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?

Wow, your friends are the backward ones!

This is unfortunately not an unusual prejudice, which is why so many people 'north of The Watford Gap' cringe when they hear a southern accent.
Only downside of moving further north is it is certainly, in general a few degrees colder. I'm a bit of a wimp with cold.
Cornwall isn't north and is lovely.
I live in Cambridgeshire.
I'm very puzzled as to why this makes me racist.

Don't move to Norwich OP! Honestly you'd hate it. All those quaint little shops, winding cobbled streets, right next to huge shopping malls, and a big market. Not to mention lots of cafes, bars and pubs. And the UEA, where loads of bands perform. Then there's the premier league football club, where you can dine in Delia's restaurant. Oh and the castle, the cathedral. Sandringham, Blicking Hall, Thetford Forest, all less than an hours drive. Oh, and the unspoilt beaches half an hour away. You'd hate it. You really would. May be you should try Ipswich. As long as you don't like football.

Could you all please stop bigging up the northern half of England? Or we'll have every bugger up here!

It's OK - I think we've persuaded them that it's uncivilised anywhere north of Birmingham. We have no roads, no books, no art galleries.

Or museums, art galleries, opera or ballet, venues for gigs/concerts or gardens, stately homes, historic cities, Roman remains etc.

In fact there is a complete dearth of any form of culture north of Watford. Hadrian's wall doesn't even exist, Edinburgh is near London and there are no RG universities outside of the home counties.

Oh, wait a minute. I lied.

Grew up in Suffolk, near Cambridge. Lived in Northampton for a while. London for 10 years then Surrey.

I would never move back to East Anglia. It's ok for a holiday but I think your friends are right. I'd recommend the West Country. It depends what you do for hobbies and interests?

@Cary2012 I don’t think there’s going to be room for the op on Norwich, what with all the Vietnamese tourists we’re expecting:

“CEO of Vietnam Airlines, hailed the Norfolk city as an ‘irresistible destination’ for tourists who should ‘not miss the opportunity to experience’ it.

Mr Thanh believes Alan Partridge’s hometown is on a par with Indonesia’s famous Komodo Dragon Island, which boasts coral reefs, volcanic hills and around 4,000 giant lizards.

But he says the fish and chips, winding cobbled roads and tudor buildings are just as impressive.

In a welcome message to passengers in the company’s in-flight magazine Heritage, the CEO said the UK city could easily hold its own against other top global destinations, such as his country’s capital city of Hanoi and the floating villages on the Mekong River Delta.”

The man has excellent taste!

Perhaps your frinds should visit the outer hebrides

OP,

Royston Vasey's famous for making newcomers welcome.

Real community spirit.

How utterly ridiculous! I live in a village outside Market Harborough & we're not crying into our porridge that we don't live in the home counties, dear! Bath, the Peaks, villages around Oxford, Cheshire & Somerset, Edinburgh, the incredibly beautiful Scottish Highlands. I could go on & on. You sound like an insufferable snob and, quite frankly, ignorant.

Yorkshire is called God’s country for a reason.

@CampfireZen are you local?

I moved from the home counties.Ive lived in Lincolnshire.I now live in France.Lincolnshire is lovely ,a little quiet compared to home counties but with superb beaches,bit windy but quite dry in comparison to home counties.When I return to home counties the obsession with wealth and whose got what is evident.If this is you stay put

NameChangerOfTheNorth said:

There are decent people everywhere, no one place is full of twats only.

(apart from London)

Liverpool.. or Burnley in yorkshire.

Our particular area of Wales/England border was lovely and quiet and largely unknown, but thanks to bloody Country File and Escape to the Country we're inundated with home counties refugees, snapping up 4 & 5 bed "executive homes" and bunging up car parks with huge new Land rovers. Everywhere is being filled in with housing. The small winding roads can't cope with the volume of traffic. OP, just stay where you are, please. You'll only change the place you move to for the worse.

There are decent people everywhere, no one place is full of twats only.

(apart from London)

🙄

To be fair I moved out of London and have encountered so so much racism in the 2 years since I left. But the area is lovely.. wish I could afford a nice part of London but will never happen

or Burnley in Yorkshire

Who moved Burnley to Yorkshire and when? We need to be told .....

I’ve lived in that area. Cambridgeshire is best avoided besides Cambridge itself. Norfolk is fine so long as you are living rurally. Ditto Lincolnshire. Rutland is nearby and I also quite nice so long as you live rurally.

@TheSandman you sound pathetically chippy saying everyone in London is a twat.

Embarrassing!

grizzlybearatemyhomework,

There's nothing for you here.

@Mouldiwarp1 Indeed, I saw this nugget on the local news last night. They filmed a group of fine Norfolk folk munching on their Grosvenor chippy tea sat outside the Birdcage. Our local newspaper says Mr Thanh thinks our fine city is, "Serene, tranquil, irresistible". He's right, is Mr Thanh. Never met him, but I like the bloke.

Please stay in the Home Counties

I think London has more than its fair share of twats