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Original poster

Just visited Newport, couldn’t wait to leave, what’s your get me outta here place?

1000 replies

TheChristmasElf · 06/01/2023 16:05

Just have just visited Newport for an appointment, we weren’t there long, toilet stop and cuppa in Asda, half hour appointment in city centre and then got lost on the way out but felt very uneasy the whole time were there. It had quite a menacing feel to it and even on the bare aesthetics of the city seemed quite run down with a lots of old closed pubs, shops etc…

I would actually go as far to say it made me feel quite unwell but I guess that would just be coincidence!!

We actually live rural Devon so not even like I’m not used to the odd lay line of two but I was quite relieved to get back on the road…

Has anyone else felt that about a place before?

OP posts:
Bronnau · 06/01/2023 17:59

RedRosie · 06/01/2023 17:50

I think I agree with @FatOaf upthread. You need to give places a chance. And people.

I've been to many of these in the UK/abroad and found something positive in all of them, and lots of nice people. I definitely have a soft spot for run down seaside places (embrace them and spend money!) and a bit of wild bleakness (like Dungeness - glorious) though, so perhaps I am an unreliable witness.

I also think it's a bit unkind and will pointlessly hurt feelings. But MN is increasingly an unkind place.

This. A lot of this thread is thinly disguised snobbery. And hurtful to people whose homes are judged based on a visit that may have only lasted a few hours.

Trinity65 · 06/01/2023 17:59

Catford

SirenSays · 06/01/2023 18:00

England

choccyporcupine · 06/01/2023 18:01

sunderland 😂

DanteThunderstone · 06/01/2023 18:01

Also a place in Ontario called Chapleau. People literally came out of their houses to stare at us as we drove by. We could all but hear the shotguns getting cocked. And on the road out we almost ran into a bear.

ancientgran · 06/01/2023 18:01

Nordstrom · 06/01/2023 17:17

See I read these threads and can think of plenty of places that are run down, deprived and well just ugly. For example people have mentioned Bradford and Blackpool upthread. I get why objectively these places are mentioned. I quite like both though and am happy to spend time there. For me it's more about there being something else you can't quite fathom about a place that feels bad to you personally.

Yes I agree with that. Like someone has mentioned Malvern which is loved by many and people love walking on the hills but it gives me the creeps as it feels so menacing. I could go to much grottier places, know they are grotty but not feel as uncomfortable.

Whoneedsleep · 06/01/2023 18:02

@choccyporcupine I was literally about to say the same.

Whole town centre of Sunderland is rotten!

unclebuck · 06/01/2023 18:02
Tricyrtis2022 · 06/01/2023 18:03

Scunthorpe - used to live nearby and it's one of the most depressing towns I've ever been to.

Blackpool is also grim.

creamcoffee · 06/01/2023 18:04

christmas shopping in Brighton North Laines
so annoying

User787878787878 · 06/01/2023 18:04

throwawayusername2 · 06/01/2023 17:36

There's a truck stop/Services on the way up to Scotland (think it's just past Carlisle) which feels like a place where Bad Things Happen. We pulled in one afternoon to use a loo. The entrance hall had a brown sticky lino, wallpaper from the 70s and everything was eerily silent and 'brown'. No signs of human life so it was a very quick wee and we were out of there! Hurried back to the car and kept checking over my shoulder to make sure a person with an axe wasn't following us!

@throwawayusername2 Cairn services? If so, yes. I have only stopped there when absolutely unavoidable. It feels very unsafe even just being in your car in the carpark but I can't put my finger on why.

EvilHerbivore · 06/01/2023 18:05

Burnley

GonnaBeYoniThisChristmas · 06/01/2023 18:05

Merthyr Tydfyll - incredibly run down and sad. Though no mystery as to why it feels so grim.

FrancescaContini · 06/01/2023 18:06

Upton upon Severn was the creepiest place ever. Very League of Gentlemen.

user1019273703 · 06/01/2023 18:06

Burnley
Blackpool
Preston

crosspusscrossstitcher · 06/01/2023 18:06

Surprised no one's me mentioned Crewe yet.
Possibly because most of it's been demolished recently Grin Some local wag keeps altering the "welcome to" signs so they read "Welcome to sCreweD"

My list - Stoke on Trent, Rhyl (aka Stoke-On-Sea), Ellesmere Port, Croydon, Bradford, Wrexham, Huddersfield, Brighton, Stockport, Carlisle, Blackpool, Ludlow.

IGoWalkingAfterMidnight · 06/01/2023 18:07

ThePoshUns · 06/01/2023 17:41

They're actually spending money on the arcades and doing a great job. The market has had a lovely makeover as well. In fairness Newport is trying hard to turn around.

Show quote history

I shall have to find an afternoon and perhaps give it another chance then!

Somebody mentioned Swansea - I lived in Swansea (student) a looong time ago and loved it there. Went recently to Broadside Tattoos by the Grand and did not feel safe in that area at all - lots of drugged up/drinking people sat on pavements etc

Jayneisagirlsname · 06/01/2023 18:08

Newusernameaug · 06/01/2023 16:33

Grimsby - takes after it’s name!

Ah, my home town! There are some nice bits but it is definitely an end of the line, high unemployment town.

Still I prefer it to Betws y Coed. I've been twice and just to leave early both times. It feels like the colour black.

LadyWiddiothethird · 06/01/2023 18:09

North Yorkshire.
Blaneau Ffestiniog.
Lincolnshire gives me the real creeps and the people are strange to put it mildly.

Seen Tintagel mentioned a couple of times,I love it there.Same with Birmingham,the closest City to me and I love the centre.

Letsnotargue · 06/01/2023 18:10

IHeartGeneHunt · 06/01/2023 16:23

Fort William.

This was my first thought too. I felt on edge the whole time I was there. We had a perfectly nice couple of days, good walks, nice views, but it didn’t do it for me.

Rockybooboo · 06/01/2023 18:10

TheArtfulStodger · 06/01/2023 16:19

We are moving to Newport. I describe it as rough to folks, but I've lived in much much worse places and I can relate so much easier to the people in Newport, than for example in the posh twee market town we are thankfully escaping.

I know it, and it was a lot worse in times gone by, it's central to everyone we need to be able to get to, it's on my preferred side of the bridge, and it has good connections for my partner who had to get back to London. Best option for me to be home and him to still work his specific job.

It's definitely not going to be many folks number one place to live. But it's better than many parts of London, Slough, Bracknell, Liverpool, even possibly Portsmouth - for us at least.

I can absolutely understand how you've felt as unsafe and on edge - we went back there before xmas and when you've been away somewhere like we are leaving, for a length of time, it does feel ominously eerie and like you're being watched almost. But things are very different when you cross the bridge.

Bracknell has had a regeneration so I'd contemplate moving there now.

Madamecastafiore · 06/01/2023 18:11

Durham, bloody grey and grim.

Nocutenamesleft · 06/01/2023 18:12

Brixton at 3am made me feel unsafe. I had to work at the fridge once and the guys made me promise not to walk to my car alone….

other than that though I’ve never felt like that before or since!

HikingforScenery · 06/01/2023 18:12

IHeartGeneHunt · 06/01/2023 16:23

Fort William.

I really want to go there!

Notanormalwinter · 06/01/2023 18:13

Telford, a depressing new town feeling and far too many roundabouts , sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of Shropshire!
Rhyl, just depressing and years of underinvestment.

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