So when we classify Middlesbrough as rough....

Johnnyweetabix

Well-known member
Just following on the thread about the recent problems over the past week I often ponder the statement that Middlesbrough is rough and it always leads me to think that whilst I might have been part of this town for all my life and try to think of myself as streetwise , maybe life has sheltered me. I grew up in hemlington but my parents lived in the private estate so at my school I was seen as posh even though most of my friends were from the council estate . I’ve lived in acklam and marton and honestly Never really thought of any of those places as rough. Nunthorpe and coulby seem ok so where is this rough? Think I’m answering the question I write this but it really winds me up when my out of town mates say Boro is a sh&t hole as I’m guessing 50% or so live in marton, coulby etc. Is it just the town centre, whinny banks etc that gives Middlesbrough this generalisation and there’s are much good as bad or as a whole is the town the size of Middlesbrough disproportionately “rough”.
 
Its a word chucked about all over the country and particularly at industrial and urban areas.
Middlesbrough is no better or worse than anywhere else.
Its got more than its fair share of deprived areas and a high proportion of the adult population living on below average wages.
No different to anywhere else.
Those who call the Boro havent a clue.
Laugh at them and walk away.
 
Teesside in general has many of the most deprived wards in the country, so yes, by that measure it is. That is a statement of fact by the way, rather my opinion of the area.
 
I mentioned it being ‘rough’ and growing up around several council estates in the 80s / 90s it certainly felt that way. I wouldn’t however change my childhood in any way.
 
Whinney Banks never had a reputation up until the late 70s. I remember a lot coming in from over the border when the flats were getting pulled down.
 
Used to get off the train at Boro and the atmosphere stank of all kinds of schitt - but it was because people were at work - East to Redcar and Wilton. North to Port Clarence, Haverton Hill and Billingham........and all points on the map.
The air smells fresher, but the pain of redundancies and Thatcherism leaves a very bitter taste....
 
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For me areas that suffer high rates of crime are 'rough' it doesn't take too too many instances to tarnish the whole area. Crime rates anywhere in the world increase along with unemployment levels.. and we've had our fair share of that. It's crazy to me that bringing jobs into the area has not been the number one sole priority of every single MP, Mayor, Metro Mayor, Councillor, etc etc
 
Obviously Middlesbrough and Teesside lacks opportunities other places seem to get... and it's easy for people to tarnish others with the same brush, but unfortunately in the modern era upward mobility is extremely hard for a lot of people....

One of my parents along with their siblings were born in a street house in Gresham, they all got good jobs and live in nice areas.... but they are 1950s and 1960s generation.... Were they lucky? Probably? ...

I don't know where I am going with this, I'm just sharing haha
 
We always thought Hemlington was a bit rough :sneaky:
Even the fish in that lake could give you a proper pasting if you weren't careful. Edit: Just to add that I've lived all over the country and I don't think that Teesside in general is any 'rougher' than anywhere else that I've lived. Even South Wales was worse because the junkies all had silly accents.
 
Whinney Banks never had a reputation up until the late 70s. I remember a lot coming in from over the border when the flats were getting pulled down.

Had the privilege of watching a group of lads on Monday evening joy ride a car on the field near the footbridge over the A19 to Teesside Park then set it on fire.

I didnt ring it in but those new tenants of 'Acklam Green' overlooking this field will have had front row view to ring 999

I dont know how they got the car onto the field as i thought the new housing development (which is still going up) had cut off most the access areas to this area.

I was in view shot of these lads (some on bikes) so didnt want to be seen on my phone as i wasnt feeling comfortable at all whilst on a walk with my partner (who ive been trying to convince to leave Knaresborough so i can return home)
 
Even into the late 80s Gresham was a decent area with young families and people who had lived there decades.
It was when planning blight pizzed on the area`s fire - people started to leave as the revamp and rebuild was halted in 2013.
Its a bluddy disgrace how the whole area has become more like a FIBUA - training area than a place for people to live.
The people of Middlesbrough have been dispossessed by blunders and lack of joined up thinking by the Council, Planners and Social Housing Providers.
St Hildas and Grove Hill still look like the Luftwaffe have been back to finish the job.
Not impressed.

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Even the fish in that lake could give you a proper pasting if you weren't careful. Edit: Just to add that I've lived all over the country and I don't think that Teesside in general is any 'rougher' than anywhere else that I've lived. Even South Wales was worse because the junkies all had silly accents.
Like Tony Pulis?!!!!
 
Had the privilege of watching a group of lads on Monday evening joy ride a car on the field near the footbridge over the A19 to Teesside Park then set it on fire.

I didnt ring it in but those new tenants of 'Acklam Green' overlooking this field will have had front row view to ring 999

I dont know how they got the car onto the field as i thought the new housing development (which is still going up) had cut off most the access areas to this area.

I was in view shot of these lads (some on bikes) so didnt want to be seen on my phone as i wasnt feeling comfortable at all whilst on a walk with my partner (who ive been trying to convince to leave Knaresborough so i can return home)
What's wrong with Knaresborough ? Lovely part of the world and only 50 mins from Boro...
 
I met a couple from Teesside in a bar in Greece a couple of years ago and after we realised the Boro connection they asked me whereabouts I'd lived when I lived there (1948-71). I said Grangetown, Bolckow St (in town centre) and Cargo Fleet mainly. They sarcastically said 'lovely' and just ignored me thereafter the snobby tw@ts
 
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