What places in the UK have weirded you out - part two

[Yachtinggwoman]

I have started another thread, as the topic is so interesting.

West Bay felt very weird to me. We went after watching Broadchurch. I think it’s partly the strange mix of architecture. The cliff falls are also creepy. There are signs on the beach warning you to stay away from the cliffs.

I have to go into Cheltenham on a regular basis for work and I don't like the feeling there. I can't explain it better than that but I don't feel settled at all

I also felt very similar in St Ives.

What a truly horrible comment. Aberdeen does have a specific accent but was/is the oil centre of Scotland and used to many different people who speak in many different accents. So you choose to diss an entire city because you can't make out what some people say?
And I'm not aberdonian nor from the north of Scotland

Rotherham.

Had to go there a few times for work, just felt like something was going to kick off. Bloody awful place.

Did Belfast for work and was relieved to get back to the airport.

Don't like North Wales particularly. Went to a holiday there years ago and couldn't wait to leave. Have since been several times as DP has some relatives there and always feel the same. Other parts of Wales are fine - it's a lovely place. North Wales is obviously beautiful in parts, but I feel trapped there and that something bad is going to happen.

This entire feed is dedicated to places that weirded you out. I did find it quite creepy in a Royston Vasey kinda way. If it makes you feel any better I’m a Londoner and we get a proper kicking on MN most days. 😂

Have you ever looked up the Pontins in Jersey? It is long gone now, I’m sure the land was handed over to the National Trust after the buildings were demolished.
Stayed nearby on work placement and I can remember being told it was an open secret with the locals that it was a terrible place as there were so many odd happenings there. I wondered how the holidaymakers found it.

It was used as a “camp” during the Nazi occupation of Jersey and after the demolition and some archaeological finds it was decided not to redevelop the site.
I felt off whilst in Jersey and very anxious despite it being a dream placement.
For place that used to be a huge holiday destination it seemed very unwelcoming to families and there were lots of shiny cars with blacked-out windows.

There was at least one urban explorer video of the place before the demolition. It’s very sinister.

Lincoln Castle gives me the willies, had a really creepy experience there once (rarely happens to me). Been there lots of times but it still freaks me out

Cardiff. I’ve never landed somewhere and wanted to leave so quickly. Oppressive, dirty, not friendly and always felt like something was about to kick off - I’ve never witnessed more daylight drug use in my life! I think the lack of sunlight and constant rain contributes to how I feel about it. My best friend lives there so I really wanted to love the city but unfortunately I dread having to go!

What was so awful about Belfast?

Apparently the original Royston Vasey was Alston, in Cumbria. I’ve been there many times and I love it, but I can totally see how it provide the inspiration
There’s even a Local Shop type building on the way up Hartside.

There’s a lot of radon gas in wales and the south west which can create an oppressive atmosphere.

its been said before but I was incredibly creeped out by Glastonbury and couldn’t stop thinking about the place for days

As with Rotherham, it just felt like something could kick off.

The people I came across couldn’t have been nicer though.

I saw a few mentions of Cannock Chase on the first thread. I live on the edge of it and there are certainly parts which feel a bit off. Early last year we had a Northern Lights alert (not one of the big ones) so my son and I drove to a part of the Chase, near to the German Cemetery, where we would see the horizon but it just felt incredibly weird and uncomfortable. That wasn’t because it was dark and quiet, there are other parts of the Chase where we’ve happily walked the dog in the dark, in fact I’ve got no issue with going out on my own before dawn with the dog in the part which we back onto.

I was with a friend one night, we were driving back from Southampton to the Midlands and were in the countryside near Marlborough (quite possibly Savernake Forest or thereabouts) and we were both glad when we were away from there. We both said it felt claustrophobic and there were rabbits all along the verges for miles, hundreds of them, never seen anything quite like that before.

Liverpool is another place I wouldn’t choose to visit again. Just a really strange feel to the place.

Went to Brighton with my son for an away game. We had a couple of hours to kill before kick off so rather than get the next train to the stadium we decided to see the sea as it was a lovely Spring day but we lasted five minutes before returning to the station, neither of us could warm to the place at all.

We have family near Cardiff and they’re always raving about how wonderful it but oppressive and unfriendly is the word I’d use to describe how it feels. Whenever I’ve been there I’ve felt really unsafe and can’t wait to leave.

Oh I so agree with this! What the hell is it?! We sometimes go through on the motorbike to get to the A59, which I also find parts of eerie and it has an odd vibe around there!

Craven Arms in Shropshire. It just feels totally out of kilter with everywhere else around it.

Hasn't been mentioned yet but one day about 15 years ago we were on a day out in the New Forest and stopped off for look round Fordingbridge. I don't know what it was but it felt so oppressive and desolate. It was an overcast day and there weren't many people around and it just gave me the creeps. I like the New Forest though!

My DM lived near Barmouth, she would never go into Machynlleth. She couldn't put her finger on what it was about the town that she disliked so much. We'd go to all the surrounding places, just not Machynlleth.

Thetford in Norfolk has a very aggressive undertone. I generally like a market town but it felt deserted and sad. Lots of towns like that all over the countryside - particularly as agricultural workers are now mostly men from Eastern Europe rather than local families so you get this split personality. Groups of young men who like drinking and partying living together vs the rest of the town's population which now tends to be mostly old people as most families / young people moved to the cities or commuter belt for jobs. To be clear, this is not a statement about immigration or the workers themselves. It's more about how that sort of economy can divide families & communities and creates a kind of internal segregation/tension.

I can't get on with Stroud at all or indeed any town inhabited by lentil weavers and crystal shops.

I like 'hard' cities though - lived/worked in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and London (nr Camden) - the energy and toughness and attitude.

Re: Pontins. Before it shut down the notorious Pontins in Camber Sands used to host an annual north London schools chess tournament and you have never seen two worlds collide so violently. The blow-dried sharp-elbowed pushy Muswell Hill / Hampstead mummies pulling up in their Volvo XC60s and striding into the decrepit seedy rat infested holiday flats and ear-splitting arcades. To be fair, they always took it in good humour (they packed their own hummus though).

@Butteredtoast55 I went to reply to you on other thread but it’s full up. Are you able to indulge what your friend said about her experiences working at Coombe Abbey? We stayed in the 4 poster suite which was very luxurious but deeply unsettling. Neither my husband or I slept a wink that night as we could clearly hear footsteps pacing back and forth on the floorboards above us. The Receptionist told us the next day that we were on the top floor with only the attic space above! 🙈 The whole hotel had a very oppressive somber mood. We had a medieval banquet in the abbey which on leaving to walk back to your room in the dark was pretty spooky. Definitely not a place I’d want to return to!

I’m finding this really interesting but can’t find the first thread. Could someone please post a link. Thanks

There was an Organisation Todt ( Nazi) concentration/work camp on Alderney in WW2 and although there is nothing physical left if it but gateposts, it is the eeriest place I've ever been. Utterly silent, no birdsong, oppressive and thoroughly sad.

And I didn't know what it had been until later- I was only 14 when I first went there.

Hay on wye and areas along the river wye. Thought I'd love it, it was tail end of covid times and the vibe was just odd, depressing and felt really down and out. I'm sure that might be unfair but we didn't feel sad leaving

We're taking our caravan down there for a fortnight this summer. 😁