View Full Version : The great suburban/commuter towns of SE England
I was thinking the other day.. I know nothing really about these towns.. I assume they're all the same.
I once went to Bracknell - and it was a concrete dive.
Went to Harlow once aswell - seemed okay.
Watford - seemed okay
So - the good/bad/ugly please.
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 12:51
why is this in 'london'?
:mad:
Where else would I stick in? The sahara desert of Travel or the playground in General
Anyway - you ever heard of Christaller's Central Place Theory.. These places are in the London catchement area... so London forum..<insert coolies>
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 12:55
<insert coolies>
rascist :mad:
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 12:56
sevenoaks.
redhill.
guildford.
Yes. But what about them?
:mad: :mad:
sutton
croydon
coulsdon
bromley
surbiton
kingston
having grown up in sutton and watched my dad commute into the west end for 10 years i can safely say i wont ever be doing that. growing up in sutton you were always that bit too far out to make going out in central london easy. it was always a bit of a pain. so by living there you had all the bad bits of living in a large urban area with none of the good bits.
Maybe some of our 500 new members or one of the lurkers would like to voice an opinion.
I shall be delighted to hear their viewpoints and most polite to them..
C'mmon guys!!!
:) :) :)
sutton
croydon
coulsdon
bromley
surbiton
kingston
Jesus christ.. yes I wasn't asking for a list of names.. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Jesus christ.. yes I wasn't asking for a list of names.. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
sorry have been back in and edited.
Donna Ferentes
10-08-2005, 13:01
Some sort of good/bad delineation is surely required here, perhaps with reasons appended. Any fool can look at a map, point out the little grey bits round the edge of London and write down the names.
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 13:02
chelsfield
petts wood
farnborough
Some sort of good/bad delineation is surely required here, perhaps with reasons appended. Any fool can look at a map, point out the little grey bits round the edge of London and write down the names.
care to contribute then or just direct how others should contribute?
okay - do they conform to the bland surburban shitehole stereotype.. i.e. where the streets are dead, the roads are good or do they have a certain character or things of interest to do/see there. Are they places you have/would like to live?
chelsfield
petts wood
farnborough
I despair of this place.. the membership goes up.. the quality goes down.
:( :(
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:04
They're all the same. They're all dreadful. Homogenised. Soulless. Pointless. You already know what bars and shops there are without going there. You know what the high street looks like. You know what the houses are like. You recognise the people. There is nothing to commend any of them. Too close to London to benefit from proper green space not close enough to be anything other than satellites of hell..
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 13:04
orpington
Too close to London to benefit from proper green space not close enough to be anything other than satellites of hell..
you summed up what i think about sutton in one quick easy sentance there.
petts wood
Every time I hear that name I think of Shirley and her amazing pubic hair. :o :D
Right. Pett's Wood currently winning. <cool>
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 13:09
sevenoaks - a trad market town turned into a dormitory. lots of new build shit, the old cattle market got turned into a call centre, and after many years of faffing there's now an extra shopping arcade. has a rep as a no-go area of a weekend chucking-out time, thanks to copious numbers of chain bars and über pubs.
some nice smaller back street shops and the like, but plastic fascia encroached long ago :(
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:12
Right. Pett's Wood currently winning. <cool>
How do you work that one out? Because it reminds someone of someone elses pubes? It's an outrage
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 13:13
sutton: lunatic one-way system, chain bars and cheesy discos.
orpington: rather nice actually, one of britain's oldest shopping centres (the walnuts), plenty of big chains, but also decent smaller traders, nice high street with decent buildings poking through the plastic signage, park space, lots of pedestrian bits.
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:16
sutton: lunatic one-way system, chain bars and cheesy discos.
orpington: rather nice actually, one of britain's oldest shopping centres (the walnuts), plenty of big chains, but also decent smaller traders, nice high street with decent buildings poking through the plastic signage, park space, lots of pedestrian bits.
you are showing signs of working for a local town planners. i would suggest a drink and a lie down
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 13:18
you are showing signs of working for a local town planners. i would suggest a drink and a lie down
what, because i like orpington?
:confused:
lang rabbie
10-08-2005, 13:19
St Albans must score highly - if only for its density of real ale pubs :) - although parking in the town centre was getting a tad 4x4 dominated on my last visit.
How do you work that one out? Because it reminds someone of someone elses pubes? It's an outrage
Given the alternatives.. and I've alot of time for Griff. :cool:
St Albans must score highly - if only for its density of real ale pubs :) - although parking in the town centre was getting a tad 4x4 dominated on my last visit.
But isn't St Albans posh and dead expensive?
Any opinions on Staines, Slough & the great West London M4 corridor?
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:25
Given the alternatives.. and I've alot of time for Griff. :cool:
This thread has gone all Eurovision.. hidden agendas and aged bias
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:26
what, because i like orpington?
:confused:
No. Because you're showing too much intimate knowledge of too many of these places for it to be seen as normal. Add a couple of paracetamol and a wet flannel to the prescription
I only saw Petts Wood station, Shirley picked me up and dropped me off in her Micra. :(
Good enough for me. :cool:
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:34
Is a Micra a car or a skirt?
And either way, without seeing the famous muff of Shirley, how is anyone going to take your word that, this makes Petts Wood worst town in the SE.. I might understand if this had been Wallington, Donkey Town or Staines
One of my mates (from Cornwall) was thinking of coming up to London and spendng acouple weeks just going around all these places.. dunno why really. I guess he reckoned it'd be interesting.
Is a Micra a car or a skirt?
And either way, without seeing the famous muff of Shirley, how is anyone going to take your word that, this makes Petts Wood worst town in the SE.. I might understand if this had been Wallington, Donkey Town or Staines
It was a Nissan Micra. Petts Wood seemed OK, but I can only think of taking her lacy black knickers off and thinking she was wearing another pair, due to excessive bush in front of me. :)
After that the town itself never entered my mind.
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 13:40
It was a Nissan Micra. Petts Wood seemed OK, but I can only think of taking her lacy black knickers off and thinking she was wearing another pair, due to excessive bush in front of me. :)
After that the town itself never entered my mind.
That reminds me of that town 'Dipping Roger' near Boston
It was a Nissan Micra. Petts Wood seemed OK, but I can only think of taking her lacy black knickers off and thinking she was wearing another pair, due to excessive bush in front of me. :)
After that the town itself never entered my mind.
This sounds like real life Benny Hill. :eek:
sutton: lunatic one-way system, chain bars and cheesy discos.
least the one way system keeps all the ch*** in one place encircled.
Still hoping for some feedback on the M4 corridor.
Donna Ferentes
10-08-2005, 14:01
Why? All there is, is Slough, Reading and Maidenhead.
I once slept overnight in a multistorey car park in Maidenhead.
Great idea for a thread. :)
I once slept overnight in a multistorey car park in Maidenhead.
I slept overnight in a Slough shopping mall when I was 15. The security guard kicked 3 of us out of a double-glazing display stand in the morning. :D
Very funny night.
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 14:23
I slept overnight in a Slough shopping mall when I was 15. The security guard kicked 3 of us out of a double-glazing display stand in the morning. :D
Very funny night.
Did you keep yourself warm by Dipping Roger in Petts Wood?
Did you keep yourself warm by Dipping Roger in Petts Wood?
Funnily enough it was with my first girlfriend, we'd been to a disco with a bunch of people we met on a school trip and missed the last train home. We did try a derelict house, but that was a bit too much.
We tried inside the doorway of a Chinese take-away but they didn't take too kindly to that. :D
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 14:34
inside the doorway of a Chinese take-away :D
Not another of your mucky euphemisms?
Gavin Bl
10-08-2005, 14:54
A shamelful lack of Sussex towns here, hows about
Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Uckfield, Lewes
Ah, the hits just keep on comin'
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 14:56
A shamelful lack of Sussex towns here, hows about
Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Uckfield, Lewes
Ah, the hits just keep on comin'
Clearly you haven't been to Kent, Surrey or Berkshire
art of fact
10-08-2005, 15:08
Surbiton is a big commuter town and probably has best links to London in Surrey(probably because it is close to London :rolleyes: ). You can get a fast train into Waterloo in 15 minutes.
Explorer
10-08-2005, 15:09
what about Southend, Basildon, Laindon? All the lovely Essex towns
all utterly awful
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 15:14
Surbiton is a big commuter town and probably has best links to London in Surrey(probably because it is close to London :rolleyes: ). You can get a fast train into Waterloo in 15 minutes.
a fast train from sutton to victoria is only 15 minutes, and from croydon - and croydon has trams too :cool:
art of fact
10-08-2005, 15:18
Sutton is shit for trains mainly though... to get to Wimbledon if you miss the hourly morden train you gotta go the long way round Mitcham etc to get to Clapham Junction then Wimbledon which annoyed the fuck out of me when i worked there. I think Surbiton has alot more trains into Waterloo than Sutton has going to Victoria aswell.
I live in Berrylands which train station is only used for commuting, basically you never see more than 3 people at the station apart from rush hour during the week.
paulhackett66
10-08-2005, 15:19
exactly.. all ways of how quickly you can get out of these places.. and bristle now showing intimate knowledge of train schedules.. all gone very eugene
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 15:28
:mad:
*throws wobbly*
*knocks over table*
*sees ashtray spilled all over the shag*
*counts matches*
what about Southend, Basildon, Laindon? All the lovely Essex towns
all utterly awful
I second that! :p
There are parts of Southend that aren't bad, but as far as the other two go... :(
Sutton is shit for trains mainly though... to get to Wimbledon if you miss the hourly morden train you gotta go the long way round Mitcham etc to get to Clapham Junction then Wimbledon which annoyed the fuck out of me when i worked there. I think Surbiton has alot more trains into Waterloo than Sutton has going to Victoria aswell.
.
hardly sutton's fault if you cant get to a train station on time is it? i've always found trains from sutton rather good. you can get into victoria in 20 mins as well as the Thameslink across london or other suburban routes into London Bridge.
Some comparative train times:
Liverpool st - Harlow - ave 30 mins :(
Kings cross - Stevenage - ave 20 mins :cool:
Warterloo - Staines - ave 30-40 mins :( :(
Paddington - Slough - ave 20 mins. :cool:
art of fact
10-08-2005, 16:07
hardly sutton's fault if you cant get to a train station on time is it? i've always found trains from sutton rather good. you can get into victoria in 20 mins as well as the Thameslink across london or other suburban routes into London Bridge.
It is Suttons fault for not having more frequent trains and no one finishes work dead on time everyday now do they?
To be perfectly honest, I'm rather disapointed with the quality of infomation gleaned from this thread. Oh well.
:(
Living in Weybridge I guess I live slap bang in commuter/banking belt - it's depressing it really is
Weybridge itself is a pleasant place to live but too expensive for most commuters.
Surbiton is pretty much London now 0208 codes and london transport zones and buses. Yes it may be in the Royal Borough of Kingston but I just see it as a London Borough Wannabee- complete with kids that say 'innit' a lot and speak estuary English. :rolleyes:
I can't really comment on M4 corridor as I don't live there but would hate to be on that motorway between 8 and 9 in the morning.
bristle-krs
10-08-2005, 16:50
To be perfectly honest, I'm rather disapointed with the quality of infomation gleaned from this thread. Oh well.
:(
ingrate :(
art of fact
10-08-2005, 17:38
Surbiton is pretty much London now 0208 codes and london transport zones and buses. Yes it may be in the Royal Borough of Kingston but I just see it as a London Borough Wannabee- complete with kids that say 'innit' a lot and speak estuary English. :rolleyes:
yeah innit.
davesgcr
10-08-2005, 17:41
In defence of St Albans - its quite mixed and not all posh (but bloody expensive to buy) - 20 mins on Thameslink - but a proper city not a commuter town.
For the ultimate work on suburbia and social London read Alan A Jacksons splendid book "Semi Detached London" ......
I bet its expensive though.
i went to leatherhead once, thought it looked a real miserable town....but dorking, on the other hand seemed a real pleasant place.... :)
they're commutable aren't they?
m4 corridor, marlborough is very nice, so is calne, hungerford i didn't much care for
i went to leatherhead once, thought it looked a real miserable town....but dorking, on the other hand seemed a real pleasant place.... :)
they're commutable aren't they?
m4 corridor, marlborough is very nice, so is calne, hungerford i didn't much care for
I think Dorking fairly crap transport links to the big smoke what with it being out in the sticks. Leatherheads a bit bigger and better connected. I think :confused:
butterfly child
10-08-2005, 20:28
Living in Weybridge I guess I live slap bang in commuter/banking belt - it's depressing it really is
Weybridge itself is a pleasant place to live but too expensive for most commuters.
I didn't know you lived in Weybridge, we're practically neighbours!
I live in Ashford.
i went to leatherhead once, thought it looked a real miserable town....but dorking, on the other hand seemed a real pleasant place.... :)
they're commutable aren't they?
m4 corridor, marlborough is very nice, so is calne, hungerford i didn't much care for
I'm still looking for some Slough feedback.
:(
I'm still looking for some Slough feedback.
:(
watch the office :)
i drove through slough once....found it rather dull tbh
it hasn't got the excitement i feel in my bones when i drive through wood green :cool:
Donna Ferentes
11-08-2005, 19:39
i went to leatherhead once, thought it looked a real miserable town....but dorking, on the other hand seemed a real pleasant place.... :)
they're commutable aren't they?Well, in my mate's case he lives in one and works in the other! But Dorking's about fifty minutes out of Waterloo, yeah.
Truly Topcat
11-08-2005, 19:40
My nearest one is Croydon and it is an utter hell hole to be avoided at all costs at a weekend evening time. As grim and rough a place as I have ever witnessed, but you can be in central London in 15 minutes from there.
Also lived in Witham up in Central / North Essex. It was a lot smaller then than it is now but I thought it was wonderful. It was small enough to retain that villagey feel without being dead and was only 40 minutes from Liverpool Street.
It's 10 minutes North of Chelmsford, which back then was also a relatively plesant place (for a big town), but I do believe that has now descended into urban chain bar hell, the same as the rest of them.
My nearest one is Croydon and it is an utter hell hole to be avoided at all costs at a weekend evening time. As grim and rough a place as I have ever witnessed, but you can be in central London in 15 minutes from there.
New Addington is truly worse! (Can I have a fondant fancy too?)
Truly Topcat
11-08-2005, 19:46
New Addington is truly worse! (Can I have a fondant fancy too?)
Feel free to the fondant things!
And yep agree totally - there is New Addo, Monks Hill and what was the dreaded Roundshaw.
True cess pits of humanity.
Donna Ferentes
11-08-2005, 19:48
My nearest one is Croydon and it is an utter hell hole to be avoided at all costs at a weekend evening time.But don't overlook the splendid brutalist architecture, not that you can of course...
Truly Topcat
11-08-2005, 19:49
But don't overlook the splendid brutalist architecture, not that you can of course...
How could I forget?? There truly is nothing good about the place, I must get myself back up towards sleep Essex!
Ooh have been to Uxbridge a couple of times and it looks ok on first impressions....
Feel free to the fondant things!
And yep agree totally - there is New Addo, Monks Hill and what was the dreaded Roundshaw.
True cess pits of humanity.
Cheers! *munch*
I am the product of struggling for survival in the depths of New Add for a few formative years.
Dorking's OK (back to thread). Not so sure about trains tho?
Donna Ferentes
11-08-2005, 19:54
It's got three stations, albeit two of them serve the Reading to Redhill line rather than London.
Sounds OK then. All I'd add is... don't do Betchworth if reliant on trains.
Dorkings good for antiques, err.. if thats what you look for in a town...
There was also quite a good free party scene down there but I think it might have quietened down a bit now cos some crackheads set light to a barn or something.
Gavin Bl
12-08-2005, 11:43
Sorry to dredge up Sutton again, but I lived there for 6 months - and it was the most horrible place I have ever lived. Everyone seemed to be perpetually furious and looking for a fight. Awful - the Spanish restaurant getting smashed up the night England went out in 96. Horrible place.
Gavin Bl
12-08-2005, 11:44
Reading to Redhill line
That line puts the D into Dull - comes to something when you're on the train and Guildford is a highlight. ;)
And Redhill - do trains to London ever stop there?
Donna Ferentes
12-08-2005, 11:49
They'd have to, seeing as I went to Dorking via Norwood Junction and Redhill. This is when I was forced to look at Croydon.
Gavin Bl
12-08-2005, 11:50
I meant the proper line, from Brighton! :p :D :o
Donna Ferentes
12-08-2005, 11:52
I think so. Trains go into both Victoria and London Bridge. I'd guess the Brighton train would be the former?
I know someone who shares your opinion of Sutton, by the way. Celebrated loud and long when he got to leave.
what about milton keynes, what's that like then?
Gavin Bl
12-08-2005, 12:19
Celebrated loud and long when he got to leave.
I knew it wasn't just me! I just got in the van and drove away quickly. Celebrated when I got somewhere else!
Zinedine*
12-08-2005, 21:56
what about Southend, Basildon, Laindon? All the lovely Essex towns
all utterly awful
definatly!
Southend isnt too bad, there are some nice parts a couple of ok bars. The seafront at night is just plain weird and quite scary. Friday nights have to be seen to be believed.
Basildon and Laindon(which is part of Basildon) are utterly awful and depressing. the people are all mental, always on a look out for a fight. They honestly believe that London is a hell hole and Basildon is some sort of oasis. The pubs are complete crap. in the town centre there are 4. the Beehive- which charges £2.85 a pint and is probably the best of a bad lot. Moon on The Square is a wetherspoons, full of weirdos who will not leave you alone, plus you cant smoke. Towngate is just basically crap with no atmosphere. there is a new pub which isnt bad, but it's a little too trendy for Basildonians- hence its always empty. Colors- the supposedly 'gay' pub- well, dont get me started on that!!
Basildon is a town that just needs to be knocked down! :mad:
Streathamite
12-08-2005, 23:25
In defence of St Albans - its quite mixed and not all posh (but bloody expensive to buy) - 20 mins on Thameslink - but a proper city not a commuter town.
Precisely! A city in its' own right! And it can't be that posh if it let me live there for the first 15 years of my life.
Watford, on the other hand, is soulless, bland, identikit commuter hell. Hardly a single original, charming feature to the whole town.
Ditto Potters Bar. Yeuchh!!!
davesgcr
13-08-2005, 08:39
People call Milton Keynes - "The Keynes" - and are usually very loyal to the place.
Personally I hate it (windswept / grid pattern / "estuary England" ) - no history (unsurprisingly for a place developed in the 1960s onwards)
Having said that - its really turned out to be a London suburb by default - it provides green space / affordable housing of all sorts / and a 40 min journey to London - pretty well what the 1920s /1930s suburbs did.
My comments are those made by social commentators on the suburbs in the 30s - Orwell for example - hated the boredom etc of the suburbs.
Nothing changes.
and then there's northampton, do people commute from there?, or from corby, or kettering?
hollis wants to know :)
lang rabbie
13-08-2005, 10:38
But don't overlook the splendid brutalist architecture, not that you can of course...
A pedant writes: Except that there isn't much Brutalist architecture in Croydon - in the sense of boldly cantilevered bits of raw concrete on an inhuman scale. Croydon's 60s and 70s buildings are almost entirely bland, poorly-designed, and cheaply-built crap speculative offices. The multi-storey car parks are shoddy engineering structures not architecture.
The possible exception is the "threepenny bit" building (NLA tower) east of East Croydon station, designed by Seifert of Centrepoint fame...
BTW Did anyone else see this ;)
Croydon "an ancient dump" (http://www.londonist.com/archives/2005/06/croydon_an_anci.php)
davesgcr
13-08-2005, 13:19
There must be about 2,000 commuters a day from Milton Keynes - enough for about 5 full trainloads.
Northampton has about 1,500 commuters a day - its about the optimum level of commuting on a non Inter City train - though they do have their own Virgin Pendolino services.
Both areas are "sensitive" about train services - and with Prescotts plan - both housing and train services will have to increase in the next 10 years.
Thus confirming my therory on they are the new suburbia (ex - urbia ?)
And yep agree totally - there is New Addo, Monks Hill and what was the dreaded Roundshaw.
True cess pits of humanity.
For anyone who doesn't know New Addington or Roundshaw, they're both council estates :)
RenegadeDog
14-08-2005, 01:11
sutton
croydon
coulsdon
bromley
surbiton
kingston
having grown up in sutton and watched my dad commute into the west end for 10 years i can safely say i wont ever be doing that. growing up in sutton you were always that bit too far out to make going out in central london easy. it was always a bit of a pain. so by living there you had all the bad bits of living in a large urban area with none of the good bits.
Yeah that's how I felt when I lived in Gants Hill. Without a car it was just impossible to get anywhere after about 8pm. I was a 15 minute walk from the tube station, and after 8pm the trains were only about every 25 minutes. So if you were unlucky, as was frequent, it would be 40 minutes just between leaving the house and actually getting on a tube train. And yet it was grimmer and less green than Hackney.
All the people I know from Sutton are heavily into squat parties etc. Probably because if you are going to go out, you have to do an all nighter because it's just so much hassle getting home otherwise...
You know people in Sutton who go to squat parties? :eek: blimey - do you know if they ever drink in Sutton? Im trying to find a half decent drinkery!
i know that people commute from bath, maybe bristol as well....and i used to know someone who commuted to london from birmingham...
Jairzinho
17-08-2005, 15:51
i'm gonna go for Hayes (middlesex). This utterly uninispring distopia is like a compact bubble where all the assumptions and prejudices of suburban life are brought out to life.
I've grown up in Hayes and since moving back with my parents after a six-year leave of absence in the Midlands, i've been reminded of all the reasons why i hated it from when i was a youngster. It's weird because it is a London Borough, and is next to Southall and Ealing, places that a bit more dynamic and easier to reach Central London. By Hayes seems to pulling away all the time; i guess its because a lot of the people are employed at Heathrow, and so not many people i know from my schooldays seem to commute to London. So there is not much connection with the wider urban area that it exists within, and although there are people of Irish, South Asian, Carribean and African origin, it is not a melting pot, and lacks any kind of vibrant atmosphere as takes place in other areas in London. It seems to me that it has rejected a progressive notion of society and regresses into the kind of small-minded town mentality of somewhere like Slough or Kettering. Nothing to do, no artistic scene to speak of, no nice pubs to go, lots of bulldog tatoos, lots of young indian teenagers looking like they should be at school instead of hanging around on the pavement, lots of young white teenagers looking like they should be at school instead of hanging around on the pavement. That scene in 'the office' where they go to a club called 'chasers'-they are the only places to go- and even that is down the road in Uxbridge.
Yep, i've lived 18 years in place that i detest- just saving enough money to be able to move closer to the city.
Donna Ferentes
17-08-2005, 15:55
It's nice in that villagey bit with the church, near the football ground.
Truly Topcat
17-08-2005, 16:21
It was a little harsh naming Coulsdon there!
It was a little harsh naming Coulsdon there!
Yes, indeed.
Prefer Purley though - the leafier bits. Again, train to town quite quick. Mind you, the mere mention of the Purley Way sends shudders down my spine *remembers being forced to do cross country runs, in my case saunters, around the Purley Way when at school*
Swanley in Kent is dire. The train link is good though. The only reasons I mention it are (a) it is horrid, so worth looking at as an example (b) right on the M20/M25 links, also near A2 (c) very near some beautiful villages e.g. Farningham and Eynsford. Lived in Farningham for a few years and managed the commute quite easily - felt as if I was living miles from anywhere but able to get to work in Hackney within 45 minutes by car. (d) near Brands Hatch
Nobody has mentioned High Wycombe. In the last couple of years, it seems as though lots of people I know have moved there. There must be some kind of draw???
Donna Ferentes
19-08-2005, 10:50
It was a little harsh naming Coulsdon there!Coulsdon's a strange place. From the look of it it isn't that well off, and moreover it's plagued by religion. Manifestations includes the light at the top of the enormous church tower and the sinister Coulsdon Christian Fellowship.
Explorer
19-08-2005, 13:37
definatly!
Southend isnt too bad, there are some nice parts a couple of ok bars. The seafront at night is just plain weird and quite scary. Friday nights have to be seen to be believed.
Basildon and Laindon(which is part of Basildon) are utterly awful and depressing. the people are all mental, always on a look out for a fight. They honestly believe that London is a hell hole and Basildon is some sort of oasis. The pubs are complete crap. in the town centre there are 4. the Beehive- which charges £2.85 a pint and is probably the best of a bad lot. Moon on The Square is a wetherspoons, full of weirdos who will not leave you alone, plus you cant smoke. Towngate is just basically crap with no atmosphere. there is a new pub which isnt bad, but it's a little too trendy for Basildonians- hence its always empty. Colors- the supposedly 'gay' pub- well, dont get me started on that!!
Basildon is a town that just needs to be knocked down! :mad:
I try not to set foot anywhere near Southend now. The Sunrooms used to be nice until, well, I dunno - a few years back when the townies started going there. It used to be semi-ok (seafront's always been a hell-hole) but seems to have been a big increase of, errr, 'cunts' in the area. The highstreet/ London road after the pubs kick out can be nasty :( And then, TOTS/storm etc.... eeeeeeeeew
Basildon; never, ever, ever go there... agree with everything you said! Friend of mine has had 2 cars burnt out in as many months outside his home. Even Bas Vegas can get a bit sketchy!
and... VANGE. Oh dear. Burn that fucking place down.
Harold Hill
20-08-2005, 18:00
Whoever mentioned Witham had a point. Manhy 1st time buyers or people with young families tend to be moving out there. mainly because there can't be many places 40 minutes from Liverpool Street where you can get 2 bedroom houses for under 100 grand.
Not fabulously exciting or picturesque but Chelmsford, Romford and London aren't that far if you like clubby nights out.
Lots of Essex would get the thumbs down in threads like this but there are lovely parts, honest.
Echo Base
26-08-2005, 13:53
Amen to the Witham vote. Ive lived there for 6 months now. Surrounded by beaautiful Essex countryside - Wickham Bishops, Maldon, Ulting, Baddow - and not too far away from North East Essex, Dunmow, Saff Walden, etc.
Agreed its hardly "Urban", but there arent too many places that are 40 mins from Liverpool Street that are as pictouresque. And that have 2 GREAT butchers on the High Street!
Error Gorilla
27-08-2005, 01:30
A pedant writes: Except that there isn't much Brutalist architecture in Croydon - in the sense of boldly cantilevered bits of raw concrete on an inhuman scale. Croydon's 60s and 70s buildings are almost entirely bland, poorly-designed, and cheaply-built crap speculative offices. The multi-storey car parks are shoddy engineering structures not architecture.
The possible exception is the "threepenny bit" building (NLA tower) east of East Croydon station, designed by Seifert of Centrepoint fame...
BTW Did anyone else see this ;)
Croydon "an ancient dump" (http://www.londonist.com/archives/2005/06/croydon_an_anci.php)
I used to work opposite the NLA tower, or the 50p building as I called it. Oh how my heart used to leap as I made the drive from Upper Norwood to Croydon every day.
See I lived in Croydon for many years and to my family it was the thrupenny (threepenny) bit building, 50p buildings a crap name :p
Harold Hill
28-08-2005, 22:06
Amen to the Witham vote. Ive lived there for 6 months now. Surrounded by beaautiful Essex countryside - Wickham Bishops, Maldon, Ulting, Baddow - and not too far away from North East Essex, Dunmow, Saff Walden, etc.
Agreed its hardly "Urban", but there arent too many places that are 40 mins from Liverpool Street that are as pictouresque. And that have 2 GREAT butchers on the High Street!
Actually I may have been a bit harsh on the aesthetic aspect. Its very villagey/cricket on the green to the west of the station. Must be lovely on a day like this.
lizzieloo
28-08-2005, 22:09
People call Milton Keynes - "The Keynes" - and are usually very loyal to the place.
I have never heard anyone call Milton Keynes 'The Keynes'
lizzieloo
28-08-2005, 22:10
what about milton keynes, what's that like then?
It's really pretty crap, no soul, no history, no cool little shops, etc.
Clean though, and no traffic jams.
buffalosid
03-09-2005, 14:07
harlow is a hole
stevenage is a hole
Bishops stortford is lovely
Ware is a bit of both
Hertford is quite nice
letchworthis ok
Luton is a hole
other than that i can be of no assistance :)
Sir Belchalot
04-09-2005, 02:28
Sorry to dredge up Sutton again, but I lived there for 6 months - and it was the most horrible place I have ever lived.
It was horrible in the early 80's when I lived there for a while. I hated the net curtain twitchers of suburbia.
please dont say watford!!!
Defend Coulsdon
01-11-2007, 08:36
Coulsdon is strange to me due to the large number of food outlets - they should send the world's starving population there because it would be impossible to die of starvation in Coulsdon! It is an ignorant man's view that Coulsdon is "plagued" by religion (there is no law in Coulsdon that forces people to go to the churches!) - I am sure every town has churches....doesn't it? The churches work well together in the community and I can assure "Donna Ferentes" that there is nothing sinister about Coulsdon Christian Fellowship - actually he knows nothing about us as a church. I am a member, but he has chosen to link issues in the chess world that he does not understand or know enough about to comment (we run a huge chess club - the best in the country - but don't link the activity to the church) and has been bitter ever since. A shame! But now you understand the comment on his profile.
Now now children, play nicely, like you would when playing chess :)
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