Wow you sure do paint a nice picture of the UK. Yes I grant you some inner city parts of the UK like Manchester, Leeds Birmingham and Nottingham arn,t particulaly nice places, and the outskirts of Glasgow are an absolute dump, but then again, when I,ve watched TV and seen rundown parts of the States, much the same could be said for there too. I mean one thing we don,t have over here, or not that I,m aware of anyway, is the violent gang culture that they have in many cities in the States, like St Louis and Chicago to name but 2. I,ve watched Ross Kemp on gangs, and when he leaves the more affluent part of one city and ventures into the other, poorer side, the people there live in slums and poverty and the gang violence is awful. Yes we do seem to have these gangs of feral kids roaming the streets, again in some parts of the UK that I mentioned. It,s usually the parts where there is high unemployment. They have nothing to do and they get easlily bored, so crime seems like an attractive option. They hang around on street corners, or go joyriding. But not all of the UK is like that. It certainly isn,t where I live. Places like Cornwall, Devon, North Yorkshire, Cumbria, and the Highlands of Scotland are beautiful, and do very well via the tourist trade.Just don,t tar us all with the same brush. Your going to get "lowlifes" in any part of the world, it,s just life, but that doesn,t put people off visiting the States or the Uk, or even places like Jamacia, where Kingston especially is rife with gangs. Scarborough is ok as I said, it,s just the odd few who spoil it for everyone else, but again, you get that in all corners of the world. Of course don,t forget good old Whitby in the north of England, Dracula country. I,ve never been to Whitby, but I,d love to go on a Dracula hunt. Northumberland is also beautiful, especially the beaches at Bamburgh, and the views from Bamburgh Castle are spectacular. Have I encouraged any visitors from across the pond now lol.
Yes I do paint a black picture sorry,
I used to live in a very affluent area of cheshire,hate to admit it but footballers wives terrritory.We moved after a lady in the next road got attacked in her front drive and
robbed at knife point.
Untill we moved my husband insisted I keep the car locked untill the electronic gates had closed.This was how the lady who was attacked got caught out.Do not get me wrong it was alovely area but I never felt safe after that.Previously we had had 3 cars stolen. which is why we eventually gor the electronic gates.
We then moved to a farmhouse in the country,absoloutely stunning,I used to look out at the cheshire hills and pinch myself.It truly was idyllic,however because it was such a tiny village (local school had only 60 kids 5-12) there was nothing for some of them to do so even in the heart of the countryside we had gangs hanging around.
I realise I sound bitter but,if I tell you that I even got attacked in my test room at work,maybe you can understand how it all just mounted up.
I began to feel safe nowhere.
I know the states is not perfect,but living in a gated community gives me some peace,and also because you have to drive everywhere,at least where I live ,I know my kids will be dropped off by me,and collected by me.Even at the mall there are plenty of police to ensure minimum of trouble.
I too love Scotland,it is where my parents come from and although I do not miss England I do miss our Scottish holidays,We strongly condsdered moving to Scotlland and indeed looked at many places there to settle.However the cold was just too much for the arthritis that plagues me.and also the rural areas where we looked just had little in the way of jobs.The heat here in Sarasota has vastly helped with the arthritis.
I used to be so proud to live in England,every time I heard our national anthem the hairs on my neck would stand up,but for me too much has changed.
I apologise really sincerely if I have offended anyone, and would say to anyone planning a visit,yes parts are beautiful very much so,The cheshire countryside in spring,the highlands of Scotland and,the east coast of Scotland from St.Andrews up.Warwickshire,Cornwall,the yorkshire countryside.I could go on.
It just became a place I could no longer feel happy in.I guess what happens to you personally cannot help but colour your opinions.
please realise that what I am saying is only my opinion based on whats I have either experienced personally or witnessed'
feeling contrite,for being so negative about my birth country,and hope I have made some ammends with this post,