Middle class towns

[midnightmoon8]

We drove home from holiday yesterday and passed through Marlborough where we made a lunch stop to break our journey. What a fabulous town! Everything about it felt so upmarket; the shops, smart people, etc. Where have you been that felt so 'posh'?

Maple hit the nail on the head re Steamer Trading shops... (with perhaps a Joules or White Stuff next door?)

Waitrose would not open in an an area that wasn’t middle class because otherwise they wouldn’t have a market.

I'm not sure that's true any more. Waitrose wouldn't come to Basingstoke for years, because it was the wrong demographic - Waitrose has been open there for 3 years now. Mind you, a lot of villages round Bas are prime traditional Waitrose demographic. Basingstoke itself definitely less so.

The indices of deprivation is fascinating. Richmond (the original) likes to think it's better than Darlington but the west end of Darlington is far more affluent than Richmond is. Rest of the town is shockingly deprived of course.

Sorry for posting that link @CountFusco I could waste days on there. If you find that one interesting, this one is equally so. Apologies in advance if you get nothing done tomorrow. The Public Health Outcomes site has so much information, from obesity rates, to chlamydia rates to amount of vegetables eaten daily, alongside all the really important stuff like life expectancy by area and healthy life expectancy.

Ilkley
Bakewell
Hurst Green

Datchet, near Eton. Eton itself.

Anywhere that has a White Company shop.

ihavebrillohair Yes, of course you can enjoy a short break anywhere, but I enjoy going somewhere a bit "posh" as it's a change from where I live.

I also love having a view of rivers/boats, which often means moneyed people, which often means posh town. Although not Wroxham on the Broads. Full of yobs on stag dos 😁

Stratford upon Avon of all places was a latecomer to the Waitrose shopping experience! I was very excited when Waitrose arrived in...2010? - might be wrong- shopped there a couple of times, then decided that on balance I preferred Morrison’s. (I’m very MC.)

Cote seems to becoming a barometer of middle class towns, more so than Waitrose.

Henfield, Sussex.

Godalming, Guildford anywhere Home Counties seems to be a bit that way eg also
Berkhamstead

I know it is a bit late to ask, but what is the Mumsnet definition of middle class?

Ah, the indices of deprivation. I used to use them for work, and they are very interesting. Top fact - out of London, the least and most affluent areas (based on average disposable income) are within 4 miles of each other in Sheffield. (This may no longer be the case, I haven’t done that job for 7 years).

*least and most affluent areas in the UK

Chichester should be on the list? I wouldn't include Windsor as it has a bit of a reputation. Ditto Oxford, I'm a local and the "town" is very different to the "gown" 😐

Poshest place ever - either Chobham or Cobham or v possibly both.

One of the above has a Farrow and Ball shop.

Someone upthread mentioned Brighton. This is a bit of a funny one - it does have some smart shops and is in its own little bubble, politically. However, it has a terrible drugs problem and some of the outskirts are really quite deprived.

Hove isn’t all that nice. There are big houses there but the town centre is pretty dull.

Neither Chobham or Chobham both too Surrey.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uk-least-affordable-cities-house-prices-london-oxford-a7606326.html

Cherry Pavlova too Surrey? Up here Surrey is synonymous with middle class!

I felt like this about Reading. Not sure if it is middle class or not but I'm from Oop North so....

Lytham St. Anne's is vair posh though

Ha, DH wasn't allowed to go to Reading as a child because 'it was full of druggies'.

Which it was, to be fair.

Meanwhile, I was cheerfully walking through it on my own from age 11.

His parents are weird.

DM grew up about 9 miles from Brighton, in walking distance of a train line straight into Brighton. She didn’t go to Brighton until she was 17 because “people like us don’t go to Brighton”. Even then she only went for a driving test!

Anna is it MC? I went once for a day trip when I was 18. It felt MC to me but you should see my home town
Don't recall seeing any druggies though

Also someone upthread said if your town has a Waitrose and a Booths it's middle class. My town has both and is definitely a working class town