I knew what you meant mate. I was just being silly. Why did my post about hard fish make you sad?No ya daft blighter - I meant "silly accents" "like Tony Pullis`s"
So when we classify Middlesbrough as rough....
- Thread starter Johnnyweetabix
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rob_fmttm
Administrator
Gresham is no longer like this picture. Part of it has been renovated and those houses pictured have now been demolished (rightly or wrongly) and are now currently being replaced by new builds from Thirteen.
r00fie1
Well-known member
Its a reaction to when people make derisory comments
but like you said - it applies all over the country.Perhaps Tony Pulis was more than a "silly accent" if you get my drift....
r00fie1
Well-known member
I appreciate that Rob - but for years its looked like a bombsite and it neednt have got to that state. You know yourself, every street corner use to have a shop and there were little businesses squeezed into yards and houses. People were busy and they would take a pride in keeping their places neat and tidy. It had a real buzz to the place. Its always good to see the place improving, but it couldnt have got any worse.
I thought that I was doing the opposite to be honest. I wasn't intending to be derisory about the area at all and sorry if it came across that way. And that was just a daft attempt at a joke about Wales because I used to work on 'heroin alley' in Swansea for a while and there's only so many times that you can hear the whole 'I just need a quid to use the phone because my mam's been rushed to hospital' story before it gets really tedious. Teesside is fine by me. I love the place. That's why I moved back here when I became semi retired. That and to keep a bit of a close eye on my elderly parents.Its a reaction to when people make derisory comments
Thats my excuse.
Perhaps Tony Pulis was more than a "silly accent" if you get my drift....
Edit: I never thought that I'd ever have to type the words 'Why did my post about hard fish make you sad?' in that order. That was certainly a new experience for me.
r00fie1
Well-known member
I must admit I prefer them "battered"!!
I can't do batter any more unfortunately. Same goes for pastry. They just don't agree with me any more. No more fish and chips, no more sausage rolls, no more pork pies, no more steak pies. I can't eat ANY of the nice stuff any more. My life is barely worth living these days.
Edit: I only meant that from a dietary perspective. I wasn't meaning to worry anyone there. I'm not suicidal. Just seems pretty rotten that I can't stomach any of the food that I like these days and have to live on pasta and salads instead.
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TheYorkshireTerrier
Well-known member
Grew up in TS1 and whenever I go back I notice the difference in the level of roughness compared to where I moved after.
But all places have their rough parts, or rough people. I thought where I lived now wasn’t that bad until the pubs reopened and all the vermin have invaded the pub near me as it’s one of the only ones open in the area.
But all places have their rough parts, or rough people. I thought where I lived now wasn’t that bad until the pubs reopened and all the vermin have invaded the pub near me as it’s one of the only ones open in the area.
Norfolkred1
Well-known member
My son rang from Norwich tonight and a local fella was stabbed to death protecting his son from a neighbour who had complained about the lad revving his bike, he'd only had the bike a few days. Pick any Town or City, they all have bad areas.
I think that may just be a getting older thing. I was completely fearless taking short cuts through back alleys in the middle of the night as a youngster but I certainly wouldn't do that now. But I don't think that that's because Teesside has got any rougher. I think that its just because I'm far more aware of what could possibly happen to me now then I was back then.
atypical_boro
Well-known member
Architecture plays a big part in people’s perceptions. Boro is a relatively new town with largely uninspiring architecture and, couple it with being northern/post-industrial it gets a “rough” reputation based on the appearance of the town centre. It’s far from beautiful but aesthetics cloud people’s judgements.
I'd certainly agree with that up to a point but there are some nice bits in the town centre too. I just think that the North gets a lot of bad press just for being the North. Having worked down south a lot they often simply don't believe you when you tell them how beautiful parts of Teesside and the surrounding area are.
Redwurzel
Well-known member
The Boro always been "rough" in relative terms to many other areas of the UK. There was never a golden age when it was like living in Harrogate or York. Before Thatcher, say n the 1970s there were areas that I would not wonder about it on my own or be asked what I was looking at etc. In 1974 Chris Kamara said he had to escape Park End. In 1956 one my uncles was severly attacked (fractured skull) in the toilets at a dance for showing off with his Italian shoes (which could not be bought in the UK). In the late 1940s my mum said she saw a brother in law having a full blown fist fight in a back alley of South Bank in the middle of the day. He would have been in his early 20s. I have always thought the nature of the work of the area i.e heavy industry meant the Town was 90% solid working class and life was a bit shorter. It was also a male environment with heavy drinking (lots of pubs per head etc) and prostitution (being a port town boosted this).
I gather illegal drugs have expanded considerably in the last 30 years which has ultimately added to roughness through increased thefts as well as drug and violence. The same with a lack of decent job opportunities since the likes of ICI and British Steel closed down and not enough new jobs have appeared to replace the lost manufacturing jobs particularly the higher quality blue collar jobs.
Having said all that when you get to know people in the so called rough areas, many were and are really decent people, so sometimes roughness can be a bit an illusion i.e the so called rough areas are not as rough as they appear.
There certainly other rough areas of the UK which seem to get a better press. For example Manchester which is quite fashionable now.
I gather illegal drugs have expanded considerably in the last 30 years which has ultimately added to roughness through increased thefts as well as drug and violence. The same with a lack of decent job opportunities since the likes of ICI and British Steel closed down and not enough new jobs have appeared to replace the lost manufacturing jobs particularly the higher quality blue collar jobs.
Having said all that when you get to know people in the so called rough areas, many were and are really decent people, so sometimes roughness can be a bit an illusion i.e the so called rough areas are not as rough as they appear.
There certainly other rough areas of the UK which seem to get a better press. For example Manchester which is quite fashionable now.
I've reported you to the police mate. They're still illegal even if you just go foraging in the woods for them.
Mountain Climber
Well-known member
I have always felt proud to be from Teesside. There is a paradox to this area I feel. Whilst many would say it is a 'hard' and 'tough' area to live, it is also in my opinion one of the friendliest places to live in the country. We are welcoming, unassuming, and down to earth, and I still feel there is a sense of community in many parts of Teesside. And I can compare to other far less friendly places in the south where I have lived. There are parts of London that are far more scarier to walk at night then 'Boro.
The only time I have really felt frightened and vulnerable was an experience I had in London. I recall walking from Stratford tube station to my hotel late at night and three young black lads kept circling me on bikes, clearly trying to intimidate me. I kept walking ignoring them and thankfully reached my hotel without incident. If that had happened in 'Boro and I was black and the kids on their bikes were white it might have even been classed as racial intimidation?
Of course books that seem to glorify the so called 'hard men' of the area have not helped the reputation. Using the term 'legends' to describe people who were nothing more than bullies does little to change peoples perceptions. We are a tough community because we have high levels of social inequality and social exclusion compared to many other parts of the country.
The only time I have really felt frightened and vulnerable was an experience I had in London. I recall walking from Stratford tube station to my hotel late at night and three young black lads kept circling me on bikes, clearly trying to intimidate me. I kept walking ignoring them and thankfully reached my hotel without incident. If that had happened in 'Boro and I was black and the kids on their bikes were white it might have even been classed as racial intimidation?
Of course books that seem to glorify the so called 'hard men' of the area have not helped the reputation. Using the term 'legends' to describe people who were nothing more than bullies does little to change peoples perceptions. We are a tough community because we have high levels of social inequality and social exclusion compared to many other parts of the country.
I think that you make a great point about the whole 'down to Earth' and 'community' thing there. I was trying to get that across to an American friend of mine who has never been to the UK and I think I just said that on the tube in London nobody ever speaks or makes eye contact but in Teesside you get on a bus and some eighty year old old dear will immediately sit down next to you and start telling you about how her Elsie has never been the same since her piles operation and then she'll probably say that you're looking a bit skinny and invite you over to her house for tea because you're pretty tall and you can probably reach that spare set of dentures that she has on the top shelf in the bathroom.
I lived in London for a bit and I never remember feeling unsafe. I totally agree about the 'glorifying hard men thing' but that recent Duffy movie was F***ing hilarious. I don't think that it was aiming for that though. There's tough and there's 'tough'. My dad is the hardest bloke I've ever known, even in his seventies but he's also the loveliest bloke in the world. Unless you're a ladder. He has history with ladders and I keep forbidding him to climb them at his age and telling him that if there's a job that needs doing that involves climbing one then he should just call me but he's seventy four and he just does what he wants. Saw him once fall off the top of a stepladder, bounce straight up off the concrete and just punch the ladder as hard as he could sending it crashing in to the garage door. As if it was the ladder's fault that he'd fallen off it. But he's as gentle as could be with people unless they do something bad. He just really hates ladders and they seem to hate him too.
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For perspective this happens in York too. My lads footie pitch was trashed after a stolen car was driven through a steel gate and driven in circles round the pitch.
I've only ever lived in Boro for 2 years at Uni. Lived at my Nana's on Thorntree. I've lived in Bolton, York and Kendal. Bolton is much tougher, Kendal has its share of problems and York is fur coat and no knickers in some ways.
Middlesbrough needs jobs, hope for the kids and some positivity. And a decent train service.
So in short, not all bad and I'd rather be there than a lot of other places.