Rundown town centres

It's not been the same since they closed Moss Side centre!

Altrincham has to be the model now, establishing an independent foodie scene.

Even that initial investment came from Tom Bloxham for a paltry £150k to take over the market hall.

He's getting that kickback soon, though. They have recently flattened the old Alty hospital and it's ripe for his flats by the looks of things.
 
Oldham town centre is dying on its feet. Even the nightlife which was once thriving has all but disappeared

The new metrolink extension was supposed to breath life into the town but doesn't appear to have made any difference. In fact its probably made it worse as its now easier to get out of there

They've just opened a new cinema and restaurants right in the town centre. Bit early to see if this helps, but I was in the Nando's last night and at 9pm there were 3 tables occupied including mine

M&S were supposed to be opening a new big store but a few weeks ago it was announced they pulled out of negotiations. Could be the final nail in the coffin for the place
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
My dad had a shop in there in the mid 80's! Couldn't make it pay because of the chronic shoplifting and staff pilfering :-/
Click to expand...

Really? I still remember the escalators and there was even a market inside the actual shopping centre.

Had my first cream fingered doughnut in the ground floor Greggs there. To your average street urchin, that was like getting taken on holiday ;)
 
Chippy_boy said:
Bristol.

People have this lovely image of Bristol with Clifton suspension bridge gracefully spanning the avon gorge, and the lovely victorian houses in Clifton and Clifton Village. Picture postcard. Lovely.

The reality is the whole City is pretty much a shit hole with individual districts vying for being the shittest:

Hartcliffe - not safe at night. Or the daytime.
Lawrence Weston - makes Harlem look like Martha's Vinyard
Southmead - make sure you have a gun on you
Lockleaze - I'd rather live in Strangeways. Most of the residents used to.
St. Pauls - up and coming. From the very bottom
Bedminster - "bohemian". AKA "a total shithole"
Patchway - cheapest drugs in town
Easton - Average life expectancy, 26
St. Werbergs - Handy if you fancy a shag for £20

I can go on and on. The whole place is an utter dump.
Click to expand...

St werbergs looks like it's worth a visit.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
Really? I still remember the escalators and there was even a market inside the actual shopping centre.

Had my first cream fingered doughnut in the ground floor Greggs there. To your average street urchin, that was like getting taken on holiday ;)
Click to expand...
There was a market. I remember it well. He had the big supermarket which had fresh produce sections that faced onto the concourse. Worked there in the summer holidays and on Saturdays if City were at home.

He had shops all over the place at various times: Hulme, Miles Platting, Moss Side, Salford - all the glamorous locations - but Moss Side was by far the worst for stuff getting nicked.
 
The Silver Surfer said:
It could've very easily been Bury on the list.
I hated the town centre and its crappy market for years. Its my nearest town but I always said I'm from Whitefield (which is south Bury).

But fair enough what the council did on the The Rock over 5 years ago, turning it into a shopping, living and entertainment space could almost be described as visionary. Where others have drowned, Bury has thrived.
Its got great transport links and colleges and i'd much rather go there now than the Trafford Center to shop or watch a movie.
I'd still go to Manchester for a night out but my nights out are declining with age anyway now.

But yeah, I'm quite proud of the place now.
Click to expand...
Ha, saved me the bother of posting. Wholeheartedly agree, The Rock has made Bury a decent place. I see that Stockport are doing something similar, funnily enough with the name of Redrock, be interesting to see if it can create the same improvement.
 
xgorton said:
Portishead and the Marina nice places to visit,we always stay at the travel lodge in Portishead on the way down to Bude.Good bars and places to eat and very dog friendly for Bluey our cockerpoo.
Click to expand...

True, but Portishead is not in (or very near to) Bristol.

I prefer Knowle West, another lovely Bristol highlight

2qbtbwx.png


2yunjbk.png
 
Last edited:
Chippy_boy said:
Bristol.

People have this lovely image of Bristol with Clifton suspension bridge gracefully spanning the avon gorge, and the lovely victorian houses in Clifton and Clifton Village. Picture postcard. Lovely.

The reality is the whole City is pretty much a shit hole with individual districts vying for being the shittest:

Hartcliffe - not safe at night. Or the daytime.
Lawrence Weston - makes Harlem look like Martha's Vinyard
Southmead - make sure you have a gun on you
Lockleaze - I'd rather live in Strangeways. Most of the residents used to.
St. Pauls - up and coming. From the very bottom
Bedminster - "bohemian". AKA "a total shithole"
Patchway - cheapest drugs in town
Easton - Average life expectancy, 26
St. Werbergs - Handy if you fancy a shag for £20

I can go on and on. The whole place is an utter dump.
Click to expand...

I stayed in Bedminster for a while when I was working in Bristol centre, thought it was ok actually, some good bars/pubs if a little pricey, but a lot of them served very decent beer.
The one exception being the Masonic. We went in there one night and it was very much 'Royston Vasey'....what an absolute shithole, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, stopped what they were doing and stared at us three when we walked in, needless to say, after a couple of pints watching some shite Monday night game on tiny tv's, we never went back!

Also had some bellend start on me in the Wetherspoons (Robert Fitzharding?) and after calming him down, ten minutes later he ran up to me and took a swing. He only did it the once.
 
Bilboblue said:
I stayed in Bedminster for a while when I was working in Bristol centre, thought it was ok actually, some good bars/pubs if a little pricey, but a lot of them served very decent beer.
The one exception being the Masonic. We went in there one night and it was very much 'Royston Vasey'....what an absolute shithole, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, stopped what they were doing and stared at us three when we walked in, needless to say, after a couple of pints watching some shite Monday night game on tiny tv's, we never went back!

Also had some bellend start on me in the Wetherspoons (Robert Fitzharding?) and after calming him down, ten minutes later he ran up to me and took a swing. He only did it the once.
Click to expand...

Bedminster is one of the more acceptable dumps to be fair. As I say, they think it's "bohemian", which actually means "a dump" in English. Still, Bedminster is quite nice compared to such loveliness as Barton Hill:

2ivkeg.png

2ag3tox.png
 
Lawrence Weston is positively idyllic.

(My application for a job working for Bristol Tourist board may be unsuccessful)

ztbuis.png
 
Warrington is just about hanging in there. Some good redevelopment but the main streets in the town centre have been neglected in favour of the indoor shopping centre. Looks like they are developing the market though so those streets could get a lift from this. Still thriving in Stockton Heath, Culcheth and Lymm though
 
Grassland Blue said:
I always thought that some of the empty and boarded up shops could be used for any genuine homeless. This would at least give people an address which could be used by them to give to any prospective e
Any town or City that used idle property in this way would then have to describe itself as 'beggar free.'
People caught begging in 'beggar free'
towns and cities would then be charged with causing a public nuisance, or perhaps harassment.
I do have sympathy for the genuine homeless, but the number of people begging these days is beyond a joke.
Click to expand...
Nice idea but who is going to pay to furnish the empty property, pay for water and lecky, manage the place on a daily / overnight basis to ensure drunks and druggies weren't getting in?
Neighbouring shops already struggling would bail out too as shoppers avoid the place
 
Chorlton-cum-Hardy seems to be thriving.
Altrincham finally got their finger out and also hit lucky with the market food hall. It is now giving Hale a run for eateries and drinking Heaven's.
 
Chippy_boy said:
Lawrence Weston is positively idyllic.

(My application for a job working for Bristol Tourist board may be unsuccessful)

ztbuis.png
Click to expand...
Always said a town is dead as soon as the high street is full of shite-looking takeaways and charity shops.

I live in a place called Totton, just outside Southampton and to be honest, from being the fastest growing town in Europe in the late 80's/early 90's, it has turned into a bit of a dump, pubs that are still open are shite and serve rubbish 'name' lagers and crap like Doom Bar.

The huge West Quay development in the centre of Southampton sounded the death knell for smaller places outside the city.
Most of the local areas like Totton, Hythe, Bitterne, Shirley and Bassett have gone to the dogs.
 
jacko74 said:
A couple of years ago Glossop was mainly charity shops and pound shops.. now there's a whole load of pretentious boutiques, artisan food shops, craft shops, coffee lounges, ''vintage'' (secondhand) shops and an eye-wateringly expensive furniture shop.

All these places just sell overpriced shite to desperate, gullible debt junkie mugs who are willing to buy it just so they can post pictures of their latest purchase on facebook.

I honestly preferred it as it was, at least you could buy stuff you actually needed for a sensible price.... now all you can buy is smelly candles, expensive coffees and hand crafted rustic bread.
Click to expand...
one of the funniest posts for long time
 
Not been in years probably but is Bury still alright?

Bury market was always great for food (must have helped attract customers to the local retail too), maybe that's what other similar towns should be doing, can't think of similar. Ashton market is a totally different matter.
 
jacko74 said:
A couple of years ago Glossop was mainly charity shops and pound shops.. now there's a whole load of pretentious boutiques, artisan food shops, craft shops, coffee lounges, ''vintage'' (secondhand) shops and an eye-wateringly expensive furniture shop.

All these places just sell overpriced shite to desperate, gullible debt junkie mugs who are willing to buy it just so they can post pictures of their latest purchase on facebook.

I honestly preferred it as it was, at least you could buy stuff you actually needed for a sensible price.... now all you can buy is smelly candles, expensive coffees and hand crafted rustic bread.
Click to expand...
The 'smelly candles' sound worthwhile
 
Charity shops get much reduced rates as well hence why so many different charity shops flood town centres.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bilboblue said:
Always said a town is dead as soon as the high street is full of shite-looking takeaways and charity shops.

I live in a place called Totton, just outside Southampton and to be honest, from being the fastest growing town in Europe in the late 80's/early 90's, it has turned into a bit of a dump, pubs that are still open are shite and serve rubbish 'name' lagers and crap like Doom Bar.

The huge West Quay development in the centre of Southampton sounded the death knell for smaller places outside the city.
Most of the local areas like Totton, Hythe, Bitterne, Shirley and Bassett have gone to the dogs.
Click to expand...
You can't be serious?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top