What are the most backwatery of British backwaters?

[KentVillan]

5 minutes ago, tinker said:

All local ones.....Evesham shocked me , Ludlow , Ledbury, Tewkesbury.......went to a festival (Lodefest) near Tewkesbury everyone looked the same, the drink drivers around there were unbelievable, like going back 50 years pissed up in the car and home, I kid you not , outrageous behaviour.

Drink driving is still pretty commonplace in most of rural Britain. How do you think pubs in the middle of nowhere survive?

[choffer]

2 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

As with so many places in the world, here's a slowly dying and capacious land whose population desperately needs immigration -- but where xenophobia is killing the future. This an be turned around, but it takes better governance and education perhaps? My guess is younger people leave, so you have a core of bigoted oldtimers leftover? 

That’s the bizarre thing. There has been Indians and Pakistanis on the island since the 60s. The free Church of Scotland (the last bastion of closed-mindedness) helped the Syrians build a mosque. They’re very progressive in many ways which are completely at odds with some of the opinions you may hear. It’s “othering” of the highest order. On an individual level they are super welcoming. They’ll talk in glowing terms about their neighbour from Pakistan and in the next breath tell you there was never any litter on Cromwell street until the foreigners arrived. 

[The_Rev]

The world has been like that for so long that you've got to accept it's a flaw in human nature.  Careers have been made on the back of telling everybody things were great before those bloody outsiders came and they'll be great again once they've gone. 

[mjmooney]

[HKP90]

On 28/01/2023 at 13:42, Talldarkandransome said:

I love Cornwall

Stoke is a shit hole

Blackpool makes Stoke look like Cornwall

Dudley wants to be Stoke

As a native of Dudley I can say with certainty that the last bit is not true. 

Stoke f***ing wishes it was Dudley. 

Dudley would rather be York. Unfortunately it is a s**thole (Dudley not York), but we don't want to be Stoke, which is where hope goes to die.

And at least we're not Wolverhampton.

Edited February 1, 2023 by HKP90

[HKP90]

On 29/01/2023 at 07:24, Vive_La_Villa said:

Not quite a backwater but it’s alarming how dangerous Walsall town now feels when it gets dark. Even around 5pm. Just the other day there was a fatal stabbing. 

Used to live in Walsall. Every time I went to the town centre it seemed full of mentally ill people who desperately needed help, but instead were given special brew and a lottery ticket.

[KentVillan]

3 hours ago, mjmooney said:

The least Bregretful places are all bona fide shitholes, but some great names there. South Holland and the Deepings sounds like a Motown artist and his backing singers.

[HKP90]

3 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

The least Bregretful places are all bona fide shitholes, but some great names there. South Holland and the Deepings sounds like a Motown artist and his backing singers.

Penrith and North Norfolk are OK. Agree with the rest though.

[Seat68]

33 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Used to live in Walsall. Every time I went to the town centre it seemed full of mentally ill people who desperately needed help, but instead were given special brew and a lottery ticket.

Sounds right. My wife is from Walsall and you have described her fairly accurately 

[Talldarkandransome]

53 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

As a native of Dudley I can say with certainty that the last bit is not true. 

Stoke f***ing wishes it was Dudley. 

Dudley would rather be York. Unfortunately it is a s**thole (Dudley not York), but we don't want to be Stoke, which is where hope goes to die.

And at least we're not Wolverhampton.

I used to work in Dudley, the town centre is appalling and they have spent loads making it look like that. I'm glad I now work at home. I dread having to go into the office every so often for meetings. It's a long way from York, and not just in distance.

[Risso]

On 29/01/2023 at 19:07, tinker said:

All local ones.....Evesham shocked me , Ludlow , Ledbury, Tewkesbury.......went to a festival (Lodefest) near Tewkesbury everyone looked the same, the drink drivers around there were unbelievable, like going back 50 years pissed up in the car and home, I kid you not , outrageous behaviour.

Ludlow is an absolutely lovely little town. Sort of place I'd like to retire to.

I guess there's a difference between 'backwater' which to me suggests somewhere miles from civilisation like a lot of Lincolnshire, and 'shit town with nothing going for it' like the joyless shithole that is Stoke.

[tinker]

3 minutes ago, Risso said:

Ludlow is an absolutely lovely little town. Sort of place I'd like to retire to.

I guess there's a difference between 'backwater' which to me suggests somewhere miles from civilisation like a lot of Lincolnshire, and 'shit town with nothing going for it' like the joyless shithole that is Stoke.

It is a lovely little town (best out of the others I listed) but some of the residents appear to be from the 14th century, I enjoyed the beer festival there though

[Seat68]

5 minutes ago, Risso said:

Ludlow is an absolutely lovely little town. Sort of place I'd like to retire to.

I guess there's a difference between 'backwater' which to me suggests somewhere miles from civilisation like a lot of Lincolnshire, and 'shit town with nothing going for it' like the joyless shithole that is Stoke.

Yeah, didn’t think Ludlow would be described as back water, it punches well above it’s weight. 

[mjmooney]

6 minutes ago, Risso said:

Ludlow is an absolutely lovely little town. Sort of place I'd like to retire to.

Friends of mine had the same idea, and did it. As Labour Party supporters they hated it - Tory hotbed. They moved to Skipton in Yorkshire. 

[HKP90]

Ludlow is my closest town now (we're roughly equidistant from Ludlow and Bewdley). It's a nice place, but for some reason the shops never seem to be open when I go. Food centre is worth a squiz, especially for Christmas gifts, which it is great for. I go there every year. Castle is definitely worth an explore. 

Bewdley is also a lovely little place. In the summer we go down to the river, get fish and chips from Merchants and walk along the prom.

Cleobury, the village I live in now has THE best little brewery. Hobsons beers are epic (get some Town Crier, you will not regret it).

[theunderstudy]

I was gonna say drink driving is rife anywhere in the rural areas. I've lived in Gloucestershire for 7 years now and spent even more years than that near Tewkesbury and its awful for it but they all do it. Tewkesbury is pretty bland but at least is reasonably charming. Same with Ledbury, Pershore, Evesham etc. Much rather them than Spalding or Wisbech. Or Boston. **** Boston.

 

[villakram]

Surely this should be somewhere in the Falklands or elsewhere in the beyond of his empire.

[bickster]

Doesn't Ludlow have more Michelin Star restaurants than anywhere apart from that London?

 

[robby b]

On 27/01/2023 at 20:56, sidcow said:

Norfolk is just one of those places that's a bit remote (by English standards) and difficult to get to so is often the butt of jokes. 

But there are plenty of backwaters. Many Victorian seaside towns are quite poor and desolate outside of the 2 months holiday season. 

Some parts of Eastbourne are like that (I lived there for three years from 2017)... poor, lots of homelessness - some spilled over from Brighton, if I remember correctly - , run down, horribly rubbish-strewn, prostitution, lots of drug dealing including county lines, aggressive, shouty, sometimes very drunken and/or violent. It can be pretty dangerous in certain areas, including the town centre.

And then some other parts of Eastbourne are just another world: wealthy or very wealthy, attractive, spotless pavements and roads (no rubbish), much safer (especially on a Friday or Saturday night).

[chrisp65]

9 minutes ago, villakram said:

Surely this should be somewhere in the Falklands or elsewhere in the beyond of his empire.

Well that’s it isn’t it, it’s the definition of backwater.

A kid living in The Falklands could potentially be making music in their bedroom that is influencing clubbers in New York. They could be debating trans rights on a messageboard. They could be brewing up the next thing in fruity alcohol fashions.

A backwater might not be geographically backwater anymore. Whereas a whole housing estate in Barrow in Furness or Abderystwyth might be an absolute dead zone for people motivated enough to realise its not for others to provide culture or entertainment.

It’s fuzzier than miles from London these days.