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Original poster

Middle class towns

421 replies

midnightmoon8 · 30/08/2018 08:06

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'?

OP posts:
theboxofdelights · 02/09/2018 19:01

Yes that is interesting benjamin, I find Booths and Waitrose cheaper than Sainsbury’s for fresh fruit, veg and meat/fish/poultry.

AnnaMagnani · 02/09/2018 19:12

It's a large town. Going back to the OP, it's not posh like Marlborough but then it's several times the size of it.

It probably has lots better employment than where you came from - lots of tech, city commuters from London, that sort of thing. Lovely leafy definitely middle class stockbrocker and pony club types villages around the outsides. But then it also has proper social deprivation as well.

Why my MIL thought it was 'full of druggies' though is a mystery. It does have them, but some of them came from my private school too Grin

MargaretDribble · 02/09/2018 21:30

AnnaMagnani no surprises there (about druggies in fee paying schools I mean.)

NeverTwerkNaked · 02/09/2018 22:44

Margaret agreed. I went to state school and my brother went private (my choice, all the academic private schools near us were single sex which I hated) and there was a far far greater drug problem at his (highly regarded) private school

MervynBunter · 02/09/2018 22:58

Much Wenlock
Lavenham
Arundel
Lewes

MervynBunter · 02/09/2018 23:03

"Cheshire - the poor man's Surrey"

NoMudNoLotus · 02/09/2018 23:42

What a stupid pointless thread.

Usernom1234567890 · 02/09/2018 23:42

Kirkby Lonsdale
Hexham
Morpeth
West Kirkby
Broadstairs
St Ives, Fowey & Hayle
Lyme Regis
Brixham
Bridport
Lytham & StAnnes
Penzance & Aberystwyth-& Cromer-all a little odd but in a nice way.

Salcombe is undoubtedly posh but not a fan.

LittleBookofCalm · 02/09/2018 23:52

thanks so much for your invaluable input @nomudnolotus, 16 pages in

SimplyPut · 02/09/2018 23:53

North Berwick
St Andrews
Dartmoor
Knutsford

jaynelovesagathachristie · 02/09/2018 23:56

Huntington ?!?! No way st.ives, Cambridge and villages around Cambridge

BarbaraHepworth · 03/09/2018 00:18

I'm laughing at the stuff spouted on here about Northern towns. There are lots of lovely towns and cities in the NE. They aren't the same as the SE, but in my experience there is a seedy side to every place.

I went to meet a friend for lunch last week in one of the southern cities mentioned several times on this thread. I popped into a city centre chemist on the way and a bloke (politely) pushed past me to the front of the queue to ask for his methadone. Don't kid yourself that these problems aren't everywhere. The place is still a really lovely town and I would happily live there.

Mine is nicer though and I'm not saying because incomers (other than me) can be gone.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/09/2018 00:39

Jayne I agree that there is no way Huntingdon is a MC town by anyone's standards. But I would t say St Ives was either. It might have a Waitrose but it's also got a High Street dominated by Poundland, Poundstetcher and a load of charity shops. Plus a Greggs and an M&Co. Nice bridge though!

Washedwithrain · 03/09/2018 08:04

St Ives used to have a a really bad reputation, but I guess as more and more people couldnt afford to live in Cambridge, they moved further out and I wonder if that has changed it? Havent been for years.

I used to live in what was considered one of the poshest villages in Cambridgeshire (lucky me - said in ironic way). There was a big drugs issue amongst the youngsters, and a lot of petty crime. Everywhere has its issues I guess.

Ifailed · 03/09/2018 08:07

You are not going to get a completely MC town. They can be very messy and will need people to clean up after them by emptying the bins, sweeping the streets and wiping their arses when they get old and infirm.
Add in low-paid retail workers who they'll need to look down their noses at & complain about, a bit of rough to have affairs with and the usual team of oiks to clear the gutters, put up fences and service their many cars, and you get quite a sizeable population of non-MC essential staff.
Of course, it could be arranged to bus them all in as needed?

Needsleepneedsleep · 03/09/2018 08:17

wanders off to start a thread on non MC towns

theboxofdelights · 03/09/2018 08:20

Keeping it real ifailed, I like that.

Anyone who judges a person’s status in life by their job and treats them accordingly is a prat.

WindyWednesday · 03/09/2018 08:24

Weston super mare. ??????????

Well it does have a waitrose, but also loads of problems

Childrenofthesun · 03/09/2018 08:39

Definitely Midhurst, Arundel and Lewes in Sussex. Horsham is definitely MC but not as "posh" - I would put East Grinstead in the same category.

Saffron Walden in Essex
Burford in Oxfordshire - virtually everyone on the high street was wearing a Barbour jacket except me
Alnwick in Northumberland
Melbourne in Derbyshire but it is near some grotty places.

Needsleepneedsleep · 03/09/2018 08:39

Weston Super Mare has a lovely beach, but otherwise seems a bit of a dive and apparently has a drugs problem.

MindFunk · 03/09/2018 08:44

Hitchin
Guildford
Bath

RiverTam · 03/09/2018 08:58

Chester??? It certainly wasn't in the least middle class when I was out in the city centre on a Friday night! Awful. I also thought Buxton was pretty disappointing.

Wantage, Marlborough and Hungerford all seem pretty middle class.

WindyWednesday · 03/09/2018 10:35

Weston super mud.

Bin85 · 03/09/2018 13:51

Croydon !!!- never
Purley maybe in 1950s and early '60s

Guildford
Godalming

Satsumaeater · 03/09/2018 14:04

St Albans has some of the highest house prices doesn't it?

Although it's not that pretty or obviously middle class, Fleet in Hampshire has about the lowest deprivation levels of anywhere I've been to. A while ago, I think it was on MN, someone posted a link to a website where you could put in postcodes and the ones I put in Fleet came out lowest in terms of deprivation (and those in Liverpool the highest, although it does of course have its posh areas as well).

In terms of places that look pretty I'd agree with some of the suggestions I've seen on here already: Hindhead, Cobham, Stockbridge, Tenterden (used to live in Ashford and went to Tenterden for days out), Dorking. I don't really know Cheshire although an ex-work colleague lives close to Tarporley and I have an uncle in Sandbach. I also agree that Cowbridge looks posh.