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| Crap Towns: Chipping Norton makes list of worst places to live in Britain | Crap Towns: Chipping Norton makes list of worst places to live in Britain |
| (2 months later) | |
| It might not immediately strike anyone strolling along the honey-coloured stone streets of Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds, among the patchwork cushion emporiums of Norfolk's Burnham Market, or past the famous spires and quads of Oxford, but these towns are among the worst places to live in Britain. | It might not immediately strike anyone strolling along the honey-coloured stone streets of Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds, among the patchwork cushion emporiums of Norfolk's Burnham Market, or past the famous spires and quads of Oxford, but these towns are among the worst places to live in Britain. |
| They are contenders for inclusion in the second edition of Crap Towns, due for publication this winter and billed with the line, "Back by unpopular demand". | They are contenders for inclusion in the second edition of Crap Towns, due for publication this winter and billed with the line, "Back by unpopular demand". |
| The entirety of London is on the list (with special mention for Hackney), along with Liverpool, Blackpool, all the Medway Towns, Belfast, Luton, Merthyr Tydfil, and, inevitably, poor Slough, a shoo-in for every list of the most maligned since John Betjeman, in 1937, implored friendly bombs to finish off the work of the town planners there. | The entirety of London is on the list (with special mention for Hackney), along with Liverpool, Blackpool, all the Medway Towns, Belfast, Luton, Merthyr Tydfil, and, inevitably, poor Slough, a shoo-in for every list of the most maligned since John Betjeman, in 1937, implored friendly bombs to finish off the work of the town planners there. |
| Would-be-cool Brighton and Gateshead are there too, along with Stratford-upon-Avon, the surfer's paradise of Newquay, and Bury St Edmunds (cherished by some but evidently not just for its medieval heritage). | Would-be-cool Brighton and Gateshead are there too, along with Stratford-upon-Avon, the surfer's paradise of Newquay, and Bury St Edmunds (cherished by some but evidently not just for its medieval heritage). |
| Mayfair sparked a particularly venomous contribution to the website: "Its inhabitants are, virtually without exception, the biggest shower of needy, self-important, bumwipes in London with a self-pity complex and misplaced sense of entitlement to match. The architecture is either dull west London stucco or a twattish approach at some kind of meaningful landmark building. Either way, it's rubbish. Most importantly, the pubs are shit. And full of people who live in Mayfair." | Mayfair sparked a particularly venomous contribution to the website: "Its inhabitants are, virtually without exception, the biggest shower of needy, self-important, bumwipes in London with a self-pity complex and misplaced sense of entitlement to match. The architecture is either dull west London stucco or a twattish approach at some kind of meaningful landmark building. Either way, it's rubbish. Most importantly, the pubs are shit. And full of people who live in Mayfair." |
| Sam Jordison, one of the editors, who is sure Chipping Norton owes its elevation to the list to Rebekah Brooks, and its local MP, one David Cameron – on a recce he spotted Sam Cam in Daylesford Organic restaurant – is not surprised that gentrified market towns are joining post-industrial scrapyards in the nominations. | Sam Jordison, one of the editors, who is sure Chipping Norton owes its elevation to the list to Rebekah Brooks, and its local MP, one David Cameron – on a recce he spotted Sam Cam in Daylesford Organic restaurant – is not surprised that gentrified market towns are joining post-industrial scrapyards in the nominations. |
| "Crap comes in many forms. Very often the kind of towns that estate agents would describe as desirable are the most stultifying, the most ugly and the most unpleasant to live in. | "Crap comes in many forms. Very often the kind of towns that estate agents would describe as desirable are the most stultifying, the most ugly and the most unpleasant to live in. |
| "They also tend to be full of the most ridiculous people. Our correspondents don't like Mayfair any more than they like deprivation and squalor. In fact, they often finger the affluent places as the cause of all the trouble in the first place. Or at least, for failing to do anything about it. And for having terrible, terrible, pubs." | "They also tend to be full of the most ridiculous people. Our correspondents don't like Mayfair any more than they like deprivation and squalor. In fact, they often finger the affluent places as the cause of all the trouble in the first place. Or at least, for failing to do anything about it. And for having terrible, terrible, pubs." |
| The public is invited to wade in and give the 100 towns on the longlist a further kicking to guide them into the top 50 for inclusion in the book this winter – or to provide an ardent defence to rescue from such ignominy places such as York, Woodstock and Glastonbury. | The public is invited to wade in and give the 100 towns on the longlist a further kicking to guide them into the top 50 for inclusion in the book this winter – or to provide an ardent defence to rescue from such ignominy places such as York, Woodstock and Glastonbury. |
| If solutions are thin on the ground, Jordison does offer an admirably inclusive list of possible causes of the dire state of the 100 towns: architects, youth, the Tories, New Labour, the Lib Dems, the EU, Tesco, drugs, Buckfast (drink). More suggestions welcomed. | If solutions are thin on the ground, Jordison does offer an admirably inclusive list of possible causes of the dire state of the 100 towns: architects, youth, the Tories, New Labour, the Lib Dems, the EU, Tesco, drugs, Buckfast (drink). More suggestions welcomed. |
| The original Crap Towns was a publishing sensation in 2003, born out of a moaning late-night conversation between Jordison and Dan Kieran, co-editor of the list and deputy editor of the Idler, about the respective awfulness of their home towns, Morecambe, in Lancashire, and Alresford, Hampshire. | The original Crap Towns was a publishing sensation in 2003, born out of a moaning late-night conversation between Jordison and Dan Kieran, co-editor of the list and deputy editor of the Idler, about the respective awfulness of their home towns, Morecambe, in Lancashire, and Alresford, Hampshire. |
| Crap Towns: the 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK, dubbed "the Domesday Book of misery", sold more than 100,000 copies and sparked endless imitations. | Crap Towns: the 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK, dubbed "the Domesday Book of misery", sold more than 100,000 copies and sparked endless imitations. |
| Jordison said that he realised, after a recent return visit to Morecambe, that his work was not yet done. | Jordison said that he realised, after a recent return visit to Morecambe, that his work was not yet done. |
| • Speak up for your 'crap town' and tell us why you love it | • Speak up for your 'crap town' and tell us why you love it |
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