What are the roughest areas in England?

[deleted]

I'm Scottish born and bred but I used to live in Chelmsford for a number of years and work in London. In the early years I was there, I loved the place, it used to be a great town, safe, friendly and people got to know each other easily. It seemed that the population was in the main pretty local born and bred, (unlike Basildon) and as an incoming Jock, I was a bit of an outsider-novelty in a way. I can't remember meeting other Scots in Chelmsford at the time. That didn't bother me one bit. A great place to bring up a family.

I went abroad several years, married and returned with my wife and small family. My wife is from the Philippines, we met in Hong Kong and the kids are British cos of me. Of mixed blood, my son looks a light brown/mediterranean like my wife, while my daughter is as white as me. We bought a house in Chelmsford and the kids started school. Everyone was brilliant at the local primary. Again, our kids were the only non-local kids at school. All the kids were great and there was no bullying and they were making friends. My wife was made welcome by local folk too. I could be late home by train, walk through town and all was well. My kids even developed real Essex accents, which they still have today !

Then we went abroad again. In fact, when our kids said goodbye at school, there was much tears from them and their friends and classmates. I wondered if I had made the right choice. We kept the house and rented it out.

After that project was done over 2 years later, we came back and we were gobsmacked. The whole place had changed. There was loads of building going on, loads of new housing all over (fastest growing city in Essex). Loads of strange faces of all types, many from London and its overflowing burbs. So many new outsiders - which is okay. But it all seemed to come at a price. Unlike the early days I lieved there, this time I wouldn't dare go through the town centre at say 10pm any more. Chelmsford had become a complete chav-haven (or hell !) and with all those tacky bars newly opened pouring alcopops down teenage throats, endless fights were commonplace and drunks lay all over the place. Go through these streets in daylight and all you see is spots of blood all over the pedestrian paved areas. Gangs of chavs hang around the streets (usually around McDonalds). I found myself more aware and developing a more aggressive attitude in the street, just in case of trouble - miles from the old Chelmsford days of smiles and being at ease. I even got my photo in the Daily Mail in a story about casual dress and was criticised by Mail readers for looking like a middle-aged skinhead yob ! Priceless !

I knew it wasn't the same anymore and we stuck it out for 4 years. Meanwhile, my son was of an age to be at secondary school (the supposed best state school in town - Boswells). He got bullied and verbally abused, but I guess that happens at secondary school. The only 2 times I got picked on at school, I fought both times and was so f **** ng angry, I won both times. But my son was brought up in a peaceful background and got bullied by bigger guys at secondary school. He kept quiet about it until I wondered why he was going through so much money and seemed unhappy to go to school. I complained and was told the school maintained they had a policy of no-bullying. That was rubbish. I was so enraged, I was about to take a baseball bat to his tormentors at school, but my wife stopped me. Just as well she did. As it was, I was getting pissed off with working in London year after year and the endless travelling too, so we took an opportunity to go abroad when it arose. We sold the house and moved to the Gulf / UAE area.

So - we're abroad again and intend to stay abroad permanently. The kids are at British school here continuing with the English curriculum and they have a great time and have great mates, mainly British, but also other nationalities and races. No problems. The country we're in is Islamic and at least it doesn't tolerate the sort of *beep* we had back home. Is this what it takes ? To emigrate ?

It just goes to show what can happen to a decent town when there's a crap Labour government for too long.

My kids still love England and want to go back there someday. That's their decision and if that's waht they want, they can go when they're old enough.

Me ? I still love Scotland and the UK. I fear however I love the Scotland I knew as a boy and young man and maybe I would feel strange there now. When the time comes, I don't mind where I die, after all I'll just be a lump of dead meat. My preference would be either on the coast of Kintyre, overlooking the Atlantic, or else in the hills of Southern Sumatera, looking over the Sunda Strait.



We Are The Mods ! We Are The Mods ! We Are - We Are - We Are The Mods ! (Quadrophenia)