The way Bexleyheath has deteriorated over the last 10-15 years It is on taget to be on top of everyones list in 2015! I travel the country daily and my first 10 places to close down and delete it from the A-Z would be: This.....
Ken - I passed along Bexleyheath Broadway for the first time ever a few weeks ago, on a walk down Watling Street from Welling to Dartford. While there are many far worse places in Britain, I was astonished by one of the most crass pieces of modern architecture I have seen anywhere: the Asda store. It is a huge, featureless, monstrous lump, muscling in to the sightlines of the thoroughfare. The black plasticky cladding almost literally sucks the light out of the street.
They are building a tesco where the civic offices are and then completely redeveloping the Woolwich building into new civic offices and new houses behind it.
From the pictures is looks nice, but what effect it will have on the broadway shops i dont know.
First sign of a shit hole is the number of pound shops the place has. Bexleyheaths number is increasing all the time.
Having read through this I can't ever see myself moving to London, seems to be many a shitehole area. Think I'll stay up north with the cleaner air and cheaper prices.
Cheaper areas = better places to live?
Sadly not. Cheap up here means horrendous shitty areas. You've seen Shameless right? I'll just stick to York then.
York, very nice but i bet a nice house there aint that far behind London.
It looks so clean, I'll give 6 months and it will revert back to the state its in now. Without free parking and lots of it, these places will find very hard to be anything more than they are now.
You are right. I'd love to live in York but can't afford it. I have to commute there from over 30 miles away.
Too true. Prices in York are way out of the reach of most first-time buyers. My daughter has no chance of getting on the property ladder here. Rents are crazy too.
Eltham, welling, Gravesend, Dartford, Grays, Basildon, Dagenham all fall in similar brackets of disrepair but they all are near to out of town developments that have swallowed the councils planning budget for infrastructure.
That's very offensive to Eltham putting them in the same sentence as those dumps.
So, which town is the lead at the moment?! I don't think I have any new ones, but agree with whoever has mentioned:- Erith (even though I live there, though not near war torn West Street or Frobisher Road fortunately) Bexleyheath - agree that this has gone very downhill over the years; I recommend a tour of Asda and Primark on a Saturday afternoon... Dartford - the actual town centre with loads of shops boarded up and people rummaging down bins Swanley - Coventry - a very depressing place Pitsea
the caves that we used to go into not sure if there were anymore
were underneath st peters school you used to access them from Anglesea rd behind the old wooded bit and all the way the edge of the school grounds in the far corner was a crack and you used to be able to go inside and into the caves
Ah thanks nla - I just remember my old father in law who was from Plumstead talking about caves and how people sheltered in them during the war, but he was unsure exactly where they were.
that's ok mate there were 3 caves once you got inside the entrance , 1 of them you would have to have been a real skinny fecka to get into , when I was 10 I was a skinny arse but I couldn't get into that one it seemed as though it had been blocked up , the other 2 were very wide and went a fair way down and back , but you always felt the closed one went somewhere you wernt ever meant to go to as a kid it was the entrance to the devils home , but it was more likely it was too dangerous
they wernt like Chislehurst caves they were lower and for a long way into them you had to duck down until kit opened up at the end,
Plumstead Micky (above) asks which town is in the lead for this dubious honour. There have been almost 400 contributions to this thread, and I'm tempted to go back and compile a league table. Have a feeling Luton is going to be "there or thereabouts"!
yeah it would be but in the current health and safety mad society prob for the best, you used to find the glu sniffers in there back then so god knows who would frequent them now
Can't believe that people have said Plymouth. It does have it's bad bits (North Prospect, St. Budeax) but the city centre, Barbican and the Hoe are all fantastic!.
Luton has to be number one by default. It really is a shithole so I make it a battle for runner-up. And I say that with loads of decaying towns in the north near me.
Kensington High St I can confirm has no pound shops.
Bexleyheath town centre is all right, typical for suburbs, Dartford's is run down, especially the Tesco blighted bit of Lowfield Street, but Central Park is still nice, the new athletics track is good and there's the new football ground as well.
sadly agree. Not forgetting SOUTHWARK, TOWER HAMLETS and anything in London to be honest.
Disagree, much of Southwark is miles better than it used to be, Borough market is very popular, and the area down to Elephant is becoming popular due to its proximity to the City
For real run down areas (apart from a few exceptions), I suspect you have to head oop north, where unemployment is far worse
Eltham, welling, Gravesend, Dartford, Grays, Basildon, Dagenham all fall in similar brackets of disrepair but they all are near to out of town developments that have swallowed the councils planning budget for infrastructure.
That's very offensive to Eltham putting them in the same sentence as those dumps.
Agree and a bit harsh on Gravesend and Dartford to.
Bexleyheath town centre is all right, typical for suburbs....... Well you are entitled to your opinion Killer and flash, but as it is my nearest shopping centre, it has a lot to answer for.? The recent pedestrian walkway is a mess, the car drivers are unsure and the pedestrians are baffled? ....see new shopper Why does the council need a new civic centre, why could it not be refurbished? Personally speaking Asda is not my cup of tea, and as for the architecture? Mind you, one ex councillor wanted Danson House to fall down, a few years ago, so that gives a idea of these 'dickheads' idea of civic and community buildings? I appreciate that the high street is not what it was, and the advent of the internet has made them viewing windows to go home and buy it cheaper?. That is why it takes enterprise and vision, and hard work. Not road closures, and dull shops. What about a farmers market?, Arts and craft fair, Garden festival, Food festival, etc , etc. You could even have free parking at the broadway for 3 hours?...... I know it is easy to make cheap pot shots at Bexleyheath, but the 'planners' have got most things wrong, on most occassions. Frankly I feel rather sad that an ordinary town centre is reduced to nail bars, and poundshops, this race to the bottom will lead to a waste land of commercial\retail closures?. And the community will be the poorer. But the council staff will have a nice new premises, I doubt if the quality of service matches it? As you can see I am not a fan of the council
Tell you what, Dover is a shout. Cycling through there on the London To Paris ride I was struck by just what a shithole it is. I haven't been there for about 25 years - I don't remember it being nearly as bad as that. The street just looked to be full of people who had snuck into the town on a lorry and decided, for some odd reason, to stay there!
Can't believe that people have said Plymouth. It does have it's bad bits (North Prospect, St. Budeax) but the city centre, Barbican and the Hoe are all fantastic!.
You can add the Royal William Yard to that list.
While there's still plenty of grotty areas, some parts of Plymouth have improved out of all recognition, compared to 15 years ago.
Eltham, welling, Gravesend, Dartford, Grays, Basildon, Dagenham all fall in similar brackets of disrepair but they all are near to out of town developments that have swallowed the councils planning budget for infrastructure.
That's very offensive to Eltham putting them in the same sentence as those dumps.
Nah it is not a fantastic place, on a par with welling and Dartford. An endearing feature is its proximity to the a2 and the valley.
It has a lovely pub just by argos though, the park tavern?
Comments
From the pictures is looks nice, but what effect it will have on the broadway shops i dont know.
First sign of a shit hole is the number of pound shops the place has. Bexleyheaths number is increasing all the time.
Without free parking and lots of it, these places will find very hard to be anything more than they are now.
Greater Manchester
Can't pick a nice place out of any of them areas...
Luton
Bradford
Deptford
Woolwich
Middlesbrough
Dover
Margate
Ayr
Wrexham
What will it look like once it is done up?
I don't think I have any new ones, but agree with whoever has mentioned:-
Erith (even though I live there, though not near war torn West Street or Frobisher Road fortunately)
Bexleyheath - agree that this has gone very downhill over the years; I recommend a tour of Asda and Primark on a Saturday afternoon...
Dartford - the actual town centre with loads of shops boarded up and people rummaging down bins
Swanley -
Coventry - a very depressing place
Pitsea
That's right NLA - no chance the council would have left those caves open in this day and age. (I sound a bit old saying that!).
hull
Bexleyheath town centre is all right, typical for suburbs, Dartford's is run down, especially the Tesco blighted bit of Lowfield Street, but Central Park is still nice, the new athletics track is good and there's the new football ground as well. Disagree, much of Southwark is miles better than it used to be, Borough market is very popular, and the area down to Elephant is becoming popular due to its proximity to the City
For real run down areas (apart from a few exceptions), I suspect you have to head oop north, where unemployment is far worse
http://www.subg.org.uk/2012/07/29/turpins-cave-plumstead/
Well you are entitled to your opinion Killer and flash, but as it is my nearest shopping centre, it has a lot to answer for.?
The recent pedestrian walkway is a mess, the car drivers are unsure and the pedestrians are baffled? ....see new shopper
Why does the council need a new civic centre, why could it not be refurbished?
Personally speaking Asda is not my cup of tea, and as for the architecture?
Mind you, one ex councillor wanted Danson House to fall down, a few years ago, so that gives a idea of these 'dickheads' idea of civic and community buildings?
I appreciate that the high street is not what it was, and the advent of the internet has made them viewing windows to go home and buy it cheaper?. That is why it takes enterprise and vision, and hard work. Not road closures, and dull shops. What about a farmers market?, Arts and craft fair, Garden festival, Food festival, etc , etc.
You could even have free parking at the broadway for 3 hours?......
I know it is easy to make cheap pot shots at Bexleyheath, but the 'planners' have got most things wrong, on most occassions. Frankly I feel rather sad that an ordinary town centre is reduced to nail bars, and poundshops, this race to the bottom will lead to a waste land of commercial\retail closures?. And the community will be the poorer.
But the council staff will have a nice new premises, I doubt if the quality of service matches it?
As you can see I am not a fan of the council
This thread is funny , but too depressing if you get my drift.
While there's still plenty of grotty areas, some parts of Plymouth have improved out of all recognition, compared to 15 years ago.
It has a lovely pub just by argos though, the park tavern?