Steph McGovern and "no go zones" in Middlesbrough

I'm from Stockton and remember being apprehensive and anxious about going to Radio 1 Big Weekend due to the threat of violence, thought it was going to be full of kids intent on causing trouble, thankfully it was fine but I certainly feel Middlesbrough has a much worse reputation these days then when I was growing up. Too many wannabe thugs quick to pull a weapon.

Perhaps I'm just softer now I'm older and my outlooks changed since I've became a Father.
 
I think her point was that they’d got it wrong and it wasn’t an actual no go zone. It was in fact some where safe enough for even her parents to live in.

I think you're missing my point - I'm assuming that any "no go zone" in Middlesbrough wouldn't include leafy suburbs like Nunthorpe, Marton etc and so her claims that her parents lived in the middle of it would be false.

That is unless the BBC risk assessment team are ultra risk averse....
 
I'm from Stockton and remember being apprehensive and anxious about going to Radio 1 Big Weekend due to the threat of violence, thought it was going to be full of kids intent on causing trouble, thankfully it was fine but I certainly feel Middlesbrough has a much worse reputation these days then when I was growing up. Too many wannabe thugs quick to pull a weapon.

Perhaps I'm just softer now I'm older and my outlooks changed since I've became a Father.

Whereas I grew up in Acklam in the 80's / 90's, but had grandparents in Grove Hill and Saltersgill and can't ever remember being anxious or scared about going anywhere on Teesside - the fact that there was areas that were a little rougher than others was obvious, but I'd never give it a second thought or worry about the threat of violence.
 
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Whereas I grew up in Acklam in the 80's / 90's, but had grandparents in Grove Hill and Saltersgill and can't ever remember being anxious or scared about going anywhere on Teesside - the fact that there was areas that were a little rougher than others was obvious, but I'd never give it a second thought or worrying about the threat of violence.
Always felt the same myself with family all over Teesside. But these days drugs has ruined lots of good areas too.
 
I think you're missing my point - I'm assuming that any "no go zone" in Middlesbrough wouldn't include leafy suburbs like Nunthorpe, Marton etc and so her claims that her parents lived in the middle of it would be false.

That is unless the BBC risk assessment team are ultra risk averse....
I think her point is that the RA team were completely wrong in their assessment.
 
I think her point is that the RA team were completely wrong in their assessment.

That may be her point - mine is completely different.

Let's assume that the roughest area of Middlesbrough is a "no go zone" and let's assume that includes the town and surrounding areas up to Whinney Banks, her claim that her parents live "in the middle of it" is an exaggeration at best and a lie at worst. Unless of course they're ultra cautious and designated Nunthorpe a "no go zone".

Perhaps the reason her colleagues think certain things about her is to do with her "over egging" the environment she grew up in and not actually admitting she grew up in a relatively comfortable middle class area, rather than pretending she grew up in down town Harlem in the 1980's or something.
 
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wasnt it the half penny behind the highfield, closed about 20 years ago though didnt it, i dont think there's a pub left in grove hill
 
It says where her parents lived, rather than where she grew up, so I imagine her parents moved.

So you're saying her parent moved from say Nunthorpe into a area that could be described as a "no go zone" ?

I may be laboring a point here, and realize it's not that important, but complaining about how you're perceived whilst perpetuating this myth as some sort of child of the ghetto is perhaps why they think that ?
 
Lizard I think I have your answer.

It's probably a reference to the large gatherings and groups of young people (me being one of them) that were underage drinking in and around Marton, The Avenue and Nunthorpe which was at its peak in the late 90s early noughties.

I recall the press at the time which the BBC took an interest in that started locally and was taken up to a national level because of the fact this was considered a more middle class area and the Labour government were utilising ASBO legislation for what was considered relatively low level behaviour.

Thinking about her age it's entirely possible that this what's being refdered to.
 
In the late Seventies/Early Eighties I wouldn't say anywhere was no go area. Some areas were rough as f**k but the worst that would happen is you'd get a good hiding if you went looking for it. Grove Hill, Easterside, Beechwood, I'd quite happily roam those areas with a couple of mates without any real fear. Not so sure nowadays though. What with knives, the gang mentality where they'll quite happily have 5 or 6 onto 1 anywhere could be a no go area!

Nowadays I wouldn't go down Parlaiment Rd/Gresham Rd - they are definite no go areas and I dread to think what Grangetown etc are like these days.
 
In the late Seventies/Early Eighties I wouldn't say anywhere was no go area. Some areas were rough as f**k but the worst that would happen is you'd get a good hiding if you went looking for it. Grove Hill, Easterside, Beechwood, I'd quite happily roam those areas with a couple of mates without any real fear. Not so sure nowadays though. What with knives, the gang mentality where they'll quite happily have 5 or 6 onto 1 anywhere could be a no go area!

Nowadays I wouldn't go down Parlaiment Rd/Gresham Rd - they are definite no go areas and I dread to think what Grangetown etc are like these days.

Grangetown, is on the whole very quiet these days apart from the buzzing of a dirt bike flying around the streets every now and then. my wife's parents live there and we visit regularly (well pre-covid anyway!) Yes, parts of it look run down (moreso the Bolckow Rd end), am sure there's crime and it has it's fair share of wrong-uns, but you rarely see much going on other than people going about their daily lives.
 
I'm from Stockton and remember being apprehensive and anxious about going to Radio 1 Big Weekend due to the threat of violence, thought it was going to be full of kids intent on causing trouble, thankfully it was fine but I certainly feel Middlesbrough has a much worse reputation these days then when I was growing up. Too many wannabe thugs quick to pull a weapon.

Perhaps I'm just softer now I'm older and my outlooks changed since I've became a Father.

Interesting people's different views innit? I'm from Yarm and would happily go out round Boro for a night out but wouldn't dream of going out in Stockton, always seemed to be idiots looking for bother
 
I think Parliament Rd is given a bad press. I go down there sometimes, occasionally at night to use the chippy etc, and it really isn't a no-go zone.

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.
 
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