To ask for your experiences with Bath/strange atmospheres

Completely different area from what has been mentioned above - on a recent visit to Egglestone Abbey near Barnard Castle in County Durham I got the most horrible feeling - I never get intuitive feelings about things but that was so strong! I remember going as a child as well and don’t think I enjoyed it then either.

I'm looking up some of these places on street view, I find it fascinating.
Betwys Y Coed looks lovely on there, sunny and leafy. It's funny how a places vibe can be in contrast to how it looks on paper

Recommendation for the book 'Timpson's Ley Lines' if anyone is interested. It isn't a very woo approach to them but I found his theories quite persuasive (ancient straight lines between sources of water from a time before any thought of maps).
To whoever mentioned Berlin...this was the location of the lowest point of my life (unexpectedly). Lived there for a while, never been so permanently cold. There was (is) a statue of 2 large metal stick men, red and blue, that seem to be fighting in a halfhearted way, that is positioned in the middle of a shallow concrete pool. I had to pass it every day on my way to work with wind/sleet whistling through it and it still remains the stuff of my nightmares. I sometimes imagine at least one of them pushed down under the water but this doesn't really remove the awful connotations they have for me the way I hope.

Dover is really weird. The castle is lovely but the whole place gives off weird vibes

The Vale of Glamorgan coast - I love the coast and the sea, but the whole area gives me the creeps.
Canterbury, very oppressive, apart from the cathedral which is OK.
Dover. So depressing.

Stopped in betsw y co-ed in a spooky hotel, can't remember the name of it

Buggeredpelvicfloor2013 I've visited masson mills quite a few times and found it ok. I remember learning about Arkwright's mills for GCSE history it's a bit vague now but I don't think the workers were treated well and a lot of children were put to work, so maybe that's what your picking up on. I find cromford itself a bit off.

Bath's alright. The natives can be a bit uppity compared to Bristol, but that's all. However, I totally agree with Glastonbury Tor & Cheddar Gorge. Both are strange disturbed places.

I burst into tears when I went to at kilda. It was not a bad feeling though.

Yes!! Theres a small village near us called Arkwright that makes me feel woo whenever we have to drive past it. And somewhere called Masson Mills in Matlock.

She told me that there was a high rate of congenital abnormalities in babies born to Portland families (she was in obs & gynae) and that there was talk that it might be connected to something to do with the base there

I would think it’s much more likely down to the smaller gene pool surely?

'Hawick is an ex mill town that has been run down for a long time and is really quite isolated geographically / culturally / demographically too.
Melrose is quite a smart wee village with lots of incomers and a healthy economy so really different.
But yes the Borders can be a funny place.
I lived for 10 years in a supposedly haunted house there and many villages saw soldiers on bridges / roads /sprites on footpaths etc

@FREEM
Have you ever been to the Hermitage, down past Hawick in the Borders?
VERY oppressive, but mostly geographical - a narrow valley and a lowering sky and a caretaker who made Filch look welcoming!

Being aware of the history can make a difference - ie Culloden but i do think some places 'grab' sadness / pain / fear and retain the vibes?

I love Bath. I've visited a few times over the years but more recently been a bit more as my daughter was at uni there and I took every opportunity for a day trip! I feel really at home, disproportionate to the amount of time I've actually spent there. I've often joked that I must have lived there in a previous life.

The uni campus can be quite a depressing place though especially if it is raining. Her first year hall was rather grim - really narrow corridor, next to no social space. She much preferred living off campus in subsequent years.

Betws y Coed is interesting. I didn't know anything about stories attached. When we went we saw a bridge out our window. When we went for a walk there was no bridge where we thought it was.

Blackwood in Wales. It's a deprived valley town so fairly depressing anyway, but there are many poor valley towns around these parts that I've never had the same sheer-dread 'get me out of here' vibes from. I've had a visceral reaction every time I've been there. Awful place!

My cousin lived in north Powys for a while, it wasn't exactly 'woo' but he said there was a sadness about it. In his words, a rainy day there was more depressing than elsewhere.

I get weird vibes in the Scottish borders. places like hawick Melrose etc.
I think it's a historical vibe. v odd

I've always enjoyed visiting Bath ( we live in Bristol) - in fact we were there this evening to see Six the musical. The only place I've had a bad vibe about was Glastonbury.

I’ve visited quite a few of the places mentioned but can’t say I have felt any strange vibes myself.
However I did feel very odd in Guernsey,I think it was all the Occupation history,which I am fascinated by,but it did have a certain ‘aura’ and daft though it sounds I felt I was picking up past emotions and I felt very close to it all somehow.

I love Bath and went there for one night to The Royal Crescent Hotel (could only afford the one night!)

BUT my late Mum told me that she went there in the late 1930's as a small child on a school trip and had a strange feeling....she knew her way around through all of the streets and alley ways and it was her first and only visit..she said it was quite a scary ' Ive been here before' experience and she never went back and never wanted to despite me offering to take her...it definitely has a vibe

Henry1V

Just seen your post!
Seems I'm not the only one then!!

Interesting thread! I've always wanted to visitBath always thought of it as a picturesque, romantic place.

I love Buxton but wouldn't want to live there. It's cut off.

Places I get bad 'vibes'...
Another vote for Harrogate. I found it creepy. Beautiful buildings but a very melancholic atmosphere.

The worst place for me was St. Ives.! I had high hopes but it also felt off. Everyone I came across seemed miserable.

Vix20678 I could have written your post. DH and I were in Bath for New Year once and we had a massive row, the worst we have ever had. Admittedly it was NYE and we had had a bit to drink, but even so... The next morning when we got up we were still out of sorts with each other, to the point where I thought we were going to split up, then on our way back home in the car we made it up! We have visited Bath since without incident, but I always get a bad feeling there from the memory of that evening, especially if I walk past the hotel where it happened.

Someone mentioned Britanny upthread and it's known both for very high levels of radon - advice is to air the house daily and for a long time- and its Celtic roots.
There is a part of Britanny that's actually called Cornouaille (Cornwall). It's beautiful and very similar to British Cornwall. It does have a certain vibe though.