We live in England’s oldest town – we used to have a thriving high street but now it’s rundown, it’s utterly charmless
RESIDENTS who live in England’s oldest town have said they used to have a thriving high street but now it’s rundown and they don’t feel safe.
A survey by ILiveHere found out which towns and cities were bottom of the heap in terms of quality of life for locals.
The North and Midlands bore the brunt of local dissatisfaction, with the majority of the top 50 in those regions.
While Luton took the took spot, Abingdon-on-Thames, commonly known as Abingdon, came in 31st.
Archaeological digs have shown that Abingdon was one of the earliest areas in which our hunter-gatherer ancestors first began to lead more settled lifestyles.
Objects on display in the town include tools such as hand axes from almost 400,000 years ago found locally.
But one man, who has lived in the market town for 71 years, said it’s now “rundown and dirty”.
“I have lived in the town all my life and can remember when we had a thriving high street with plenty of shops and businesses, facilities and an abundance of employment,” Tony Thouless told the Oxford Mail.
The 71-year-old continued: “We had a police station in the town with policemen who retained the ability of being able to walk and the town was clean and tidy.
“Now we have succumbed to modernisation and the town is rundown and dirty with little to offer unless you need a haircut, tattoo, your nails painted a hideous colour, a charity shop, or one of the ever increasing coffee shops.
“At night the town is an unpleasant place and doesn’t feel safe.”
Another unhappy resident reviewed “Scabingdon” on the satirical website.
They wrote: “Abingdon, oh Abingdon. One of the oldest inhabited towns in England is now one of the newest blights on civilised society.
“Utterly, totally and completely charmless in every respect.”
In the rest of the survey, Peterborough came in second, closely followed by the nation’s most densely populated city, Portsmouth, despite its picturesque harbour.
Slough and Aylesbury rounded out the top five, based on audience surveys and public votes.
Bizarrely, Reading appears twice on the list – in 21st and 12th place.
Lovers of Northampton might feel stung as it only just snuck onto the list in 50th place.
London boroughs seem to have avoided the wrath of the public as only four appear on the list.
Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham and Croydon are all on there, though none higher than 19th.
Perhaps surprisingly, Kensington and Chelsea comes out worst in the capital, in 15th, despite being home to streets of luxury shops and restaurants catering to millionaire residents.