8 Worst places in Mid Glamorgan (Welsh Valleys 2)

Комедия

Here's a link to our previous visit to The Welsh Valleys : • IT'S GRIM IN THE VALLE...
I felt like I had unfinished business in the Welsh Valleys after our last visit to Gwent/Monmouthshire. That was a real eye opener and there were some really grim places. Especially Abertillery, Rhymney and Newport. But we only managed to cover half the valleys which is a place well known for its government neglect and poverty. You probably haven't even heard of most of the places in today's video but once again it was an eye opener. Historic Mid Glamorgan covers Bridgend County, Merthyr County and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Merthyr Tydfil was the only places I'd visited before so this was mostly a new experience for Turdtowns.

Пікірлер: 984

  • @AB-ly6pf
    @AB-ly6pf Жыл бұрын

    Used to frequent the Valleys and South Wales on a regular basis for work delivering flat pack. Only place the residents used to frequently help me out when they saw I was on my own. Diamonds.

  • @pauldavies5655

    @pauldavies5655

    Жыл бұрын

    oddly en ough --- i always come down the stairs to get my parcels ( when they buzz me ) instead of making the driver handball them up the stairs!

  • @meadi6510
    @meadi6510 Жыл бұрын

    I live in Porth the Rhondda Valleys in which three towns are featured in this video. The thing about the Valleys is that you can be in Turdtown the one moment then in a beautiful village the next. Then five minutes down the road another Turdtown.

  • @sacredneutral7304

    @sacredneutral7304

    Жыл бұрын

    Nah it's one big shythole

  • @jacobarmour6325

    @jacobarmour6325

    Жыл бұрын

    I live in Porth too lol

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    11 ай бұрын

    Port Talbot is really bad

  • @peterlarkin762
    @peterlarkin762 Жыл бұрын

    "They were probably burglars working from home and decided to kick their own door in" lol

  • @bigmaxcc

    @bigmaxcc

    Жыл бұрын

    😂😂

  • @paulsullivan8883

    @paulsullivan8883

    Жыл бұрын

    Actually pmsl 😂😂😂

  • @happisakshappiplace.6588

    @happisakshappiplace.6588

    11 ай бұрын

    That line had me PMSL!

  • @tinachristine4573

    @tinachristine4573

    10 ай бұрын

    He has amazing zingers 😂😂😂😂

  • @fromthegecko3303

    @fromthegecko3303

    Ай бұрын

    The sad thing is its probably true,covid hit them hard lol

  • @bollomcbollo6260
    @bollomcbollo626010 ай бұрын

    The valley towns are certainly a bit of a dump aesthetically, but they're where my Best Man comes from. As such, I've spent a lot of time in and around Treorchy: walking in the mountains, cycling and of course drinking in the local pubs. It's an exceptionally friendly area with really nice, down to earth people. I thoroughly recommend a Saturday afternoon/evening pub crawl from Tonypandy up to Treherbert and then work it off the next day with a cycle ride up over the Rhigos to Hirwaun. Enjoy :)

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    Maybe lock your bike outside the pub

  • @myriaddsystems
    @myriaddsystems Жыл бұрын

    I think the people who live in the valleys deserve better than this- the pride and dignity that they once possessed has been taken away from them- replaced by fear and desperation- In such a beautiful landscape.

  • @bertieschitz-peas429

    @bertieschitz-peas429

    Жыл бұрын

    The valley's were shocking in the scale of industrial decline and mine workings despoiling the area, it's thanks to the EU it got a make over so now they're a dumping ground for over-dense forestry and wind turbines, the valley tops are ecologically barren just fit to graze sheep and fly-tip builders waste.

  • @zenzen9131

    @zenzen9131

    Жыл бұрын

    The shitty conditions are caused by the people that live there. You can't keep on blaming others for the piles of litter and crap everywhere.

  • @jamesgrover2005

    @jamesgrover2005

    Жыл бұрын

    🔊 this /ðɪs/ pronoun 1. neolibralist late stage capitalism

  • @jonprince3237

    @jonprince3237

    Жыл бұрын

    @@zenzen9131I live near Aberdare and most people aren't scum, but it doesn't take a big percentage of scum to drag a place down, they do disproportionate harm because that's all they do. There are a lot of problems with intergenerational poverty, crime and drug use, local government can't get a grip of it, money occasionally gets thrown at the problem but never a really sustainable longterm strategy. There's still a post industrial legacy of overpopulation, crappie outdated infrastructure/housing and increasingly the areas being used as a dumping ground by other parts of the UK to offload their high dependant population that make it a difficult place to live. Most people with any sense or ability try to move somewhere better. Short of targeted genocide it's a big problem to solve without the kind of resources that the areas just aren't being given, the location and geography mean there's unlikely to ever be another industrial revolution to create widespread prosperity, the best that can be done is managed decline, but even that requires money and effort that people just don't want to commit. 90% of the population can and would make it a worthwhile place to live if they had a chance, 10% keep it a shithole and hold the rest back and increasingly the law gives them the protection to do it because it's made by people who don't have to live with the consequences on a daily basis. People at the top don't care, and as long as that's the case then whatever the people at the bottom do to try and make things better is basically just pissing into the wind, and your legs can only get so wet before you decide it's a waste of time and give up.

  • @sambryce321

    @sambryce321

    11 ай бұрын

    @@zenzen9131I think the situation in the valleys is probably one of the best examples of causes outside of the community leading to them becoming deprived. The number one reason things are so bad there is because there is no work and no good transport links to places where there is work. Both of those things were entirely caused by governments that the people in this area did not vote for and were actually militantly opposed to.

  • @danielcox7886
    @danielcox7886 Жыл бұрын

    I visited Penrhys in the late 90s and I literally thought I was in Baghdad. Your video's are brilliant 👏

  • @hogyndrwg6253

    @hogyndrwg6253

    Жыл бұрын

    Is it full of Iraqis displaced by Tony Blair's war?

  • @AstronomyWales

    @AstronomyWales

    Жыл бұрын

    It was nice in the 90s compared to today.

  • @danielcox7886

    @danielcox7886

    Жыл бұрын

    @@AstronomyWales Hahaha

  • @danielcox7886

    @danielcox7886

    Жыл бұрын

    @@AstronomyWales not when I seen it pal

  • @timphillips9954

    @timphillips9954

    Жыл бұрын

    It used to be a very scary place, but with some great people as well.

  • @user-yc2zz7rk1p
    @user-yc2zz7rk1p Жыл бұрын

    Love seeing my home county pop up here! Do think its funny you called Aberdare a pretty nice town though. As a Bridgend local please don't call what happened here a su!cide cult. That's not what happened, that's what the media called it to sell papers and sensationalise stories. What happened was a catastrophic failure in youth mental health services, those young people were suffering and were not given the support or help they needed and there was no link between those who we tragically lost despite the media doing their best to find one. A lot of painful memories for us when we still have that time misrepresented due to the way it was reported on.

  • @arthurarsekey6634

    @arthurarsekey6634

    Жыл бұрын

    It was an "antidepressant" medicine called Seroxat that was implicated.

  • @jonbarnes2424

    @jonbarnes2424

    Жыл бұрын

    Another thing that's worth noting is that the youth suicide rate at the time in Bridgend was still below that of large towns and cities in the UK.

  • @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    Жыл бұрын

    There were many rumours, official investigations cited no link. However they were all at some point or currently under the care of the youth mental health team in Bridgend.

  • @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jonbarnes2424 What's also worth noting is the figures are absolutely rubbish. The health board were involved in reporting them. They cite the increase as only lasting between 07 and 08 when those of us who were involved know it lasted until late 2012. And they never talk about the amount of young people who attempted and failed but still required hospitalisation.

  • @arthurarsekey6634

    @arthurarsekey6634

    Жыл бұрын

    @@user-yc2zz7rk1p They would say that wouldn't they? Seroxat is well known for suicidal ideation along with many others in the same class. Pharma grifters making money out of the completely devalued idea of serotonin reuptake inhibition which has been robustly shown to be utter garbage.

  • @rmorgan7
    @rmorgan7 Жыл бұрын

    I used to live a couple of miles from Maesteg. When I grew up there in the 70's it had a thriving town centre and was generally a reasonable place to live close to. I have been back there a couple of times in the last 2-3 years to visit a relative and the decay is staggering. It's not just the mines that have closed down - a whole industrial estate just off the town centre that was filled with factories is now just scrub and rubble, with not a single building left. Anyone with any money or ambition has long since moved down to the M4 corridor, to Cardiff or like me, out of Wales altogether.

  • @daeshbagcentral5298

    @daeshbagcentral5298

    4 ай бұрын

    Yeah,just move east,over the bridge and back to civilisation.

  • @duringthemeanwhilst
    @duringthemeanwhilst Жыл бұрын

    Ponty benefits from having the (now) university. I went there back in the mid 1980s when it was known as The Polytechnic of Wales. I actually loved the place for its friendliness though not all students would agree back then. I was lucky having many relatives living in the area, as my mother's side of the family had their roots in Rhondda.

  • @Freiya2011

    @Freiya2011

    4 ай бұрын

    I was a German laguage assistant at the polytechnic in the late 80s. I lived in Ponty. I LOVED it! People were SO friendly although they suffered from the miners' strike.

  • @danwood4681
    @danwood468110 ай бұрын

    Why the Welsh government haven’t had the foresight to turn the Valleys into a serious tourist attraction, like the Peak District for example, is beyond me. The landscape up there is incredible and crying out for tourism investment/development/infrastructure. I’m from Bridgend and all these areas have so much potential to thrive once again.

  • @stuartwilliams3164

    @stuartwilliams3164

    10 ай бұрын

    That would need imagination, the senedd plans only reach to the M4 the northern edge of Cardiff.

  • @superyid2010

    @superyid2010

    9 ай бұрын

    Work is about to start on a massive adventure park with hotels, log cabins etc in the Afan valley, about two miles from Maesteg. It's about time someone took advantage of the incredible landscape and scenery of the valleys.

  • @lmaoroflcopter

    @lmaoroflcopter

    7 ай бұрын

    They have. Look at Ebbw Vale Festival Park. Its now completely defunct due to lack of interest.

  • @jeffreychongsathien

    @jeffreychongsathien

    7 ай бұрын

    Maybe it's something to do with politicians and government employees being feckless, stupid, lazy parasites who've never succeeded in building anything in their lives except for persistently lining their pockets and filling their fat pensions with the confiscated wealth generated by the productivity of others... just a wild guess.

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    Wales voted for brexit so all the tourism funding has just ended. EU funding brought huge tourism infrastructure investment eg Rhondda Heritage Park, Big Pit Blaenavon and Llancaich Fawr Cromwellian Manor House. The Heads of the Valleys Rd and Merthyr By Pass. Huge investment in fast Broadband and various River clean ups. The Taff Trail Cycle route and some superb new educational colleges in Merthyr Ebbw Vale and Ysrrad Mynach. New local railway stations into the valleys towns. A lot of it had 75% EU grants Then the people of the Valleys voted 3 to 1 to leave the EU.

  • @dewipritchrd3578
    @dewipritchrd3578 Жыл бұрын

    I live 4 miles north of Pontypridd and agree with most of your observations. However, had you visited during the day, you would have found a little treasure in the indoor market. There’re quality butchers. Excellent restaurants and a superb coffee shop along with a fine bakery. Many other businesses also. Well worth a visit.

  • @ACoincidentalLife

    @ACoincidentalLife

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes, the indoor market was great when I lived there in the mid-eighties, a great doughnut place was a highlight of my weekly shopping!

  • @Sinaisid

    @Sinaisid

    Жыл бұрын

    I remember the Market in the 60’s when young!! It was a mega busy bustling area!! So glad Ponty is doing well. I’ve spent my career living in the SE and working in London, but love Ponty and the Rhondda!! It was a brill place to grow up in!!

  • @jacobarmour6325

    @jacobarmour6325

    Жыл бұрын

    four miles north Porth maybe? Glynoch? Maerdy ?

  • @dewipritchrd3578

    @dewipritchrd3578

    Жыл бұрын

    None of those

  • @philuin9594

    @philuin9594

    11 ай бұрын

    Theres a free miners museum by the Bridge in ponty Town that doubles up as a tourist information you got the rocking stones they used to hold concerts in the park for free and often the stereophonics would perform I would not call Pontypridd a turd town!

  • @hgodfrey
    @hgodfrey10 ай бұрын

    You’re absolutely right. Wales needs to embrace adventure tourism and also nature conservation and wildlife. All the sheep and pine plantations do nothing for the economy. Creating wilderness parks would transform the place and bring in people from across Britain.

  • @jeffreychongsathien

    @jeffreychongsathien

    7 ай бұрын

    That would require venture capital and removal of government downforces... neither of which will happen.

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    I agree. Build on hill walking cycling and river fishing. Afan Argoed Mountain Biking now attracts a certain well heeled professional type of tourist from the shires.

  • @jameshall3566
    @jameshall3566 Жыл бұрын

    The prevalence of lung disease in Merthyr Tydfil is largely a legacy of the mining era. I went to school there in the late 80s / early 90s and a shockingly high proportion of kids my age were asthmatic. Even now there are still a lot of toxins in the environment.

  • @arthurarsekey6634

    @arthurarsekey6634

    Жыл бұрын

    It's also the open cast mine on the mountain above sending up tons of coal dust.

  • @mrf9583

    @mrf9583

    11 ай бұрын

    Its all the gear.....

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    They all smoke

  • @jimandmarypowell9783
    @jimandmarypowell9783 Жыл бұрын

    Some interesting observations as a former "Valleysboy", now living in New Zealand. It outlines a waste of human capital and lack of investment. Please note that in the filming, you can just see the outstanding countryside that abounds among the hillsides and hilltops between the valleys. The place certainly deserves a visit. Perhaps the Welsh Tourist Board should promote these towns as a 'must see', possibly encouraging a form of voyeuristic tourism, its spinoff benefiting the community? Remember the local adage, "You can take the boy from the Valleys but you can't take the valleys from the boy".

  • @bertieschitz-peas429

    @bertieschitz-peas429

    Жыл бұрын

    The valley's are shocking, the coastline is the best part of South Wales

  • @popandy2956

    @popandy2956

    Жыл бұрын

    I heard the rest of the LOTR movie was filmed in New Zealand, but the shots of Mordor were from here

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    11 ай бұрын

    why do you live in NZ?

  • @jimandmarypowell9783

    @jimandmarypowell9783

    11 ай бұрын

    @@llanieliowe794 Came here in 1973 for excitement and adventure, moved back and fore a couple of times but here for good. Wales has changed, so have I. It's harder each time I go back. NZ is uncrowded, even the cities, the scenery is stunning and the climate better. The people are great. What's not to like?

  • @benfletcher9659

    @benfletcher9659

    5 ай бұрын

    The valleys would make a living history experience of the 1970's. If it was not for the mines, it would be one big national park of Outstanding Beauty.

  • @cubanpete9030
    @cubanpete9030 Жыл бұрын

    These valleys have suffered more under labour in the last 20 years. Tonypandy was a bustling town once. Pontypridd ruined by the council

  • @jeffreyhill3592
    @jeffreyhill35927 ай бұрын

    Well, I’m a valley boy born and bred, even though in general there is some truth to this video, I live in a small village called Gifach Goch, not much there but I love it, fantastic views from my house on a sunny day. I’ve worked all over the UK and there are just as many depressed areas in England, Scotland and Ireland. I wouldn’t sell my house for one anywhere else, I just travel to London every week for work, a Londoner would be jealous of what I can come home too, perhaps I’m just lucky.

  • @snapagigphotography
    @snapagigphotography Жыл бұрын

    Funny narrative but really sad considering we are a G7 nation. The wealth is going somewhere, but not equally and totally missing some places by the look of things.

  • @georgeaird4637

    @georgeaird4637

    Жыл бұрын

    Rich people take it out the country and park it in the caymans.

  • @mooge6467
    @mooge6467 Жыл бұрын

    Its a shame because the valleys are actually beautiful in terms of the scenery but there's just no economy there anymore, still brings a smile to face when u see footage of it

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    11 ай бұрын

    There is economy in Cardiff so hopefully that comes to the rest of the valley

  • @tom-ch5ii
    @tom-ch5ii Жыл бұрын

    honestly think the senedd are pulling a Westminster and putting all their focus on Cardiff, it has become a nice little city (bad timing saying this with Ely incident) but everywhere else is tumbling downhill

  • @Turdtowns

    @Turdtowns

    Жыл бұрын

    Ye it seems that way!

  • @AymanTravelTransport

    @AymanTravelTransport

    Жыл бұрын

    This seems to be a universal problem; funnel all investment into the capital/largest city, neglecting everywhere else. It's mainly to do with population, as the population of the big three (Cardiff, Newport and Swansea) alone is higher than pretty much everywhere else in Wales combined so there's more taxpayers concentrated there to give more incentive to prioritise the investment there. Not a very good approach, I know, given it's clearly a profit-driven model (more population = more profit). Wales need to look at Switzerland (tbf they are starting to use Swiss-style trains in the Valleys now so that's a start), where they avoid giving preference to one city over another to the point where they officially avoid saying they have a capital. The de-facto capital (as the seat of government has to be somewhere) Bern isn't even among the top three largest cities (Zurich, Geneva and Basel) and every city in Switzerland holds its own without being in the shadow of another, hence there is much more balance in investment across the board.

  • @tom-ch5ii

    @tom-ch5ii

    Жыл бұрын

    @Lucy and Clare - An Appreciation Channel ​ You don't need to list them I've been there, and in fact most you have listed are on the outskirts which is an issue every city deal with e.e London with Croydon, Camden before gentrification. What I'm saying is you can circle the city centre of Cardiff a lot further out before finding the rougher outer areas, I mean Swansea one step out of the Quadrant and you are in the dive that is Sandfields. Also regardless if you believe it's good or not, money is going there to make it better more than anywhere else.

  • @tom-ch5ii

    @tom-ch5ii

    Жыл бұрын

    @@AymanTravelTransport To be fair, the new valleys trains are very nice, quite surprised we have such modernity to be honest!

  • @tom-ch5ii

    @tom-ch5ii

    Жыл бұрын

    @Lucy and Clare - An Appreciation Channel Haha well agree to disagree, not saying the locals couldn't have a better attitude but to call it incorrect to blame the government for failing many people with a lack of opportunities is quite erroneous in itself. Do you truly believe the council has done everything they can to mend these areas, the same council that build hostile architecture to hide the homeless instead of tackling the issue?

  • @ohnoitisnt
    @ohnoitisnt Жыл бұрын

    Ive heard Ely isnt great, especially at the moment!

  • @RolloZx

    @RolloZx

    Жыл бұрын

    dont need to switch the heating on there at the moment

  • @machendave

    @machendave

    Жыл бұрын

    Ideal for a street barbecue though

  • @hughzapretti-boyden9187

    @hughzapretti-boyden9187

    Жыл бұрын

    It's what happens when there's a shortage of sheep for the neanderthal chavs to play with.🐑🐑🐑

  • @nicks4934

    @nicks4934

    Жыл бұрын

    Chasing 2 kids on an e scooter? Murder by the cops.

  • @glenking877

    @glenking877

    Жыл бұрын

    Lots of lawless bastards down that way.

  • @garry843
    @garry843 Жыл бұрын

    Always remember a big punchup in Ponty and the police turned up in their cars. The police station was less than 100 yards away and they all came by car. Maerdy, you used to move house by night because if they saw what you had, it would soon be gone. You Maesteg is rough, it has a big police station. The new town hall is a moneypit and a joke. Bridgend wakes up on benefits day, all the single mum's with push chairs block McDonalds. The end of industry was the end of the valleys. Councils are overpaid under worked, more important to have a posh office than a tidy town. You should have seen Penrhys in it's early days, three times the size, did have a club and a police station. Another council success.

  • @Walesktf

    @Walesktf

    Жыл бұрын

    Spot on with your comments " The end of industry was the end of the valleys. Councils are overpaid under worked, more important to have a posh office than a tidy town" You've got it in a nutshell why these places are so rundown

  • @andrewmorgan1819

    @andrewmorgan1819

    7 ай бұрын

    Penrhys also had a decent golf course

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    We used to travel to visit Our Lady of Penrhys from Swansea every summer in the 1970s. Like visiting Lourdes or Fatima. It was always freezing even in summer.

  • @williamfence566
    @williamfence566 Жыл бұрын

    Worked for a retailer across mid glamorgan for many years in the 90's and 00's. Gradually saw the decline every year as the ambitious or prosperous moved away . The surroundings in some cases may be crumbling but the spirit of those remaining is strong.

  • @hogyndrwg6253
    @hogyndrwg6253 Жыл бұрын

    This video needs to be shown on a big screen facing the Welsh Parliament building with a battery of pop festival-strength loudspeakers turned up so the mainly over-fed occupants don't miss any of this glowing appraisal.

  • @Walesktf

    @Walesktf

    Жыл бұрын

    A bunch of greedy self -serving pigs at the Welsh Assembly. Get rid of, and use the money on community projects in Wales.

  • @turnip5359

    @turnip5359

    Жыл бұрын

    All someone needs to do is get a generator, a big outdoor screen usually used for concerts and something that can play videos connected to it. I'm sure it could be crowdfunded

  • @Winning9999
    @Winning9999 Жыл бұрын

    Idk why I like these videos so much or why I find them so interesting. You definitely need to venture into Scotland at some point, there is many grim places here 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇬🇧

  • @alishacassidy7612
    @alishacassidy76128 ай бұрын

    My husband and I moved from England to South Wales. We have lived here for almost two years now. We moved here because you get more for your money in the way of house properties than in England. To be honest, I haven't really ventured far here. I have been to Meardy as it is just over the mountains from us. I've been to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. I clean for a couple in Pontypridd. Yes, some of the areas are run down but you also have some lovely areas. I wondered if the makers of Turd Town could do a video of the nice places to visit in South Wales as there are loads. You have the castles; coch and Caerphilly on the way to Cardiff, the dare Valley aberdare Park and the brecon beacons. Its not all doom and gloom. However, i now realise why one of my cleaning customers said that the government need to invest in making South Wales better. I also agree with the comment of.. these Valley towns was once thriving places as the mines provided jobs for locals and also people came from miles around to work in them. Sadly, when they closed there wasn't much in the way of jobs for people. Also, just to add being English myself, I totally agree with what you said in your Monmouthshire video that children here are actually brought up with manners compared to some English children and the Welsh people have a lot of pride in their country and heritage! And so they should as they have a beautiful speaking language (welsh) and celtic ancestry. And the more up north and west you go they have preserved the welsh language (as they should) such pride! And the views? Absolutely beautiful 😍

  • @Bevan1988

    @Bevan1988

    7 ай бұрын

    Unfortunately I don't think the maker of turdtowns is interested in creating anything positive about any place. Just someone who likes to sneer and be negative and has figured out how to edit videos to broadcast it to the world.

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    Blackwood is a neat proud little town with some gorgeous scenery.

  • @itsonlymeok

    @itsonlymeok

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@DaiHGowerWalesThat's where I live now lol Markham boy 30 years😂😂

  • @ktjai9445

    @ktjai9445

    7 ай бұрын

    Wales is one of the most beautiful places in tge UK. Gorgeous beaches stunning mountains and countryside. I love being from Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  • @ladeanbartlett2530

    @ladeanbartlett2530

    7 ай бұрын

    I’ve lived in Wales for 23 years as my ex is Welsh. Whilst most of the friends I made were lovely, the majority are so up their own arses (my ex included) and are brought up to hate or at least have a big problem with the English. Most of the towns are shitholes. The National Parks are beautiful and I did love going to Abergavenny. My favourite pubs were the Clytha in Raglan and The Skirrid Inn in Llanvihangel-Crucorny. Cardiff was good for shopping as is Cwmbran. I’ve worked in the valleys too and they are shocking too.

  • @frankmatibs8076
    @frankmatibs80767 ай бұрын

    I’m welsh but was moved to England as my grandfather moved for work He ended up working in a factory putting the holes in coconut ring biscuits

  • @101steel4
    @101steel4 Жыл бұрын

    A lot of it looks familiar. As a kid back in the 70s/80s I'd get shipped off from London for the school summer holidays to Cymmer. My aunt married a Welsh fella so it was basically a free holiday lol. Happy times though running wild in the open countryside. Made a pleasant change from the big smoke.

  • @B2091
    @B20919 ай бұрын

    I hear people slate these towns of Wales as being dumps. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Wales and from experience of some of the places Ive worked, comparatively the Welsh offerings don’t seem that bad. Least here you still have beautiful greenery, valleys and rolling hills. If you want to see a sh@thole then take a wander through places like Brixton, Camberwell, Southwark, Peckham, Tottenham, Bow, Bethnal green the list of dumps within London is endless. Peckham is probably the worst I’ve seen. Narcotic Needles, human waste, rats, people wandering around talking to themselves, shouting, lost their minds due to drug abuse. All concrete, no nature. Horrid places. I’d pick working in a Welsh town over 90% of the dumps within London.

  • @470danadidas
    @470danadidas Жыл бұрын

    You mention that a positive for Penywaun is that its close to Aberdare which is quite a nice town. I live and work in the latter and I would agree, although Aberdare has had its fair share of social and economic problems over the years and some parts of the town have seen better days. But theres far worse out there.

  • @jameshall3566

    @jameshall3566

    Жыл бұрын

    Born & raised in Aberdare. Pleased that it was too nice to make the list of TTs! Has it's problems for sure, but there's a lot worse out there.

  • @someusername1
    @someusername1 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for that. Despite having lived in the area (Maesteg!) I hadn't heard of all of them. Your description of Maesteg cracked me up.

  • @imagseer
    @imagseer Жыл бұрын

    The grimness of forced de-industrialisation laid bare here, just like in other parts of country after the mining was closed down. Everything was still working until the late 1970's, and there are still a few brighter spots even now. They should probably turn those boarded up shops into affordable housing rather than wait forlornly for gentrification or some other miracle to bring in money for the councils. If they don't bother more of it it will collapse into 'zombie apocalypse' territory. Keep up the Turdtowns series, you won't be running out of new ones to find any day soon.

  • @jamesgrover2005

    @jamesgrover2005

    Жыл бұрын

    Hopefully everyone in the UK has now noticed that this clusterfluck of governance has nothing to do with being in the EU, and everything to do with being ruled by elite Etonians, nothing personal.. they just want more money. Ok yeah it is personal, they hate us plebs.

  • @garethfairclough8715

    @garethfairclough8715

    11 ай бұрын

    Forced, my eye! It pretty much wrecked itself.

  • @lemsip207

    @lemsip207

    4 ай бұрын

    I have seen corner shops being turned into housing in Cardiff.

  • @TimSter15
    @TimSter157 ай бұрын

    I lived in Wales for 3 years. I've lived in Pontypridd, visited Bridgend several times and Merthyr Tydfil. The hit that these communities took from the mining collapse is deeply haunting. South Wales was doomed from the get go.

  • @madmike987655

    @madmike987655

    7 ай бұрын

    Unfortunately the Council's didn't do much to bring them back to life. This is coming from someone who has spent all my life in Glamorgan areas of South Wales and now work in a Council. Lots of poor decisions and being out of touch with communities' want's and needs has meant most towns have suffered immensely.

  • @photoman3579

    @photoman3579

    7 ай бұрын

    @@madmike987655 Get rid of the Labour councils to have any chance at all !

  • @eileenpritchard9154

    @eileenpritchard9154

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@photoman3579 ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

  • @patriciaphillips2479

    @patriciaphillips2479

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@photoman3579Why does Wales have 22 local authorities with 22 chief executives and 22 teams of senior executives? Surely, in these days of modern technology and communications, local authorities can be combined, to reduce the number to at least half to 11. Why can't a chief executive and senior management team manage the services provided to people living within 2 current local authorities. Money saved from these salaries, pension payouts, expenses, immediate support staff and office accommodation, could be put to front line resources, kkwhich are crying out for money, such as improving the number, and salaries, of home care assistants, schools, NHS and other services suffering for the want of finance. Eluned Morgan, the Welsh Health and Social Services Minister, warned recently, although additional funding was available to the NHS in Wales, cut backs would have to be made. From the pictures shown on Welsh news whilst reporting this, the implication was that the cuts would apply to front line services. Why not back office cuts rather than front line services cuts? Also why is it necessary to increase the number of Senedd members by 50%? Especially at a time when front line services are desperate for the money. Finance should ALWAYS be available to provide the services required by residents within each local authority, rather than being diverted to support management. Community charges, which Welsh people pay, is for FRONT LINE SERVICES.

  • @madmike987655

    @madmike987655

    7 ай бұрын

    @@photoman3579 The bulk of Local Government money comes from Central Government, fed through Welsh Government. How do you expect Local Government to run properly when the past 3 years, the Conservative UK government has ruined the the UK?

  • @harry130747
    @harry130747 Жыл бұрын

    The problems in Merthyr arose when the local mines, iron production and then manufacturing industry all closed leaving mass unemployment. Hoover washing machines. Triange and a host of others were sold off and then "lifted and shifted" elsewhere. An incredible downward spiral..

  • @DaiHGowerWales

    @DaiHGowerWales

    7 ай бұрын

    Move on. Get over it look at Poland Hungary and East Germany. Stop being victims

  • @staygoldponyboy8881

    @staygoldponyboy8881

    6 ай бұрын

    Still blaming Thatcher 35 years later😂 What have your Labour councillors and people like Drakeford done for you since? Sod all that's what!

  • @harmonicres
    @harmonicres Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for your effort. I love watching this channel full of information and glorious smattering of classic un-PC Brit humor!

  • @Margaret-hs3zb
    @Margaret-hs3zb10 ай бұрын

    Pontypridd had a lovely shopping area and a massive park. We used to love going there.

  • @tim.jenkins75
    @tim.jenkins75 Жыл бұрын

    99% of Wales, if in England, would be national Park...its that nice here....well done for finding the 1%....you help keep the English out and prices affordable....peace

  • @michaelmeredith9470

    @michaelmeredith9470

    Жыл бұрын

    Rather than carrying that massive chip around on your shoulder why dont you actually do something about the state of these places. The evidence is there for all to see.

  • @1NCUB1

    @1NCUB1

    Жыл бұрын

    Tbh most of these places are shit holes because the English government shut down all the industry in the 80s suddenly without providing any assistance or alternative employment. Not that the same thing didn't also happen in England though. These places have massive potential, especially with stunning countryside so close by. I feel like things are slowly improving though (mostly).

  • @Jords1892
    @Jords1892 Жыл бұрын

    I’m born and raised in Maerdy, you’ll do hard to find a place with more lovely people back in the day, now, like most places, the scumbags and spoon burners are shoved up there in the social housing. I loved growing up there and will always be proud of my Maerdy and mining roots, best part of the village is the road out nowadays.

  • @robedmunds7163
    @robedmunds7163 Жыл бұрын

    Used to live in Northampton, so these do not seem too bad, at least there is nice scenery and the cost of living is lower.

  • @mariancounsellor

    @mariancounsellor

    Жыл бұрын

    That’s surprising. I live in Birmingham but have visited Northampton many times. Never found it to be bad but then again, visiting is different from living somewhere

  • @georgeaird4637

    @georgeaird4637

    Жыл бұрын

    Same, I grew up in Luton and most of these places don’t seem that bad to me. Although they are fairly remote.

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    11 ай бұрын

    You should see Port Talbot and then you will feel blessed to be in Northampton

  • @jonathanparker2369

    @jonathanparker2369

    10 ай бұрын

    You have to love nature to enjoy these places and i think if you grow up with it its just wallpaper. Go to any exotic beautiful place in the world and the locals just chuck all their shit on the floor. Human nature.

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jonathanparker2369 In a lot of places they don't have any bins or anything so they have to do that

  • @weevie833
    @weevie8335 ай бұрын

    Glad to see this review. My great-great-great grandparents migrated from Merthyr Tydfil around 1820. I can only imagine how much worse it must have been back then in the iron mills and mines.

  • @JordanHowlett
    @JordanHowlett Жыл бұрын

    I spent a couple of years living on the Gurnos when I was a teenager. I saw more crime and depravity than I have in the rest of my life combined! It was a truly depressing place and I feel sorry for the people who spend their whole lives there.

  • @scouscoustm
    @scouscoustm Жыл бұрын

    I've lived in the Rhondda my entire life and Tonypandy & Penyrhys have always been no go zones due to how bad the crime was when I was younger.

  • @bertieschitz-peas429

    @bertieschitz-peas429

    Жыл бұрын

    I cycled thru' Tonypandy once or twice and it seemed nice enough with plenty of small independent shops open.

  • @Towpathdippers
    @Towpathdippers Жыл бұрын

    I remember being up Betws mountain when they shut the fans down on Ammanford mines the valley fell quiet

  • @ivorwindybottom7364

    @ivorwindybottom7364

    Жыл бұрын

    Used to play in that mine over 30 years ago. Went to school at Amman Valley.

  • @TrystyKat
    @TrystyKat11 ай бұрын

    Merthyr Tydfil was the site of a pretty badass workers' revolt in 1831, known as the Merthyr Rising.

  • @janiced9960

    @janiced9960

    7 ай бұрын

    I'm a History graduate and we learned that the Merthyr Riots resulted in far more deaths than the Peterloo Massacre the English made so much of. The other thing that really niggles me is the way the football stadium fire which resulted in about 25 deaths was publicised so much and the 100th anniversary of the Senghenydd pit disaster in which over 430 people died was virtually ignored

  • @TrystyKat

    @TrystyKat

    7 ай бұрын

    @@janiced9960 Things that happen in far off conquered territories have little importance to those in power

  • @fereshassineLoki
    @fereshassineLoki10 ай бұрын

    Go to Swansea city centre, empty shops and places shutting down, wasn’t like this five years ago.

  • @Sulla1105
    @Sulla1105 Жыл бұрын

    Come to West Wales and experience the pleasure of Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock and Haverfordwest.

  • @gryff8400

    @gryff8400

    Жыл бұрын

    Visited in the 80s as a lad. Was quite decent then although hard to find work. Dread to think what it might be like today.. 😮

  • @Turdtowns

    @Turdtowns

    Жыл бұрын

    I really do want to and I almost did. Worried tourist season will make slow travel.

  • @ulazygit

    @ulazygit

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Turdtowns that holiday traffic will only affect you when leaving …

  • @1NCUB1

    @1NCUB1

    Жыл бұрын

    I've actually just been in Milford Haven today. It's kinda sad. The marina is beautiful but expensive and gentrified for the tourists (like me tbf). But the rest of the town is so dead even the charity and betting shops have closed down...

  • @MrChimpeh
    @MrChimpeh Жыл бұрын

    Loving this series keep them coming!

  • @matthewkerswell1450
    @matthewkerswell14507 ай бұрын

    Myrther..you missed cafartha retai Park, the museum and art gallery, the leisure estate which has gym swimming pools, a hotel and a nice pub/carvery situated next door.

  • @HTJB60
    @HTJB602 ай бұрын

    I agree, Aberdare is a very nice place. I moved to the Cyon Valley 8 year's ago when my marriage broke down as I could not afford to live in Northant's any more & move to Mountain Ash, between Aberdare & Ponty. I use the cycle path's most of the time and they are FANTASIC, mostly well maintained and load's of them. A cyclist's dream. (Mind at 75 I do have an electric bike now!). My first impression of both Merther & Ponty was the same as your's as well as that of Aberdare. I alway's felt I chose well and your video confirm's it.

  • @mountaingoat3012
    @mountaingoat3012 Жыл бұрын

    “Lipstick on a pig”. Comedy gold. I’ve only just realised I cycled up a lovely steep hill from Ystrad to Penrhys, took a photo of the stunning view and cycled back down. I missed the dwellings completely!

  • @user-eg8pv2om7j

    @user-eg8pv2om7j

    Жыл бұрын

    Missing the Smallpox isolation hospital up by there , but it's hard to tell which is which. Porth, Tonyrefail towns in intensive care.

  • @paulsengupta971

    @paulsengupta971

    Жыл бұрын

    It's a good job you didn't stop or the wheels would have been nicked off your bike.

  • @mountaingoat3012

    @mountaingoat3012

    Жыл бұрын

    @@paulsengupta971 In all fairness, it didn’t feel unsafe at the Penrhys roundabout

  • @paulsengupta971

    @paulsengupta971

    Жыл бұрын

    @@mountaingoat3012 Actually, since they demolished half the houses and cleaned the place up, it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. A fun sport back in the day was looking to see which cars had valid tax discs on them. I would estimate about one in three...

  • @mountaingoat3012

    @mountaingoat3012

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@paulsengupta971 You can't play that game anymore now tax discs have disappeared. Fingers crossed for Penrhys going forward.

  • @kennethroberts2491
    @kennethroberts2491 Жыл бұрын

    Depressingly familiar,and I live in South Wales! Keep up the good work!

  • @aelbereth6690
    @aelbereth66907 ай бұрын

    What's extraordinary about Penrhys is the huge statue of the Virgin Mary that's actually the focus of pilgrimages. It replaces a mediaeval (wooden) statue that was torn down during the Reformation and burnt at Smithfield. There's also a holy well, which is something genuinely miraculous in this outpost of Hades. (It had been vandalised last time I visited, yet still somehow felt like a healing and special place in the midst of horrible dereliction). It's as if something satanic has done its best to desecrate what was once a holy place. But I suppose one could say that about large swathes of the British Isles!

  • @supertouring22
    @supertouring2210 ай бұрын

    I was born in Porthcawl, went to college & had my first job in Bridgend and dated a girl from Maesteg. This is why i have lived in Cheshire for the last 25 years. I don't miss it.

  • @jonprince3237
    @jonprince3237 Жыл бұрын

    I drive past Penrhys estate sometimes and it always reminds me of the FIBUA villages the Army use for training urban warfare, you can't imagine how some poor sod would actually live there. What the planners were thinking when they shat it onto a hilltop just baffles me, presumably none of them had any intention of living there themselves. Gurnos had a load of money and effort thrown at it about 15-20 years ago, it looked a lot worse back then than it does now, so use your imagination on how bad that was.

  • @russellclay9506

    @russellclay9506

    10 ай бұрын

    Them town planners got awards for this and that tit king charlie actually praised it and the design!!

  • @janiced9960

    @janiced9960

    7 ай бұрын

    I loved your reference to the FIBUA villages with regard to Penrhys. Absolutely spot on. I'm from Tylorstown so I know the area well.

  • @7PECHODMARWOL
    @7PECHODMARWOL9 ай бұрын

    Aberdare girl here, delighted that we didn’t make the list (but a bit surprised if I’m being honest!)😂 Everyone remembers the year Santa left the Christmas lights turn on in the back of a riot van 😂😂😂

  • @drychaf

    @drychaf

    7 ай бұрын

    Un arall o Aberdar sy'n siarad Cymraeg! Da iawn.

  • @ftumschk

    @ftumschk

    7 ай бұрын

    @@drychaf Fi hefyd. Ces fy magu yno cyn "ymfudo" i'r Gorllewin yn ddeng mlwydd oed.

  • @blazes8n
    @blazes8n7 ай бұрын

    Bridgend used to be a lovely place, and could still be again but the council have a difficult job and there is a lot of homeless/drug/mental health issues in the town. The best thing about bridgend and many other places around here, is that there are also friendly and nice people, and some ambitious people trying to build local businesses. Of course, varied escapism choices are top notch; close to the coast, mountains, a mainline railway route in town, motorway, and an airport not far away. Lot of sport locally to participate in or watch. Always music and jam nights in some pubs throughout the week, loads of walks. So while it is quite bad in some areas, it's also not as bad as many other places, and has potential to get a lot better. Hopefully.

  • @bobhead6243
    @bobhead6243 Жыл бұрын

    I love the sense of humor that the Narator has , makes the video complete !

  • @RolloZx
    @RolloZx Жыл бұрын

    good job again - addictive watching!

  • @470danadidas
    @470danadidas7 ай бұрын

    Adventure tourism is already taking shape around the Valleys. From the beautiful Afan Forest Park in the west where walking, cycling and mountain biking all take place, to Bike Park Wales near Merthyr Tydfil , where inbetween there is the excellent Zip World facility and Dare Valley Country Park, bringing visitors from all over the country. The Brecon Beacons National Park is on our doorstep offering endless opportunities for adventure tourism, miles of hiking and mountain bike trails the waterfalls walk and climbing Pen Y Fan to name a few. More needs to be done, of course but the Valleys has alot to offer. Never have the Valleys been so green as they are today. The mines have gone, finished, nobody wants coal in these environmentally sensitive times , so we need to embrace new sources of income, with tourism being the no1. So long as the Welsh Assembly doesnt introduce the tourist tax, Wales has a bright future for tourism.

  • @jfro5867
    @jfro5867 Жыл бұрын

    Having grown up nearby and gone to school in Merthyr back in the 80’s I know all these bar number 1 well. Only thing is if you are born into it you don’t know different until you move away. Like I did over 30 years ago.

  • @borderlands6606
    @borderlands6606 Жыл бұрын

    A block of flats in a roundabout is pushing the surreality envelope.

  • @PatrickMcF
    @PatrickMcF Жыл бұрын

    Pen Reece is how I've been pronouncing PenRhys. ❤

  • @Sinaisid

    @Sinaisid

    Жыл бұрын

    And you would be correct!

  • @PatrickMcF
    @PatrickMcF Жыл бұрын

    Your content is greatly appreciated 👍. Your fair and just say it as you find it. Simples. 🎉

  • @jonathancockerell-pu8sq
    @jonathancockerell-pu8sq10 ай бұрын

    These are accurate, honest & highly entertaining, as well as being very funny indeed, which is perhaps the most important ingredient. It's very well scripted & clearly narrated. There are some nice funny remarks. Great stuff. Thanks. JC

  • @danpavett8604
    @danpavett86047 ай бұрын

    I grew up in the Aberdare it’s such a shame that such lovely scenic places have been left to become like this. I also grew up seeing the heartache my father had as an open cast minor constantly being laid off and struggling for work. There is a lot of sad history here but for the most part it is a warm and friendly place. By the way you comment on burglars working from home and kicking their own doors in made me laugh out loud

  • @lemsip207

    @lemsip207

    4 ай бұрын

    Aberdare architecture looks like Brecon in places but run down, needing a lick of paint and with cheap shops and empty shops on the ground floor. It does have a nice coffee shop in the old town hall and museum.

  • @MatthewMopo
    @MatthewMopo Жыл бұрын

    Penyrhys’ flats had a revolutionary central heating system that didn’t work. Good to see Ponty bounce back. The uni is finally coming up trumps. Really surprised by Bridgend though. The houses there, for the best part, seem nice. I think the town centre looks like that because people go to McArthur Glen instead?

  • @Walt_G
    @Walt_G Жыл бұрын

    Penyrhys actually won design awards when it was built as the design was apparently inspired by a Mediterranean hill village. However they didn't appear to take into account that the top of a Welsh mountain is rather wet and windy for quite a bit of the year and its within walking distance of nowhere. I thought you were a bit unfair about Merthyr though, the town centre was ok until they allowed Trago Mills to get built, its basically killed the town centre. Other bits of Merthyr are quite nice, or at least will be once they finish the massive road works.

  • @carolinecollett4349

    @carolinecollett4349

    7 ай бұрын

    Yes - there's a reason that the Victorians didn't build on these hills. They are so inhospitable!

  • @lemsip207

    @lemsip207

    4 ай бұрын

    My ex boyfriend knew about it as there is a cheap recording studio there which he used once. Though he did exaggerate what it was like saying people were trapped there till they died which is not true. It should be razed to the ground. They even tried to turn it into a Transition village.

  • @walesisasum
    @walesisasum10 ай бұрын

    Grew up near Pontypridd and was pleasantly surprised to see some money being spent down there. I was glad to see they finally knocked down that eyesore of a shopping centre and put something else there. I also noticed they've recently knocked down the old block on the corner by the train station, not sure what they're building there. Not sure if it's my poor memory, but around 15 years ago when we used to go to Ponty on Saturdays they rarely had the main street open for cars, but these days it's always open. Might have a positive impact on the area since you don't have to park in the multi-storey or the tiny carpark just off the main street. Something similar happened in my small village where they re-routed the traffic through the main street which has helped the shops a little bit. For me it's strange to see stuff actually being built and improved, as all of my life I've been used to seeing areas being neglected and left to rot, especially in this area of the country.

  • @janiced9960

    @janiced9960

    7 ай бұрын

    The block you referred to was where the old County cinema was. They are supposed to be turning it into a "pleasant outdoor sitting area" , so good luck with that one. They are also demolishing most of the block where Marks and Spencers was. Also they have rebuilt the YMCA. Its no called YMa, no idea what that means or what its for, but it looks better.

  • @janiced9960
    @janiced99607 ай бұрын

    I live in Pontypridd, halfway up a mountain with glorious views. Most of the town is pretty decent and there is a lot of rebuilding going on, I just hope I live long enough to see it finished but I'm not holding my breath.The Town Council need to get to grips with the assets we've got such as the railway viaduct built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I think it does have a plaque on it but its about 18 inches long and about 30 feet off the ground. We also had the distinction of having the longest railway platform in the UK, so what do they do!!! Chop it off. You could have mentioned the Ynys Angharad Park which, though small, is quite pretty and the Lido swimming pool. I did enjoy your video and had a good chuckle as I was born and raised in the Valleys and knew most of the places you featured. Penrhys was doomed to failure before it even started. Everyone thought it was a stupid idea but the "Experts" obviously knew better. By the way, it is pronounced Pen-rees if you can't pronounce it the Welsh was and aspirate the h. I shall keep a look out for more of your videos. Hwyl Fawr. Although I can't speak much Welsh myself, we made sure our children were brough up with and my grandchildren also speak it as well. Its a beautiful language and I am very proud of my Welsh heritage and my roots (I was born in Tylorstown) I also have to admit that my son-in-law and my granddaughter are criminal solicitors and they are never short of work.

  • @forgottenartform
    @forgottenartform Жыл бұрын

    Surprised you didn't bump into any 'colourful' characters in Bridgend,walked down to town this morning around 9:30 and someone was already threatening to smash a shopkeepers face in 😅 yea not sure if it was a suicide cult but there was definitely a lot of teen suicides in 2006/7, one of them was in my year group. Awesome video 😅

  • @herridge819

    @herridge819

    Жыл бұрын

    Bridgend was probably at one time a thriving place but when I had some time to wait for a train connection I had a walk around the town centre which was very run down. Sadly though, hardly an unusual state of affairs in a lot of town centres these days.

  • @folkme3042

    @folkme3042

    Жыл бұрын

    @@herridge819 You're dead right. I've lived in Bridgend for all of my 65 years and it was indeed a thriving market town back in the sixties and seventies. It has been so sad to see it's slow decline over the last forty years. The closure of the livestock market followed by pedestrianisation and the inevitable edge of town retail parks have not helped either. As you say, a lot of town centres are suffering the same fate these days. All we seem to be left with now are charity shops, hairdressers and takeaways lol. ( Sorry for the moan/rant).

  • @elpasc87

    @elpasc87

    Жыл бұрын

    Some shockers in here for sure! Keep up the good work

  • @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    @user-yc2zz7rk1p

    Жыл бұрын

    There was no cult. That was a rumour made up by the press to sell papers. The only link between the teenagers was the fact that they had all at some point been referred to child mental health services who neglected to help them and they were all suffering with their mental health as a result of the lack of support. Very dark times and the borough still sadly has a high rate in under 25s. Agree with you about town though! can't walk through there without seeing something kicking off these days.

  • @povvercrazy

    @povvercrazy

    Жыл бұрын

    I've never really seen any major issues myself, but I did move here from Chatham about 12 years ago so alot has to be wrong to make me notice any difference lol

  • @IDD.Bronze.Sculptures
    @IDD.Bronze.Sculptures Жыл бұрын

    Problem with most of the valleys people is they dont realise what they've got surrounding them. So dont appreciate it or even recognise it. So have no motivation to make their towns and homes as beautiful as the countryside around them. Its only the ones that move away and see other parts of the UK realise that they are in one of the most picturesque parts of the country. By the way I was born there moved away and have now returned. So speaking from experience. Glad to here Porth wasn't on the list but probably should have been.

  • @AstronomyWales

    @AstronomyWales

    Жыл бұрын

    Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately the latest fad is to turn any grassy area into a muddy rutted mess on a wide variety of legal and illegal off road vehicles. This includes roundabouts and other grassy areas in the town themselves. Not just the beautiful mountains.

  • @GamiGreen

    @GamiGreen

    Жыл бұрын

    Young people don't care about natural beauty, especially when they have no hopes or ambitions

  • @IDD.Bronze.Sculptures

    @IDD.Bronze.Sculptures

    11 ай бұрын

    @@GamiGreen dont i know it. Just arrived home from 5 weeks awsy and the mountain behind my house jas been set alight destroying who knows haw many small mammals and their food supply. Total morons.

  • @del1984fly
    @del1984fly Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant again , thank you.

  • @kimpossibleyescruelladevil4960
    @kimpossibleyescruelladevil4960 Жыл бұрын

    There’s another place in Wales, you should do Gwynedd and number one should be capel celyn Which is a ghost town that is practically gone after the village was Basically destroyed, in 1989 So a reservoir could take its place

  • @user-eg8pv2om7j

    @user-eg8pv2om7j

    Жыл бұрын

    Thought you were going to say the Shithole that is Bangor. An embarrassment to Gwynedd.

  • @sandrawicks7164

    @sandrawicks7164

    7 ай бұрын

    You need to go to London for sit and drugs. Nd Bangor nothing wrong wraith our Bally’s Pontypridd is a lovely place You horrid man life is what you make it Thing go on all over the world.

  • @bluemoon6625
    @bluemoon6625 Жыл бұрын

    These videos are really interesting and your line about burglars working from home was genius. Half the time I'm laughing at the absurdity of these places, the other half I feel really sorry for anybody trapped there, in poverty with no job prospects.

  • @MatthewMopo

    @MatthewMopo

    Жыл бұрын

    Being from Cardiff, some of the most successful people I know have come from the valleys. The links to Cardiff are great (for the best part) and some have better public transport links than those in Cardiff. The problem is education up there

  • @marythurlow9132

    @marythurlow9132

    Жыл бұрын

    We used to have great schools in Wales. I think every time - the answer is poverty. It caused lots of illness in the past. With the collapse of the coal and steel industries, whole communities were left with no employment. If you were academic and had good qualifications and skills you could get a job out of the area, and many did move away to find work. But we are not all the same, and for those less qualified, or for the most vulnerable ( for various reasons) and you stayed in the areas what were you supposed to do? Jobs were few and far between. Many people had to rely on benefits - not because they wanted to, but you have to survive, don't you. Poverty brings with it depression, anger, envy, ill health - mental and physical, and ultimately a dependence on alcohol and drugs. Of course there are decent, law abiding people living in some of these places, but even they lack ambition and positivity when there is sadness and crime all around them. Don't blame the people who live in these places. What they need is work, monetary investment, a sense of purpose and eventually this will turn into a pride for their village or town. No places in Britain should have been abandoned like they were post industrialisation. I blame successive governments for failing to invest in the people of Britain - but of course it is cheaper for them to import goods made in other countries.

  • @Walesktf

    @Walesktf

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@marythurlow9132 well said! You have made the best comments on here IMHO. Every word you have written is the truth

  • @aarongibson247
    @aarongibson247 Жыл бұрын

    You remind me of James Acaster

  • @longyx321
    @longyx32110 ай бұрын

    Penrhys has an ancient holy shrine which on a pilgrim route....brief image of it on this vide

  • @vihaanreyansh6244
    @vihaanreyansh62447 ай бұрын

    Lol, I think you nailed this video! Your description of life in Maesteg was so accurate I got chills! Although, I feel Bridgend is too high on the list, I feel like Merthyr Tydfil is better than Bridgend, although Bridgend's housing and rent prices are higher - I reckon it's because Bridgend got a movie made about it's apparent suicide culture starring Hannah Murray, so they're riding that popularity wave. The movie is actually called "Bridgend" and the movie poster has the caption "you will never leave", which is exactly how I felt growing up there! Penrhys is in the right spot though. I remember learning about Penrhys at school, it was such a disaster it became a case study and a legendary cautionary tale. Apparently the design was based on an idyllic Greek mountain village! Talk about a swing and a miss!

  • @billywilliamswilliams4198
    @billywilliamswilliams4198 Жыл бұрын

    used to love ponty in the 80s getting pissed in the clarence then heading down to the dun thing on the pull. if you didnt pull it would be a curry in sweaty bettys. great mun

  • @jimscarlet
    @jimscarlet Жыл бұрын

    I do enjoy your entertaining videos, but it well worth remembering that the reason these once thriving, bustling towns have become so run down is because of the closure of the mines and their dependent industries. It's easy to look at them now and think "what a shithole", but these places haven't always been like that, and it wouldn't take to much creativiity and investment to make them alive again. Maggie Thatcher was determined to break the working class, and that fact is no evident than in the post industrial heartlands of Wales.

  • @folkme3042

    @folkme3042

    Жыл бұрын

    You've hit the nail on the head there. The Thatcher government ripped the hearts and souls out of many of these communities.

  • @jfro5867

    @jfro5867

    Жыл бұрын

    All true (I grew up near Merthyr through 70’s & 80’s before moving away). However let’s not pretend coal mining was anything other than extremely dangerous, dirty and polluting to everyone and everything around it. The spoil heaps are still leaching poisonous chemicals every time it rains 40 years after the pits started closing. Remember the furnacite plant below Aberdare OMG. Dead trees nothing grew. The coal industry was doomed to closure, what should have happened was the controlled decline over say 20 years allowing for new jobs, new approaches, new apprenticeships etc etc. Although well written and humorous this list was tragic really. Labour have been in power for decades, hundreds of millions of pounds and euros have been pumped into Wales, and gone where? Labour need a kick up the arse if you ask me.

  • @jimscarlet

    @jimscarlet

    Жыл бұрын

    @@jfro5867 I come from a family of colliers, and grew up in the shadows of one of the most brutal pits in the coalfield, I also agree with every word you say. The problems the valleys have faced is that when the mines closed nothing replaced them, communities were literally left to rot on the slag heaps, it was horrific to witness. You also rightly point out, the Labour Party in Wales have done virtually nothing to right the wrongs, with all their investment going into Cardiff, and Cardiff alone. Who knows where the future takes us, for me walking these beautiful valleys has become my way of life, they have so much to offer, if you look in the right places.

  • @colinlea2377

    @colinlea2377

    11 ай бұрын

    Well said,Maggie did the same to the fishing g industry I'm in grimsby and from a fishing family,things changed here to.

  • @ladytron1724

    @ladytron1724

    11 ай бұрын

    @@jfro5867agree 100%

  • @eddiebaby22
    @eddiebaby225 ай бұрын

    Well picked up on. You missed a couple though in Mid Glam though, Cefn Cribwr, Kenfig Hill, Cornelly and Pyle.

  • @domp51
    @domp512 ай бұрын

    The grimmer the place the more friendly the people. Just my observation in life.

  • @ACoincidentalLife
    @ACoincidentalLife Жыл бұрын

    We need more buildings like Pontys library! Amazing!

  • @philiptownsend3622

    @philiptownsend3622

    Жыл бұрын

    The new library may look architecturally attractive from the outside but inside it's a desert. The book stock is tiny compared to the extensive floor area. When I last visited some weeks ago I was pleased to see shelves on the right hand side as you go in. I thought that they had taken action to fill the wide open spaces with books. No chance! They had simply moved the stock previously held upstairs down to ground level. There was a LGBT display standing in splendid isolation, with not a book to be seen.

  • @proudhon100

    @proudhon100

    Жыл бұрын

    There's not enough Prozac in the world to make the library something you can live with.

  • @pauldavies5655

    @pauldavies5655

    Жыл бұрын

    RUBBISH !

  • @Ghost-of-a-man

    @Ghost-of-a-man

    10 ай бұрын

    How long will it last though? Do the crackheads in ponty really want to go read literature?

  • @carolekratzke9500

    @carolekratzke9500

    8 ай бұрын

    Awful place,we need a decent car park,it's a useless place with very little disabled parking. I can't walk from the ncp car park, or climb the hill out of the tiny car park( if you can get a space ) Aberdare is much better for a disabled person. But still not enough parking spaces.

  • @Hellbilly1969
    @Hellbilly1969 Жыл бұрын

    Frightening and interesting

  • @Adam_Davies
    @Adam_Davies7 ай бұрын

    I’ve actually lived in/near a few of these places and visited all of them MANY times…. You are 100% right about Penrhys, it’s the WILDEST place I’ve ever seen, we used to drive up there like it was a tourist attraction because it doesn’t quite seem real! There’s a few crazy stories from the 90’s I hope you cover when you do the full video, arson attacks and firefighters getting rocks thrown at them for trying to put fires out 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ the place is wild. Great vid, you’ve got a new Sub

  • @drwgybear2684
    @drwgybear268411 ай бұрын

    As someone that lives in Bridgend I can confirm it is indeed a Shit hole it used to a lovely and busy place but has slowly been dying ever since the MC Arthur Glen designer outlet or as we call it the Pines was build just outside Bridgend near Sarn in 1998 since then Bridgend town has been getting worse.

  • @jimleighton4321
    @jimleighton4321 Жыл бұрын

    Unfortunately these Valley towns are now the victim of the extinction of the coal and related industries, they were all, except Penrhys, vibrant communities. However, they have no real purpose, other than people still wanting to live there, and their future is uncertain. In the USA they would have been abandoned, take West Virginia coal fields for example. My grandmother was from Tonypandy and left there in 1912 and moved to Cardiff at the age of 18, you will find a lot of Valley people working in Cardiff and are usually the most helpful and kind people you will ever come across

  • @steve-bk1qd
    @steve-bk1qd Жыл бұрын

    Not Mid-Glamorgan but I grew up in a village called Loughor between Swansea and Llanelli...a nice place to grow up as a kid...I left there when I was 8 and moved to England...I still think my life would have panned out better if I'd stayed in Wales...

  • @llanieliowe794

    @llanieliowe794

    11 ай бұрын

    I was born in Gorseinon

  • @nicks4934
    @nicks4934 Жыл бұрын

    Great narration ❤

  • @jordanjames8591
    @jordanjames8591 Жыл бұрын

    Fantastic 😂 keep em coming.

  • @andrewroberts4736
    @andrewroberts4736 Жыл бұрын

    My God there were some grim places there. It's amazing how bad he last place was. It's good that you pointed out that all the people had ruined the last town had moved out, presumably to destroy somewhere else.

  • @bertieschitz-peas429

    @bertieschitz-peas429

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah they went to Bridgend and little Beirut in Brackla in particular.

  • @eddievanbasten1751

    @eddievanbasten1751

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, some ended up in my area. Brought all their bad habits and stupid ideas with them.

  • @alanredversangel
    @alanredversangel11 ай бұрын

    Glad you see the potential in Pontypridd. It could be a serious contender with Cardiff in a lot of areas but we're a few decades away from that I think.

  • @Ghost-of-a-man

    @Ghost-of-a-man

    10 ай бұрын

    Also quite a few crack heads away from it

  • @markswishereatsstuff2500
    @markswishereatsstuff25008 ай бұрын

    I'm hooked watching these videos. Such sunny weather. Where I'm from, Baltimore, Md., these "turdtowns" are paradise.

  • @firstlast5350
    @firstlast53508 ай бұрын

    The valley radiate north from Cardiff and generally the further north you go the cheaper the house prices. Pontypridd is OK. Merthyr is rather soulless. There are some good towns and villages to find a home if your budget is limited. Some towns are undoubtedly a little on the wild side.

  • @adcent6680
    @adcent6680 Жыл бұрын

    Pena wees lol for your new video its prenounced "pen rhys" i used to live there about 25 years ago when it was in its prime. Now living in pontypridd. This was a great video thanks for uploading.

  • @Turdtowns

    @Turdtowns

    Жыл бұрын

    Sorry I blame my Welsh friend 😂 any chance you would be willing to do a short interview over phone about Penrhys?

  • @CelticExternalCleaning68
    @CelticExternalCleaning68 Жыл бұрын

    Most places in the UK are shitholes , i have lived in most of the villages in midglamorgan over the years that you have visited in this video. Did you know people of the valleys pay some of the highest council taxes than most places . You would not think it looking at how run down some places are. The local councils need to invest in the people . The local counsils have closed down most public places over the years. And local residents having to fund and run open air swimming pools themselfs, show how commited the locals are to keep thier comunites gowing. And Penrhys, you can say it like this for it to sound correct (PEN REES)... by the way Penrhys means the head of rhys . there also used to be a massive boiler house, when the estate was first built, that fed all the houses with central heating , turns out it was a haven for rats keeping them warm. The estate use dto be huge , and sadly so was the crime rate. Try and find a little positve in your videos , 99 % of the people that have to live in these run down UK Turdtowns try hard with the hand they are dealt.

  • @cervantes01
    @cervantes0111 ай бұрын

    You missed out on Bettws, Mid Glamorgan, the place where birds fly upside down as it's not worth shitting on!

  • @myriaddsystems
    @myriaddsystems Жыл бұрын

    Paraphrase from Viz magazine about Merthyr Tydfil- "on a dizzy social from the the DSS office to the bookies, to the Wyndham Arms pub, back to the bookies before ending up at the Wyndham Arms- again...

  • @AymanTravelTransport
    @AymanTravelTransport Жыл бұрын

    I'm guessing Wiltshire will likely be next in England? I predict Swindon will very likely be number 1, Westbury will probably make the list somehow and I'd be really surprised if Salisbury gets on there given I've heard it's one of the nicer parts of the country!

  • @steve-bk1qd

    @steve-bk1qd

    Жыл бұрын

    Wiltshire is pleasant...apart from Scumdon in League 2...F*** of Swinedon ! Joking aside apart from the scum...Wiltshire is pleasant...

  • @paulbateman8412
    @paulbateman8412 Жыл бұрын

    Really enjoying this highly entertaining & amusing series. only 21.6k subscribers is a shame. Come on people spread the word so we get to see more content.💩

  • @Turdtowns

    @Turdtowns

    Жыл бұрын

    Easy days still

  • @jordanjames8591

    @jordanjames8591

    Жыл бұрын

    For how many videos are on here I think it's growing very fast, I'd be very proud.

  • @larryjimbob

    @larryjimbob

    Жыл бұрын

    ​@@Turdtowns Just subscribed. At 21.9k now 🙂

  • @mariancounsellor

    @mariancounsellor

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes, the commentary is so entertaining!

  • @user-om4qr9dc4d
    @user-om4qr9dc4d10 ай бұрын

    As you fan out eastwards and northwards I’m looking forward to the episode covering Kent. Will probably need to be a feature length special addition.

  • @dougfraser4842
    @dougfraser48427 ай бұрын

    I'm from Bristol, I had 6 wonderful years in Abertillery, the former mining areas have been reclaimed by nature or the forestry commission, and the people were lovely, I only left coz of convid

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