# The great suburban/commuter towns of SE England



## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

why is this in 'london'?


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

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>


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> <insert coolies>



rascist


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

sevenoaks.

redhill.

guildford.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Yes. But what about them?


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

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!!!


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Fuzzy said:
			
		

> sutton
> croydon
> coulsdon
> bromley
> ...




Jesus christ.. yes I wasn't asking for a list of names..


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> Jesus christ.. yes I wasn't asking for a list of names..



sorry have been back in and edited.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)




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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

chelsfield
petts wood
farnborough


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> 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?


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

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?


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

bristle-krs said:
			
		

> chelsfield
> petts wood
> farnborough



I despair of this place.. the membership goes up.. the quality goes down.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

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..


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

orpington


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

paulhackett66 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

bristle-krs said:
			
		

> petts wood



Every time I hear that name I think of Shirley and her amazing pubic hair.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Right.  Pett's Wood currently winning. <cool>


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

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


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> 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


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

bristle-krs said:
			
		

> 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


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

paulhackett66 said:
			
		

> 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?


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## lang rabbie (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

paulhackett66 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> 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?


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> Given the alternatives.. and I've alot of time for Griff.



This thread has gone all Eurovision.. hidden agendas and aged bias


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

bristle-krs said:
			
		

> what, because i like orpington?



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


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

I only saw Petts Wood station, Shirley picked me up and dropped me off in her Micra.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Good enough for me.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

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


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

paulhackett66 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Griff said:
			
		

> 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


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Griff said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

bristle-krs said:
			
		

> sutton: lunatic one-way system, chain bars and cheesy discos.



least the one way system keeps all the ch*** in one place encircled.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Still hoping for some feedback on the M4 corridor.


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 10, 2005)

Why? All there is, is Slough, Reading and Maidenhead.

I once slept overnight in a multistorey car park in Maidenhead.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Great idea for a thread.


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> 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.   

Very funny night.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Griff said:
			
		

> 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.
> 
> Very funny night.



Did you keep yourself warm by Dipping Roger in Petts Wood?


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

paulhackett66 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Griff said:
			
		

> inside the doorway of a Chinese take-away



Not another of your mucky euphemisms?


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## Gavin Bl (Aug 10, 2005)

A shamelful lack of Sussex towns here, hows about

Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Uckfield, Lewes

Ah, the hits just keep on comin'


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

Gavin Bl said:
			
		

> 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


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## art of fact (Aug 10, 2005)

Surbiton is a big commuter town and probably has best links to London in Surrey(probably because it is close to London   ). You can get a fast train into Waterloo in 15 minutes.


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## Explorer (Aug 10, 2005)

what about Southend, Basildon, Laindon? All the lovely Essex towns


all utterly awful


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

art of fact said:
			
		

> Surbiton is a big commuter town and probably has best links to London in Surrey(probably because it is close to London   ). 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


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## art of fact (Aug 10, 2005)

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.


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## paulhackett (Aug 10, 2005)

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


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

*throws wobbly*

*knocks over table*

*sees ashtray spilled all over the shag*

*counts matches*


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## deja_vu (Aug 10, 2005)

Explorer said:
			
		

> what about Southend, Basildon, Laindon? All the lovely Essex towns
> 
> 
> all utterly awful



I second that!


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## Griff (Aug 10, 2005)

There are parts of Southend that aren't bad, but as far as the other two go...


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## Fuzzy (Aug 10, 2005)

art of fact said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

Some comparative train times:

Liverpool st - Harlow - ave 30 mins  
Kings cross - Stevenage - ave 20 mins   
Warterloo - Staines - ave 30-40 mins   
Paddington - Slough - ave 20 mins.


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## art of fact (Aug 10, 2005)

Fuzzy said:
			
		

> 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?


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

To be perfectly honest, I'm rather disapointed with the quality of infomation gleaned from this thread. Oh well.


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## zenie (Aug 10, 2005)

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.   

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.


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## DaveCinzano (Aug 10, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> To be perfectly honest, I'm rather disapointed with the quality of infomation gleaned from this thread. Oh well.



ingrate


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## art of fact (Aug 10, 2005)

zenie said:
			
		

> 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.


yeah innit.


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## davesgcr (Aug 10, 2005)

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" ......


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## Hollis (Aug 10, 2005)

I bet its expensive though.


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## marty21 (Aug 10, 2005)

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


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## Callie (Aug 10, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> 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


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## butterfly child (Aug 10, 2005)

zenie said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Hollis (Aug 11, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## marty21 (Aug 11, 2005)

Hollis said:
			
		

> 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


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 11, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Truly Topcat (Aug 11, 2005)

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.


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## Derian (Aug 11, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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?)


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## Truly Topcat (Aug 11, 2005)

Derian said:
			
		

> 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.


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 11, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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...


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## Truly Topcat (Aug 11, 2005)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> 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....


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## Derian (Aug 11, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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?


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 11, 2005)

It's got three stations, albeit two of them serve the Reading to Redhill line rather than London.


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## Derian (Aug 11, 2005)

Sounds OK then. All I'd add is... don't do Betchworth if reliant on trains.


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## boing! (Aug 12, 2005)

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.


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## Gavin Bl (Aug 12, 2005)

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.


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## Gavin Bl (Aug 12, 2005)

> 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?


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 12, 2005)

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.


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## Gavin Bl (Aug 12, 2005)

I meant the proper line, from Brighton!


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## Donna Ferentes (Aug 12, 2005)

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.


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## marty21 (Aug 12, 2005)

what about milton keynes, what's that like then?


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## Gavin Bl (Aug 12, 2005)

> 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!


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## Zinedine* (Aug 12, 2005)

Explorer said:
			
		

> 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!


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## Streathamite (Aug 13, 2005)

davesgcr said:
			
		

> 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!!!


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## davesgcr (Aug 13, 2005)

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.


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## marty21 (Aug 13, 2005)

and then there's  northampton, do people commute from there?, or from corby, or kettering?

hollis wants to know


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## lang rabbie (Aug 13, 2005)

*Croydon - valley of the crocuses ?!?*




			
				Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> 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"


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## davesgcr (Aug 13, 2005)

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 ?)


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## Callie (Aug 13, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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


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## upsidedownwalrus (Aug 14, 2005)

Fuzzy said:
			
		

> sutton
> croydon
> coulsdon
> bromley
> ...



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...


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## Callie (Aug 14, 2005)

You know people in Sutton who go to squat parties?  blimey - do you know if they ever drink in Sutton? Im trying to find a half decent drinkery!


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## marty21 (Aug 14, 2005)

i know that people commute from bath, maybe bristol as well....and i used to know someone who commuted to london from birmingham...


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## Jairzinho (Aug 17, 2005)

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 (Aug 17, 2005)

It's nice in that villagey bit with the church, near the football ground.


----------



## Truly Topcat (Aug 17, 2005)

It was a little harsh naming Coulsdon there!


----------



## Derian (Aug 18, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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 (Aug 19, 2005)

Truly Topcat said:
			
		

> 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 (Aug 19, 2005)

Zinedine* said:
			
		

> 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.
> 
> ...




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 (Aug 20, 2005)

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 (Aug 26, 2005)

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 (Aug 27, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> 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...
> 
> ...



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.


----------



## Callie (Aug 27, 2005)

See I lived in Croydon for many years and to my family it was the thrupenny (threepenny) bit building, 50p buildings a crap name


----------



## Harold Hill (Aug 28, 2005)

Echo Base said:
			
		

> 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 (Aug 28, 2005)

davesgcr said:
			
		

> 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 (Aug 28, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> 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 (Sep 3, 2005)

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 (Sep 4, 2005)

Gavin Bl said:
			
		

> 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.


----------



## jayeola (Sep 4, 2005)

please dont say watford!!!


----------



## Defend Coulsdon (Nov 1, 2007)

*Defending Coulsdon*

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.


----------



## Callie (Nov 1, 2007)

Now now children, play nicely, like you would when playing chess


----------



## Hollis (Sep 21, 2019)

Any updates appreciated... Got the train back from Cambridge today - Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth seem to all have the advantage of being relatively cheap and 30-40 minutes train to London... Any thoughts?


----------



## ska invita (Sep 22, 2019)

Hollis said:


> Any updates appreciated... Got the train back from Cambridge today - Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth seem to all have the advantage of being relatively cheap and 30-40 minutes train to London... Any thoughts?


Hitchin is the 'nicest' of them...pretty market town and used to have a lively drug scene so wasnt totally bland. Supported a rave record shop or even two in the 90s.
Letchworth, a garden city, kind of good looking in a drab arts and craftsy way, but its deeply boring
Stevenage, closest to London, bigger, new town so has that new town concrete town centre thing, used to have a heroin problem...have heard its 'better' these days. Doubt it tbh

If had to pick one it would be Hitchin. Id guess its the most expensive of the three?

Biggleswade is really boring too. Some nice spots outside these towns though if you like a bit cuntryside.

*all based on going up that way/knowing some people a fair bit in the 90s/early 00s, so may be out of date a bit


----------



## goldenecitrone (Sep 22, 2019)

Hollis said:


> Any updates appreciated... Got the train back from Cambridge today - Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth seem to all have the advantage of being relatively cheap and 30-40 minutes train to London... Any thoughts?



Don't do it! Your mortgage may thank you, but your soul will die.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 22, 2019)

Hollis said:


> Any updates appreciated... Got the train back from Cambridge today - Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth seem to all have the advantage of being relatively cheap and 30-40 minutes train to London... Any thoughts?



I like that you’re still deliberating on this 14 years later 

I too liked the look of some of the towns along the route to Cambridge. Saffron Walden? Looks nice but never been. I know someone there though. Never. I know nothing much about most of the stops but they all mostly look pretty.

I’m from Wiltshire just west of the commuter belt through Hungerford, Newbury etc. Been getting the South Western route from Waterloo to Reading recently and wondering about a lot of those towns along the way. Ascot, Sunningdale, Bracknell etc never stuck me as a noteworthy places but there’s pockets of places which look ok.

Reading which I know well as my family are all from there just seems more drab by the year. Have no intention of living there.

Swindon is another one. I’d have to be massively incentivised to think about living in. Never liked it.


----------



## chilango (Sep 22, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> I’m from Wiltshire just west of the commuter belt through Hungerford, Newbury etc. Been getting the South Western route from Waterloo to Reading recently and wondering about a lot of those towns along the way. Ascot, Sunningdale, Bracknell etc never stuck me as a noteworthy places but there’s pockets of places which look ok.
> 
> Reading which I know well as my family are all from there just seems more drab by the year. Have no intention of living there.
> 
> Swindon is another one. I’d have to be massively incentivised to think about living in. Never liked it.



Ascot = Posh and dull.
Sunningdale = Posh and dull.
Bracknell = Makes Reading seem ex iting and vibrant.

It's all shit. Dull, expensive, convenience shit.


----------



## chilango (Sep 22, 2019)

Reading.

Two Nandos and one Milk Cup.


----------



## chilango (Sep 22, 2019)

It's about to get a third Nandos though tbf.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 22, 2019)

Nando’s is the most overrated chain restaurant ever.


----------



## mx wcfc (Sep 22, 2019)

chilango said:


> Reading.
> 
> Two Nandos and one Milk Cup.


One _Simod _Cup.


----------



## dessiato (Sep 22, 2019)

I like Rickmansworth. Small town feel with quick and easy access to central London.


----------



## chilango (Sep 22, 2019)

mx wcfc said:


> One _Simod _Cup.



Yeah. Pride of place in the town museum next to some rusty old biscuit tins.

Doesn't scan to that stupid England chant though.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 22, 2019)

dessiato said:


> I like Rickmansworth. Small town feel with quick and easy access to central London.



Very expensive I suspect?

I think the "cheap places" all seem to be post-war First Wave new towns.

There is also the Thames corridor - Slough, Staines... but I guess that's getting near Heathrow flight paths...


----------



## Hollis (Sep 22, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> I like that you’re still deliberating on this 14 years later
> 
> 
> Swindon is another one. I’d have to be massively incentivised to think about living in. Never liked it.



Yeah - being also from the West Country, Swindon and Reading do make a lot of sense... Swindon's actually only an hour from London..


----------



## Hollis (Sep 22, 2019)

Done a quick check and Slough, Stevenage, Staines and Bracknell all have branches of Nandos... So that's not much good as a deal breaker.


----------



## Supine (Sep 22, 2019)

Today I got a rail replacement bus that went Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham. They were all shit.


----------



## mx wcfc (Sep 22, 2019)

Hollis said:


> Done a quick check and Slough, Stevenage, Staines and Bracknell all have branches of Nandos... So that's not much good as a deal breaker.


Yeah, but, Staines isn't just Staines anymore, it's Staines-_upon-Thames_ now.

What that actually means these days is "Staines-possibly-liable-to-flooding", but I'm sure no one pointed that out.


----------



## stavros (Sep 22, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> Saffron Walden? Looks nice but never been. I know someone there though. Never. I know nothing much about most of the stops but they all mostly look pretty.



Saffron Walden is extremely expensive, and doesn't have a station in the town. Wendens Ambo station is about a mile from town, with decent links to Cambridge and London, but without a particularly friendly walking infrastructure.

I may be right in saying it's one of the Tory-est places in Essex too, which is saying something.


----------



## hash tag (Sep 22, 2019)

dessiato said:


> I like Rickmansworth. Small town feel with quick and easy access to central London.



Went to The White Bear last night (first time in rickmansworth). They had a good Indian menu and Indian which was well above average for a pub. Would go back


----------



## not-bono-ever (Sep 22, 2019)

stavros said:


> Saffron Walden is extremely expensive, and doesn't have a station in the town. Wendens Ambo station is about a mile from town, with decent links to Cambridge and London, but without a particularly friendly walking infrastructure.
> 
> I may be right in saying it's one of the Tory-est places in Essex too, which is saying something.



got friends who moved out there a while ago- they are well settled. the train ride into London is a slog & £ if yer a commuter. parking at station needed- the town itself is OK if you like that sort of thing - sems to have a decent community going on with a cinema for eg, well tory though.Decent school ( though the amout of dope smoking and teen pregancies does to seeem to be a bit of an odd outlier for such a place)  An inordinate amount of coppers seem to live there- but to no obvious detriment (weed being grown in gardens doesnt warrant a poke from the next door coppers). Trout river on the doorstep of thats yer bag. Not for me but I can see the attraction if you want a quiet strighforward life. I think one urbaner lives there but am not going to tag him.


----------



## Bahnhof Strasse (Sep 28, 2019)

If you are not going to live in London then you should really consider being outside the M25. Places like Staines are being swallowed up by London with all the crappy traffic etc.

Many places outside are still a quick ride in to Town, 40 minutes from Guildford to Waterloo, for example, yet have decent countryside on the doorstep.


----------



## hash tag (Sep 28, 2019)

There is of course the green belt, which is not ideal but will protect against some of the growth. Some is inside M25 Metropolitan Green Belt - Wikipedia


----------



## Griff (Sep 28, 2019)

Over the course of this thread I lived just outside Saffron Walden for a few years. Small villiage, Newport. Liked it at first but Cambridge was the only place that paid enough and there were surprisingly few job opportunities. For me anyway. 

The quaintness wore off as it seemed more and more of a commuter town. Independent shops went, chains moved in and driving into town became a bastard as more and more houses were built. 

Moved back to East London three years back and for all its faults I far prefer it to the greenery of North Essex. 

We also get far more wildlife in our garden than in the country.


----------



## stavros (Sep 29, 2019)

I always wondered how Newport, over 30 miles from the coast, got its name. Wikipedia tells me that "port" meant "market" in Saxon times.


----------



## hash tag (Sep 29, 2019)

Saves confusing it with Newmarket I suppose.


----------



## Griff (Sep 30, 2019)

Funnily enough, you didn't really get the 'Tory' feel living there. It felt much more 'Liberal' if that makes sense. 

 Saffron Screen cinema in the local high school, very cool little pace showing independent films. Saffron Screen -

Strange, though but I (my wife says the same thing) really don't miss the place at all. Having a succession of knobhead neighbours in the final years didn't help either.
One went completely against planning permission and built a conservatory in a conservation area that resembled a Porta-cabin. Cunt. The council came down THREE times and were 'appalled' by it THREE times and did fuck all.  

Lost it with the neighbour one morning after this had been going on for a few months, and thankfully never really saw him after that, he went back to Australia. Next thing we knew the house had been sold and some bloke wih a big nose, and noisy wife and dog were moving in. 

Glad to be back in London.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 5, 2020)

Hollis said:


> Any updates appreciated... Got the train back from Cambridge today - Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth seem to all have the advantage of being relatively cheap and 30-40 minutes train to London... Any thoughts?



Thought I'd turn fantasy into reality today and took a day-trip to Letchworth Garden City and Stevenage.   

Letchworth - twee, some nice buildings/houses - but dull.  

Stevenage town centre was just depressing for all the wrong reasons..  Though they're apparently spending £350m to redevelop it.,and £1bn over the next 20 years.. 

Of the two I'd probably opt for Stevenage.. 

All in all, coming back to London, Finsbury Park felt so full of 'life' in comparison.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 5, 2020)

Hollis said:


> Thought I'd turn fantasy into reality today and took a day-trip to Letchworth Garden City and Stevenage.



Mi vida loca, tu vida loca


----------



## Doodler (Sep 7, 2020)

St Alban's: prosperous and very very bland. Went there for drinks last year with some friends, never again.

On a brighter note, Uxbridge has a beautiful period tube station and something resembling street life with buskers, religious cranks and even political canvassers/paper sellers.


----------



## tim (Sep 7, 2020)

DaveCinzano said:


> 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.



Sutton has  a the Wizard Man of Sutton, who makes up for some of the other stuff just my wandering the streets . I hope he is still around


----------



## smmudge (Sep 7, 2020)

Wasn't there also a guy who walked around Sutton who said he was Jesus and gave people money? Or is that the same guy rebranded?


----------



## DaveCinzano (Sep 7, 2020)

smmudge said:


> said he was Jesus and gave people money?



I'm pretty sure that when he has cash Jesus saves


----------



## hash tag (Sep 7, 2020)

Doodler said:


> St Alban's: prosperous and very very bland. Went there for drinks last year with some friends, never again.
> 
> On a brighter note, Uxbridge has a beautiful period tube station and something resembling street life with buskers, religious cranks and even political canvassers/paper sellers.


I dont know much about St Albans but Ye Olde Fightings Cocks is one of our oldest pubs. On the way down to it you can go past the Cathedral which I have a soft spot for.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 12, 2020)

Harlow this afternoon.  Grim as fuck.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 12, 2020)

This was meant to be the town centre.


----------



## fishfinger (Sep 12, 2020)

Hollis said:


> This was meant to be the town centre.View attachment 230115


Hasn't changed much in the last 50 years.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 12, 2020)

The Queen visited above square in 1957:



On a positive note the place has excellent cycle/walking paths...

Excellent blog post on all things Harlow here:

Harlow New Town: ‘Too good to be true’?


----------



## Artaxerxes (Sep 12, 2020)

Had to go the hospital at Harlow a year or so ago. Walked around trying to get the bus back.

Grim. as. fuck.

Decent paths as noted though.


----------



## stavros (Sep 13, 2020)

Artaxerxes said:


> Had to go the hospital at Harlow a year or so ago. Walked around trying to get the bus back.
> 
> Grim. as. fuck.
> 
> Decent paths as noted though.



The hospital is likely to be moved in the coming years out towards the M11.


----------



## killer b (Sep 13, 2020)

Hollis said:


> This was meant to be the town centre.View attachment 230115


Let down by lack of upkeep and imagination with newer bits of the infrastructure, but otherwise looks like a decent enough town square. What's your beef?


----------



## hash tag (Sep 13, 2020)

We passed through Beaconsfield today. Its well connected by road and rail, it has a good selection of shops. The old town looked very pretty. It looked like it had affordable places to live and others that were off the scale. It sits on the edge of the Chilterns, close to Colne Valley all of which is very pretty.


----------



## souljacker (Sep 13, 2020)

hash tag said:


> We passed through Beaconsfield today. Its well connected by road and rail, it has a good selection of shops. The old town looked very pretty. It looked like it had affordable places to live and others that were off the scale. It sits on the edge of the Chilterns, close to Colne Valley all of which is very pretty.



Fantastic model village too.


----------



## davesgcr (Sep 13, 2020)

What do people think of Hemel Hempstead - one of the early "New Towns" - well an extension of an existing places. (Boxmoor) - it has a few sketchy bits , but I think it is overall OK - with a good mix of housing in terms of flats  and housing and normal Herts road traffic excepted (some of those magic roundabouts) , has a green vibe , and good canal and railway links.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 13, 2020)

killer b said:


> Let down by lack of upkeep and imagination with newer bits of the infrastructure, but otherwise looks like a decent enough town square. What's your beef?



I'm commenting on what I saw, not what it was planned to be, or what it could be... and it really was grim...   They are wanting to invest £25m under some govenment high streets initiative - to revitalise it with new shops/dining spaces etc and I wish them well.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2020)

Artaxerxes said:


> Had to go the hospital at Harlow a year or so ago. Walked around trying to get the bus back.
> 
> Grim. as. fuck.
> 
> Decent paths as noted though.



I was born in Harlow hospital.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Sep 13, 2020)

SpookyFrank said:


> I was born in Harlow hospital.



Reading one of those blogs posted above a hell of a lot of people were.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 13, 2020)

Artaxerxes said:


> Reading one of those blogs posted above a hell of a lot of people were.



At the time it was the main hospital for a pretty big area.


----------



## MrCurry (Sep 14, 2020)

Hollis said:


> I'm still looking for some Slough feedback.



Slough is on an upwards trajectory now:


They‘ve got rid of the iconic bus station roundabout, immortalised in the opening credits of The Office.
Rail journey times to Canary Wharf will be slashed to 25 mins when Crossrail opens in around fifteen years from now*
And also [insert third pointlessly optimistic, practically useless Slough advantage here]

Ok, let’s go with Tesco. They have the largest Tesco in the universe, or something like that.

* This is of course a joke.  Crossrail will never be finished.


----------



## Hollis (Sep 22, 2020)

Stumbled across this on iplayer...by Colin Ward ... first 20 minutes are on Harlow... great for late 70s nostalgia.. 

New Town, Home Town


----------



## mx wcfc (Sep 22, 2020)

Hollis said:


> Stumbled across this on iplayer...by Colin Ward ... first 20 minutes are on Harlow... great for late 70s nostalgia..
> 
> New Town, Home Town


Harlow is also, of course, home of the Newtown Neurotics.



(tbf, he leaves Harlow, in the third line of the song (and yes, it is a rip off of Solitary Confinement)


----------



## Hollis (Oct 3, 2020)

Welwyn Garden City today... by a country mile the poshest of the towns I've visited.  M&S, John Lewis, Waterstones... rather posh shopping centre.  Not sure there is much else there... Nice town park.


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2020)

I visited Tolworth today. It was pretty grim.


----------



## two sheds (Oct 3, 2020)

Hollis said:


> Welwyn Garden City today... by a country mile the poshest of the towns I've visited.  M&S, John Lewis, Waterstones... rather posh shopping centre.  Not sure there is much else there... Nice town park.



Used to go there regularly - I'll swear I remember there being no pubs there because of the founder's wishes but I can't see that in Wiki and there seem to be loads there now.



> Welwyn Garden City was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1920 following his previous experiment in Letchworth Garden City. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. The Garden Cities and Town Planning Association had defined a garden city as
> 
> "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community"[3]



Welwyn's nice and I lived for a while just outside Tewin which is a sweet little village. Hertfordshire is greatly underrated for countryside, loved my time there.


----------



## two sheds (Oct 3, 2020)

also lived in East Grinstead - there and Forest Row have the highest proportion of weirdoes of any town bar Glastonbury and possibly Totnes. Forest Row is full of anthropops, sweet people but veh strange


----------



## DaveCinzano (Oct 3, 2020)

two sheds said:


> also lived in East Grinstead - there and Forest Row have the highest proportion of weirdoes of any town bar Glastonbury and possibly Totnes. Forest Row is full of anthropops, sweet people but veh strange


Good camp site though


----------



## Hollis (Oct 3, 2020)

two sheds said:


> Used to go there regularly - I'll swear I remember there being no pubs there because of the founder's wishes but I can't see that in Wiki and there seem to be loads there now.
> 
> 
> Welwyn's nice and I lived for a while just outside Tewin which is a sweet little village. Hertfordshire is greatly underrated for countryside, loved my time there.



There are 2 pubs there now around the town centre - a Greene King one, dunno what the other is like... seem to more outside the centre.   I'm wondering what Hatfield is like now... I figure less posh than Welwyn..


----------



## existentialist (Oct 4, 2020)

editor said:


> I visited Tolworth today. It was pretty grim.


Obviously hasn't improved since I left in 1988 ,then.

What on earth brought you to Tolworth - there's nothing there!


----------



## maomao (Oct 4, 2020)

6 page thread on commuter towns and only one mention of Romford. 

Our new (well, pre corona) town centre rejuvenation slogan is 'Romford is like your mum'. I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or not. My preference would have been 'Romford, it's not quite as bad as you think'.


----------



## editor (Oct 4, 2020)

existentialist said:


> Obviously hasn't improved since I left in 1988 ,then.
> 
> What on earth brought you to Tolworth - there's nothing there!


The mighty Dulwich Hamlet!









						In photos: Dulwich Hamlet FA Cup victory over Corinthian Casuals (after penalties), Sat 3rd October 2020
					

We’ll have a full match report later, but here’s photos from Dulwich Hamlet’s victory at Corinthian Casuals today in the FA Cup 2nd Round Qualifying match. Twice Hamlet came from …



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2020)

maomao said:


> My preference would have been 'Romford, it's not quite as bad as you think'.



inspired by Birmingham: It's Not Shit — It's really not. ?


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## stavros (Oct 4, 2020)

maomao said:


> 6 page thread on commuter towns and only one mention of Romford.



Can you count is as a commuter town? It's part of the London Borough of Havering.


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## mx wcfc (Oct 4, 2020)

stavros said:


> Can you count is as a commuter town? It's part of the London Borough of Havering.


A colleague of mine commutes from Romford to Reading.  or did before this shit. She's happy, I bet.


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## maomao (Oct 4, 2020)

mx wcfc said:


> A colleague of mine commutes from Romford to Reading.  or did before this shit. She's happy, I bet.


She must be fucked off about Crossrail taking this long. She'll be able to do it in a mere two hours when they open it.



stavros said:


> Can you count is as a commuter town? It's part of the London Borough of Havering.


Most of the commuter towns on this thread are in London boroughs! Staines isn't even a real place! What have you got against Romford?


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## mx wcfc (Oct 4, 2020)

maomao said:


> She must be fucked off about Crossrail taking this long. She'll be able to do it in a mere two hours when they open it.
> 
> 
> Most of the commuter towns on this thread are in London boroughs! Staines isn't even a real place! What have you got against Romford?


I have nothing against Romford.

Staines is now Staines _on Thames_, I'll have you know.  "Wasteground by the Thames" sounds so much better.


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## stavros (Oct 5, 2020)

maomao said:


> Most of the commuter towns on this thread are in London boroughs! Staines isn't even a real place! What have you got against Romford?



Nothing whatsoever. I don't think I've ever been there, other than through it on the train.


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## Hollis (Aug 22, 2021)

Afternoon in Hatfield today.   

Dunno how long the Galleria shopping centre has been there?  Its killed of the old town square.

Lots of 1970s houses with white wood.

Visit wasn't helped by timing it just as all the coffee shops were closing.  Glad to leave.


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## Hollis (Aug 22, 2021)

Opened in 1991. Surprised. It has aged well. 

The Galleria, Hatfield - Wikipedia


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## davesgcr (Aug 22, 2021)

Hollis said:


> Afternoon in Hatfield today.
> 
> Dunno how long the Galleria shopping centre has been there?  Its killed of the old town square.
> 
> ...



About 20 years now - it had planning restrictions on the kind of retail to protect nearby Welwyn Garden City , parts of which itself looks a bit tatty retail wise. (but John Lewis has survived) - Hatfield is not the "to go" place in this part of Herts for retail. 

Hatfield has of course the University and shed loads of work on the business park.


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## Hollis (Aug 22, 2021)

Looks like there is some big redevelopment scheme planned for the old town square area.

The development set to transform a Herts town in the next decade


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## OxfordPop (Sep 22, 2021)

I visited Hatfield over the summer, and I've nothing to add to your comments on the place.

However, I did really enjoy my pint in the Comet Hotel pub. Looked like they'd done the place up nicely at some time recently, too.


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