Something about Bristol

[Spinxsta]

I've been to Bristol a couple of times to do tourist stuff in the past and have recently been a few times for work. There's something about it that gives me the heebie jeebies!

It's not like I feel unsafe or think it's grim but there's something my monkey brain doesn't like. It gives me a creeping sense of doom and I've never felt such relief to be on the M5.

I seen posts on here before about people getting squiffy at certain places. What's it all about? Any rational explanations?

I'm not woo but I'm starting to think it was the scene of my murder in a previous life!!

What are you on about? Pollensa - and all of northern Mallorca - is absolutely gorgeous!
I'm there quite often.
Cycling through the country roads from the old town to the bay is my little holiday heaven.

I meant different races and nationalities all rub along together, in my area of east Bristol there’s a big Polish and Somali community and everyone is accepting of everyone else, it’s really nice.

it also has no issue with van dwellers, and there no trouble with them. Maybe the sneyd park/Cliftonites are just being a bit snobby 😉

Exactly - Pollensa is beautiful and I love Mallorca. I just can’t explain the feeling it left me with. I didn’t get it anywhere else on the island. It’s one of life’s mysteries.

Bristol is lovely

I hated berlin, depressing, dark oppressive and it felt like a dementor was suckling the life out me.

Lived in Bristol for 8 yrs. before that, Brighton and London.

Bristol took time to grow on me, I must admit. Different areas not all easily accessible, big flyover roads carving up the city, terrible traffic, some really effing ugly planning and buildings.

BUT the people are friendly, funny and warm. There are great restaurants, and lots of culture. Big student life, there’s always stuff going on. It’s liberal and open minded. Relatively safe too, if you compare with Manchester or Birmingham.

It really has a huge amount going for it.

Could it be something to do with ley lines? I've seen similar sentiments expressed about Glastonbury which is situated on a ley line.

At 9pm on a Sunday night there were drunks everywhere, the amount of homeless people was sad to see, drug deals openly going on outside the restaurant we were in.

Oh dear. pollensa in Majorca and Bristol are my 2 favourite places

@SuellensResignationLetter but the hum is not heard all over Bristol just in some parts and by some people.

@MrsMoastyToasty I quite like Stapleton road.

That bit where you go from the centre into Old Market I absolutely loathe, I normally like quirky old pubs and buildings but something about that stretch of road gives me the creeps.

Leigh Woods is a bit creepy. Fascinating but creepy.

I agree with the previous posters about Brighton.
I went on a daytrip from London a few years ago. Walked out of the train station and the main road south from there was so depressing - run down shops, betting shops, pound shops, boarded up shops. Felt like a depressing northern town. A lot of down and outs as well which made it feeling mildly threatening. And the beach is crap. Wasn't impressed at all and don't know what all the hype is about.

Most oppressive place I visited was Newport, South Wales. The surrounding areas are lovely but Newport itself just dragged me down. Reading was another place I didn't have good vibes about.

Lay lines. Every so often this subject comes up on MN and the same places get mentioned.

I don’t like central Bristol, it seems foreboding and oppressive to me and it’s so grimly grey and dirty.
Bath has lost it’s charm, too many closed shops, homeless people begging and litter everywhere.
Glastonbury gives me the creeps, it would make a good setting for a film about faceless people and a strange atmosphere.
I guess I’m happiest out in the countryside, I’m not a town person at all!

I've only driven through Bristll once but I totally loved the vibe. It feels like a seaside town with people walking/cycling/scootering in quantities I've not seen before. The streets were full, full of young people and it just felt lively, happy and relaxed.
I'm planning to go back a few times and see if I still love it and want to move there.

I have a weird feeling about York. Had it for 60 years.

I feel the same about Bruton, very oppressive, couldn't wait to get out of the place on the few occasions I was there. I like Bristol.

Yes, me too! Had a complete panic attack in Bath. It all felt so odd and well, just weird. Hard to explain. I wondered if it was all the 'alternative' people who seem to be everywhere, but I was pretty alternative in my youth, so not that.

I have lived all over the world. Nowhere have I felt so completely freaked out as I did in Bath.

What are the 'van dwellers'?

Wow, Bristol!? I read this about Bath a lot on here but I’ve never seen anyone say the same about Bristol.
I grew up here from the early nineties to 2000’s and spent loads of time around St Paul’s. I’ve lived overseas since my late teens and feel so nostalgic for the place when I just see a photo of Gloucester or City Road.

There aren't enough locals in the areas most people visit - the Centre and Clifton are rammed with students and the people with money.

I loved living in Bristol, but in my own bit. There are lovely parts and grotty parts. Same with Manchester where we live now. And London where I've also lived. And Cambridge where DS is.

I think how you feel about a place depends on the pockets that you visit.

There were identical threads quite a few years back, all about Glastonbury. I was mystified when I visited, as it was just a teeny country town with a ruined abbey (Henry VIII was an evil tyrant) and some eccentric shops. But it was a lovely sunny day so perhaps that gave the place a glow.

However, I never have any desire to visit places in the former Yugoslavia. I often spent time during my A-level free periods 1991-1993 reading the newspapers and the horrors that emerged from the war have struck with me…

Then again, I also feel uneasy when about to take off from Tenerife airport and think about the poor people who died there.

Depends where you go, same as any other city. It is divided by wealth and poverty. North west Bristol (Clifton, Cotham, Redland, etc) is home to academics, creative types and medics given its proximity to the University, hospitals and the BBC. Many people have come from elsewhere for work or study, or are from educated middle or upper classes. You rarely hear a Bristolian accent. It is full of restaurants, several Michelin-starred, boutiques, independent lifestyle shops, etc. It is very different from places in the south, such as Knowle West and Withywood with poor council estates, crime and low aspirations.

Stokes Croft and St. Paul's are undoubtedly 'edgy' and the city centre shopping area is largely a bit of a dump due to shop closures and the Council's war on cars, which means that many people prefer to go to Cribb's shopping area in south Gloucestershire. However, the area around the Old Town, Castle Park and the waterside is lovely.