Snobbiest places in the UK?

[phranes]

Following from similar threads about overrated and underrated places in the UK... where are the snobbiest places in the UK?

From the places I've been, I'd say Harrogate, Oxford, and the rest of the Cotswolds.

@ohforarainyday

Gosh some of these places! Both Luton and Watford are the exact opposite of snobby - unless they're being snobby about whose children have the most ASBOS.

I'm from Barnes (SW London). It's very wealthy, certainly, but not at all snobby. It's an extremely friendly and down to earth place to live.

You sound very snobby! Did it not occur to you that the reason you don't see Barnes as snobby is because you are one of them - you fit, not like those nasty kids from Luton and Watford with their Asbos.

I grew up in Watford and my dad was born and raised in Luton.

They are dumps.

I only moved to Barnes when I was 17. They were always perfectly welcoming to me as a working class woman who is also not white.

Wimbledon and Dulwich village are both incredibly snobby places

But filled with people who love to tell everyone how inclusive they are

@ohforarainyday

I grew up in Watford and my dad was born and raised in Luton.

They are dumps.

I only moved to Barnes when I was 17. They were always perfectly welcoming to me as a working class woman who is also not white.

You lack self awareness.

@ohforarainyday

This thread is ridiculous - even the word “snobby” is ridiculous. These people must have a massive chip on their shoulders if they’re criticising whole cities or counties. They obviously expected you to be a middle class white woman so they could have another go. It’s just confirmation bias... you go to a place expecting bad things and you’ll find them.

[quote Divebar2021]**@ohforarainyday

This thread is ridiculous - even the word “snobby” is ridiculous. These people must have a massive chip on their shoulders if they’re criticising whole cities or counties. They obviously expected you to be a middle class white woman so they could have another go. It’s just confirmation bias... you go to a place expecting bad things and you’ll find them.[/quote]
It’s just confirmation bias... you go to a place expecting bad things and you’ll find them. You could say the same for Watford and Luton.

@AbsolutelyPatsy

i agree about west sussex, when in london years ago, on the phone to a lady, she said she lived in west sussex, not east sussex, she lived in the post part of sussex! i was gobsmacked

I live in West Sussex and have never heard anyone say that.

I think I have a definition of snobby that does not match a lot of what people are saying.

To me a snob behaves (mainly speaks) in a way that infers they are superior, and/or look down on someone else because of where they live/how they speak/how they dress/what their job is etc

Where someone lives
Having a commonly worded road sign
How someone dresses
What someone eats....do not indicate snobbery IMO

NIMBYism can be a form of snobbery but not always the case.

Barnes isn’t snobby if you’re white, middle class and wealthy. It’s very nice. But people outside that bracket may well find it so.

I’d say snotty rather than snobby.

@TatianaBis

Barnes isn’t snobby if you’re white, middle class and wealthy. It’s very nice. But people outside that bracket may well find it so.

I’d say snotty rather than snobby.

I found Barnes perfectly lovely when we were house hunting in London - I fit - someone who looks less affluent might not find it quite so welcoming.

I wonder what ‘looking affluent’ means to you.

Don’t know that I’d class Henley and Marlow as “snobby”, but they always had cracking NCT sales.

And, saying this as a West Sussex resident, there is a certain type of West Sussex lady that frequents eye-wateringly expensive farm shops and says “nyah” a lot.

@HaveringWavering

Is Muswell Hill like a Tory voting area? I heard its very wealthy *@sammyvine* absolutely not! It’s a Labour stronghold with a very long and proud history of left-leaning. Definitely more on the Blair than the Corbin persuasion but not at all Tory.

Wow i am shocked. Thought it would be a Tory area. It's very affluent right?

@TatianaBis

I wonder what ‘looking affluent’ means to you.

I think that's a fair point. What is recognised as an 'affluent' appearance depends on location, social class, setting, the social prejudices of who is perceiving etc.

I live in an 'old' affluent area near a city centre at the moment. But the people who live around me are overwhelmingly medical consultants, senior academics, architects, and people who work on the more moneyed side of the creative industries, and because of the steep terrain, many houses, even the largest, don't have off-street parking, so the kind of affluent people who choose to live here either don't have cars at all and walk and cycle everywhere, or just keep crappy old cars because they have to park them on the narrow road and everyone's wing mirrors get knocked off regularly. So most of the time they're wearing scrubs or cycle gear walking their kids to school or walking or cycling to work nearby. They earn a lot of money, their houses are worth crazy money, but their appearance isn't going to code as 'affluent' to someone whose idea of 'affluent' is blingy jewellery and cars.

Waves to peppermint yes some of my relatives & friends live in the notorious areas & they are definitely deprived and wouldn't recognise the snobbery that people are on about.

If you came to Oxford when I was a teen and hung out with some friends you would leave with the impression of affluence but then if you hung out with other friends you'd leave with the completely opposite impression.

As someone has said it's all about confirmation bias also I do think some people look for these things. My FIL thinks everyone is a snob and looking down on him when actually most of the time they couldn't give a rats arse about what he's fixated on!

I think these things sometimes feed into people's deep seated perceptions about themselves.

Wow i am shocked. Thought it would be a Tory area. It's very affluent right?

Have you never heard of Champagne Socialism?

And look at how many traditional, dyed-in-the-wool, working class areas are now controlled by Tory councils.

Knowle near Solihull

'Muesli Hill' is defo Champagne Socialist territory.

@AlinaSquareQueen

I came on here to say Sonning in Berkshire but I see it has been alluded to by a PP.

Also, someone mentioned Wokingham which I’d say is not quite up there with the likes of Marlow, Sonning and Henley.

I know of someone who lives in Wokingham but will only drive to Waitrose in Henley to shop because they say Wokingham is ‘too chavvy’ (they are not actually a friend of mine!).

Strangely Wokingham Waitrose I think still have a deli counter not sure of the attraction of Henley as its no bigger. Know people that would normally shop at Twyford go to Henley just for the deli counter.

But I really don't find Henley snobby at all, lots of really nice people, very friendly. Full of lovely shops, just to mention a few: the lady in Weys Bookshop is delightful, the pet shop man is lovely, and the cycle shop is great, ditto the card cum gift shop Temptations. Even WHS has a great manager very helpful. I adore Govatt and Stone the chocolatiers and my favourite shop of all is Jods Galore - has that old fashioned leather smell of a saddler's shop (saddles out the back) a great selection of country clothing not just equestrian, and the staff are extremely helpful.

@Ariela Wokingham definitely thinks it's better than other bits of Berkshire
Henley doesn't have to be snobby, it just has an air of posh about it due to the Regatta, and price of houses

I think areas only act snobby when they wish to be seen as higher class than they are

The village where I grew up came up quite quickly on this thread. I really don't think it's snobby there, all the locals love a good chat and love to welcome new people in to the area. I live three miles from there now. If you saw me, I'm sure I don't look snobby, I'm in tracksuit bottoms and long hair (not in a style). I have seven genuine life long friends, only one comes from the area, other others have taken me at face value and obviously not put off by what they've seen.

@KaptainKaveman

Archway used to be proper rough. Now it's all pimped up and regenerated. I miss the old ways though. I grew up around there and my Nan lived on Despard Road. I used to walk all the way from Archway to Jones Bros on the Holloway Rd which died in the late 80s .

Does anyone know if the dear old James Selby's is still there?

I used to love going to Jones Brothers on a Saturday afternoon. I used to stand outside the hair salon and sniff

Yeovil

Yeovil? I'm surprised at that one.

As in Somerset Yeovil?

Snobby? Er, no 🤣