Rochdale... was it a bomb or a plague?

[Anonymous]

Thank god I live in stockport(tin hat again).

Fucking hell - I wouldn't go that far.
Rochdale has gone downhill over the last 20 years or so,but then it is symptomatic of any former industrial town in the Greater Manchester conurbation.
Even Manchester city centre isn't the thriving hub it once was.
Stockport is a depressing place on a good day,and I'm surprised that there isn't a lengthy waiting list to jump off the railway viaduct.
The only redeeming feature is the A6,as it runs out of the hellhole.
And I don't blame it.

stockports a really nice place with some really nice areas- cheadle, bramhall, marple......if anything most of manchester is a shit hole, you only have to go through places like longsight,ardwick and other places to realise how much its gone doen hill

 

[lafitz2008]

Has immigration in those areas made them worse than they would have been or would things be as bad or worse without ?

This is a tricky one. Immigration has definitely not helped though. When towns deteriorate so rapidly, it's partly due to lack of civic pride, Old Rochdale people will detest what has happened to their town, 'new' Rochdale people (imigrants, Asian and east European), will not be aware of its history and living in a shithole will seem normal to them. Homegrown whitetrash are as culpable as anyone else. Don't know what the answer is. Maybe build a "Shard" or have a massive big-wheel next to those flats on Spotland Road.

Yeah,it is tricky,lot of factors involved. I grew up in Droylsden,which I'd say has a relatively small ethnic population in comparison but it's still deteriorated badly over the last 20 years or so.

 

[MCFCTrick]

I am in the minority here, in that we moved TO Rochdale in 1999. (Marland Fold, Marland) Where we live is lovely.....open fields behind our house down to the river Roch. Springfield Park. Decent pub on the main road (Success To The Plough) and great motorway access as well as 20 mins on the train from Castleton.

And, er that's it really.

The centre has visibly deteriorated in the 12 years we have lived here, and is a place we totally avoid barring one pub, The Baum (and across from there to the Brickcroft Social Club for the rock band nights only) which is a great pub. (Totally out of character from the rest there)
And my mate, Mike;s Barbers off the top end of Yorkshire St (A big Blue, with City stuff all over the shop by the way)

And yes, a great deal of it is down to the ghettoisation (sp?) of it, and many surrounding areas.....

 

[Blue Smarties]

Just finished my two years at the college, it felt like prison time having to commute to Rochdale and witnessing the sights the place has to offer.

 

[Andy Dale]

Has immigration in those areas made them worse than they would have been or would things be as bad or worse without ?

This is a tricky one. Immigration has definitely not helped though. When towns deteriorate so rapidly, it's partly due to lack of civic pride, Old Rochdale people will detest what has happened to their town, 'new' Rochdale people (imigrants, Asian and east European), will not be aware of its history and living in a shithole will seem normal to them. Homegrown whitetrash are as culpable as anyone else. Don't know what the answer is. Maybe build a "Shard" or have a massive big-wheel next to those flats on Spotland Road.

Those flats are the Falinge area. I used to have a flat on there when I split from my childrens mother . Falinge flats has the highest number of benefit claimants in the country. It is flooded with asylum seekers and you wouldnt walk through it on your own at night . There are now major racism problems on the estate , wiyh the locals angry at the way the area has gone downhill.
Gillian Duffy was the woman who Gordon Brown called a bigot lives right next to the estate and has done for years. She has seen it go to shit first hand . Many agreed with her but Brown labelled her a racist basically. He should try living there.
Hilary Devey of Dragons Den first came to national prominence when she made Secret Millionaire. She stayed in a flat on Falinge . She spent the first 15 minutes of the programme looking around the estate and going in the nearest pub. The Highland Laddie. It was full of low lifes and bone idle people with no future. She described the place as pretty dire. She then spent the rest of her time in the Syke area out in the sticks , over 1 1/2 miles away.
As for Spotland Rd itself , it has gone to shit the whole length of it.Ten years ago there was 7 pubs on it.All 100/150 yards apart. On a Sunday a gang of us would do a pub crawl along it. Start in Highland Laddie(closed) . Bowling Green . Albert(asian flats). The Victoria(asian flats) . Funnies(asian house0 ,Carters(asian flats) , Golden Ball(funeral directors). It was always a great night. . . All except The Bowling Green remain and that is in danger of closing ( for the 3rd time).
All of us often reminice about those days. Its gone forever now but every main road in Rochdale has suffered the same fate. Fucking shame really.

 

[Feed-The-Goat]

Id rather live on a nuclear testing site in America than Rochdale.

I heard The Hills have eyes was due to be filmed in Rochdale before deciding it was too dangerous.

 

[The Flash]

Thank god I live in stockport(tin hat again).

Fucking hell - I wouldn't go that far.
Rochdale has gone downhill over the last 20 years or so,but then it is symptomatic of any former industrial town in the Greater Manchester conurbation.
Even Manchester city centre isn't the thriving hub it once was.
Stockport is a depressing place on a good day,and I'm surprised that there isn't a lengthy waiting list to jump off the railway viaduct.
The only redeeming feature is the A6,as it runs out of the hellhole.
And I don't blame it.

stockports a really nice place with some really nice areas- cheadle, bramhall, marple......if anything most of manchester is a shit hole, you only have to go through places like longsight,ardwick and other places to realise how much its gone doen hill

Stockport's not that bad. I've lived and worked in various places in the UK and it really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. And seeing as I work on the A6 Nij, i'll be looking out for you passing in your road-sweeping machine and I shall spit on thee.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Fucking hell - I wouldn't go that far.
Rochdale has gone downhill over the last 20 years or so,but then it is symptomatic of any former industrial town in the Greater Manchester conurbation.
Even Manchester city centre isn't the thriving hub it once was.
Stockport is a depressing place on a good day,and I'm surprised that there isn't a lengthy waiting list to jump off the railway viaduct.
The only redeeming feature is the A6,as it runs out of the hellhole.
And I don't blame it.

stockports a really nice place with some really nice areas- cheadle, bramhall, marple......if anything most of manchester is a shit hole, you only have to go through places like longsight,ardwick and other places to realise how much its gone doen hill

Stockport's not that bad. I've lived and worked in various places in the UK and it really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. And seeing as I work on the A6 Nij, i'll be looking out for you passing in your road-sweeping machine and I shall spit on thee.

The outskirts of Stockport are quite nice,I agree,but then I hardly consider Marple Bridge,Bramhall,Cheadle Hulme and Hazel Grove to be Stockport.
Adswood,Bridge Hall,Swythamley Estate,Hillgate,Lancashire Hill and Brinnington are truly horrible.
But now I know you work on the A6,I shall pop in your workplace and say hello.
My order is a happy meal,fries and a banana milkshake,so have it ready when I drive the Testarossa through,there's a good chap.

 

[alib]

strange what has happened to Rochdale?

seems not to have happened a couple of miles away in Bury which has had millions pumped into it over the last few years?

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Do a lot of work in Rochdale, the clearest picture I can paint though is for one to watch the hills have eyes - in blu-ray, horrid place..... I do like littleborough though, Hollingworth lake is belting in the summer!!!!