the late John Mayall there on my last visit. One Wetherspoons shut down, you walked past it @ 7:12 but the other, much bigger one is a lot better. I've seen that Big Issue seller in Maidstone.
Eyes right @ 2:44 lol!
Used to visit the steam fair in Central Park. Very conveniently located.
A shame really its gone down so much. Lots of people from the London Boroughs, just over the border there, have moved in. Nearby Swanley is worth a visit if you come this way again.
👍💯🇬🇧✔😎
@@InvictaView I definitely will do a Maidstone video when I'm next back in the UK brother
@@EdBrinton Yes, a good idea. Give us advance notice and we'll make sure the locals are on there best behaviour lol!! 👍💯🇬🇧😂
@@InvictaView hahahah will do indeed! Sounds like a plan plus the mighty wetherspoonsss
@@EdBrinton Take the train and have a pint. You'll get ripped off with car parking here lol! 👍💯🇬🇧😅💸💸
@@InvictaView I'll park my car in the beer garden 😉
I'm guessing your videos are mostly small towns and villages rather than major cities.
A suggestion for a new set of videos.
Pick a borough in a city. And break it down by areas based parts or the electoral register. See the difference in the areas. The quality of houses, how run down it is, the poverty versus middle-class areas.
I live in the borough of Royal Greenwich in London. Don't let the Royal mislead you. It's a dump. The anus of London.
I live in Woolwich. You go to Woolwich Town centre a dump. The surrounding streets dirty broken a dump. Yet cross one road and it's beautiful. Brand new high-rise flats, unaffordable housing clean street's green areas you feel safe walking.
Get on a bus ride 6 stops you are now in (lower Plumstead) run down poverty.
The council continually throws money at Woolwich nothing at Plumstead. Further along you get Abbey Wood. Was a bit of a dump but tje council have decided it loves it. They have adopted it. Money is being spent on it. House prices are shooting up. It's going to be a desirable place to live to buy houses if you can get a mortgage.
So why does this place get love?
Abbey Wood has a Cross Rail Station.
Woolwich has a cross rail station. Plumstead between them doesn't. So they get nothing. No money spent. It's impoverished mostly Indian and Asian communities.
Upper Plumstead nice houses, much cleaner areas and streets.
You find similar as you go around the borough. You can see the areas that need money spent but get nothing and the areas that get everything.
A series doing a deep dive on an entire borough looking at it, cleanliness, house prices, quality of shops and high street's, infrastructure GP surgeries, schools access to public transport could be a really interesting series of videos. If you did some and get really lucky you could try and get interviews with councillors.
@@PeteC1471 thanks so much, I e screenshotted your comment. After I've finish my Poland series I'll do a video on the wealth inequality.
If you ever wanted to be interviewed as part of my video, just send me an email to enquiresed@gmail.com
Thanks mate 😁
Ahhh the well known Dartford theme song... "Beeg Ee-shoe Darhleeng".
@@lezking5060 ahahahah
Another based video
@@avacyn2000 cheers matey
@@EdBrintonI had to look this definition up. I thought the commenter said biased lol!! 😅 🙈👍💯
"What Does Base Mean? The term "based" on the Internet typically means agreement, and social media and forum users commonly use it to express approval or admiration. The origins of this slang term can be traced back to its popularization by rapper Brandon "Lil B" McCartney, also known as The Based God."
What's unmanly about liking flowers ??
@@crazyherisson6500 exactly! Genuinely I do love a good garden centre trip also
@@EdBrinton As long as you don't talk to the flowers, like our King lol!! 👑🇬🇧👍😂
Big issue lady is a character also hahaha
She always says hi to me lol
Nobody visits this town, not true at all-like last Friday with the market etc it was packed all with English flag!
You even said in video fairly crowded in the main high street, and the park is called: Dartford Central Park-what you mean your only here because it is bad??
Plenty visited by people from other countries-heard these women come from Italy been living there for 7 years + very famous for Dartford Tunnel/Mick Jagger/Keith Richards as you know from Rolling Stones, Joe Leeway(Thompson Twins), actor: Mackenzie Crook amongst others as you prob know!
Also must of seen what Dartford looks like over the years on TV programmes, pics in Papers/Mags, etc
Yeah them buildings, was meant to be a massive Tesco years ago then they pulled out then Bellway London signed a contract to do flats, houses in Kent....We have too many people in this country that is the problem!
What you mean Dartford has a bad name??
Also Dartford Library, is also Dartford Borough Museum-should of gone inside there.
There is plenty to do there-You have the well known Orchard Theatre as well, which many people go to/and loads of promotion over the years- There is also Fairfield Leisure Centre which is in the Willmington part of the borough.
You also had the other Shopping Centre you walked past but didn't go in next to KFC
Also visit Darenth Country Park as well(unless you have)?
If you walked up West Hill they have one of the largest sorting offices for the Royal Mail. In the Borough of Dartford of Joydens Wood which is also part Bexley as well lovely nature walk at: Woodland Park...You also have well known Shopping Centre-Bluewater in the Greenhithe part of Dartford. Etc
It was nice you went in the town and outside of the town.....The Borough of Dartford itself is really big. 😀
I'm in Kent right between Dartford/Bexley 👍🏻
@@mikekaraoke thanks for the comment mate I appreciate you! Dartford is fine overall:)
Is that a hate comment or not can't tell lmao 😢😢😢😢😢😢😅😂
@@Lechonberryph Why on earth would it be a hate comment????????? 😂😂
@@EdBrinton No probs mate, I take it you also been to Bluewater Shopping Centre in the Greenhithe part of Dartford right???
@@mikekaraoke yes mate been a few times, lovely shopping centre! I appreciate the insight too brother 😃
You were in Central Park
@@richarddewis6157 AHH got you mate cheers
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@@LARACATANA91 ❤️❤️❤️❤️
One word. Bluewater.
@@Truthseeker1515 exactly this, retail parks are town killers
@@Truthseeker1515 Facts
Up the Dart 😂
@@chickenrun24-r8d real mate 💪
What are your thoughts on Dartford? 😅
Not a fan
Drab, dowdy and rowdy after dark on the weekends, at least it was when I lived there.
Lived less than 7 miles away in Bexley since 1983. Soulless,I'm afraid and only been once through choice.
@@Isleofskye how's Bexley in comparison? :)
@@EdBrinton Hello Ed. Though I am very active,the unavoidable act remains that I'm 70 years old and so can't comment on nightlife but it has a large, busy Shopping Centre and I find the surrounding parts of Bexley pleasant, reflected in no boarded up shops etc. We are blessed with beautiful parks, woods,fields and meadows within,say,a 3-mile raius. I am 100 yards away from 185 acres of Danson Park for example and Footscray Meadows' 245 Acres are 3 miles away. Nearby Eltham has many lovely parts.I am a Londoner and lived over a market for my first 29 years near The Old Kent Road and the ery busy Walworth Road so need it to be quite lively and we are 30 minutes from Trafalgar Square so wonderful area for me and easy to get out to Kent,West and East Sussex and Surrey, for example,my friend.
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