Missing the UK

[Marisawright]

6 minutes ago, Blue Flu said:

Brunswick East. Sounds like the sort of area I'd feel in tune with. I know Docklands from decades back. I'm trying to recall but wasn't there some issue with some of the building? The longest spell I passed in Melbourne was on my first time in the city back in the nineties. Stayed in Balwyn and found it wanting. Lovely houses and seemingly cosmopolitan, but barely saw a soul around on the streets where I stated. Since stayed in other places and while not quite as lively as may have expected in places , certainly far more vibe than Perth. My friend lives out in Reservoir. Yet to make an acquittance with that area. Next time will check that out. I wonder if you find contact easy? Are people easy to engage from your experience? 

I wouldn't fancy Reservoir, though I've heard hipsters are moving out there due to the out-of-control house prices.  Balwyn is too far out, too.  We are ballroom dancers so don't want to be too remote from the Eastern Suburbs where all the dance studios are, otherwise I'd consider moving to Seddon or Yarraville.   South Melbourne, Pt Melbourne, Albert Park are all nice but too expensive.  

Flammable cladding (a la Grenfell) is a massive issue in new high-rises in Melbourne.  Still not being addressed adequately.  

[Tulip1]

5 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Thanks for replying. We were looking at possible relocations to England in recent years (along with other countries) and Bournemouth  came top of the list. Pricey but less so than Brighton, a place I knew well and liked in the past. (Boscombe more affordable, but obviously more problems) Amazing how difficult a task that proved to be. But Australia proved much the same for me anyway. Did look at many cities and Southampton came out very badly for  anti social behaviour and easy to dismiss. Thing being so many UK cities have severe social crime issues. They label it chav's, but in my view this is a product of austerity that has engrossed the land over recent decades, impacting mostly on the disadvantaged. Drugs as here way out of control, but at least the scourge of meth  (ice) is not frequent in UK. 

But I digress. One city, still cheap, apparently not so youth crime ridden is Sheffield. Supposedly  very friendly and safe. Newcastle came out good as well. But for places without the problems one would do better across The Channel (especially if retiring ) where the culture is not yet experiencing the levels of youth crime and alcohol abuse of too many English cities.

Great you found Melbourne so much to your liking. Probably the only place, for people looking for certain cultural traits in Australia. That's one city that picked up their game in the latter decades of last century. I suspect you would need to chose well though. Many of those suburbs look 'disheartening' to say the least. Trust your hubby has adapted to live there with equal enthusiasm as yourself?  

I think Sheffield is popular and quite a pleasant, low crime city. I’ve visited it a few times, most recently 3 years ago when doing the university search with my son. It’s all about what suits you.  Whilst I know it’s a liked city,  to me I just saw a busy and quite unkept in places looking city. I’ve no doubt it’s friendly but that sort of place isn’t for me.  Just as parley has mentioned about liking the outer green suburbs rather than inner city,  I’m the same.  I live in a descent sized village in the Home Counties and love it.  It’s pretty, peaceful, safe and pretty much crime free.  I couldn’t live isolated though and don’t, nearby towns are reached within miles and London is within easy reach.  If you like city living I am sure Sheffield is a good choice.  There are much better cities south I think but they come with a far higher price tag.  

[Tulip1]

4 hours ago, newjez said:

Sheffield is nice, but I wouldn't call it cheap. A lot of housing in the north has gone up alot. 

It has gone up but compare it to somewhere like Cambridge and it’s still cheap. 

[Tulip1]

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

See, that's where we're different, and it's also why we didn't think of looking at the outer burbs of Bournemouth either.  We're inner-city folk and would hate to live in the green, leafy suburbs anywhere!

What we didn't realise, after such a long absence from the UK, was that middle-aged people and retirees don't do inner-city living in UK cities.   Everyone seems to have embraced the "Escape to the Country" ethos, and live in little villages on the outer edges.  The inner city is left to students and council housing. I think, to get the kind of inner-city vibe we like, we'd have had to go to London (which we couldn't afford).  I was keen to try Edinburgh but my oh was convinced he'd freeze to death. 

Edinburgh is a lovely place.  Scotland has many beautiful places in live in.  I think many are put off by the weather and the midges in the west of Scotland are nasty.  I have family that live on the east coast about a 45 drive from Edinburgh and it’s nice up there. 

[Toots]

17 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Edinburgh is a lovely place.  Scotland has many beautiful places in live in.  I think many are put off by the weather and the midges in the west of Scotland are nasty.  I have family that live on the east coast about a 45 drive from Edinburgh and it’s nice up there. 

Edinburgh would be the only city I would consider living in.  The weather wouldn't bother me that much and I know how cold it can get there.  My sister moved up to live in Edinburgh from London about 4 years ago.  She loves it.  She (like Marisa) is a city ,lover and lives in a flat in the New Town.  If it wasn't for Covid, I'd be over there for a holiday.  Other cities I really like are Newcastle and Liverpool.  We lived on the other side of the Mersey from Liverpool for about 4 years.  It has some really nice areas and is very handy for getting to North Wales, the Lake District and we also often used to go to Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland for weekends.

[Red Rose]

What do people make of Manchester? 

[Toots]

1 minute ago, Red Rose said:

What do people make of Manchester? 

Like any city it has its really nice areas and some truly rough ones too.  I had friends who went to uni in Manchester and whenever I stayed with them we always had a great night life.  Plenty of stuff for young folk happening there.  I haven't been there for decades though.

 

[Marisawright]

15 minutes ago, Toots said:

Edinburgh would be the only city I would consider living in.  The weather wouldn't bother me that much and I know how cold it can get there.  

I lived there for a few months and enjoyed it, but boy it was windy!   I remember coming home from work one winter night. It was snowing and I had on one of those 80's fleecy jackets.  I got off the bus and battled through the snow to my flat with my hood up and my scarf over my mouth.  My flatmate laughed when she saw me.   My whole front from head to toe, (except for my eyes) was completely plastered with snow.  But my back had not one speck on it.  

Edited May 2, 2021 by Marisawright

[Toots]

8 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I lived there for a few months and enjoyed it, but boy it was windy!   I remember coming home from work one winter night. It was snowing and I had on one of those 80's fleecy jackets.  I got off the bus and battled through the snow to my flat with my hood up and my scarf over my mouth.  My flatmate laughed when she saw me.   My whole front from head to toe, (except for my eyes) was completely plastered with snow.  But my back had not one speck on it.  

My brother and sister both went to Edinburgh Uni.  They had both had student flat shares near the city centre but they were far from luxurious I can tell you and they were FREEZING during winter as no central heating.  I never experienced snow there but yes, that wind    .......................  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Parley]

2 hours ago, Blue Flu said:

Brunswick East. Sounds like the sort of area I'd feel in tune with. I know Docklands from decades back. I'm trying to recall but wasn't there some issue with some of the building? The longest spell I passed in Melbourne was on my first time in the city back in the nineties. Stayed in Balwyn and found it wanting. Lovely houses and seemingly cosmopolitan, but barely saw a soul around on the streets where I stated. Since stayed in other places and while not quite as lively as may have expected in places , certainly far more vibe than Perth. My friend lives out in Reservoir. Yet to make an acquittance with that area. Next time will check that out. I wonder if you find contact easy? Are people easy to engage from your experience? 

Balwyn would be nice.

 

[Blue Flu]

28 minutes ago, Parley said:

Balwyn would be nice.

 

Yes recall the song. Sounds appropriate with the suburb under discussion. Although I expect changes from the seventies.  Recall their album Living In The Seventies. 

[newjez]

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It has gone up but compare it to somewhere like Cambridge and it’s still cheap. 

Even compared to the southeast the better parts of Sheffield are comparable. Maybe not Brighton or London, but say Worthing. Sure, if you want to buy a place in Rotherham then yes, it will be cheap. But the nicer areas near the university are not cheap.

Edited May 2, 2021 by newjez

[newjez]

1 hour ago, Blue Flu said:

Yes recall the song. Sounds appropriate with the suburb under discussion. Although I expect changes from the seventies.  Recall their album Living In The Seventies. 

I love the skyhooks. Play them sometimes when I'm feeling nostalgic. I remember the song, but balwyn means nothing to me. I was very young when we lived in Melbourne. All I remember were the Nissan huts, and then some grotty high rise before we moved to French's forest in Sydney.

[Wanderer Returns]

15 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

I think Sheffield is popular and quite a pleasant, low crime city. I’ve visited it a few times, most recently 3 years ago when doing the university search with my son. It’s all about what suits you.  Whilst I know it’s a liked city,  to me I just saw a busy and quite unkept in places looking city. I’ve no doubt it’s friendly but that sort of place isn’t for me.  Just as parley has mentioned about liking the outer green suburbs rather than inner city,  I’m the same.  I live in a descent sized village in the Home Counties and love it.  It’s pretty, peaceful, safe and pretty much crime free.  I couldn’t live isolated though and don’t, nearby towns are reached within miles and London is within easy reach.  If you like city living I am sure Sheffield is a good choice.  There are much better cities south I think but they come with a far higher price tag.  

I'm not a city person either but Sheffield has quite a lot going for it by British standards, especially since it's urban regeneration. A lot has changed since the Full Monty! We lived just 12 miles away in Chesterfield before we moved back to Australia, and regular visited Sheffield for shopping trips. British cities are rife with crime, so you won't get away from that completely unless you choose not to live in a city. A simple solution is to buy a house in the best suburb of a town you can afford. Sheffield hasn't quite reached the critical mass of overpopulation yet, so property prices aren't exorbitant. It's also right on the edge of the Peak District so easy to escape to the countryside. In fact you can see the hills right from the city centre, which is one of things I always like about Sheffield. It's also very well connected by rail and just off the M1.

On the downside, Sheffield feels quite poor compared with most British cities. Just walk around the place during the week and you'll see what I mean. There is also an insularity which I never really understood until I dated a girl from Sheffield, who told me that folks from Sheffield generally marry other Sheffielders, and anything else was frowned upon! It also has a loony-left city council who over the decades have developed a reputation for wasting money on various projects, rather than upgrading essential public services. You only need to cross over the border from Derbyshire to South Yorkshire, and you will see how terrible the roads are!

[Toots]

37 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

I'm not a city person either but Sheffield has quite a lot going for it by British standards, especially since it's urban regeneration. A lot has changed since the Full Monty! We lived just 12 miles away in Chesterfield before we moved back to Australia, and regular visited Sheffield for shopping trips. British cities are rife with crime, so you won't get away from that completely unless you choose not to live in a city. A simple solution is to buy a house in the best suburb of a town you can afford. Sheffield hasn't quite reached the critical mass of overpopulation yet, so property prices aren't exorbitant. It's also right on the edge of the Peak District so easy to escape to the countryside. In fact you can see the hills right from the city centre, which is one of things I always like about Sheffield. It's also very well connected by rail and just off the M1.

On the downside, Sheffield feels quite poor compared with most British cities. Just walk around the place during the week and you'll see what I mean. There is also an insularity which I never really understood until I dated a girl from Sheffield, who told me that folks from Sheffield generally marry other Sheffielders, and anything else was frowned upon! It also has a loony-left city council who over the decades have developed a reputation for wasting money on various projects, rather than upgrading essential public services. You only need to cross over the border from Derbyshire to South Yorkshire, and you will see how terrible the roads are!

There must have been massive council spending cutbacks over the past years because one thing I really noticed when I was back in SW Scotland was the state of the roads.  There are so many lovely little highways and byways but also loads of big potholes causing drivers to swerve around them.  Things are even worse now according to the local paper.  The council just do a quicky patch up job so the potholes reappear in no time at all.  This isn't the main roads but the smaller by-roads which used to be beautifully kept.  The lovely town where I went to school doesn't even have a council street sweeper.  The local volunteers sweep the streets and pavements and keep any weeds down.  Maybe it's just that area but cut-backs are very obvious.

[Wanderer Returns]

2 hours ago, Toots said:

There must have been massive council spending cutbacks over the past years because one thing I really noticed when I was back in SW Scotland was the state of the roads.  There are so many lovely little highways and byways but also loads of big potholes causing drivers to swerve around them.  Things are even worse now according to the local paper.  The council just do a quicky patch up job so the potholes reappear in no time at all.  This isn't the main roads but the smaller by-roads which used to be beautifully kept.  The lovely town where I went to school doesn't even have a council street sweeper.  The local volunteers sweep the streets and pavements and keep any weeds down.  Maybe it's just that area but cut-backs are very obvious.

My father was an officer in local government. I recall him once telling me that the council gets a separate budget for A-roads, B-roads, and minor roads. Apparently the latter is pitiful, and if at the end of the financial years there's still some funds left in the A-road budget, they can't use it for the minor roads - crazy!

[Rossmoyne]

On 02/05/2021 at 10:45, newjez said:

Is there a difference between woke and PC?

Nope

[newjez]

8 hours ago, Toots said:

There must have been massive council spending cutbacks over the past years because one thing I really noticed when I was back in SW Scotland was the state of the roads.  There are so many lovely little highways and byways but also loads of big potholes causing drivers to swerve around them.  Things are even worse now according to the local paper.  The council just do a quicky patch up job so the potholes reappear in no time at all.  This isn't the main roads but the smaller by-roads which used to be beautifully kept.  The lovely town where I went to school doesn't even have a council street sweeper.  The local volunteers sweep the streets and pavements and keep any weeds down.  Maybe it's just that area but cut-backs are very obvious.

Has the changing weather affected potholes?

[Wanderer Returns]

On 02/05/2021 at 11:59, Blue Flu said:

That term should be struck from the English language forth with. It has suddenly come out of nowhere into the mouths of babes and the family galah. At least giving the appearance of, in its over use and meaningless .

 

On 02/05/2021 at 12:45, newjez said:

Is there a difference between woke and PC?

 

3 hours ago, Rossmoyne said:

Nope

I'm guessing the term 'PC' is used more often than not in a derogatory sense, so the PC-brigade (or Social Justice Warriors as they now like to be known ) had to reinvent themselves, and 'woke' was born. The first time I heard it was when my friend came back from London, which seems to be the birthplace of most stupid terminology. To be honest, what annoys me most about the term is a verb being used as an adjective.

[HappyHeart]

If somebody called me woke I'd take it as a compliment. 

[newjez]

5 minutes ago, HappyHeart said:

If somebody called me woke I'd take it as a compliment. 

If anyone has any qualms about being woke, just watch some TV from the 70s or 80s. Or even from 2000. It seems like yesterday, but we have made progress.

[Toots]

16 hours ago, newjez said:

Has the changing weather affected potholes?

There were always problems with potholes due to heavy rain, ice and snow but at  least they were fixed properly so they 'mend' lasted a while.  Now they just get a bit of tar flung on them and within a month or so the potholes are opened up again.  Some of them are really quite big too.  "In the olden days"   the council fixed them but now it seems to be private subcontractors who do it.
 

[Wanderer Returns]

19 hours ago, newjez said:

If anyone has any qualms about being woke, just watch some TV from the 70s or 80s. Or even from 2000. It seems like yesterday, but we have made progress.

Personally I've no qualms with 70s or 80s TV - most of it still shines compared with what's on offer today. The special effects may look dated and the production quality was poor, but TV back then for the most part was entertaining, educational, and unbiased. Such a relief I no longer have to pay 160 quid a year for the privilege of viewing the mindless dross the BBC are turning out these days. Australian TV is just as bad but at least it's free!

[s713]

Australian TV is considerably worse than TV in the UK. Considerably worse. We can call that right now.

[FirstWorldProblems]

2 hours ago, s713 said:

Australian TV is considerably worse than TV in the UK. Considerably worse. We can call that right now.

I don't know how you can say that:

• Rake - superb 
• Glitch - superb
• Jack Irish - superb
• Border Security - not just superb, but some of the best TV ever!  People trying to cheat the system who get caught.  Can't beat it.

That's all I have