Biggest Shithole in the UK

[DickieDonkey]

Am retiring soon so want to relocate away from the rat race but everywhere I consider away from the Home Counties seems to be regarded as a dump. Money goes further away from the SE, I thought about Norfolk which is within reasonable distance of civilisation but my friends think that it is backwards/racist. Is it true that Lincs/Cambs/Norfolk is best avoided. AIBU to move?

Norwich, Cambridge, Oxford, Winchester, Bath, Bristol, Cotswolds, Cheltenham? If you want to stay closer to the SE, then Hampshire is a good option.

I agree there are people everywhere who are racist, but where I live in London I can honestly say, I’m yet to meet anyone who voted for Brexit.

I take it that poster doesn’t live in Bromley , Barking and Dagenham, Sutton, Havering , or Hillingdon then - all of which were Leave boroughs ....

everywhere I consider away from the Home Counties seems to be regarded as a dump

With an attitude like that, please keep away from anywhere north of Birmingham. We really don't need you.

I lived in the Home Counties for 4 years and you (literally) couldn't pay me to live there again. There seems to be a characterless void between Oxford and Cambridge to the east and west, Hampshire at the south and Leistershire to the North. It made me miss the East Midlands where I couldn't wait to leave. I lived in a village near near a University with okish buss links and despite trying to 'join in' made absolutely NO friends the entire time I was there - it was Bedfordshite BTW.
I live in the West Midlands and considering I wouldn't live in the Midlands if I ever had the choice, the Home Counties make me appreciate it more.

Spalding in Lincolnshire is over-flowing with economic migrants from the home counties who sold their house and retired early. Stamford is nice too. I can't think of anywhere better than London to retire though - free entry to loads of places, free off-peak travel

Everywhere in the Home Counties is a dump in my book

? Places like the Chilterns, St Albans, Guildford, Reigate?

Kent is very pretty especially on the border with East Sussex. Very lovely villages. Certainly not soulless commuterland. And where I live regularly tops polls on the best place to live in the UK (not that I necessarily agree with that, it's affluent and pleasant but given a chance I'd opt for somewhere like York if they could get rid of the hen parties I saw complained about on here a few months ago).

The poster who said about Whitley Bay and the NE.. I strongly disagree. I moved away from the NE after having my DC and everytime I go back I think it’s gone downhill a bit. The shopping is good in the city and Tynemouth is pleasant but Whitley Bay in particular is very tired and shabby. There seems to be an ever increasing population of try hard yummy mummies there too who think they are the elite of Tune and Wear. Some interesting baby groups I went to were illuminating. Areas like North Shields, wallsend etc on the whole are very high in crime and I don’t find the people friendly at all there, in fact quite hostile. Some of the areas are like Beirut. I know there are bad areas everywhere but I’ve never seen anything quite as bad where I’ve moved to.

In most of the uk, outside the magic circle that is the m25 and home counties, the majority of people have not shared in any EU bonanzas. Where money has been spent has been mostly irrelevant to everyday life, and the money has gone on trinkets and gaudy baubles. If as much money was spent per capita on education in Redcar and Redruth as is spent in greater London then the playing field might be more level.

As a Leave voter, may I state UNEQUIVOCALLY, that it's not because I dislike other nationalities. It was because I don't approve of EU imperialist dictatorship.

It does sound like you are sayi g people who vote brexit are little englanders. Please don't forget (before you start talking utter shit) that 52% of people in this country voted for leaving the EU for a wjole host of reasons. Have you heard/seen how these EU leaders operate. Junker the drunker who wanted an EU army, is an absolute pisshead and has turned up to conferences with one brown shoe on and a black one. EU leaders who want to 'colonise' Britain. These power crazed fools make me sick. Its not democratic and the UK ends up being ruled by even bigger tools than we are currently ruled by. And if you're not happy with things, you are more likely to protest and get changes in your own country than a power crazed EU.

Funny stuff 😂

A lot of us have met people who voted leave because they don’t like migrants. That’s quite racist.

Some of the areas are like Beirut. Really?

I'm black and live in Norwich. I've never, EVER experienced racism here. I did live in Birmingham for a but and experienced racism on a number of occasions. Experienced a little bit of ignorance in Norfolk but nothing more. Norwich is incredibly liberal. You will experience the worst racism in London. My family do on a weekly basis.

All places are made up of a mix of folk and each has their share of racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, knuckle dragging wankers.

@Nicelegs, that is positively lyrical. I wish I had the ability to set it to music.

@KUGA I live in Norwich, it's ace. I also lived in Sutton Coldfield for 2 years. It's whiter than Norfolk and I experienced a fair bit of racism from elderly and kids there. Even in my local Tesco. Hated it.

If you'd like to move somewhere that your friends will probably approve of, then:

Exeter
Bath
Cornwall in the summer

If the OP can't afford Cambridge, then she won't be able to afford any of these cities. At least, not a nice house ...

We moved from a very nice Surrey village to a small town in South Norfolk (due DH work) we've been here 3 years. My DD14 eventually settled, made friends and is happy (although she still misses aspects of Surrey) DH was born here and always wanted to move back, he likes the fact the roads are not as busy..
I'm torn. I don't feel like I belong here, I haven't made friends here. I adore the countryside in spring and summer - the winter is dire.. 😕 I do miss the amazing facilities and our old location in Surrey was (to me) perfect. However; DH rightly points out DD might be able to afford to buy a house here.. so swings and roundabouts...
For the posters saying Norwich is great, yes it is! Absolute saviour really.. the feel and demographic is completely different to anything else in S. Norfolk The university brings much needed diversity-Norwich has lots of Green voters and was a Remain area in a sea of older 'know everything' Tory voting leavers in South Norfolk. (I was raised in Brighton so find this is much more 'me')
Meh, sorry OP I am typing this out but not thinking about your post, I'm thinking I need to look to make some changes to my location in order to save my sanity.. 😳🙄😉

Zoidbergonthehalfshell
All places are made up of a mix of folk and each has their share of racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, knuckle dragging wankers.
__
@NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace
__
I have the old pepsi jingle ("lip-smackin-thirst-quenchin-ace-tastin-motivatin-etc-etc") from the seventies in my head... works perfectly

@NiceLegs eek, sorry, I cut and pasted your post and it came out like that!!!

I would avoid anywhere in the North. We are very backward and don’t have electricity yet.

Norwich is a uni town and, as such, quite different to the rest of Norfolk.

I once went to a beer festival near Diss and felt quite uneasy at the atmosphere there. I can pass as British. DH is British Iranian. I accept that you’re not going to get the same diversity in a village and that’s absolutely fine. It wasn’t a racist vibe as such, just very, very peculiar.

@MrsPworkingmummy I clicked on this thread as it was called “Biggest shithole in the UK” and I was thinking of Blyth where my parents come from and Seaton Sluice where I grew up and left ASAP when I was 17. Sorry, but there is no way on God’s earth that SE Northumberland can be described in any other way. There are no jobs at all to speak of and you can get a house for £40K which says it all really. Seriously, it’s not a nice place to live.

Another place to stay away from:

Stay Away from the North West

I’d stay away from Scotland too. It’s still very wild, we often have to fight off dragons on our way to work.

On a serious note I do think that London would be a good place to retire to. I have moved outside of London because DH won’t live in London (we tried, but he hates the noise and can’t sleep). I shouldn’t really live in London because I have bad asthma, but I think that if my DH dies before me I would probably move back into London because it’s so good for retired people. There’s the freedom pass on the buses and lots of things to do, not to mention lots of shops and good hospitals!

Norwich is just a huge car park. It’s a medieval place over run with parked cars everywhere. Awful.

First visit to Norwich Friday.
Thought it was great.
Similar to York.
And we even visited the cathedral with the Helter Skekter lol.