To nominate as the country's worst town centre....

[moogster1a]

...Rochdale.
Good God it's a god forsaken place. There appears to be half a dozen payday loan shos, a few poundland things and some mobile 'phone shops.
It's got so bad that even maccy d's has shut down.
It's only redeeming feature is that Gabbots farm is still clinging on.

Jaywick
Clacton
Mablethorpe

janx I have been to all to them. Finsbury park is the worst IMO. I lived there for 9 months and hated it. Final straw was when a young Polish lad was stabbed to death on our doorstep. I had to get the hell away from there.

Oh and there are far worse places than Colchester fgs

Poor Zuzu, so you are forced to work your way up the shopping hierarchy just to recover from each awful experience? Where will it all end? Bond Street.

ps is KerryAnns one of the many greasy spoons? My parents used to take me to Upper Crust and we considered ourselves very much above everyone else, I can tell you.

That's what I thought apple! It might not win many nominations for nicest town, but frankly if you seriously think it's one of the worst then you don't get around much, is all I can say! Plus, it's huge, and very much a town of two halves so I have to assume all the haters have only seen the grotty end!

No Provincial, KerryAnns is a fab shop where you can buy branded make-up very cheaply (about a third of the price of Boots).

And Daventry's Waitrose has a lovely assistant in the wine section who really knows his stuff. I never buy any wine there but I love to listen to him describing the qualities of a full-bodied red in his gorgeous French accent.

And it's free to park in Dav.

Yes Jaywick, it's awful but I do feel sorry for it

I feel a bit sad that Cumbernauld gets so slagged off, I lived there when i was wee and it was still quite new. It was a great place to be a kid as it was designed for pedestrians therefore we were allowed to go everywhere by ouselves as we didn't have to cross roads. Everything was new and I even liked the town centre (before it got concrete rot!). Went to brand new lovely primary school, lots of green space, fab library, swimming pool, cinema. full of kids. It was a bit like a soviet utopia but with good shops (fond memories of the Scan bookshop). Agree about the horrible bus station though.

I had a laugh with my sister once when we found the Book of Crap towns in a bookshop in New York and she had lived in or very near three of them.

I have yet to find any high street or shopping area that has improved in the last few years though, even nice places like Edinburgh have lost a lot of their quirky, unusual or independant shops.

Erith, Skelmersdale, Newhaven, Farnworth, Westhoughton, Rhyl

Chorley has Booths and market but going downhill fast, Blackburn has new Mall (still shit though), Bolton is much better than either! Preston going downhill fast but still better than lots of others mentioned (and I'm originally a southerner)

Luton. Hell on earth.

I've come late to this thread but agree with Rochdale. I lived there when younger and it was bloody awful then and it's got worse since. Even Feltham can only aspire to the relentless depressing swathe of Rochdale.

I would however nominate "Astronaut House" in Feltham as the worst building ever.

Bolton isn't that bad. It's just got a Wilkos

My parents still bitch about them closing the market, every time we go in. It a bit shit compared to Bury though, which is awesome.

I love Bury and I've only ever driven through it - even the dodgy looking areas don't detract from the lovely areas and that massive complex in the town centre. Oh, and Burrs Country Park is gorgeous - but only when it's freezing cold and there's nobody else there

Plenty of worse places than barnstaple. Er Ilfracombe.

Aldersh(i)ot

St Austell

Chatham wins hands down!

West/South Croydon aren't town centres.

If we're talking about crapbuildings then I'd like to nominate this...it's officially Britain's ugliest building.

Swindon Peterborough Leicester and Coventry

Nope, sorry Gravitas. This is Gravesends theatre and local council office.

Behold, and weep

www.localdatasearch.com/gravesend/town_centre/exhibition_centres/woodville_halls-12372512

i actually went on a mini break to jaywick once. good call

[http://www.localdatasearch.com/gravesend/town_centre/exhibition_centres/woodville_halls-12372512]

Chatham.
Makes Rochdale look like Richmond-upon-Thames. there is nowhere in the north that can hold a candle to Chatham, nor Strood, when it comes to being a hole.

[http://www.localdatasearch.com/gravesend/town_centre/exhibition_centres/woodville_halls-12372512]