@@Turdtowns Actually i studied and stayed in King's Lynn, Norfolk in September 1980 upto June 1982. But i had never learnt about any bad town or area in Norfolk. Seemed good to me. Any way thanks a lot for wanting to give some coverage on Norfolk County.
Cinderfordians are famous for never leaving there in their lives. When I lived there. there were 80 year olds there who had never been outside of the town and Gloucester was considered another world.. If you stay there too long you will develop webbing between your toes.
Most of the deprived areas in the UK are all the former mining towns in North England, Scotland and Wales. When the mines were closed , they were left to rot and have never really recovered. They often have the best mountain and valley scenery though.
The same has happend in the west country and South Wales, there were a lot of coal/stone mines in Somerset and wiltshire.why does everything seem to revolve around the north or london. The BBC are the worst offenders.
I remember house hunting in Bristol in 2000 and the local estate agent in Kingswood telling me, “In all honesty, you’re very educated so you probably shouldn’t look to settle here” - good advice and a refreshing honesty from the lady 😅
🤣🤣🤣 I remember visiting Bristol in the mid/late 70s it was an awful place then, dread to think what it is like now, I certainly would not consider living there anytime soon.
@@domfrancis3140 its one of the most overpriced and highly gentrified places in the country, second only to london. kingswood is still a shit hole though.
@@domfrancis3140 Bristol is amazing. And I love it - I spent 10 happy years living in an inner city area and it was fine. Kingswood is in the zombie hinterland that surrounds the city.
The UK, might be a dump now but if we tactically vote the Tories out and if we manage to get a government that will spend money on worthwhile stuff rather than racist vanity products (cough, cough Suella Braverman), then maybe there can be more money to improve shitholes such as Gloucester, as someone who studies near there and lives there with all the creepy oddjobs, I hope it can improve and become a better place soon.
@@bobdigi500The Tories have kirkstarted lots of regeneration. It's Labour who ruined this country with uncontrolled immigration and welfare policies and bankrupted the country.
As someone that moved up to Gloucestershire many years ago, I find this interesting. Newent is a bit of a nothing place, and basically anywhere in the Forest is a bit weird. It's an odd place, reminiscent of "Deliverance". Mitcheldean used to thrive until the large Xerox manufacturing site closed down. Now it's a ghost town. Stroud is really nice, but unfortunately is infested with junkies that cause most of the crime problems. As for the hills, that's what makes it so nice. The one place you managed to miss would have been at the top of your list: Dursley. J.K. Rowling used to live there, and hated it, hence the name of the ghastly family she created. But overall, Gloucestershire has to be one of the most beautiful counties in England, and well worth coming to see. Don't be put off by the occasional downside.
I know what you mean. I like fruit wines and I started buying them from a company based in the Forest, that had travelling market stalls that would appear randomly in Cheltenham and Gloucester Quays and around. I would buy 3 bottles at a time, so, not a huge amount, but on the other hand, decent enough that if everyone did that, they would be doing well. I wanted to visit their base, in my car so that I could pick up a dozen bottles, but they were so obtuse about their opening hours, I gave up. Even their website was not kept up to date with a market schedule.
JK Rowling has never been to Dursley, let alone lived there. She just liked the name of the place, as confirmed in an interview on HP fan website Pottermore. She should’ve called them Yates, after the town she was born in!
Love it:) I went to Newent school, drank in Glozzer and clubbed in Stroud, worked in Mitcheldean, got chased in Cinderford and eventually moved back to Newent. God's County mate
Gloucester here! I do agree with most of the points you have raised. The homelessness is getting worse, they're knocking down an old multistorey car park to build ANOTHER shopping district and let's not forget that this town does have a bad habit of raising psychos.
Having grown up in NW London and lived in Gloucestershire over the past 14 years, I find it a remarkably charming county. First moved to Cheltenham by the Promenade, before spending 7 years in Coopers Edge/Brockworth before moving to the Forest, all of those locations mentioned feel like a disney film by comparion to growing up in Edgware and it surrounding areas of Harrow, Finchley and Watford. We're spoiled our areas of outstanding natural beauty, but I second with what most people say about Cheltenham; anything along Princess Elizabeth Way and Whaddon needs to err be moved on and reconstructed. Proper shit'oles they are! I'd argue that there's less rough patches in Gloucester than there are in Cheltenham, and Gloucester certainly wins for its diversity. Stroud definitely has its free-spirted vibe, whilst you'll confuse a lot of the indigenous Foresters for being a yellow skinned man with a weired accent comprising of well spoken Queen's English mixed with inner city Roadman. Once you accept that you won't change the way of an nth generation forester, you'll be fine. Just don't go to Ruardean and speak in French enquiring about a bear.
Very similar here. Born in London and lived there for over 57 years - Kilburn, Wembley, Kingsbury, Stonebridge, Willesden Green, Watford and Harrow. Worked for London Underground for over 38 years. London has given me great memories and a good living. However, I took early retirement and moved to Coleford in The Forest of Dean - I love it, I know all the places in this vid and agree with some of it. I love The Forest people, yep they are a breed of their own but they are very welcoming as long as you don’t go around spouting on about how somewhere else is better. I hate having to go back to London now. I’ll never be seen as a Forester but accepted as an inhabitant.
Stroud was actually deemed the most desirable place to live in England a year or two ago by the Sunday Times...so property prices have soared, sadly... It's full of artists & therapists & is very alternative.
tbf all that article was advising was buy on the edge of the cotswolds in the wealthy rural parts around stroud. rodborough etc. has always been snooty and expensive. those people wouldn't go into stroud town for anything except a coffee and cheese afternoon.
@@DavidL1986 it served a purpose at the time hence why I lived there but the whole place is about 80% rough housing estates with no regeneration in the city centre at all. It's a good job Cardiff and Bristol aren't far away.
I used to live in Gloucester and then lived in Newport for a year. When I lived in Newport I thought I've found the only place worse than Gloucester to live! Edit: In one year in Newport I got 'mugged' twice . (Never been robbed in my life until I lived in Newport.)
I've got family in Newent and just knew it would it would be in this video. Everything you say is accurate. Not just one Co-op though, oh no (!) - every time a shop on the "High" Street closes it seems like another Co-op opens there. The rest are hairdressers, for the elderly to sit in and gossip; cafés, for the elderly to sit in and gossip; and antique shops, for the elderly to potter round and reminisce in. The most exiting things I can remember happening there are 1) The nearby industrial chicken farm had to temporarily close due to bird flu, 2) The country's longest cul-de-sac stopped being a cul-de-sac because they opened up the end of it, and 3) The Indian takeaway had to close because they killed a man by accidentally feeding him peanuts.
I live in Stroud. It has a great community feel to it. There are loads of music and art projects going on. The Parks are a therapy to walk through. There is an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool, a leasure centre and gym - all on a lovely park, a smashing college, a multiplex cinema, a bowling ally, loads of cafe' culture, the best farmer's market in the country, we are all on first name terms with all the beggars, we have a good bus system and as well as a train station. True, there is a lot of poverty and we do have a shit grammar school ( thankfully a great comprehensive) and an invisable tory mp. True, we suspect that roads are designed by a team who have found a bin full of lsd. We have beautiful canalside walks, lots of small shops and a lovely new market. Stroud is a great place to be. You will notice this more as you head towards Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent.
@@stumpypost Off course we do. Take a look at her voting record. I really cannot wait to get this woman replaced with, well, anything at all. A garden gnome, a novelty platic turnip, a dancing rabbit. Anything non-tory.
@Marco Gianetti Agree with that. I was about to buy a flat there and met a nice chap who pointed out all the pusher's houses. Apparantly, the other block is full of older decent folk. Don't think I could park my soft top Posche' there.:-)
I used to work in Mitcheldean,that 'Chernobyl' building was part of the old huge Xerox factory that employed hundreds of people from all over the Forest of Dean,it closed in the early 2000s causing a lot of unemployment in the area and resulting in a general decline of the town..sad
Stroud was touted as the meningitis capitol in the mid 80's, I was at college there during that period and even then the amount of junkies, drunks and public toilet pests was impressive
Your point about the shops and buildings in general in Newent looking run down and lacking in tlc is valid for a lot of the UK. I noticed this particularly after coming back here after living over a decade in the Netherlands, and previously I'd lived in Austria and Germany. These towns are comparable to small towns in the Netherlands but you just don't see such run down places over there, at least not in historical town and village centres. I've travelled around the world and the UK is the only country I know of where you'll actually see plants growing out of the roofs of buildings which are lived in or otherwise in use.
When I started with my current employer, they sent me to Gloucester for a meeting. Despite having lived in South Gloucestershire for years, I’d never been in Gloucester. First port of call, the hole in the ground that was their house, because it was literally the only thing I knew Gloucester for.
I used to live in Gloucester, I loved it and the county, but yes Gloucester is a bit of a mess. It's been held up as a 'good' example of poor quality post war redevelopment with lots of nice, old buildings cleared for shitty new ones.
@@turnip5359 It did get bombed - you can still see where the bombs fell in some places (like a Victorian terrace that suddenly has 3 or 4 postwar houses in the middle of it).
You should do Leicestershire which means you will have to go to Loughborough, the town I grew up in. It was actually quite a bustling town 25 years ago but now, once the students go home it's literally dead, full of takeaways, pound shops, bookies and junkies begging for change. Possibly might even get offered 'services'...
Honestly mate, I lived in Loughborough about 10 years ago and it was one of the nicest places. Nice compact town with excellent connections and okay high street by small town standards. Some nice restaurants on the outskirts too. I sometimes miss living there. I'd pick it any day over the urban hell that's Leicester.
Not really sure you could consider Loughborough a big town. I live in Stafford which has double the population. The town center is much poorer, it's badly planned, the infrastructure is worse and local amenities are more spaced out and there's less to do unless you want to drive around on the pothole roads. I also used to live in Basingstoke which could be definitely considered a big town and still less to do than Loughborough because it's so sterile and centered around the dead town center. Same as a few other London commuter towns.
I live in the dump that now passes for Leicester and recently visited Loughborough. I was disappointed at how soulless and rundown it's become since I was at the Technical College back in the late 80's.
@@leebarrett7546Leicester's pedestrianised city centre shopping area beats the pants off Loughborough in my opinion. The little side streets with art galleries, bars, cafes, restaurants etc, there's a ton of places there now. And they've thought hard about decor etc.... Some genuinely decent independent businesses down there .
I live and work in Stroud and judging by the swarms of middle aged people sat drinking K cider on the benches on the streets on weekdays from 8am I can vouch for the antisocial crimes 😂
Don't forget all the smackhead in the park opposite the greyhound,, I was involved in the redevelopment of the old water feature in Gloucester City, 8am their was a black dude everyday without fail sat their smoking his crack pipe minding his own business
Barton Street I Remember when all the shops was owned by English people that I knew but no longer have not been to Gloucester for 13 years and I live about 3 miles just out side The City Center
Arrived here 40 years ago. I love it. I've lived in nice places all my life including in Australia, but my roots are here now. My children would like to come back, from London and they are both widely travelled as well. It's unpretentious, got some good history and fantastic countryside.
Spent the first three months of my life there, Dr Barnardo's childrens home, moved to Oakridge in the late fifties then on to Cheltenham in the sixties.
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb I don’t live in Gloucester and I’ve been all over I’ve lived for sure, so you can kiss my hairy arse you twat. Gloucester is a dump, deal with it.
When I got married 11 years ago, I booked a few rooms in the Gloucester Quays Travel Lodge for my family travelling down from the North as it was half way. Unfortunately, it was being used as the local knocking shop.
1. There are a lot of nice areas of Gloucester with nice estates and don’t forget about Gloucester rugby 2. “Stroud is too hilly” that is a good thing because at least it’s left as nice vast countryside
I was born and raised in Gloucestershire (Stroud) and moved away when I was young. The only thing that I was offended by in this video was when he said nobody likes the factory shop. The one in Stroud/ Ebley was always popular. When I visited my dad in Stroud during 6th form I got a whole new wardrobe, Timberland/ ecko/ nike/ adidas t-shirts, hoodies and joggers. And jeans. It would have cost me £1000 in the JD in london. The Original Factory shop is better than any counterfeit market you ever been to. It's basically TKMaxx just smaller.
Kingswood definately feels more like part of Bristol, it's more inner than outer suburb in Character, or at least some of it is, most of the South Gloucestershire part of the Bristol urban area is sprawling new estates intersperced with bits of old villages that used to be outside the city. There is one other exception and that's Staple Hill. It's a shame about Stroud, it might have high crime, but it's a really interesting area. I don't know how you missed out Yate and Patchway.
Kingswood is in South Gloucestershire a totally different County. But to be fair it was in Gloucestershire up until 1974. There is a Kingswood In Gloucestershire near Wotton under Edge but only a small village.
That is because Kingswood along with Bristol, Bath, Weston super Mare and so on became part of the county of Avon. This was not well liked at all although it ran from 1974 to 1996. From then onwards and rightly so it returned the area to the names of Bristol, North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Bristol as well as being a city has county status too-aside from the City of London the only one in England to do so too.
I think I cam across what could be the worst town in the UK the other week. A place called Thorne near Doncaster. It's literally just one massive council estate and the people there probably have an average IQ of about 55. Really is quite startling to witness. How far we have fallen as a country.
These woke Millennials haven't got a fucking clue. They expect everything, but are not willing to put anything back. The farthest they have travelled is visiting their friend Jeremy who is at catering College in their neighbouring town. Send them all off to Syria, to give them some real life perspective away from Mummy and Daddy.
Visited Gloucester at the start of the year. Was shocked by how run-down it was and the locals were something to behold on a Saturday morning in January. There must be something in the water. I would say that there is clearly a lot of potentially in the town centre with some attractive buildings and streets, however it’s current a mess.
Haha, I enjoyed your video enormously (from the comfort of my Victorian town house in a nice suburb of Gloucester). I think everything you say is is correct, though there are some definite omissions - Cheltenham has some VERY nasty areas, a high crime rate and a bad drugs problem, Coleford is possibly more depressing than Cinderford, Dursley is more depressing than both, Tewkesbury is tatty and rundown, Cirencester has some sink estates, high crime and drugs 'issues', other Forest towns (like Ruardean, Drybrook and Lydbrook) are worse than Mitcheldean, and (in South Gloucestershire) Yate is a place I wouldn't send my enemies to live in. Oh, and Gloucester has improved beyond all recognition in the 40 years I've known it (I've only lived in it for the last 8), and an ocean of money has been spent redeveloping many of its seediest corners (helped, I must say, by a very active and energetic Tory MP who has done a lot for the city).
Londoner now living in St George East (next to Kingswood, so use the high street frequently). Kingswood high street has suffered over the last decade or so (like many others), but if you avoid New Cheltenham, it's really not a bad area and does have facilities that you'd pay a lot more for elsewhere in Bristol. There is also a lot of nice Victorian housing (some grand) to the east and south of the town centre / one way system. Coming from London, this stuff does not faze me half as much as it seems to do to many locals from Bristol!
What the hell I live in Cheltenham Scott House and there is nothing but police and crime around here more than their was when I lived in Gloucester I have been trying to move back to glos for 2 year I can't believe he never said Cheltenham 🤔
Thank you! Finally someone said it. I’ve lived in both chelt and Glos and the rough parts of chelt are absolutely vile. I hated it there, but only the posh bits are ever shown! Smh
@@crossercuss1 Hester’s way is genuinely the worst place in the world. Everyone is into drugs or street violence and every park is littered with chavs. It’s not surprising that I see police every other day by the apartments
Great video, I'm pleased you got to Gloucestershire so early in your run. It was an interesting watch. Whilst the county of Gloucestershire is indeed large it should be noted that many residents view Mitcheldean, Cinderford, and the whole Forest of Dean, as, well... not really in Gloucestershire. Sure, the maps and sat navs will tell you that it's all the same county, but those of us who live on the correct side of the River Severn consider everything on the wrong side of the river to be, well, Wales. (Side point- it was originally called the 'River Seven', but the local dialects and creaoles convinced the chap who was drawing the map to spell it 'Severn'. I'm not sure what the Welsh think on this point, but if you were a sheep you know which field you would want to live in. Great to see Stroud get a mention! Stroud is a very schizophrenic place to live. Sure, there are some scallywags, but they always grow up to become lawyers and bankers. That's why it's so bloody expensive to live here. I don't know any of the sexual offenders myself so there's not much I can say in support of them. Let's face it, even if I did know them I would be severely critical and probably exile them to Cinderford. If memory serves they have Fred West's bucket in a museum in Cinderford... Something the good people of Gloucester have been trying to get back, even if just 'on loan', to display in their own museum. The only major criticism I have about this video is the statement that Stroud has a population of just 13,500! That is clearly nonsense as there are about 3000 living on my estate (there you go, I've outed myself as a poor person), alone. Indeed, whenever I go to one of Stroud's plentiful Post Offices or Pharmacies there will be at least 13, 500 in the queue alone. I'd say the population of Stroud is closer to a quarter of a Million, and if you based your sums of offending on 13,500 then it's no wonder it looks like the town is full of serial killers. May I ask you to revisit your number, perhaps doing your own calculations? I fear you may be using official statistics, and the people in the Council office don't know how to do their sums properly. Should you wish to visit stroud again I could introduce you to most of the 250,000 who live here. We all know each other, mostly from the heady 1990s. The Fringe Festival is always a good weekend, and failing that you could try the 'local Farmer's' market, where you can buy Isle of Wight garlic, some beautifully farmed jewelry and pottery pieces, and loaves of bread which cost you the best part of a fiver. I believe there is a butcher who comes down from Aberdeen each week, but they try to keep it quiet as all their marketing is based on everything being locally sourced, green, and fabulous for the environment. It's such an expensive market it is well worth his air fair each week. There are approximately 82 people who shop in that market, and they all live in houses costing £10 Million plus, which explains why our average house price is so high. My wife and I bought our 'property' (it means 'house', but people prefer to say 'property' around here), for an absolute steal at £215K. As it happens it was a genuine steal because it was a house built by the government after the war for ordinary people to live in, but then Thatcher (ex-British PM, claimed to be working class whilst simultaneously and explicitly blaming the working class for everything wrong in the country... in the 80s at least)sold them very cheaply in the 80's to private people who sell them for increasingly large amounts. They weren't her's to sell, and it's one of the main reasons hardly anybody can afford 'property' anymore. Anyway, I'm enjoying this series. Do let me know if you require any further information about the socio/political/economic situation in Stroud. Who knows, maybe the next time you come we will score even higher!
I have been in Stroud most of my life and it is a tuff place very easy to get involved with crime drugs and a lot of fighting when one person know your name everybody will know your name it is a nice place to have a house yes it's very expensive and I would not say to no one to move to Gloucester or Stroud yes some areas are very friendly but it is a place where a lot of teens rave and party fight I was only having a BBQ at the river and my sister was pregnant and loads of teens didn't like her we did not no y and didn't no them the teens sed we are going to punch that baby out of you so we tried to leave and I had a punch to the jaw with a knuckle duster now I have 4 metal plate in my jaw Stroud is not a nice place if you're young or old I would not say to move to Gloucester or Stroud
I lived in Kingswood for six months, and I didn't think it was that bad initially, but then someone pulled off my car's windscreen wiper at the base (it's made of metal, so they properly wrenched it), which definitely put a damper on things. Good shopping centre though, and not that bad in the daytime. I just wouldn't walk around there at night too much.
I love your descriptions so funny, can agree with many of them, to be honest much of the UK is heading this way, our government just don't care, they are more interested in screwing over the taxpayer Looking forward to your next video
The Conservatives have kirkstarted lots of regeneration. It's Labour who ruined this country with uncontrolled immigration and welfare policies. They also bankrupted the country.
lol! Live 1 mile away from Kingswood. The centre itself is bad but it’s surrounded by some relatively nice places as long as you’re not heading to the city centre.
@@jamieashton660 I think you're probably right there! The unique feature of Newport just down the road however, as I remember it at least, was that almost everyone seemed to have a limp, and appeared unabashed about scratching their genitals in public. The one positive side to that observation at the time was that it was a case of 'each to his own'. With the growing tendency to sloganise exhortations to public-spiritedness such as "lend a hand" however, the scope for securing relief from pruritical infestations could easily have widened by now. If that transpires to be the case, Newport would now rank as appearing to be at least one of the friendliest towns in Wales, if nothing else.
I have lived in Mitcheldean... well, stayed... while I was working in Huntley as it's closer to work than Gloucester where I was actually living. This was back in the 1960s. The bus stop was outside the chip shop where I was staying opposite the George Inn. There was no marked bus stop so you had to know where to catch it. As I was always the first to arrive, I would stand where the bus usually stops. I would say 'Good morning' to the next person to arrive... who would ignore me and stand several yards away, where every other passenger would stand. The next day I would stand where everybody stood the day before, say good morning to the next person to arrive... who would ignore me and stand where I stood the day before and where all the other passengers would gather. This continued for about a month and I continued greeting the others and being ignored until one morning the next person to arrive at the stop actually answered me when I greeted him. Because we were talking, the others also gathered where I was standing and, while the conversation was not exactly lively, it was cordial. I had finally been accepted. I had apparently passed some kind of test. I liked Mitcheldean but it was a bit of a culture shock to non locals
I hail from Littledean and a weekly visit to Gloucester - and through Cinderford on a daily march to East Dean Grammar School - was my trip to the big smoke. Eventually we moved to Australia where things were vastly different. Two return trips to the Forest convinced me that the move to the Antipodes was the best move I ever made. I still love the bush - which to some extent reminds me of Littledean. But there's a world of difference - a big difference! All the best old butt.
Twenty years back, I cycled through Cinderford, and a lady said, "Could you give me a backy?" "Sorry, I don't smoke" I said. "No, I'm asking for a lift!" she said, laughing. Lesson learned.🤣
I went to school at Newent, it’s not great but not as quite grim as you make out! It has an onion fair once a year so for that at least should be commended!
Brilliant synopsis of many places I know - too well!! The big issue with Gloucestershire is one thinks of such beauties as chipping campden or Stow, but the reality is a lot of the towns are old quite heavy industrial towns with seemingly often underemployed working age population. So Stroud has a veneer of beauty but is a place filled with old cloth mills denting it’s industrial heritage. it should be wonderful but instead is the sink hole of the Cotswolds. A real shame! Gloucester can be scary after dark! Might I suggest you look at youth unemployment in your analysis?
At the same time, people of Gloucestershire don't consider South Gloucestershire as being part of their county...it is a piece that may have belonged at some time in the past but has now been absorbed into Bristol.
I love this new channel. This video was particularly good as my girlfriend is from Cheltenham. One suggestion for the channel: Don't have such an abrupt ending. (On the TV and console apps at least) It doesn't give people enough time to like the video before it ends and autoplays the next random video. I normally wouldn't go back and find the video to like it, but I wanted to write this comment, and I wanted to support a new cool channel.
Well it has somewhat improved, believe it or not, since the 1980's. They have culled a decent amount of the post war buildings and a great decision to pedestrianise the gate streets in 98 It isn't really how you say, that's quite unfair . I don't know if your native to it or visited sometime, but in summer it's really quite a nice place.A grey January day doesn't do many places a favour 😎
I grew up in Mitcheldean. It had Ranks Xerox, 30 years ago, employing over 12,000 people. Our parents all bought their houses from it. Now the area is private units employing a fraction of the original number. The houses have deteriorated along with the average local wage. Xerox replaced the mining, but nothing has replaced xerox. Tourism would be the only possible solution, as access for industry sucks, but I don’t think there is a will for it. Hope to be proved wrong.
Photocopying is overrated. Bring back banda. It would cut workload significantly across the economy although it might cause problems with inhalation of the fumes from it. For those under 45 banda was the precursor of photocopying, very time consuming and messy. Seriously, any loss of jobs is terrible especially when they were high paying ones, which is good for families and social cohesion. I despair when I see items celebrating a handful of low paid jobs being created in Britain's low wage, low skill and almost zero rights economy. Truly the legacy of Thatcherism.
@@KathrynwithaY I used to deliver paper there when i was a trucker back in the seventies. i was of the impression that they moved their operation to Europe years ago. thanks for the correction.
The only one of these places I know (or knew) is (was) Kingswood. I lived and worked near there from about 1989-95. Played local football in the Bristol area, sometimes into Wiltshire. I pull rank on your assiduous research with my local knowledge: by any practical metric, Kingswood is a suburb of Bristol. It has a Bristol post code. The divertissements of Bristol and Bath are easily accessible. The superb divertissements of Cheltenham, Glos. would require a bit of a trek. Shout out for Chasers night spot, Kingswood. Given the bounteous divertissements of Bristol and Bath, Chasers was never my choice, but I was dragged along there a few times, and there was always a clientele looking for a good time. Fair enough. Its great achievement is keeping the same name for at least 30 years. Bravo!
In my opinion you should have visited the other places in gloucester just not the places in the town center because town centers are usually bad because i live in Hempstead lane and ot is really nice there or go to the places by the school called Gloucester academy.
@@Turdtowns it's got slightly better the last few years as they're putting some money into the area apart from the excessive building of housing(granted that probably how they've got the money to invest into the area) but basically been the exact same here since the early 90's
You should do Turd suburbs in Towns. Bristol has its fair share. Lawrence Weston [land of no fathers] . Hartcliffe [where they start breeding at a early age]. Knowle west [in bred families]. Bedminster [depressing run down. Weird locals]. Lockleaze [kids sent out to burgle houses].Southmead [drugs, fights, awful worse People in Bristol. There are many others like Shirehampton and Avonmouth, St Paul’s and Eastville and Henbury.
Since Southmead became a 'super hospital', the area has improved. With nurses and their families etc moving in. I would never have walked through in the 80s/90s when there were riots. But since the 2020 I have been walking through the area every day with no problems at all 😊
@@timtreefrog9646 Southmead Hospital had a lot of money poured into it. Now it is a super Hospital i agree. Only goes to show it can be done. Unfortunately our GP Surgeries were shut down enforcing other Surgeries to take on a extra load. GPs only working three days a week and refusing to work weekends or evenings while taking a huge pay rise has left the public vulnerable. Yet people will still vote for the same old Political Parties and get more immigration and less public services while paying more Council Tax.
@@OhYeah32 blimey that took a turn. If it is of any consolation I didn't vote for these lot, and neither did most people in Bristol where both Labour and Greens run the show.
Stroud native here. Its an interesting place, I've lived in 3 out of 5 places in this list and also Dursley, which I have to say was worse than all of them. Would highly recommend coming back to Stroud and exploring it a bit more, maybe try to meet some locals, as it really is a strange town with a lot of layers to it. Anyway, awesome video and great to see someone doing stuff like this 👍👍
Nah I’m not going to be silly. These places aren’t exactly Bradford. They aren’t dangerous in anyway. They are just worse than the surrounding places. And some of them are very ugly
@@Turdtowns I got the impression from your crime statistics that these were dangerous places to live. If only due to theft but probably also knife crime, and like the one town where women protested, sex crimes.
Mitcheldean, "Crime rate not available" , it's 23/1000, and one of the highest property prices in the Forest of Dean. Millennial, can I assume you're a big fan of speed dating, and would pay extra for an egg that boils hard in 2 minutes ?.
@Turdtowns I was going to offer up Hatfield, Hertfordshire for its "tragic-ness". But after watching your series, I think I've almost lost all hope trying to find an affordable town that is worth moving to 😭
You were brave visiting Kingswood in the dark. I used to drive buses in Bristol, and one of the routes I always ended up on was the 6 (or 7, I forget which) that terminated there. It always felt so much darker than everywhere else in Bristol and I’d definitely get some interesting characters. I lived in Bradley Stoke in South Gloucestershire for a while. It’s worst aspect was utter boredom. I mean actual, self harm inducing boredom. Not helped by piss poor transport back into Bristol.
love this 🤣 i used to have to work in 4 of the towns on this list and lived in one of the 4, no wounder i got depressed. thay are right dumps. you did pick the right places for the list
I think Newent is nothing more than a simple town people go to live when they retire. It depends how you look at it, for someone like us, it's probably a bit dull and gloomy, but of a 65 year old it would be perfect town for a variety of reasons
It is I live here, the lake is absolutely beautiful, there's acres of farmland to walk in, the church is beautiful, as a deli and plenty of cafes, an independent bakery, it's spotless most of the town has been standing since the 1500s the chippy has been here since 1465, everywhere I look is steeped in a history 600 years old, it's a busy little place and the Xmas lights are stunning!! I often feel like I live in a dickens novel!! It's perfect with low crime and everyone I meet says hello. It's ten minurs from Gloucester, ledbury and ross. I think people need to take the time to look at the beauty and not judge a town on what they can buy or what the lake is called.
Stroud used to want to be Totnes and at one point it was full of overpriced jitter shops trying to sell shite like 'dream catchers', scented candles, joss-sticks, 'ornamental' (lol) bongs and various other crap no-one wanted. The trouble was Stroud had around 1% the amount of tourism Totnes had (probably around 0.01% now!) and the local area never had the sort of money Totnes did! Now it's mainly either empty shops, charity shops, takeaways or low-priced little shops still trying to sell crap no-one wants. The most depressing bit is the indoor part that used to be called Merrywalks (not sure if it still is) which had a few useful shops in it. It now has a Home Bargains whose stock levels make it look like something from 1980s Russia, a Wilko and a load of vastly over-priced 'gourmet' food places, from which I have yet to see anyone ever buy anything! The closed down pub you showed called the Market Tavern used to be a brilliant pub 30+ years ago, though, when it was called The Pelican. It was the place in Stroud everyone would meet before going to see bands at the Sub Rooms or Marshall Rooms and you could sit in the beer garden at the back, have a pint and a couple of spliffs and any coppers walking past on their beat would just turn a blind eye as they knew that there would never be any trouble from anyone there!
Let us know what County should we visit next?
Hello. May I suggest you make coverage of Norfolk County. Thanks a lot, Sir. Yes, I have subscribed to your channel. Excellent.
@@zulkiflijamil4033 thanks for the comment. Sure thing anywhere particularly bad in Norfolk that we should be aware of?
@@Turdtowns Actually i studied and stayed in King's Lynn, Norfolk in September 1980 upto June 1982. But i had never learnt about any bad town or area in Norfolk. Seemed good to me. Any way thanks a lot for wanting to give some coverage on Norfolk County.
@@zulkiflijamil4033 thanks brother I will get up there to have a look at some point. Pretty far from where I live!
West Sussex & Dorset
Cinderfordians are famous for never leaving there in their lives. When I lived there. there were 80 year olds there who had never been outside of the town and Gloucester was considered another world.. If you stay there too long you will develop webbing between your toes.
Ha ha.
That’s what they say about people who live in the Forest.
They say people in the forest have 6 fingers because they’re interbred ha ha
@@sarahwasheree lmaoo i heard that too
When I clicked on this video, I thought to myself "I bet Cinderford is in there somewhere". Best wishes from East Anglia.
Most of the deprived areas in the UK are all the former mining towns in North England, Scotland and Wales. When the mines were closed , they were left to rot and have never really recovered. They often have the best mountain and valley scenery though.
The same has happend in the west country and South Wales, there were a lot of coal/stone mines in Somerset and wiltshire.why does everything seem to revolve around the north or london. The BBC are the worst offenders.
Like mertha and barnsley
Good drugs tho
Don't forget Jaywick
All non touristic cornish towns and cities are the same.
I remember house hunting in Bristol in 2000 and the local estate agent in Kingswood telling me, “In all honesty, you’re very educated so you probably shouldn’t look to settle here” - good advice and a refreshing honesty from the lady 😅
🤣🤣🤣 I used to live there. Fair play to the estate agent.
🤣🤣🤣 I remember visiting Bristol in the mid/late 70s it was an awful place then, dread to think what it is like now, I certainly would not consider living there anytime soon.
@@domfrancis3140 its one of the most overpriced and highly gentrified places in the country, second only to london. kingswood is still a shit hole though.
@@domfrancis3140 Bristol is amazing. And I love it - I spent 10 happy years living in an inner city area and it was fine. Kingswood is in the zombie hinterland that surrounds the city.
@@domfrancis3140 it’s a great place now
i actually live in mitcheldean and couldn't help but chuckle, it truly is where sunlight comes to die
No, Lydbrook is the place where sunlight goes to die.
@@billyskoda6839 lydbrook in the summer doesn’t even feel like England
@@bigmeatyhooks I lived there for 6 months... I dont think the sun ever reached my lodgings...
I used to spend a lot of time down there on exercise with the TA back in the eighties, don't think i ever dried out.
@@billyskoda6839 both these areas are lovely
That shot of the cat, expertly ending its free-running session, is the best thing I've seen all day.
🤣
11:52
Because he was bored shit 😂
Yea man funny af😂
Yeah, it looked kind of spazzy!
I am beginning to think the whole of the UK is turning into a dump, seems that most places are run down.
It's always been a dump!
The UK, might be a dump now but if we tactically vote the Tories out and if we manage to get a government that will spend money on worthwhile stuff rather than racist vanity products (cough, cough Suella Braverman), then maybe there can be more money to improve shitholes such as Gloucester, as someone who studies near there and lives there with all the creepy oddjobs, I hope it can improve and become a better place soon.
13 years of tories hasn't helped
@@starfyre1003No it hasn't and a lot of it still isn't.
@@bobdigi500The Tories have kirkstarted lots of regeneration. It's Labour who ruined this country with uncontrolled immigration and welfare policies and bankrupted the country.
As someone that moved up to Gloucestershire many years ago, I find this interesting.
Newent is a bit of a nothing place, and basically anywhere in the Forest is a bit weird. It's an odd place, reminiscent of "Deliverance".
Mitcheldean used to thrive until the large Xerox manufacturing site closed down. Now it's a ghost town.
Stroud is really nice, but unfortunately is infested with junkies that cause most of the crime problems. As for the hills, that's what makes it so nice.
The one place you managed to miss would have been at the top of your list: Dursley.
J.K. Rowling used to live there, and hated it, hence the name of the ghastly family she created.
But overall, Gloucestershire has to be one of the most beautiful counties in England, and well worth coming to see. Don't be put off by the occasional downside.
I know what you mean. I like fruit wines and I started buying them from a company based in the Forest, that had travelling market stalls that would appear randomly in Cheltenham and Gloucester Quays and around. I would buy 3 bottles at a time, so, not a huge amount, but on the other hand, decent enough that if everyone did that, they would be doing well. I wanted to visit their base, in my car so that I could pick up a dozen bottles, but they were so obtuse about their opening hours, I gave up. Even their website was not kept up to date with a market schedule.
"infested" Nice.
Some of the homecounties around Bristol including Stroud are drug ridden toxic wastelands. Every pub has a bump
JK Rowling has never been to Dursley, let alone lived there. She just liked the name of the place, as confirmed in an interview on HP fan website Pottermore. She should’ve called them Yates, after the town she was born in!
@@tasty_fish Yate is less than ten miles from Dursley.
Love it:) I went to Newent school, drank in Glozzer and clubbed in Stroud, worked in Mitcheldean, got chased in Cinderford and eventually moved back to Newent. God's County mate
I assume by "clubbed in Stroud" you mean beating people with clubs? I can't imagine anyone going to Stroud for its nightlife, Ibiza it is not!
@@darrenp3615hahahah
A well-traveled man, lucky you didn't work at the egge packing station. But then he sacked the locals for >. European workers
Gloucester here! I do agree with most of the points you have raised. The homelessness is getting worse, they're knocking down an old multistorey car park to build ANOTHER shopping district and let's not forget that this town does have a bad habit of raising psychos.
Fred West was just misunderstood
look pal, he wanted her to leave, but she didn't..
because of all the heavy wall mounted shackles on iron chains you know?
how is he at fault here?
I went to the docks last week with the wife, the place seemed very quiet compared to pre pandemic footfall, seems it's the same everywhere though.
Idiot
Have to agree, largely imported, gets worse at this time of year when the coastal towns' BnBs kick out the homeless and they follow the Gulls inland!
Having grown up in NW London and lived in Gloucestershire over the past 14 years, I find it a remarkably charming county. First moved to Cheltenham by the Promenade, before spending 7 years in Coopers Edge/Brockworth before moving to the Forest, all of those locations mentioned feel like a disney film by comparion to growing up in Edgware and it surrounding areas of Harrow, Finchley and Watford. We're spoiled our areas of outstanding natural beauty, but I second with what most people say about Cheltenham; anything along Princess Elizabeth Way and Whaddon needs to err be moved on and reconstructed. Proper shit'oles they are! I'd argue that there's less rough patches in Gloucester than there are in Cheltenham, and Gloucester certainly wins for its diversity.
Stroud definitely has its free-spirted vibe, whilst you'll confuse a lot of the indigenous Foresters for being a yellow skinned man with a weired accent comprising of well spoken Queen's English mixed with inner city Roadman. Once you accept that you won't change the way of an nth generation forester, you'll be fine. Just don't go to Ruardean and speak in French enquiring about a bear.
Shut up mate
@@lewismciver8700 🫥🫶
hahaha who killed the bears
Spot on 👍🏼
Very similar here. Born in London and lived there for over 57 years - Kilburn, Wembley, Kingsbury, Stonebridge, Willesden Green, Watford and Harrow. Worked for London Underground for over 38 years. London has given me great memories and a good living. However, I took early retirement and moved to Coleford in The Forest of Dean - I love it, I know all the places in this vid and agree with some of it. I love The Forest people, yep they are a breed of their own but they are very welcoming as long as you don’t go around spouting on about how somewhere else is better. I hate having to go back to London now. I’ll never be seen as a Forester but accepted as an inhabitant.
Stroud was actually deemed the most desirable place to live in England a year or two ago by the Sunday Times...so property prices have soared, sadly... It's full of artists & therapists & is very alternative.
tbf all that article was advising was buy on the edge of the cotswolds in the wealthy rural parts around stroud. rodborough etc. has always been snooty and expensive. those people wouldn't go into stroud town for anything except a coffee and cheese afternoon.
@Robert Stallard No, Robert, I mean artists & therapists. We have our share of drugs & homelessness like every place else.
@robertstallard7836 And extinction rebellion types.
You spelt 'eco warriors that drive their Landover home from the protest to pick up little Octavia from private school on the way to John Lewis' wrong
Stroud is populated by pretentious left-wing judgemental arseholes with a small minded provincial mentality.
Recently moved to Gloucester from Newport in South Wales and its heaven compared to Newport. Be nice to see a video on Dorset.
i work in gloucester, newport must be really bad lol
@@DavidL1986 it served a purpose at the time hence why I lived there but the whole place is about 80% rough housing estates with no regeneration in the city centre at all. It's a good job Cardiff and Bristol aren't far away.
Boscombe😉.
I used to live in Gloucester and then lived in Newport for a year. When I lived in Newport I thought I've found the only place worse than Gloucester to live!
Edit: In one year in Newport I got 'mugged' twice . (Never been robbed in my life until I lived in Newport.)
Poor poor bastard
I've got family in Newent and just knew it would it would be in this video. Everything you say is accurate. Not just one Co-op though, oh no (!) - every time a shop on the "High" Street closes it seems like another Co-op opens there. The rest are hairdressers, for the elderly to sit in and gossip; cafés, for the elderly to sit in and gossip; and antique shops, for the elderly to potter round and reminisce in. The most exiting things I can remember happening there are 1) The nearby industrial chicken farm had to temporarily close due to bird flu, 2) The country's longest cul-de-sac stopped being a cul-de-sac because they opened up the end of it, and 3) The Indian takeaway had to close because they killed a man by accidentally feeding him peanuts.
That last story sounds like an Agatha Christie novel written by a crack addict
I didn't know that's why the Indian Takeaway closed 😳
Lol I'm living there rn
I live in Stroud. It has a great community feel to it. There are loads of music and art projects going on. The Parks are a therapy to walk through. There is an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool, a leasure centre and gym - all on a lovely park, a smashing college, a multiplex cinema, a bowling ally, loads of cafe' culture, the best farmer's market in the country, we are all on first name terms with all the beggars, we have a good bus system and as well as a train station. True, there is a lot of poverty and we do have a shit grammar school ( thankfully a great comprehensive) and an invisable tory mp. True, we suspect that roads are designed by a team who have found a bin full of lsd. We have beautiful canalside walks, lots of small shops and a lovely new market. Stroud is a great place to be. You will notice this more as you head towards Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent.
Agreed. Stroud is a vibrant, picturesque and pretty bloody lovely town. This channel is really sad, exploitative shit.
@Marco Gianetti But I would love a flat there as I may be homeless soon.
Correction - we have a very active, visible and positive Conservative MP - I also live in Stroud and generally agree with the remaining comments
@@stumpypost Off course we do. Take a look at her voting record. I really cannot wait to get this woman replaced with, well, anything at all. A garden gnome, a novelty platic turnip, a dancing rabbit. Anything non-tory.
@Marco Gianetti Agree with that. I was about to buy a flat there and met a nice chap who pointed out all the pusher's houses. Apparantly, the other block is full of older decent folk. Don't think I could park my soft top Posche' there.:-)
I used to work in Mitcheldean,that 'Chernobyl' building was part of the old huge Xerox factory that employed hundreds of people from all over the Forest of Dean,it closed in the early 2000s causing a lot of unemployment in the area and resulting in a general decline of the town..sad
My old man rod wheatstone worked there for many years
Sad when it closed up
I worked there for a short time
Went tk school at dene magna
I bet it used to be nice in Mitcheldean. Hopefully they can attract some new businesses
@@Turdtowns what nonsense is this? The Xerox site has since become a thriving business park with all sorts of services for many many years.
It's always been dismal.
Also the garden by the coop is a memorial bench
Stroud was touted as the meningitis capitol in the mid 80's, I was at college there during that period and even then the amount of junkies, drunks and public toilet pests was impressive
Yes. It’s always been a hippy centre
@@hugohugo2832 That the part of the problem
Tons of it!
Your point about the shops and buildings in general in Newent looking run down and lacking in tlc is valid for a lot of the UK. I noticed this particularly after coming back here after living over a decade in the Netherlands, and previously I'd lived in Austria and Germany. These towns are comparable to small towns in the Netherlands but you just don't see such run down places over there, at least not in historical town and village centres. I've travelled around the world and the UK is the only country I know of where you'll actually see plants growing out of the roofs of buildings which are lived in or otherwise in use.
You featured Gloucester and not one mention of its most famous tourist attraction of Fred & Rose West. Gloucester always reminds me of them.
When I started with my current employer, they sent me to Gloucester for a meeting. Despite having lived in South Gloucestershire for years, I’d never been in Gloucester. First port of call, the hole in the ground that was their house, because it was literally the only thing I knew Gloucester for.
I used to live in Gloucester, I loved it and the county, but yes Gloucester is a bit of a mess. It's been held up as a 'good' example of poor quality post war redevelopment with lots of nice, old buildings cleared for shitty new ones.
looks like it got selectively bombed during WW2 without getting bombed
@@turnip5359 It did get bombed - you can still see where the bombs fell in some places (like a Victorian terrace that suddenly has 3 or 4 postwar houses in the middle of it).
Fred west's playground
This is hilarious. Brilliant idea for a channel. Subscribed!
You should do Leicestershire which means you will have to go to Loughborough, the town I grew up in. It was actually quite a bustling town 25 years ago but now, once the students go home it's literally dead, full of takeaways, pound shops, bookies and junkies begging for change. Possibly might even get offered 'services'...
Honestly mate, I lived in Loughborough about 10 years ago and it was one of the nicest places. Nice compact town with excellent connections and okay high street by small town standards. Some nice restaurants on the outskirts too. I sometimes miss living there. I'd pick it any day over the urban hell that's Leicester.
My home town as well. Very true
Not really sure you could consider Loughborough a big town. I live in Stafford which has double the population. The town center is much poorer, it's badly planned, the infrastructure is worse and local amenities are more spaced out and there's less to do unless you want to drive around on the pothole roads. I also used to live in Basingstoke which could be definitely considered a big town and still less to do than Loughborough because it's so sterile and centered around the dead town center. Same as a few other London commuter towns.
I live in the dump that now passes for Leicester and recently visited Loughborough. I was disappointed at how soulless and rundown it's become since I was at the Technical College back in the late 80's.
@@leebarrett7546Leicester's pedestrianised city centre shopping area beats the pants off Loughborough in my opinion. The little side streets with art galleries, bars, cafes, restaurants etc, there's a ton of places there now. And they've thought hard about decor etc.... Some genuinely decent independent businesses down there
.
Let's face it many locations in the country have gone down hill in the last twenty years or so.
Gimmegration
I wonder why that is? Perhaps Tony Blair and the East european countries could answer that question.
@@rule3036 Blair would never take the blame for that.
@@oscarlarmour These towns are mostly white. The guy says so in the video. So you blame diversity because...
@Rule 303 East European..... how about Asia , Africa and Middle East
Excellent. A round of applause for the stunt cat too.
😸
Yeah that cat proper wiped out!
More energy than the rest of the place
This needs a timestamp: 11:52
@@sb_dunk I've literary watched it on a loop and cried with laughter. 😅😂🤣
The cat falling down was really funny! When you said, 'oh wait..' I thought you were going to mention the cat! lol
I live and work in Stroud and judging by the swarms of middle aged people sat drinking K cider on the benches on the streets on weekdays from 8am I can vouch for the antisocial crimes 😂
Don't forget all the smackhead in the park opposite the greyhound,, I was involved in the redevelopment of the old water feature in Gloucester City, 8am their was a black dude everyday without fail sat their smoking his crack pipe minding his own business
@@jamiejenkinson7029 druggie park 🫡 A true Stroud institution
Outside of Vue cinema has some specimens too
@@brc9739 😂😂😂😂😂 seen some special variety of street rats
Barton Street I Remember when all the shops was owned by English people that I knew but no longer have not been to Gloucester for 13 years and I live about 3 miles just out side The City Center
Stroud born and bred,
...managed to escape 40 years ago -
Cheers for re-kindling the nightmares and probably triggering PTSD 👌
Arrived here 40 years ago. I love it. I've lived in nice places all my life including in Australia, but my roots are here now. My children would like to come back, from London and they are both widely travelled as well. It's unpretentious, got some good history and fantastic countryside.
Spent the first three months of my life there, Dr Barnardo's childrens home, moved to Oakridge in the late fifties then on to Cheltenham in the sixties.
Pretty spot on about the city centre shops in Gloucester, shame you never mentioned the huge stone building that is Gloucester Cathedral ...
or fred and rose🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
th-cam.com/video/19rV-O2wQ7M/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LockedoutofReality
Yeah that’s literally the only good thing about Gloucester lol.
@@kieran5191 You haven't lived kid, if you think Gloucester is bad. Instead of moaning, why don't you fuck off somewhere else then.
@@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb I don’t live in Gloucester and I’ve been all over I’ve lived for sure, so you can kiss my hairy arse you twat. Gloucester is a dump, deal with it.
I grew up in Mitcheldean and I do miss the old place. But when I drive through it these days I kinda know why I moved away.
Having lived in Newent for 5 years I can say you nailed the place perfectly
When I got married 11 years ago, I booked a few rooms in the Gloucester Quays Travel Lodge for my family travelling down from the North as it was half way. Unfortunately, it was being used as the local knocking shop.
I hope we see more from this channel. It's nice to hear some non pc, educational content for a change. Subscribed.
Thanks brother. You will get a video monthly for the time being!
Negativity you mean...
Good video if a bit cringey at times. Will check out more. Please learn what per 1000 people means.
I'm in!!newsub. Can't wait for more bro 👌 just love footage of cat scrambling to gain foothold on fence made me laugh uncontrollably!!🤣
Do you have a timestamp for that?
1. There are a lot of nice areas of Gloucester with nice estates and don’t forget about Gloucester rugby 2. “Stroud is too hilly” that is a good thing because at least it’s left as nice vast countryside
Incredible video, TH-cam algorithm putting in the work. Subscribed, can’t wait for the next episode
Loved filming this one mate!! Can't wait for the next. Hilarious that we found #1 by accident 🤣🤣
Yea man
You were so close to even worse areas in the forest of dean. Just had to drive a little further. Hit me up for a list
Based on the comments it seems like you managed to get the whole population of Mitcheldean to watch! Well done!
I was born and raised in Gloucestershire (Stroud) and moved away when I was young. The only thing that I was offended by in this video was when he said nobody likes the factory shop. The one in Stroud/ Ebley was always popular. When I visited my dad in Stroud during 6th form I got a whole new wardrobe, Timberland/ ecko/ nike/ adidas t-shirts, hoodies and joggers. And jeans. It would have cost me £1000 in the JD in london. The Original Factory shop is better than any counterfeit market you ever been to. It's basically TKMaxx just smaller.
Kingswood definately feels more like part of Bristol, it's more inner than outer suburb in Character, or at least some of it is, most of the South Gloucestershire part of the Bristol urban area is sprawling new estates intersperced with bits of old villages that used to be outside the city. There is one other exception and that's Staple Hill.
It's a shame about Stroud, it might have high crime, but it's a really interesting area.
I don't know how you missed out Yate and Patchway.
As I'm from Yate and live in Kingswood.
Yeah... Yate. You missed a trick.
As someone who is familiar with all of the places in this video, I really enjoyed this. Thanks!
Kingswood is in South Gloucestershire a totally different County. But to be fair it was in Gloucestershire up until 1974. There is a Kingswood In Gloucestershire near Wotton under Edge but only a small village.
That is because Kingswood along with Bristol, Bath, Weston super Mare and so on became part of the county of Avon. This was not well liked at all although it ran from 1974 to 1996. From then onwards and rightly so it returned the area to the names of Bristol, North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Bristol as well as being a city has county status too-aside from the City of London the only one in England to do so too.
Kingswood is really part of Bristol also as such when you see it on the maps but council wise it is a different area of course so then too.
I think I cam across what could be the worst town in the UK the other week. A place called Thorne near Doncaster. It's literally just one massive council estate and the people there probably have an average IQ of about 55. Really is quite startling to witness. How far we have fallen as a country.
"done your research" then you suggest giving a lick of paint to old grade 2 listed buildings?
“66 in 1000 which doesn’t sound bad until you realise that Cheltenham is 10 times larger with the same figure”. Does somebody not understand ratios?
I admit that was a botch. Still quite new to this.
Me and my husband had to rewind the cat trying to jump off the fence onto the garage roof several times. It had us in stitches!
If you think these places are dumps you've led a life too sheltered for your own good.
These woke Millennials haven't got a fucking clue. They expect everything, but are not willing to put anything back. The farthest they have travelled is visiting their friend Jeremy who is at catering College in their neighbouring town. Send them all off to Syria, to give them some real life perspective away from Mummy and Daddy.
Visited Gloucester at the start of the year.
Was shocked by how run-down it was and the locals were something to behold on a Saturday morning in January. There must be something in the water.
I would say that there is clearly a lot of potentially in the town centre with some attractive buildings and streets, however it’s current a mess.
Gloucester has always been a tough town, to say the least.
Ooh, looking forward to seeing my hometown Kidderminster on here if you do Worcestershire.
Kittyminster. Them cats , goes a without Say in. Inch or inchworm.
@@RoderickEmanuel-m7d Meds
Haha, I enjoyed your video enormously (from the comfort of my Victorian town house in a nice suburb of Gloucester). I think everything you say is is correct, though there are some definite omissions - Cheltenham has some VERY nasty areas, a high crime rate and a bad drugs problem, Coleford is possibly more depressing than Cinderford, Dursley is more depressing than both, Tewkesbury is tatty and rundown, Cirencester has some sink estates, high crime and drugs 'issues', other Forest towns (like Ruardean, Drybrook and Lydbrook) are worse than Mitcheldean, and (in South Gloucestershire) Yate is a place I wouldn't send my enemies to live in. Oh, and Gloucester has improved beyond all recognition in the 40 years I've known it (I've only lived in it for the last 8), and an ocean of money has been spent redeveloping many of its seediest corners (helped, I must say, by a very active and energetic Tory MP who has done a lot for the city).
Mitcheldean is the worst place in the forest. Followed closely by coleford and cinderford. Lydbrook at least has the benefit of being on the river
Cinderford cinema is pretty good actually. I especially like the fact that they serve you a cup of tea or coffee in a normal mug!
My favourite new channel. Love Turdtowns.
Thanks brother 😊
Brilliant, looking forward to you coming to Sussex
Londoner now living in St George East (next to Kingswood, so use the high street frequently). Kingswood high street has suffered over the last decade or so (like many others), but if you avoid New Cheltenham, it's really not a bad area and does have facilities that you'd pay a lot more for elsewhere in Bristol. There is also a lot of nice Victorian housing (some grand) to the east and south of the town centre / one way system. Coming from London, this stuff does not faze me half as much as it seems to do to many locals from Bristol!
Gloucester-ite born and bred here 🙋♀️ I'm cracking up before it's even started!! Hope you enjoyed it here 😂🤣
its Gloucesterfarian thank you!
I think that this is a pretty good list, my only thought was, 'what about Coleford?' it makes Cinderford look charming and quaint! :)
@@paulfellows2604 You could sling Lydney in there as well and make the most disgusting throuple. (I live in Cinderferd btw)
What the hell I live in Cheltenham Scott House and there is nothing but police and crime around here more than their was when I lived in Gloucester I have been trying to move back to glos for 2 year I can't believe he never said Cheltenham 🤔
Thank you!
Finally someone said it. I’ve lived in both chelt and Glos and the rough parts of chelt are absolutely vile. I hated it there, but only the posh bits are ever shown! Smh
i grew up in chelt and hated it... its a vile place and i lived in whaddon and hestersway ....
That bad . Scott house and Eddie has always worst . Full of scores and chavs
Home of the DHSS, what do you expect?
@@crossercuss1 Hester’s way is genuinely the worst place in the world. Everyone is into drugs or street violence and every park is littered with chavs. It’s not surprising that I see police every other day by the apartments
The cat at 11:55 is priceless 😂
Nearly free!. For you an mee, geyser!
Great video, I'm pleased you got to Gloucestershire so early in your run. It was an interesting watch. Whilst the county of Gloucestershire is indeed large it should be noted that many residents view Mitcheldean, Cinderford, and the whole Forest of Dean, as, well... not really in Gloucestershire. Sure, the maps and sat navs will tell you that it's all the same county, but those of us who live on the correct side of the River Severn consider everything on the wrong side of the river to be, well, Wales. (Side point- it was originally called the 'River Seven', but the local dialects and creaoles convinced the chap who was drawing the map to spell it 'Severn'. I'm not sure what the Welsh think on this point, but if you were a sheep you know which field you would want to live in. Great to see Stroud get a mention! Stroud is a very schizophrenic place to live. Sure, there are some scallywags, but they always grow up to become lawyers and bankers. That's why it's so bloody expensive to live here. I don't know any of the sexual offenders myself so there's not much I can say in support of them. Let's face it, even if I did know them I would be severely critical and probably exile them to Cinderford. If memory serves they have Fred West's bucket in a museum in Cinderford... Something the good people of Gloucester have been trying to get back, even if just 'on loan', to display in their own museum. The only major criticism I have about this video is the statement that Stroud has a population of just 13,500! That is clearly nonsense as there are about 3000 living on my estate (there you go, I've outed myself as a poor person), alone. Indeed, whenever I go to one of Stroud's plentiful Post Offices or Pharmacies there will be at least 13, 500 in the queue alone. I'd say the population of Stroud is closer to a quarter of a Million, and if you based your sums of offending on 13,500 then it's no wonder it looks like the town is full of serial killers. May I ask you to revisit your number, perhaps doing your own calculations? I fear you may be using official statistics, and the people in the Council office don't know how to do their sums properly. Should you wish to visit stroud again I could introduce you to most of the 250,000 who live here. We all know each other, mostly from the heady 1990s. The Fringe Festival is always a good weekend, and failing that you could try the 'local Farmer's' market, where you can buy Isle of Wight garlic, some beautifully farmed jewelry and pottery pieces, and loaves of bread which cost you the best part of a fiver. I believe there is a butcher who comes down from Aberdeen each week, but they try to keep it quiet as all their marketing is based on everything being locally sourced, green, and fabulous for the environment. It's such an expensive market it is well worth his air fair each week. There are approximately 82 people who shop in that market, and they all live in houses costing £10 Million plus, which explains why our average house price is so high. My wife and I bought our 'property' (it means 'house', but people prefer to say 'property' around here), for an absolute steal at £215K. As it happens it was a genuine steal because it was a house built by the government after the war for ordinary people to live in, but then Thatcher (ex-British PM, claimed to be working class whilst simultaneously and explicitly blaming the working class for everything wrong in the country... in the 80s at least)sold them very cheaply in the 80's to private people who sell them for increasingly large amounts. They weren't her's to sell, and it's one of the main reasons hardly anybody can afford 'property' anymore. Anyway, I'm enjoying this series. Do let me know if you require any further information about the socio/political/economic situation in Stroud. Who knows, maybe the next time you come we will score even higher!
Well worth the effort!! 😀
I have been in Stroud most of my life and it is a tuff place very easy to get involved with crime drugs and a lot of fighting when one person know your name everybody will know your name it is a nice place to have a house yes it's very expensive and I would not say to no one to move to Gloucester or Stroud yes some areas are very friendly but it is a place where a lot of teens rave and party fight I was only having a BBQ at the river and my sister was pregnant and loads of teens didn't like her we did not no y and didn't no them the teens sed we are going to punch that baby out of you so we tried to leave and I had a punch to the jaw with a knuckle duster now I have 4 metal plate in my jaw Stroud is not a nice place if you're young or old I would not say to move to Gloucester or Stroud
Once went to Gloucester and decided it was the mist inbread place I'd witnessed. Hills have eyes 👀
Do Bedfordshire. It has Luton and Dunstable
And Bedford of course.
I lived in Kingswood for six months, and I didn't think it was that bad initially, but then someone pulled off my car's windscreen wiper at the base (it's made of metal, so they properly wrenched it), which definitely put a damper on things. Good shopping centre though, and not that bad in the daytime. I just wouldn't walk around there at night too much.
I love your descriptions so funny, can agree with many of them, to be honest much of the UK is heading this way, our government just don't care, they are more interested in screwing over the taxpayer
Looking forward to your next video
The Conservatives have kirkstarted lots of regeneration. It's Labour who ruined this country with uncontrolled immigration and welfare policies. They also bankrupted the country.
lol! Live 1 mile away from Kingswood. The centre itself is bad but it’s surrounded by some relatively nice places as long as you’re not heading to the city centre.
I expect the Gwent episode will be two hours long.
Cwmbran will win that one.
@@jamieashton660 I think you're probably right there! The unique feature of Newport just down the road however, as I remember it at least, was that almost everyone seemed to have a limp, and appeared unabashed about scratching their genitals in public. The one positive side to that observation at the time was that it was a case of 'each to his own'. With the growing tendency to sloganise exhortations to public-spiritedness such as "lend a hand" however, the scope for securing relief from pruritical infestations could easily have widened by now. If that transpires to be the case, Newport would now rank as appearing to be at least one of the friendliest towns in Wales, if nothing else.
It turns out we are doing Gwent next. Please let me know al your town suggestions!
@@Turdtowns Merthyr! Bargoed is a good candidate too!
I have lived in Mitcheldean... well, stayed... while I was working in Huntley as it's closer to work than Gloucester where I was actually living. This was back in the 1960s. The bus stop was outside the chip shop where I was staying opposite the George Inn. There was no marked bus stop so you had to know where to catch it. As I was always the first to arrive, I would stand where the bus usually stops. I would say 'Good morning' to the next person to arrive... who would ignore me and stand several yards away, where every other passenger would stand. The next day I would stand where everybody stood the day before, say good morning to the next person to arrive... who would ignore me and stand where I stood the day before and where all the other passengers would gather. This continued for about a month and I continued greeting the others and being ignored until one morning the next person to arrive at the stop actually answered me when I greeted him. Because we were talking, the others also gathered where I was standing and, while the conversation was not exactly lively, it was cordial. I had finally been accepted. I had apparently passed some kind of test.
I liked Mitcheldean but it was a bit of a culture shock to non locals
Cat steals the show at 11:52 😂
Even the cats are on drugs..
@@davehoward22 agreed 😂
I hail from Littledean and a weekly visit to Gloucester - and through Cinderford on a daily march to East Dean Grammar School - was my trip to the big smoke. Eventually we moved to Australia where things were vastly different. Two return trips to the Forest convinced me that the move to the Antipodes was the best move I ever made. I still love the bush - which to some extent reminds me of Littledean. But there's a world of difference - a big difference! All the best old butt.
Twenty years back, I cycled through Cinderford, and a lady said, "Could you give me a backy?"
"Sorry, I don't smoke" I said.
"No, I'm asking for a lift!" she said, laughing.
Lesson learned.🤣
Please explain
I went to school at Newent, it’s not great but not as quite grim as you make out! It has an onion fair once a year so for that at least should be commended!
Brilliant synopsis of many places I know - too well!! The big issue with Gloucestershire is one thinks of such beauties as chipping campden or Stow, but the reality is a lot of the towns are old quite heavy industrial towns with seemingly often underemployed working age population. So Stroud has a veneer of beauty but is a place filled with old cloth mills denting it’s industrial heritage. it should be wonderful but instead is the sink hole of the Cotswolds. A real shame! Gloucester can be scary after dark! Might I suggest you look at youth unemployment in your analysis?
Made I larf lol😅 new sub. Great analysis
Having worked there, the people of Kingswood don't consider themselves part of Bristol! You were completely right to include it on the list!
At the same time, people of Gloucestershire don't consider South Gloucestershire as being part of their county...it is a piece that may have belonged at some time in the past but has now been absorbed into Bristol.
Surprised matson and coney hill didn’t end up on here, same for Barton
I love this new channel. This video was particularly good as my girlfriend is from Cheltenham.
One suggestion for the channel: Don't have such an abrupt ending. (On the TV and console apps at least) It doesn't give people enough time to like the video before it ends and autoplays the next random video. I normally wouldn't go back and find the video to like it, but I wanted to write this comment, and I wanted to support a new cool channel.
Well done enjoying these. Hope to see more
How did Dursley not make the top five????
Binge watching these, and love them! May I ask you what drone you are using please? the night shots are quality. Cheers!
Gloucester is a pretty depressing place, though to be fair the Cathedral is a belter and the revamped Docks are worth a visit.
Well it has somewhat improved, believe it or not, since the 1980's. They have culled a decent amount of the post war buildings and a great decision to pedestrianise the gate streets in 98
It isn't really how you say, that's quite unfair . I don't know if your native to it or visited sometime,
but in summer it's really quite a nice place.A grey January day doesn't do many places a favour 😎
I can't find a vid on Bristol yet. Born and grew up there and still there. Looking forward to it
I grew up in Mitcheldean. It had Ranks Xerox, 30 years ago, employing over 12,000 people. Our parents all bought their houses from it. Now the area is private units employing a fraction of the original number. The houses have deteriorated along with the average local wage. Xerox replaced the mining, but nothing has replaced xerox. Tourism would be the only possible solution, as access for industry sucks, but I don’t think there is a will for it. Hope to be proved wrong.
Photocopying is overrated. Bring back banda. It would cut workload significantly across the economy although it might cause problems with inhalation of the fumes from it. For those under 45 banda was the precursor of photocopying, very time consuming and messy. Seriously, any loss of jobs is terrible especially when they were high paying ones, which is good for families and social cohesion. I despair when I see items celebrating a handful of low paid jobs being created in Britain's low wage, low skill and almost zero rights economy. Truly the legacy of Thatcherism.
Has Xerox gone? I used to work there about 5 years ago.
@@KathrynwithaY Yes, it closed 20 years ago.
@@terrystevens5261 It can't have, I worked there in 2018.
@@KathrynwithaY I used to deliver paper there when i was a trucker back in the seventies. i was of the impression that they moved their operation to Europe years ago. thanks for the correction.
The only one of these places I know (or knew) is (was) Kingswood. I lived and worked near there from about 1989-95. Played local football in the Bristol area, sometimes into Wiltshire. I pull rank on your assiduous research with my local knowledge: by any practical metric, Kingswood is a suburb of Bristol. It has a Bristol post code. The divertissements of Bristol and Bath are easily accessible. The superb divertissements of Cheltenham, Glos. would require a bit of a trek.
Shout out for Chasers night spot, Kingswood. Given the bounteous divertissements of Bristol and Bath, Chasers was never my choice, but I was dragged along there a few times, and there was always a clientele looking for a good time. Fair enough. Its great achievement is keeping the same name for at least 30 years. Bravo!
In my opinion you should have visited the other places in gloucester just not the places in the town center because town centers are usually bad because i live in Hempstead lane and ot is really nice there or go to the places by the school called Gloucester academy.
Did you go to that academy? And did they teach you about punctuation?
I'm from Cinderford, can definitely vouch on Newent, Cindy and Mitcheldean.
By any chance did you come through Lydney, that's a shit hole too.
We didn’t think it looked that bad when we visited!
Same with Dursley and Stonehouse
@@Turdtowns it's got slightly better the last few years as they're putting some money into the area apart from the excessive building of housing(granted that probably how they've got the money to invest into the area) but basically been the exact same here since the early 90's
You should do Turd suburbs in Towns. Bristol has its fair share. Lawrence Weston [land of no fathers] . Hartcliffe [where they start breeding at a early age]. Knowle west [in bred families]. Bedminster [depressing run down. Weird locals]. Lockleaze [kids sent out to burgle houses].Southmead [drugs, fights, awful worse People in Bristol. There are many others like Shirehampton and Avonmouth, St Paul’s and Eastville and Henbury.
He said he was doing it I believe
Since Southmead became a 'super hospital', the area has improved. With nurses and their families etc moving in.
I would never have walked through in the 80s/90s when there were riots. But since the 2020 I have been walking through the area every day with no problems at all 😊
@@timtreefrog9646 Southmead Hospital had a lot of money poured into it. Now it is a super Hospital i agree. Only goes to show it can be done. Unfortunately our GP Surgeries were shut down enforcing other Surgeries to take on a extra load. GPs only working three days a week and refusing to work weekends or evenings while taking a huge pay rise has left the public vulnerable. Yet people will still vote for the same old Political Parties and get more immigration and less public services while paying more Council Tax.
@@OhYeah32 blimey that took a turn. If it is of any consolation I didn't vote for these lot, and neither did most people in Bristol where both Labour and Greens run the show.
This is great! Tell everyone it's crap and I can keep it to myself! 👍😊
Stroud native here. Its an interesting place, I've lived in 3 out of 5 places in this list and also Dursley, which I have to say was worse than all of them. Would highly recommend coming back to Stroud and exploring it a bit more, maybe try to meet some locals, as it really is a strange town with a lot of layers to it. Anyway, awesome video and great to see someone doing stuff like this 👍👍
As a former resident of Dursley, I completely agree.
The butchers in Dursley is ace! Ditto the bakery 😊
If they had included Dursley I’m sure it would have been renamed Turdsley 😂
visit ruardean mate it’s a beautiful little village near mitcheldean
Surprisingly well balanced. Most of these types of videos just go off on a rant.
Nah I’m not going to be silly. These places aren’t exactly Bradford. They aren’t dangerous in anyway. They are just worse than the surrounding places. And some of them are very ugly
@@Turdtowns I got the impression from your crime statistics that these were dangerous places to live. If only due to theft but probably also knife crime, and like the one town where women protested, sex crimes.
Pretty accurate, but you could have added Tewkesbury, Coleford and Dursley 👍
Mitcheldean,
"Crime rate not available" , it's 23/1000, and one of the highest property prices in the Forest of Dean.
Millennial, can I assume you're a big fan of speed dating, and would pay extra for an egg that boils hard in 2 minutes ?.
This is addictive! Thank you so much @Turdtowns.
@Turdtowns I was going to offer up Hatfield, Hertfordshire for its "tragic-ness". But after watching your series, I think I've almost lost all hope trying to find an affordable town that is worth moving to 😭
I expect Hatfield will come second after Stevenage when he visits Hertfordshire.
Do Lancashire at some point if you ever go up north, as it's a rather interesting county with a huge variety of towns and cities.
Daddy won't take him that far in his hybrid EV.
You were brave visiting Kingswood in the dark. I used to drive buses in Bristol, and one of the routes I always ended up on was the 6 (or 7, I forget which) that terminated there. It always felt so much darker than everywhere else in Bristol and I’d definitely get some interesting characters.
I lived in Bradley Stoke in South Gloucestershire for a while. It’s worst aspect was utter boredom. I mean actual, self harm inducing boredom. Not helped by piss poor transport back into Bristol.
love this 🤣 i used to have to work in 4 of the towns on this list and lived in one of the 4, no wounder i got depressed. thay are right dumps. you did pick the right places for the list
I think Newent is nothing more than a simple town people go to live when they retire. It depends how you look at it, for someone like us, it's probably a bit dull and gloomy, but of a 65 year old it would be perfect town for a variety of reasons
It is I live here, the lake is absolutely beautiful, there's acres of farmland to walk in, the church is beautiful, as a deli and plenty of cafes, an independent bakery, it's spotless most of the town has been standing since the 1500s the chippy has been here since 1465, everywhere I look is steeped in a history 600 years old, it's a busy little place and the Xmas lights are stunning!! I often feel like I live in a dickens novel!! It's perfect with low crime and everyone I meet says hello. It's ten minurs from Gloucester, ledbury and ross. I think people need to take the time to look at the beauty and not judge a town on what they can buy or what the lake is called.
11:52 flawless dismount!
Hahaha Stroud is lovely, moved from Bristol and best thing we’ve done ha!
Originally i' was called Stourood, ay! Cor, Casper
Stroud used to want to be Totnes and at one point it was full of overpriced jitter shops trying to sell shite like 'dream catchers', scented candles, joss-sticks, 'ornamental' (lol) bongs and various other crap no-one wanted. The trouble was Stroud had around 1% the amount of tourism Totnes had (probably around 0.01% now!) and the local area never had the sort of money Totnes did! Now it's mainly either empty shops, charity shops, takeaways or low-priced little shops still trying to sell crap no-one wants. The most depressing bit is the indoor part that used to be called Merrywalks (not sure if it still is) which had a few useful shops in it. It now has a Home Bargains whose stock levels make it look like something from 1980s Russia, a Wilko and a load of vastly over-priced 'gourmet' food places, from which I have yet to see anyone ever buy anything! The closed down pub you showed called the Market Tavern used to be a brilliant pub 30+ years ago, though, when it was called The Pelican. It was the place in Stroud everyone would meet before going to see bands at the Sub Rooms or Marshall Rooms and you could sit in the beer garden at the back, have a pint and a couple of spliffs and any coppers walking past on their beat would just turn a blind eye as they knew that there would never be any trouble from anyone there!
Come over to Kent. You'll have a field day.