Places that make you feel uncomfortable.

[SingingKettles]

And those that make you feel very comfortable, too!
I mean in the UK, or could possibly be outside it too.
I don't mean tourism exactly, just places where you felt uncomfortable or were eager to return home from. It doesn't have to be a bad area, it could easily be somewhere known to be beautiful and thriving.

For me it was Hebden Bridge, a sort of looming gloominess I couldn't shake off. I know people who live there so visit a few times per year, and that sensation never changes. It isn't easy to explain.

As much as I adore Shrewsbury (it has a cat cafe, so it's a winner!) I have felt a bit off there, too. A sense of manic energy, insanely loud traffic in the town centre, I found that I couldn't seem to rest, even in the suburbs.. A shame because I loved so much about it and it is a very friendly place with gorgeous buildings.

Liverpool didn't work for me either. I find the local people to be so helpful and lovely, but something about the Mersey and especially the docks made me feel unutterably depressed (yes, I know it's history, but it wasn't simply that).

Ambleside made me on edge also, and unlike the rest of the areas amongst the fells I felt drained there. It didn't help having single file sized pavements so everything felt slightly dangerous and overwhelmed.

Now for my favourites:

I do love Ludlow though, I felt so calm and at peace there. The light was mellow and soft. There wasn't all that much to do, apart from the good grub and castle, but I could live in an attic there and paint all day forever. If only..

I also loved Edale in the Peak District. A very tiny village with one shop if I recall and a great pub called the Nag's Head. I used to feel as if my heart was being torn out when I had to go home. I felt as if the landscape there had it's arms around me, softly.

I was happy in Penrith, although this was 10 yrs ago so it may have changed somewhat since. I hadn't wanted to go as it looked miserable and grey but I felt so at home there.

I also adore just throwing myself into the heart of London. I always come alive there. Not sure I'd move in, even if I could afford it (!) but yeh.

I have only been through Bolton train station, once when I was a student and then again just before covid.
It felt far more menacing this time around, I was stuck there for over an hour and the waiting room was the most depressing place I had seen in many years.
Ihad a friend, long ago, who studied in Bolton and the town was thriving, loads of gigs and interesting little shops. It had a large, fab market. Many towns in that string connecting the northern cities have suffered miserably. Not so cheap housing either, considering.

Bath for me, I get uneasy vibes whenever I go there which has been often over the years as I live in Bristol. I was once touched firmly on the shoulder in some ladies loos in a restaurant in Bath. The loos were in an old basement/cellar and were deserted apart from me.

Also the Alhambra in Granada. I visited once many years ago and as I walked around I become more and more cold until I was uncontrollably shivering. I had this overwhelming sense of sadness and I actually fainted. Got carried outside into the gardens!

Stevenage. I had to stay the night there and felt suicidal by the time I left.
Basildon, and south Essex generally, puts me on edge. I live on the outskirts of Colchester, but I hate the town so much I go out of my way to avoid it. The U.K. is so overcrowded that almost everywhere is now stressful and unpleasant. There are just too many people jammed onto this little island.

Best places. Hmmm…Oxford and Cambridge are kind of special. The history is fascinating, and it’s thrilling to think of the people who’ve lived and studied there (Oscar Wilde, T S Eliot, Aldous Huxley, Wittgenstein, Nabokov, Milton, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Darwin, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, etc). I loved Bath, and I quite like York. I get a nice vibe from the Scottish Highlands, and also from the north east of England and the Scottish-English borders.

Plymouth and High Wycombe. Both made me feel so sad & depressed, I couldn’t wait to leave.

Wolverhampton.

Awful place. Makes me feel physically sick. Unfortunately, the only place near me where I can speak to an actual human at my bank.

Pembroke Dock, something about the empty stillness felt so heavy. The air felt wrong, like it wasn't real.

Combe Martin in North Devon. It seems grey and oppressive with a weird vibe. Very wicker man.

Reading felt off to me. Nothing specific, just a vague sense of wrongness.

And I'm always vaguely disappointed by Oxford. It's ... fine, but feels as if its school report would be 'Could try harder '.

I loathe Craven Arms. And also Telford. And I live in Shropshire!

@MarkWithaC do you mean Tuffins?

I think that’s it, yes! Harry Tuffin’s? God, it’s weird.

Nobody likes Stoke on Trent (and I used to live there so have a slight loyalty!) I love Paris, could stay there forever.

I know what you mean about Liverpool and Hebden Bridge, they can be depressing. The top bit of Liverpool is great, near the uni

Bits of the Borders are odd.
Keilder forest in Northumberland.
Milton Keynes. I didn't like Blackpool (on my only weekend visit in 1992)

Not keen on Leeds or Glasgow for the same reasons others have cited. Also, Sheffield, parts of the Brecon Beacons, Tewkesbury and Windsor!
I did really like Hebden and the parts of Liverpool I saw.

York. I feel very unsettled there...I hate the drive...too flat for me.

I love York. Much of Northumberland. London.

I found the York Moors a bit odd - not sure why.

Had the weirdest vibe in grange over sands, something just felt wrong there, should be attractive quiet Victorian town but nope.
A lot of cities it depends on what part you go to

All places I'll never visit again, all give me the heebie geebies and just feel off.
Bury in greater Manchester (shudders)
Stockton
Leeds- city centre
Sunderland
Hull

Oswestry gives me the creeps for some unknown reason. Weird because I have family who live there and dh was keen to move there (cheaper property prices compared to where we are) but I just get a real sense of foreboding when there.

I do.

What the council and government have let happen to it is disgusting in all honesty. They are trying to claw back some of the heritage that there once was.

I feel like I've arrived home when I get to Conwy. My whole body relaxes when we get there.

Didn't like Manchester at all and would never go back. We went for a concert and found the whole place depressing and gloomy. We didn't find anything interesting to do and were quite alarmed to see security guards on supermarket doors at 8am.

Favourite places - Stratford upon Avon, Eton/Windsor and York

I was surprised by how much I loved Liverpool when I went there. Also feel very at home and relaxed in Somerset.

I’m from Shropshire so totally understand why people don’t like Craven Arms. It is a very weird place. I also get very uneasy in the Stiperstones area.

The place that has made me feel most uneasy though was Porlock. I felt really panicky and I couldn’t wait to get out of the area. I felt myself physically relax as soon as we were back over into Somerset. Really odd.

Same here!

Bothered me enough to start a thread about it a while ago!