Hartlepool has been voted the 20th Worst Place in England on Channel 4...it showed the run down areas of Hartlepool and did not show any of the nice bits.

I'll be square with you, I don't live in Hartlepool but I've seen a fair few towns and cities and I honestly can't believe it's been named as the 20th worst.

http://www.channel4bestandworst.co.uk/b ... 2&offset=8

Yes but - MIDDLESBROUGH (according to Channel 4) IS THE WORST PLACE IN THE UK TO LIVE

Phil and Kirstie's View
Hartlepool is one of the UK’s most troubled towns, its crime rates come in a shameful 26th worst out of our 434 Local Authorities and its record for violent crime is twice the national average. Some people here are clearly making monkeys of the law!

Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer, Presenters of Channel 4 Property Shows Location Location Location, Relocation Relocation and Best & Worst Live

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Despite a massive regeneration programme in the 90s, Hartlepool is still short of places to shop - and it has only half the average number of bars, restaurants and hotels. But things are definitely looking up; In the last year, both the council and health services here have had glowing reports so we expect improvements to follow shortly.

Area Guide: Hartlepool

Its history appears to centre on its naval importance; and the Historic Quay acts as a reminder of the past – a recreation of an 18th Century seaport. The Trincomalee, Europe’s oldest floating warship, is the pride of all the attractions at the quay, and has been restored in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the time.

Along with warships and legends of hanging monkeys – the story harks back to the Napoleonic Wars and provides the inspiration for Hartlepool FC’s club mascot, H’Angus the Monkey – the borough was the stomping ground of cartoon character Andy Capp. Esteemed film director, Sir Ridley Scott, also studied at West Hartlepool College of Art, being arguably the most famous non-fictional resident from the borough’s past.

The average house price in Hartlepool is just below £146,000, which amounts to a 14 per cent increase on prices from 2006. On the crime front, the rates of vehicle theft and robbery offences are both below the national average, although violent crime offences - at 29.5 per thousand residents - are nearly twice as common as the mean rate across the country.

Back in the workplace, unemployment among men is nearly double the national average, with 9.8 per cent of men of working age being out of a job, compared with the national average of 5.8 per cent. Moreover, the number of people in Hartlepool who are claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance amounts to 4.3% of the working population, which is nearly twice as high as the national average.

The state of education in the area fares little better, and the proportion of people who hold no formal qualifications is nearly four per cent higher than the national average, with 17.4 per cent of residents being fully-fledged diploma-dodgers.

"it has only half the average number of bars" Eh? Some mistake surely?

Despite a massive regeneration programme in the 90s, Hartlepool is still short of places to shop - and it has only half the average number of bars, restaurants and hotels. But things are definitely looking up; In the last year, both the council and health services here have had glowing reports so we expect improvements to follow shortly.


On how many counts is it possible to be wrong? Fook me, as far as eating, drinking, and shopping go there are more options in little ol' Pool than there are here in Montpellier which is three times the size. And that's without a trip to the Metro centre. And that's certainly not because the facilities here are under par.
As for the health services having glowing reports, is this a piss take?

And I don't know where Mr Kentish has got his cut and paste from, but they didn't mention the majority of that on the telly last night.

It was more like...

We must be thankful to greggs and macdonalds other wise the great unwashed would have nowhere to meet.

I visited one of their favourite locations last month...Cromer, ....words fail me

I'd agree we're short of places to shop. The number of empty units in the town centre is embarrassing.

And the quality of the shops in the occupied units is cringeworthy.

How many pound shops are necessary?

Why do the numerous shoe shops only sell tat?

Is it the law to have a bakers every 10 yards?

Is this recent? Last time I was in there it wasn't the impression I got.
Anyway, shops aside, the "lack of bars and restaurants" bit is surely way off isn't it?

[quote="Richard M. Head]
Is this recent? Last time I was in there it wasn't the impression I got.
[/quote]

The part where you go from King Johns to inside the centre upstairs is practically all empty. Several indoor market units are vacant. Barratts, Stationery Box, Shoe Express, Music Zone all gone. Thats just off the top of my head I'm sure there are more.

Tandy, Fosters and even Fine Fare have closed too.

And Whittakers has gone so you can't go and chew the witch before going into Intersport to look at the footie patches.

Ah yes, Whittakers. How they made any money with her breathing down your back the second you walked in the shop. Maybe she was trying to offer an "alternative" service.

That would explain why the closed.

Well if it makes you feel any better then me and my mates nicked all sorts from there on a weekly basis.

Crime rates among children was probably one of the factors that this list was compiled.....

The programme was quite funny in that it was 'the 20 best and worse places to live' but the average houses for the best places were tiny flats yet for the worst places were nice, big houses in nice areas probbaly dragged down by run down areas nowhere near their actually house but in the same town.

Edinburgh apart, the best places to live were mainly boring retirement towns where nothing happens.

A load of sh*te.

Tried to book into the Staincliff lately? They've all discovered it

Ah but it's still full of potential Hartlepool managers still hanging on until Danny falls off his perch.