Just had a meeting on Churchgate. Sad to see the Bolton News offices empty. And in a week or two the Travel Counsellors building opposite will be empty. Another 200+ people spending approx £20 per week on parking and lunches in the town... plus whatever other services they spend their hard-earned on - all being lost. Very sad state of affairs.

 

When will it get better? Should these empty offices be turned into apartments?

Fucking love my council house and the little cul de sac it's on.

Lived here 11yrs and no desire to move out.

Helps it's on an estate in one of the most middle class areas of Bury, not sure I'd have the same view if I was still living by Dickie Bird estate.

Your neighbours is the luck of the draw no matter where you live

Just now, frank_spencer said:

Fucking love my council house and the little cul de sac it's on.

Lived here 11yrs and no desire to move out.

Helps it's on an estate in one of the most middle class areas of Bury, not sure I'd have the same view if I was still living by Dickie Bird estate.

Your neighbours is the luck of the draw no matter where you live

Tell me about it. One of my neighbours is a…………… best not as he might ban me!

8 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Would you say Thatcher selling all the council houses off led to estates being in the state they are today?

Next door to me pays a private land lord 2-3 times more than we do for the same house essentially.

 

7 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Would you say Thatcher selling all the council houses off led to estates being in the state they are today?

Selling them off was a mistake- or at least not replacing them. 

That said, I don't see how that makes the estates that remain become the places they are today.

Spoken to many folk who remembered the older days, how folk started out in a basic council house, and gradually moved "up" to better ones in a different place. They qualified by looking after their houses and gardens, paying their rent etc. Essentially being good tenants. 

Hall i'th wood was apparently a top notch council estate, that even had councillors living on it. 

I can't corroborate these stories, but that's what older residents told me.

All that has largely gone.

Societal change.

 

3 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Would you say Thatcher selling all the council houses off led to estates being in the state they are today?

Not really. There are many estates around the country. Not sure how many you (or for that matter any of the other snobs on here) have been to. I’m sure you and others will have anecdotal accounts but there are many in the UK. Many with joint private and rented occupancy. There are people on here who live on a council estate. Maybe they would have a better opinion if they aren’t too embarrassed to do so with the views already posted. 

We need to move on.

It is what it is.

Thats what we’re told, at least.

Suck it up, deal with it and get some work done.

You’re paying circa 250k for some ex council houses in Walkden and even farnworth now. You know you’re getting a solid house usually with decent gardens. They’re better built than any of these new estates being thrown up. 

a lot of personal pride has been lost with many homeowners/ tenants now giving many areas a look of shit holes. When I was doing my gas training I visited every area around Manchester and some of the houses are a fkin disgrace, kids literally playing in their own shit. Parts of lower Broughton, Moss side and Levenshulme made Daubhill and Deane look like the Cotswolds. 
 

 

 

23 minutes ago, mickbrown said:

Aye. You may be wrong. Again 😃

May? We need to know. It’s for the record and lists and things. You know how it goes. Are you a socialist? Nothing to be afraid of. A Labour government is coming.😊

3 minutes ago, royal white said:

You’re paying circa 250k for some ex council houses in Walkden and even farnworth now. You know you’re getting a solid house usually with decent gardens. They’re better built than any of these new estates being thrown up. 

a lot of personal pride has been lost with many homeowners/ tenants now giving many areas a look of shit holes. When I was doing my gas training I visited every area around Manchester and some of the houses are a fkin disgrace, kids literally playing in their own shit. Parts of lower Broughton, Moss side and Levenshulme made Daubhill and Deane look like the Cotswolds. 
 

 

 

House I grew up in was a 3 bed semi with a massive garden. Huge house and I saw it recently and it had been extended and probs a 4 or 5 bed place with driveway for 3 cars.

the owners have made it immaculate but 100 yard away was a row of houses that looked like they’d been bombed.

I’ve no idea what colour the owners of any of them are, but it’s clear that some folk give a shit and some either don’t or can’t. Or both.

This is why it’s mental to label anyone or anywhere.

I lived in an area that I would class as decent 

Had an absolute cunt of a neighbour 

Row of houses that had no drives but she always wanted to park outside her front door

Claimed there was an unwritten rule amongst the residents 

About 100m away was a school with people parked all over

Would kick off with if someone else parked outside her house 

Had a go at me for doing it and told her if she's so precious about a parking spot, buy a house with a drive 

She would also complain if the dogs barked outside as it disturbed her peace 

 

27 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Selling them off was a mistake- or at least not replacing them. 

That said, I don't see how that makes the estates that remain become the places they are today.

Spoken to many folk who remembered the older days, how folk started out in a basic council house, and gradually moved "up" to better ones in a different place. They qualified by looking after their houses and gardens, paying their rent etc. Essentially being good tenants. 

Hall i'th wood was apparently a top notch council estate, that even had councillors living on it. 

I can't corroborate these stories, but that's what older residents told me.

All that has largely gone.

Societal change.

 

Aye. In the ones I worked on (snobby bastard that I am) there’d be old couples in a corner plot who’d been there 50 years with immaculate gardens, apple trees, greenhouse, then next door there would be a couple of smackheads with feral kids and sofas in the jungle-like garden. 

27 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

Not really. There are many estates around the country. Not sure how many you (or for that matter any of the other snobs on here) have been to. I’m sure you and others will have anecdotal accounts but there are many in the UK. Many with joint private and rented occupancy. There are people on here who live on a council estate. Maybe they would have a better opinion if they aren’t too embarrassed to do so with the views already posted. 

Course it did. Created a massive shortage of affordable housing. 

15 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

May? We need to know. It’s for the record and lists and things. You know how it goes. Are you a socialist? Nothing to be afraid of. A Labour government is coming.😊

No fucker’s business other than my own. 
 

I ain’t Tory. I’ll give you that much. 👍

38 minutes ago, frank_spencer said:

Fucking love my council house and the little cul de sac it's on.

Lived here 11yrs and no desire to move out.

Helps it's on an estate in one of the most middle class areas of Bury, not sure I'd have the same view if I was still living by Dickie Bird estate.

Your neighbours is the luck of the draw no matter where you live

A colleague at the time bought a new build right at the side of there. He spent the first few months chasing scallys out of his garden every night. They were climbing over the fencing from Dicky Bird having a look inside all the new houses and sheds.

Never lived in a Council House. 
 

But worked for a Housing Association for 4 years. Went out a few times to meet residents but these tended to be 'managed' so never got a real view. Got friendly with one of the maintenance guys and started spending a few days with to get the warts and all view.

I was surprised that there were quite a lot of people living in properties who had no interest in 'getting out' . They just did not want a mortgage , happy renting and took great pride in their houses. The only issue the maintenance guys had was when doing annual checks these people might have installed their own kitchens so the checks took longer as equipment was not standard. 
 

There were lots of old folk in well maintained flats. Probably the biggest group was families who just had very little money. There were a few very disruptive families who caused 90% of problems. It was amazing how quickly an area could get dragged down by 1 or 2 dodgy families moving into an area. 
 

The guy below was a resident, the caretaker on his estate checked the CCTV on a Monday morning and watched him 'tidying up'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_murders

5 minutes ago, mickbrown said:

Course it did. Created a massive shortage of affordable housing. 

No dispute there, but that doesn't explain why a lot of folk in the remaining ones have become feral. 

 

37 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

Not really. There are many estates around the country. Not sure how many you (or for that matter any of the other snobs on here) have been to. I’m sure you and others will have anecdotal accounts but there are many in the UK. Many with joint private and rented occupancy. There are people on here who live on a council estate. Maybe they would have a better opinion if they aren’t too embarrassed to do so with the views already posted. 

Mate, Im as far away from a snob as could possibly be.

Im a fucking scumbag.

Just grafted hard not to live with other scumbags

Edited September 6, 20232 yr by gonzo

1 minute ago, gonzo said:

Mate, Im as far away from a snob as could possibly be.

Im a fucking scumbag.

Just grafted hard not to live with other scumbags

You have spray tans now because you don’t want to lie on a sunbed that somebody else has used! You’re the ultimate snob! 

4 minutes ago, mickbrown said:

No fucker’s business other than my own. 
 

I ain’t Tory. I’ll give you that much. 👍

I knew a socialist once. I mean a proper one. He was a draughtsman at Hicks. Never owned a car, rented a flat, dressed in old cloths and was dead miserable. He was on a good wage so it was all a matter of choice for him. It always made me wonder. What is a real socialist? Tony Blair? Jeremy Corbyn? Seems like a broad spectrum. I can understand people not wanting to admit it though😊

Anyway, back to the town Centre. Looks like there’s a decent sale on.

 

 

 

I think there's a danger that some people with an agenda are trying twist words to suit.

Nobody's saying that the areas I call shitholes don't have some decent people in them.
People and areas aren't necessarily the same thing.

19 minutes ago, BobyBrno said:

I knew a socialist once. I mean a proper one. He was a draughtsman at Hicks. Never owned a car, rented a flat, dressed in old cloths and was dead miserable. He was on a good wage so it was all a matter of choice for him. It always made me wonder. What is a real socialist? Tony Blair? Jeremy Corbyn? Seems like a broad spectrum. I can understand people not wanting to admit it though😊

Nah. You’re just saying anybody who isn’t a Tory is a socialist.

 

By the way, I’d be far more embarrassed to admit to being a Tory at the moment

17 minutes ago, royal white said:

Anyway, back to the town Centre. Looks like there’s a decent sale on.

An absolutely chilling glimpse of the future.

3 minutes ago, Traf said:

I think there's a danger that some people with an agenda are trying twist words to suit.

Nobody's saying that the areas I call shitholes don't have some decent people in them.
People and areas aren't necessarily the same thing.

Correct