Top 5 decaying seaside towns

[AustrianAndyGull]

Just as a bit of a laugh, (a few of you were having a laugh at Brixham's expense on the terraces on saturday ) but which are your top 5 shittiest seaside places in the uk? Ones which you have maybe been and vowed to never go again or ones which you've been through football and got a shock when you had got there ( like at Fleetwood !)

Mine are as follows:

1. Blackpool
2. Rhyl
3. Fleetwood
4. Cleethorpes
5. Arbroath

[AustrianAndyGull]

I stayed on a caravan park a few miles from Rhyl once and left with 3 days of my holiday still to go!

Blackpool i have NEVER been to and never wish to go as it is crammed to the rafters with hiv.

Fleetwood , went saturday and never again.

Cleethorpes, used to go all the time as a kid, pretty much grew up around there but would i take MY kids back? Not a hope in hell!!

Arbroath, went on a holiday to Scotland and wished i hadn't.

[Scott Brehaut]

1 Jersey
2 Jersey
3 Jersey
4 Jersey
5 Jersey

[AustrianAndyGull]

it can't be THAT bad Scott?

[Scott Brehaut]

Jersey is a ****hole

[stevegull]

At the risk of this becoming another 'cats v tables' scenario, how obscure can this 'top 5' thing get?!

Top 5 teeth in your mouth? "I like the incisor but do also like my molar."

Top 5 light-bulb wattage? "Have always enjoyed the 40W, excellent ambiance."

[GazTheGull]

Top 5 trees you've hugged?

I hugged quite a nice willow once...

[Gullscorer]

Blackpool
Dawlish
Penarth
Teignmouth
Torquay

[ferrarilover]

You saw a different Fleetwood to me, thought it was very pleasant, no kiss me quick hats, a thoroughly pleasant seafront with absolutely nothing to give it away as a seaside town. If you want a festering shit hole of a seaside town, I'm very much afraid that Torquay takes the biscuit. It really is one of the very worst places I've ever been. At the risk of attracting what passes for wit in the Cambgull house ( :na: ),I shall go on to say that it is simply a town full of the dregs of human society. Take a walk through Union Street from end to end and see what I mean, nothing but nutters, freaks, dropouts and losers. On a brief visit recently (though **** knows why, I have absolutely no use for pound shops, cash converters or tourist tat which is ALL Torquay retail has to offer), I saw a bloke in a disabled persons motorised carriage (presuming I'll get done for calling it a spacker carriage) mumbling obscenities to himself as he trundled back and forth along the road. At least a dozen habitual drunks, assorted poor people, grotesquely fat with clothing 4 sizes too small, those with spiders webs tattooed on their necks, girls of 10 with 12 nippers in tow, the obligatory skinheads with Rottweilers on chains, it was bloody awful. Blessed relief was only found when a girl from the Red Cross tried to relieve me of £4/week in aid of their good work.
Add to this the fact that the place is absolutely filthy, and that it offers absolutely nothing in the way of entertainment, and all in all, it's just about the worst place I can imagine. If it weren't for United, and the (hopefully) excellent Castle gym, I'd avoid the place totally. Even their Magistrate's Court is shit, featuring as it does the very worst, least helpful Court staff in the entire country.

Top 5 animal based tweeters anyone? I vote PigeonJon and GusTheFox.

Matt.

[Gullscorer]

So you don't like Torquay, Matt..?

[GazTheGull]

Well I agree with Matt a bit. Although I would be a bit biased here, Torquay is completely commercialised in terms of beaches, the town itsself and the people in it look like they live in council estates. On the other hand, here in North Devon, we have beach towns such as Braunton, Woolacombe, Croyde that are much smaller and much less commercialised (Croyde is a bit) near the beaches; therefore the whole experience of going there is better. Basically, I hate commercialised beach fronts. Newquay is another great example, nice beach but put in the tourism factor and getting people to spend money that they don't really need to spend at the beach and some of the seaside experience is lot. Perrenporth just up/down the road(been ages since I've been there) has a splendid, long beach that has hardly any shops apart from the odd surfing shop for the beach itsself.

Norfolk's coastline towns on the other hand are a shithole. Seals are fine, but the beaches are infested with young children and you have to go on mile/2-mile long walks through marshes to get to them. I never want to go to Blakeney or Stiffkey (real place) or Hunstanston again.

[EmetEdadsBeard]

You saw a different Fleetwood to me, thought it was very pleasant, no kiss me quick hats, a thoroughly pleasant seafront with absolutely nothing to give it away as a seaside town. If you want a festering sh*t hole of a seaside town, I'm very much afraid that Torquay takes the biscuit. It really is one of the very worst places I've ever been. At the risk of attracting what passes for wit in the Cambgull house ( :na: ),I shall go on to say that it is simply a town full of the dregs of human society. Take a walk through Union Street from end to end and see what I mean, nothing but nutters, freaks, dropouts and losers. On a brief visit recently (though f**k knows why, I have absolutely no use for pound shops, cash converters or tourist tat which is ALL Torquay retail has to offer), I saw a bloke in a disabled persons motorised carriage (presuming I'll get done for calling it a spacker carriage) mumbling obscenities to himself as he trundled back and forth along the road. At least a dozen habitual drunks, assorted poor people, grotesquely fat with clothing 4 sizes too small, those with spiders webs tattooed on their necks, girls of 10 with 12 nippers in tow, the obligatory skinheads with Rottweilers on chains, it was bloody awful. Blessed relief was only found when a girl from the Red Cross tried to relieve me of £4/week in aid of their good work.
Add to this the fact that the place is absolutely filthy, and that it offers absolutely nothing in the way of entertainment, and all in all, it's just about the worst place I can imagine. If it weren't for United, and the (hopefully) excellent Castle gym, I'd avoid the place totally. Even their Magistrate's Court is sh*t, featuring as it does the very worst, least helpful Court staff in the entire country.

Top 5 animal based tweeters anyone? I vote PigeonJon and GusTheFox.

Matt.

Agree with that Matt, but when describing Torquay you have also described Blackpool (only its about 5 times worse) Cleethorpes, Bridlington, Skegness, Newquay, Rhyl, Great Yarmouth et al. And they're just the ones I've visited in recent years.
Went to Brid 2 weeks ago for the day and the dog turned her nose up at it, Cleethorpes (last summer) is dead (but the dog loved the walk), Great Yarmouth ffs? As we walked down the main street there I had to go into a shop and buy various coloured biros. The reason? We were being stared at by loads of people as neither myself or any of my family (wife, all 3 of my grown up kids and their then partners were with us) have succumed to the belief by the average modern citizen that a multitude of tacky tattoos is compulsory, so we drew some on so we didn't stand out too much (we didn't really but the rest is true :~D ).
I've also visited the jewel in Scotlands crown, Ayr. It's a run down sh1thole.
Makes me a bit sad as when we were young these were magical places where we went on holiday with the sea, beaches, bright lights, noise, rides, donkeys on the beach, fish and chips, rock and seagulls, something we only saw near the coast.

[AustrianAndyGull]

At the risk of this becoming another 'cats v tables' scenario, how obscure can this 'top 5' thing get?!

Top 5 teeth in your mouth? "I like the incisor but do also like my molar."

Top 5 light-bulb wattage? "Have always enjoyed the 40W, excellent ambiance."

[AustrianAndyGull]

Agree with that Matt, but when describing Torquay you have also described Blackpool (only its about 5 times worse) Cleethorpes, Bridlington, Skegness, Newquay, Rhyl, Great Yarmouth et al. And they're just the ones I've visited in recent years.
Went to Brid 2 weeks ago for the day and the dog turned her nose up at it, Cleethorpes (last summer) is dead (but the dog loved the walk), Great Yarmouth ffs? As we walked down the main street there I had to go into a shop and buy various coloured biros. The reason? We were being stared at by loads of people as neither myself or any of my family (wife, all 3 of my grown up kids and their then partners were with us) have succumed to the belief by the average modern citizen that a multitude of tacky tattoos is compulsory, so we drew some on so we didn't stand out too much (we didn't really but the rest is true :~D ).
I've also visited the jewel in Scotlands crown, Ayr. It's a run down sh1thole.
Makes me a bit sad as when we were young these were magical places where we went on holiday with the sea, beaches, bright lights, noise, rides, donkeys on the beach, fish and chips, rock and seagulls, something we only saw near the coast.

Hey Emet, i've got tattoos! I also do agree with you though. When i look at other peoples tattoos like when i go to the swimming baths or whatever it does make me cringe a bit but mine are all personal to me. Not 1 of my tattoos is a generic design inked on to look like everyone else. The celtic tribal sleeve thing for example that most men seem to think it's compulsory to have on their arms. Have a a day off will ya! EVERYBODY HAS GOT ONE AND IT MEANS ABSOLUTLEY ZERO!!!! It's just a pretty pattern at the end of the day. So is a f**ing rainbow but i wouldn't have that done! We're not all morons Emet, some of us have a little bit of discernability and originality in our brains. And you're right about Brid too, i went the other week and it's hell. Sewerby at the top is fine it's just when you venture off the cliff top that you're in trouble!

[usagullmichigan]

Should Paignton not be high on the list?