Steph McGovern and "no go zones" in Middlesbrough

I was mugged in Boro town centre many years ago. Carted off to hospital, 16 stitches in my head, and informed I was lucky to get away with my life as I had been stabbed in the head with a knife and top top of a spiked railing.

Soured my opinion of Boro town centre and only ever come to watch the match and get the hell out of there!
 
I was born in the centre of Middlesbrough and at that time there were no no-go areas.
Places like Cannon Street ( even during "the riots") , "over the border" and Doggy were good places to roam around.
Acklam was looked on as a posh area and even after I went to Acklam Hall School I still liked the place. I lived in Linthorpe and Acklam for a couple of decades.
My normal match day routine for years was to walk home from the Riverside , but after a couple of dodgy happenings on this journey , culminating then in finding a couple of "needles" in my front garden , it put a damper on the situation.
I realise that things like this must happen to people everywhere, but it tarnished my way of life at the time .
A change of scenery was my solution. Perhaps not a brave way out, but it helped.
 
I find the different perceptions interesting. I never really feel scared walking anywhere in Middlesbrough. I don't mean that in a boastful way - I'm only 5'10 and skinny. And never been in a fight in my life so I'm not what people might consider 'hard' to look at or the type of person ready for a fight. Maybe I'm just naive.

Anyway, live in Linthorpe. Used to walk home on my own drunk on a night out as I was too tight to pay for taxi's and would often lose everyone else before the night was over. Never once had a problem but then I used to stick to the main roads with lights.

Sometimes walk to the town via the back streets of Gresham and Parliament Road etc to avoid all the people on Linthorpe Road while Covid has been on. Sure the places look run down. A little bit dirty in places etc but don't really see anything intimidating. You might see a few dodgy looking characters but as I'm minding my business nothing has ever happened which has made me feel like I was in danger.
 
Jan_Aage_Fjortoft said:
I find the different perceptions interesting. I never really feel scared walking anywhere in Middlesbrough. I don't mean that in a boastful way - I'm only 5'10 and skinny. And never been in a fight in my life so I'm not what people might consider 'hard' to look at or the type of person ready for a fight. Maybe I'm just naive.

Anyway, live in Linthorpe. Used to walk home on my own drunk on a night out as I was too tight to pay for taxi's and would often lose everyone else before the night was over. Never once had a problem but then I used to stick to the main roads with lights.

Sometimes walk to the town via the back streets of Gresham and Parliament Road etc to avoid all the people on Linthorpe Road while Covid has been on. Sure the places look run down. A little bit dirty in places etc but don't really see anything intimidating. You might see a few dodgy looking characters but as I'm minding my business nothing has ever happened which has made me feel like I was in danger.
Click to expand...
Pretty similar to me. I live in the Village and often cut through Gresham to get to town. I also cycle through early mornings on the way to work. I've never had any problems and always enjoy the diversity of businesses on Parliament Road, the latest additions being a Bucharest mini mart and a Roma one.
 
Not Boro but Skerne Park in Darlo was a dodgy place to be knocking on people's doors asking for debts to be repaid. Some houses had their living rooms in the front garden, sofa, table and one even had a telly set up.
 
RandySavage said:
Not Boro but Skerne Park in Darlo was a dodgy place to be knocking on people's doors asking for debts to be repaid. Some houses had their living rooms in the front garden, sofa, table and one even had a telly set up.
Click to expand...
Never have your living room or your gym in the front garden.
 
Nosmo-King said:
I was mugged in Boro town centre many years ago. Carted off to hospital, 16 stitches in my head, and informed I was lucky to get away with my life as I had been stabbed in the head with a knife and top top of a spiked railingQUOTE]

That's absolutely shocking. Nobody should have to experience something such as that.
Click to expand...
 
Wasn't there someone who shall remain un-named who claimed the Bruntons was a hard man's pub? Maybe she lived on Gypsy Lane? :D
 
Tommy_Dickfingers said:
I live in Acklam and have a rule, anything east of Marton Road is proper Boro and avoid
Click to expand...

Tbf, that would probably be East of the Railway line as Belle Vue and a good chunk of Longlands don't get a bad rep at all.

Though also everything in the outer Town, whats left of Boot Hill, Easterside and the south of Hemo are all your side of Marton Road and they still get some stigma, even if it's not fully warranted.
 
DCI_Gene_Hunt said:
Well I know a business owner who moved a long standing store to Stockton because he had to hire security to do the door to stop the gangs trying to rob everything. Same guy wouldn't park his car on Parlaiment Rd because it just got trashed by gangs, numerous reports of gangs threatening anyone walking alone, mass fights taking place and the police don't/won't respond. Last time I went down there the place just stunk of intimidation, and that was in the day time.
Click to expand...

I walked all around that area with my 8 year old daughter a few months ago and didn't feel threatened once tbf. Though with the high propensity of rough and usually foreign looking blokes hanging about I can understand why some would feel that way. They didn't pay me any undue attention mind, just went about whatever business they were up to.
 
I get the impression Steph's family were from a rough area, but moved to Nunthorpe and pushed her to develop c agood career. Her accent to me is strong for Nunthorpe. She went to the Macmillian City Technology school which seemed to have helped her. John Major's Government put a lot of cash into these schools and the private sector were keen to help them.
 
BlindBoyGrunt said:
Pretty similar to me. I live in the Village and often cut through Gresham to get to town. I also cycle through early mornings on the way to work. I've never had any problems and always enjoy the diversity of businesses on Parliament Road, the latest additions being a Bucharest mini mart and a Roma one.
Click to expand...

My better half is from the village. She popped over that way the other day then had a walk round the Parliament Rd area, picking up a couple of treats from Yasmin's and having a look in the other shops. She said she enjoyed the diversity too and felt completely safe
 
The_Lizards_Jumpers said:
It's more her claim that her parents lived "in the middle of it" which would suggest she'd been brought up in the town / Brambles Farm, Grangetown or somewhere similar....
Click to expand...
No, it wouldn't. There's absolutely no information showing which area was the one referred to by the phrase "a BBC team investigating anti-social behaviour had designated the area of her home city where her parents lived as a 'no go zone'."

It's very possible that the BBC team had somehow mis-identified a perfectly respectable and safe area - we simply don't know because there isn't enough detail in the article.
 
Reading the comments at the bottom of the article is sickening. There really are some horrible folk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top