Underrated places in the UK

[MaMaLa321]

I enjoyed reading the thread on overrated places (so strictly this is a TAAT, sorry) but would love to know where in the UK people think is underrated.
Mine is Nantwich. I'd live there like a shot.

Hull

Aberdeen! I think its granite buildings are beautiful. It’s got so much character, great shops, and a stunning coastline on its doorstep. But it never gets mentioned when the Edinburgh-Glasgow wars are being waged on here.

Reading. Yes, really - vastly under-rated.

Gorgeous parks like Forbury Gardens, and riverside walks along the Thames path and River Kennet both of which meander through the centre of Reading.

Good shopping. Well, before lockdown it was but Debenhams has just closed and possibly House of Fraser too. Thankfully John Lewis is staying.

Fast and regular trains to London.

Lots of great places to eat out, and pubs old and new.

Good schools.

Beautiful countryside all around. Henley is just down the road, and Sonning / the Chilterns / Pangbourne / Hambleden valleys are all within just a few miles.

Good theatres / arts / live music.

Ancient Abbey Ruins and Reading Goal (immortalised in a poem by Oscar Wilde), a prison we're trying to save for an arts centre.

And a recent acquisition, our very own Banksy on the side of the prison wall.

Reading truly is a lovely place to live or visit.:)

thisgardenlife agree re Reading! And it's got the RISC centre, and the best local museum in the world! (I don't live there, just have visited.)

Wales. I live in the US and I am not sure many people have even heard of Wales.(not joking) They all get very excited about England, Scotland and Ireland, but never ever mention Wales. It is a magical little place.

Northumberland is not underrated. Some of the villages have no locals living in them any more as every single house is a holiday let or second home.

@thisgardenlife

Reading. Yes, really - vastly under-rated.

Gorgeous parks like Forbury Gardens, and riverside walks along the Thames path and River Kennet both of which meander through the centre of Reading.

Good shopping. Well, before lockdown it was but Debenhams has just closed and possibly House of Fraser too. Thankfully John Lewis is staying.

Fast and regular trains to London.

Lots of great places to eat out, and pubs old and new.

Good schools.

Beautiful countryside all around. Henley is just down the road, and Sonning / the Chilterns / Pangbourne / Hambleden valleys are all within just a few miles.

Good theatres / arts / live music.

Ancient Abbey Ruins and Reading Goal (immortalised in a poem by Oscar Wilde), a prison we're trying to save for an arts centre.

And a recent acquisition, our very own Banksy on the side of the prison wall.

Reading truly is a lovely place to live or visit.:)

I was going to say Reading.
I lived there for four years and I really loved it. One of my children was born there.

@thisgardenlife you hit all the nice things on the head

My husband and I are planning to move back there, hopefully, in this decade, from the US.

Why Leeds (several posters)? I've only been in the centre of town, what have I missed?

Bude - I never really considered it a holiday destination before being used to Mid to West Cornwall but I was genuinely wowed by the whole area. It even had a wide range of decent shops for such a small town.

Agree with Aberdeen, handsome centre and beaches, coastline, countryside are lovely.

And Leeds: great shopping, pedestrianised etc, places to eat and drink, theatre, quick and easy to get to green space and countryside.

I think a lot of people have just posted about places they love, which are not really underrated - e.g. Forest of Dean, Gower etc.

I live near Cardiff and although its reputation is growing, I do still think it's underrated. I can get to vast expanses of woodland and open farmland on foot in 5mins. I can get to the city centre by train in 10mins. I can get to some stunning beaches by car or train in 15mins.

Cardiff City centre is compact and has some amazing attractions, bars, shops etc. Cardiff Bay is just beautiful. The city is so close to some beautiful places. I love living here.

As to places I've visited: I loved Birmingham too. And, not in the UK, but Caen is one of my absolute fave places to visit for a short break.

Thus thread reminding me I must give Liverpool a try, as I have heard quite a bit that it's much nicer than it's reputation. I agree with others that Birmingham is better than it's reputation suggests (yes there's bad bits but there's great bits too!). Surprised to see Shrewsbury/Shropshire come up so much as I wasn't aware it was underrated, though it is nice.
I've only been to Stoke once but that too was perfectly fine and better than expected.

Chesham in the Chilterns. Beautiful place.

I like Ledbury, too, @Moonflower12345.

We have some lovely small towns in the UK. Being a southerner, I mostly know the ones in the south. Places like Beaminster, Bridport, Wells (actually a city, I believe), Narberth, Stamford, Axminster.

They tend to have a good range of shops, many of them independents, pubs and cafes, are clean, not crowded and you can often actually park without paying a small fortune.

St David’s - so so pretty
Belfast
Liverpool
Monmouth- love going for a day out

@transformandriseup

Bude - I never really considered it a holiday destination before being used to Mid to West Cornwall but I was genuinely wowed by the whole area. It even had a wide range of decent shops for such a small town.

Bude is the sort of town I was thinking of. It even has a small, indpependent department store (well, I hope it still has one, I haven't been there for a few years now).

@LakieLady The small department store is still there

Homelessness is out of control. Birmingham City Council seem unable to help

Councils everywhere are unable to help. The government won't give them the resources to do anything, and homelessness often has underlying factors (eg addiction, mental health issues) that are also under-resourced.

I worked in homelessness prevention for many years, but switched to something slightly less futile a few years ago.

When even affluent areas like Horsham and Lewes have a homeless problem, you know something's seriously fucked up.

That's good to hear, @transformandriseup!

Portsmouth - while it is a little bit seedy, there is so much history, so much to do, so much to see and a great beach at Southsea; I would happily live there.

Also, Dundee was, surprisingly, much nicer than I expected.

Also love Liverpool but I’m not sure it is underrated.

New Brighton

@LakieLady Wells is indeed a city. It's England's smallest.

And I love Bude too (and visited Wray's - the department store - last month)!

@FlyingNorth

Hull and surrounding area, and no, I'm not joking.

I second this. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

Huddersfield

[quote Geminijust]@MrsAlexanderHamilton - thank you! I'm starting to put together an itinerary - looks like we'll have no problem filling the week with beaches, lakes & the Ravenglass Railway (DS particularly wants to do that).[/quote]
... and if you're going to t' la'al Ratty, drive a mile or two further up the coast and have an icecream at the amazing ice cream parlour in Seascale (look for the cow outside - it's owned by the village dairy farmers). St Bees beach is beautiful too, and also has a cafe with locally made ice cream.