Weirdest place you've ever been?

[Tootief]

Not necessarily woo, just weird.

We were looking at places to rent and the landlord showed us round a house which was becoming available. He was as uncomfortable as us when he saw that not only were the windows blacked out but the entire house from the ceiling down including the floors was covered in thick black plastic and the main bedroom had a lock added and we couldn't get in.

We left pretty quickly and I'm not really sure if the landlord looked into that any further!

Glasgow Central Station always makes me feel a bit weird but I'm not sure why.

This feels like forbidden information!

Beccles in Suffolk.

Creepy AF

The town at the bottom of Snowdon, llanberis I think? Total slaughtered lamb and very very run down. Could be a tourist Mecca, but I guess that's exactly the thing the locals don't want.

Paradoxically, I love Llanberis, but I also know exactly what you mean maybe that makes me weird too. Dolbadarn Castle is particularly cool and creepy at the same time.

I think part of the 'issue' might be that hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through the village of 2,000 residents each year, but they aren't going to the village - just heading for Snowdon. It must be the worst of both worlds to have to put up with so much tourist traffic, but without being able to translate much of it to the great benefit of the local economy and employment opportunities, in the way that destination towns and villages can and do. What new tourist trap could they come up with to compete with the highest UK mountain outside Scotland and lure away the tourist pounds?

It reminds me a bit of Ned Flanders' Leftorium, when everybody wanted him to validate their free shoppers' parking tickets but without ever buying anything from him!

But all the new locals in Lynton and Lynmouth are not from that land originally. They drove local folk out when tourism became popular there around the 1920's. There is a conspiracy from the new settlers to reinstate the word 'the'. This was done to boost tourism and profits alone. An opportunity to outflank other rocks. Ayers Rock is an example. So is Brighton Rock and, for that matter, Blackpool Rock.

I wish The Susie Dent was around to support me on this one.

Uluru actually.

anyway, I’d quite like some of whatever you’re smoking.

I think part of the 'issue' might be that hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through the village of 2,000 residents each year, but they aren't going to the village - just heading for Snowdon.

I think Fort William kind of has the same problem. It’s just such a sad town, which feels strange in a way because there’s so much tourism. And Aviemore has a completely different feel; yes it’s busy and there are a lot of fudge shops, but there’s a pleasant vibe. Fort William is just so incredibly depressing (I haven’t been to Llanberis but wondering if it’s similar).

The Gordano valley near Bristol. The whole place but especially around Wraxall gives me the absolute creeps.

Exactly! I have waited ages for an informed poster to join this thread.

Ururu

Note: not 'The Ururu'.

Simply: Uhuru. As it is. As Valley or Rocks is. As each of them have always been.

Nansledan in Newquay Cornwall. The area has been developed by the Duchy of Cornwall. So strange and totally soul less. It’s like driving around an abandoned film set. No personality whatsoever.

To be honest, that's nought to do with Duchy. All developments feel that way.

What Poundbury and these places need is some local vibe by relaxing planning consents after completion. What they should do is leave pockets undeveloped and let the community decide what they are.

Tendring in Essex. Flat, weird and depressed.

West Hampstead.

On the other hand, I found both Tenby and Famagusta very nice!

Easter Island about twenty years ago ... so many unanswered questions about the statues - Moai .... hmm posting this makes me want to go and look it up! Think I remember reading that they do have buried bodies

Tendring in Essex. Flat, weird and depressed.

Home to Jaywick, officially the most deprived neighbourhood in the whole of England. Apparently, they get a lot of (even international) 'dark tourists' coming specifically to see the deprivation.

It must be very difficult to extend a warm welcome to outsiders, when you know that so many of them are only coming deliberately to treat your underprivileged life as a day's entertainment for them, like some kind of human zoo.

Aldeburgh Marshes, Suffolk. We went there and couldn't wait to leave. It was ok weather but the Marshes and Martello tower were misty and murky like a set from a horror film. We felt uneasy and didn't want to walk far just in case we didn't make it out alive.

Thinking back upthread to people's experiences in Lockerbie (and other places) makes me think that we could have the most explosive parking thread ever! If they don't even like outsiders walking through their town, imagine what the reaction could be if a non-local parked their car legally and safely on the public road outside somebody's house!

My best friend, as a teenager, was walking down the street of the village where her GPs lived and was actually physically stopped by an elderly lady who stood in her way and demanded to know who she was and what her justification was for being there. Full on Edward & Tubbs 'Local village for local people' territory! Once the lady had established that she was 'Edna & Alfred's' granddaughter, she 'permitted' her to keep on walking!

*not their real names

Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square! It was 20+ years ago and even then you could tell that the embalming process was... starting to not quite work. I wouldn't like to think what sort of state he's in now.

That wasn’t the best time for Lenin. That would have been around the time they were relying on private funding to keep him going. He’s looking a lot better these days, comparatively.

When I used to travel by train from Leeds to York, it would stop at a place called Church Fenton which gave me a really creepy feeling. Really long platforms with no-one around and just, I don't know, a feeling of sadness.

I just used to put my headphones in, read my book and not look out of the window when we stopped there as it unnerved me so much. My biggest fear was the train breaking down and having to get off 😂

This is disgusting!

My sister lives in Church Fenton, it's actually quite a nice little village. 😂

@whumpthereitis I think I'd argue that the best time for Lenin was pre-1924 and the poor guy should have been buried long ago! I can't deny that it was a fascinating sight though.

You’re not wrong. He does look better than he did in the 90s though, so he’s at least got that going for him. Funnily enough they didn’t anticipate keeping him on show beyond the initial paying of respects. The coroner cut through main veins and arteries during the autopsy, when keeping them intact would have made embalming him a hell of a lot easier. He wouldn’t have done it had he known.

He had Stalin preserved next to him for a while, until he was retired by Khrushchev. I wonder if it would have become the de facto grave for gen-secs had Stalin remained, and whether it would have featured in Gorbachev’s funeral planning.

did you go to Tito’s mausoleum in the house of flowers? I find that a very peaceful spot. Jovanka is interred there now.

Serbia.

Who the hell would go to Jaywick just for a gawp? So odd and wrong. I can totally imagine the locals getting fed up with earnest documentary-makers, though.

Dorking and the nearby area feels scary.