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.

If you can find it, Wittsend please report back!

Herend I agree - I grew up there and get a clawing depression whenever I got back to visit family. My DH married me with a condition I didn't make him ever move there though some v. good schools Everyone looks so unhappy. Clacton is where you'd go if you had no hope left.

70 no not Romford, however my town has had 1 mention.

Admittedly, the old 'high street' is mainly boarded up with just Building Society's and crappy shops taking over BUT there is a very lovely big Mall where I like to spend lots of money time. I love it here, but it's had a lot of bad press. I shan't say anymore.

(never been to Romford so can't comment)

Pandemoniaa I go again on the 27th (training) I will report back with my findings. I will say though, the people from Telford are very nice and friendly!

Spuddybean
Thought they might be. No one else would want to go there.

Romford is lush.
Apparently we have the highest police precence at the weekends to cope with the yoofs when they get tired and emotional and end up at the much slated Queens Hospital
Not really the claim to fame one yearns for

Yes, Queen. Colchester has the potential to be a lovely town, there is SOOO much history. I love the history. The reality is depressing. The castle was built by the builders of the tower of London. Boadicea razed us to the ground. Humpty Dumpty has its roots here. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was written here. What do we have now? The Pound Shop, a hundred chain stores and a reputation for being the party vomit in the gutter capital of East Anglia!

The Court buildings are great, Reindeer. We're trying to find a new use for them at the moment. The police station next door has tarted up brilliantly and we need to bring them up to the same standard.

Yes, Tesco et al are totally to blame for the slide in quality of our town centres. The Trafford Centre has screwed Altrincham and even Wilmslow, which is not nearly as nice as you might think.

I've been to Telford, well travelled me and it was a concrete, ugly mess.
Has it changed?

I see your Rochdale and I raise you:

Accrington (easily beats rochdale)
Goole
Blackburn
Barrow-in-furness

Can I add Gravesend.

ooh has no one mentioned Selby? It's so awful no one has even mentioned it.
Pontefract is also a bit grim.

And at yoofs being tired and emotional

Ahhh St Helens... but its got a brand new Tesco and a rainbow bridge to the new Stadium now! sniggers I thought my work mate was making it when he said Pimmies Pies were famous. They make them in an industrial unit round the back from our other work unit... can't say I'd fancy them at all.... just errrgghh. Not only is the town centre crap but its the worst night out in the entire country. I has the dubious pleasure of working there, which also means we are guarenteed the crappest work dos in the entire world ever regardless of the company.

The only place that comes close for shitness is Luton. And I've lived in Crewe, my dad worked in Stockport and my brother was born in Northampton, so I'm familar with a few of the others on this shortlist.

I went to Canterbury recently for the first time and was surprised at how crap it was - sounds better. Whereas your traditional crap towns round here like Croydon (esp), Redhill, Bracknell and maybe even Crawley! are getting better I think (or maybe I am just getting used to them).

I know I live in the area

Altrincham could be nice, Hale manages to be better but Wilmslow and Altrincham (even Sale to an extent) are struggling.

I like the Trafford Centre occasionally, but only when it's quiet.

Bracknell is dire.................

And Dartford, I lived there for a year. It was so depressing I went back to SE London quite happily.

YABU. It has to be a toss-up between Stevenage and Nottingham. The last time I ventured into Stevenage I thought the ceiling was going to collapse on my head. Nottingham (the shopping centre with the caves in it) was like a collection of the scummiest shops you could think of, all put in one place with a car park. Good idea really...

Eastleigh? Really? Not even in the running.

On reflection, I fear I may have been a bit harsh to St Helens - it's positively cosmopolitian when compared to Leigh. Now there's a town that someone decided to shut down in the 70s but got bored half way through and just left to rot.

What about the shiny new Bracknell Waitrose? Must be getting better ....

QueenofMac - the council are so inept that they turned down John Lewis who wanted to open up in one of the out of town retail centres, with useful things like parking. The council decided that JL could come but only in the town centre, with y'know, no parking, no space, teeny pavements, drunks vomiting in doorways and half empty buses belching out honking great black clouds.

Clacton Jaywick, now that's the arse end of East Anglia.

Exactly Saggy! Makes it so so so much worse. Not only is it a shit town but they ruined a good town to make it shit. So much to be proud of (siege of Colchester as well) and so much bloody wasted. If you look up you see nice buildings - but then you realise they've been ruined. The whole town should look like Crouch street. The best they can do is fucking Red Lion Walk and the Culver Centre. Town Planners of the last 40 years should hang their heads in shame for what they've OK'd over the years.

None of you have been to BLACKBURN then?

Because there is no argument. None. It is a hideous, smelly god-forsaken hole of an excuse for a town where the most fun you will get is going to Morrisons.

Nelson is vile!