Having lived in Devon and London, there were people in London who refused to entertain the notion that Devon could possibly have its share of problems because it didn't fit their idyllic perception of the place, fuelled by features in the Evening Standard of some generic 30-something couples who left the 'rat race' behind to open up some artisan bakery in Totnes or some other affluent place full of affluent ex-Londoners. But rural poverty and the crime that goes with it is a real issue. It was almost laughed off, as if the only crime that could ever occur was some cheeky youths apple scrumping. But there are serious issues beyond the undoubtedly picturesque scenery and this is never taken seriously on a national level nor is the chronic housing shortage that has led to an increase in homelessness that this video mentions.

Great video and I agree as a Devonian. But the whole British Isles has gone to shit through greed and corruption.

Ah, as a Devonian myself, it's sad to see how some of these lovely towns have changed over the years. Torquay, for instance, is a testament to how mismanagement by the council can really tarnish a place.

Plymouth town centre was designed by the same single cell that designed Coventry Precinct.

Torquay has crashed and burned over the last 15 yrs, unrecognizable today from the splendor it had, Councils have a lot to answer for.

Q: Why does the River Tamar run through Plymouth? A: Because if it walked, it'd get stabbed.

I live in Bideford and it’s quickly following in Barnstaples footsteps. Run down derelict buildings and a high street full of empty shops and charity shops. We recently lost our Superdrug and New Look, and our last bank is hanging on by a thread.

It breaks my heart to see the decline of these towns grew up in Paignton, now live in Brixham. I have to say it is not just the lack of investment it is the people, as look around there are more filthy looking houses and gardens, people years ago had standards, very sadly lacking today, feral gangs of kids roaming and causing trouble, some parents don’t give a 💩. I go to Exeter shopping as there are no decent shops left, hairdressers, nail bars and cafes I’m sad to say the rot has set in

My wife is from Plymouth and I visited the place quite frequently until two years ago when my in-laws moved closer to us. While I do have a soft spot for the place I am well aware of its flaws. What was an eye opener for me when I first visited the place was how poor the south west is. When people talk about the north south divide they seldom mention the south west and is probably one reason it misses out on a lot of funding.

This series shows how much our politicians have let our country down. The other colour won't be any better but we need CHANGE. I come from Brixham. The smell used to be awful, but is now much better. I left in the 90s to join the forces. I love your sarcasm, and your assessment is bang on. Illfracome died years ago. We have even stopped going there on holiday. That THREE of the worst towns are in Torbay is comment on how the area has been let down by the people who are running it. (Ruining it?) That the govt and border force are taking over the hotels isnt helping. When I left Paignton and Torquay were thriving. Now they have inspired a project to photograph closed shops. With change home can be reinvigorated.

I'm American. I really think the 1960s ruined both of our countries. The UK lost some of its Victorian houses and we completely lost our minds. I still love the UK no matter how bad (some) of its neighborhoods look. You guys are awesome. ❤

Can't believe Tiverton missed out

Currently live in Torquay, have done for over a year! It's temporary as we wait for our house purchase! Been many places in the last 5 years and can tell you there are many places worse than Torquay! Yes, drugs is a problem, as is poverty, but there's some money in Torquay too and nice areas, nice restaurants and nice places to visit! It's a proper mix bag and I feel gets far too much bad press! If you want to blame anyone for Torquay or any other turd town.....the political class are the ones to blame, in particular the guys that have been drilling this country down into the floor for over 10 years!!!

Such a shame to see how these places have changed. I spent many, many hours happily as a child on the Devon Coast. My uncle lived in Somerset and we spent school holidays here. I took my own children there too. I can't believe the difference since we last visited over 10 years ago 😢

Notes from a Small Island is a humorous travel book on Great Britain by American author Bill Bryson, first published in 1995 in which the author describes Britain as it was then...In a later book The Road to Little Dribbling 2015, he takes the same journey and it's quite striking the differences that have taken place, my favorite observation was that in every town he revisited there seemed to be 'One new cafe opening up, and One cafe closing down'.

My dad lived in brixham and I absolutely love it there, it’s still a beautiful place and I love the pirate ship and the fishy smells 😂 my dad passed away not long ago and brixham has always and will always be my favourite place to visit ❤ the coastal walks and beaches are stunning too

Thirty years ago, I put Torquay top of a list of place I would like to move to. It was sedate, peaceful, safe and upmarket - so much so that the proximity of Paignton almost seemed like an advantage, a bit of noise and light relief. The state of Paignton is no big surprise - it was only ever an overgrown chalet park for tourists - but the decline of Torquay is truly unbelievable. Only years of gross misrule can ruin a beautiful region to this extent.

Found this channel just yesterday and subscribed in anticipation of this video. I found myself simultaneously overjoyed and offended to see places I know so very well come up in this video! Axminster's my nearest town worth going to, and what you showed of it made it look like the most exciting place on earth when compared with the *really* bland parts.

I'm from Devon and the fact the leveling up money meant for our crumbling town was spent on green Initiatives helping no one really boils my piss

I grew up near Crediton and am surprised it missed out. Also Newton Abbot, Tiverton and Okehampton.

This is a good series! It would be interesting if you could try to do brief interviews with locals, ideally with a younger person and an older generation person so you get different perspectives on the location and how it's changed!

Torquay lost its heartbeat when the college moved out. The students kept the town thriving whilst the tourists looked after the front. Now it solely relies on the seasons. Brixham will always struggle as no ones got any money, they resent the tourists that do bring it in and so fewer tourists (grocks) are returning… Paignton was and always will be an absolute hole…

Extremely true. Ilfracombe is like living the movie Groundhog Day. Grey damp and a closed shop for drug dealers

Breathing a sigh of relief as a Newton Abbot resident 😂

I've been to Torquay, never again. Half the shops are closed, it's mostly charity shops, coffee shops, and take-aways. There's homeless, drunks and junkies all over, and the hotels are filled with illegal migrants.

As a resident of Torbay, Devon (comprising the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham) I happily confirm that your assessment is accurate. English Riviera? My arse!

This is interesting, I am a kiwi and I drove all around Devon back in 2004, went to pretty much all these places and spent a few nights in some of them. They were all clean and nice towns back then, was in summer though and every place seems a lot nicer on a warm summers day. My favorite town in all of Devon was Lynmouth, loved it and the locals were so friendly, could have seen myself living there.

I used to live in both Torquay and Paignton 30 odd years ago. Recently returned for an overnight work trip. Wow. The decline is staggering

Tiverton breathes a sigh of relief at missing the cut...

I have very fond memories of the Torbay area from 40 years ago. Revisited about 5 years ago and was shocked by how rundown Torquay was, Paignton even worse. Brixham still looked OK.

As someone who moved from Liverpool to Devon. There are no bad parts of Devon lmfao. It's so beautiful.

Sad to see the whole country going through this ...... empty shops , sad worn out towns , lost souls wondering bored ...... etc etc 😮

I lived in Ilfracombe for my most of my life and couldn’t wait to leave. It’s full of tourists half of the year and the other half it’s a boring ghost town. It’s a weird mix of rich and poor, you can literally go from an area of expensive houses and posh cars and five minutes later you’re among drug addicts and shoplifters. When I was young it always seemed to be an upgrade to move to Barnstaple because there was much more going on but I recently spent a few weeks there and it’s full of weirdos. In Ilfracombe you constantly feel like you’re going to get your pockets picked and in Barnstaple you get the feeling that you could get smacked. Very sad

The people in the doorways in Barnstaple, begging are largely not homeless and professional beggars/addicts that live in bedsits

Just had this series pop up in my feed. This is a great video idea. Really looking forward to more videos from you. Keep up the great work.

Brixham is defo not as bad as you make it seem, it’s got breakwater beach with is very popular and many new restaurants and cocktail bars. The golden hind is also a big part of its history and draws in lots of tourists.. love it there

A guy I know went to Torquay and some kid spat on him, just spat on him. He found out later it was a thing in Torquay just to spit at eachother

I love the series and concept. Can I suggest you include the average wage claimant counts to the stats - house prices, etc. have little meaning if everyone is on minimum wage.

Me and 3 of my mates went to stay in Brixham back in 2012, 3 of us were 15 years of age, one of us was 14. The first day we were there, at around 10pm, we were walking to get some food from the highstreet, outside were about 20-25 men, all ranging from 18 to 30 years of age… hurling insults at us as we went into the shop for absolutely no reason, clearly all on drugs/alcohol. When we left the shop, all of us were then completely ganged up on… despite telling them we were kids, they refused to listen, they tried bundling all of us into a rather obscure alleyway in between the shop and the building next to it as well as throwing punches at us and all-sorts… I managed to scramble free, as did my friends, but it was pretty frightening especially as we didn’t expect such a situation to arise, we literally just walked into a shop, and walked out. As we we’re walking home (staying at one of my friends relatives places at the time) and rightfully confused as to why this had happened.. we noticed a character following us with his hat low, and with his arm inside his jacket. We all were not up for taking any chances at this point so we assumed he had a knife and we didn’t want to hang about to find out… we didn’t run but we walked swiftly to try and get away, but he caught up with us and asked what had happened, we explained, and the man went on his way after admitting he didn’t know what his friends’ problems were with us, he admitted we didn’t do anything wrong. Would love to know who they were… absolutely disgusting creatures. Aside from that situation, the town itself wasn’t so bad to us… friendly people etc. It’s a shame what’s happening to our (what once was a) beautiful country.

Lived in Barnstaple for seven years, the council thought they ruled the world, the main housing association takes over your lives and their housing stock is abbissmal, I ended up working voluntarily for a local charity for recovering drink, drug and homeless people because they really did need help I got more thanks and appreciation than at any other time in my life, the main problem with Devon from my own experiences, is people moving out of the cities from across the country to retire in the very places you have shown, for heaven sakes they even have coach tours laid on in Seaton for potential house buyers where the estate agents tell people if you buy a house here you get preferential treatment from the NHS, I have heard this first hand, retirees exercise their right of free speech to protest and fight against planning proposals to develop and modernize, they usually end up getting their own way and what you get is what you have shown, they seem to object to everything except dumping their dog poo bags.

Wow you’ve really got it in for Torbay.Torquay has gone down hill tho I must admit.It was a beautiful place when I moved here in the nineties.All the cliffs and trees were lit up at night with lovely flower beds everywhere.Now the council mostly doesn’t bother.I think this running down is across the country though not just here in Devon.Everyone’s quality of life has gone down.

Torquay on a Friday night is like the blooper roll from The Walking Dead.

I've been visiting South Devon generally, and specifically Torbay in the last 15 years, for 50 years. I don't recognise much of this. I like Torquay. The first thing I always do on arrival is have a drink in the bar at the Imperial to take in the view of the bay, which is gorgeous. I like the marina, the riverside walk to Cockington, the walks to some of the little coves, the Agatha Christie connection, lunch at the Grand or when I was feeling flush The Elephant. I also love many of the nearby places, particularly the Dart estuary and the South Hams.

I can tell you from first hand experience that alot of the "homeless" in barnstaple ARENT homeless, i have seen the "ring leader" on his phone setting up the "homeless" people in designated positions and have seen on a million occasions the "homeless" on their phones talking to each other up the stretch. Then at end of day around the back the "leader" picks them up in his posh SUV. Dont be fooled, its a business and alot of locals know this

My parents retired to Brixham in the late 80s then it was quite a nice place to live great pubs etc.The wife and I visited in 2019 and were quite shocked at how it had become a shell of its former self.

Best new channel on UKposts can't wait to see you hit 100k subs 👊

Totally agree about Barnstaple. I heard people say how bad it's got these days, thought they were exaggerating, seems they weren't, a grim utterly joyless place. Can I also give an honourable mention to Tiverton? It's a tip.

"What exactly did you expect to see looking out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Herds of wildebeest strolling majestically across the plain? The hanging gardens of Babylon, perhaps?"

Classic! We were so disappointed when we visited Torquay. Anstey's cove was a small consolation. Can't wait for Dorset!

Plymouth is actually a wonderful city, but like many cities you need to learn your way around it. You need to know where to go and where to avoid. At one time it was rated the 2nd best place to live in the whole of the UK and it hasn't gone down that much. A lot of the decay ran in parallel to the decline of the Royal Navy and areas like Devonport are now being rebuilt, albeit as dormitory areas. The University continues to grow, there is a plethora of historical sites, living is cheap, the sea is on the doorstep and the moors are a short bus-ride away. I live about 15miles out but I could easily live in the city. There is also a ferry connection to France and Spain and a railway station, BUT, we have lost our airport. You need to compare Plymouth with other cities, not with holiday resort villages......

My hometown is Torquay and it was great several decades ago but prospects for people were bleak even back then. I left Torquay in 2007 and turned my life around....best decision of my life. The life I have today wouldnt have been possible in the UK.

I come from York and moved to Paignton just before lockdown. Almost every day I question why I moved here. The only thing I like about living in this area is bring so near to the sea. I live coastal walks. Everything else about the area us depressing eg crime rates, drug problems, shop closures, no NHS funding, expensive council tax, parking etc etc And, no, it isn't like this everywhere. When I visited my Mum last month I saw that places like Beverley, Scarborough, Knaresborough and York etc are thriving! Down here it must be something to do with the councils and what they've been doing with the money, covid affecting the hospitality industry, expensive rent, too many second homes not contributing to the economy and stuff like that I suppose.

So sad to see the decline of places I visited with my late parents as a kid, Especially Paignton as my family and I had so many happy summers there and we took away many lovely memories of our times in Devon, In fact both of my parents wanted us to move there permanently but I don't think they would today and its certainly not on my holiday destination list anymore,

I'm Brixham born & bred. There's so much potential here but it'll probably gonna get worse before it get's better (if it get's better). The decline of Torquay though, that's the real shocker. 20 years ago I'd find any excuse to jump in the car and head over, it was like living on holiday! Paignton's always been the naff one though so hasn't had as far to fall. The whole country's going to shit in one way or another though, so we're all in it together!

I really enjoyed your video. Your narration was very entertaining and gave me a couple of good laughs! I visited Banstable and Ilfracombe in the mid 80's and they were lovely at the time. Sad to see the way things have declined. I feel lucky to have visited when I did!

Devon is a periphery region, a fact which isn't often considered at all. We are an economically obsolete population. We deindustrialised in the nineteenth century, a century before the 'North' and other parts of the UK. We became a majority services economy by 1900. Tourism is often touted as our "life-line", but as this video shows it destroys places. It brings small amounts of money in during a very small time of the year, which benefits some hotel owners and landowners. But that's all; otherwise it is a relationship of dependence. Butlering is not productive, not dignified, not unionised, not well paid. "Levelling up" is a sham policy designed to make the Tories 'look' capable of economic transformation, but it is a scatter-gun approach that can *never* work for a periphery region. We need a democratically planned economy where resources are TAKEN AWAY from the rich in the South East, because it is a vacuum that sucks in talent and capital, and redistibuted out to the peripheries. No party will actually do this, though.

As a former Clovelly resident, your comments did make me chuckle. It’s a shame to see what’s become of the place. It used to feel like a badge of honour to be a resident and everyone took huge pride in making the place look and feel special. Not the place it once was. I will say though that the owner, John Rous, was always very good to me and a nice man indeed.

Evidence that online shopping and services are killing these towns off. People in some way have themselves to blame. Sorry if I offend.

Loved this video and series, funny, depressing but not surprising all at the same time I spent my teenage years (in the 1980s) growing up in Torquay and lived in the “posh areas” on the hill near Babbacombe which back then was a nice village and the beach was a popular place for the locals Even back then the town centre and waterfront areas were grim and not worth a visit for any reason. We went to out of town supermarkets and Exeter for shopping… Keep up the good work guys

The sad truth is this looks like heaven compared to Oldham where I live, if Devon is going the same way you in for a shock

Spot on with this, I live in Torbay. The English Riviera.....god help us.

I'm from the home counties but married a girl from Plymouth and have now lived and worked down here for most of the last 25 years. The change since then has been unbelievable. It always had its rough spots but there was an effort in the 80's and 90's to try and bring jobs in, especially in the military draw down following the cold war. But despite government support to move here a lot of those businesses moved out from the mid 00's (in particular electronics companies in Torbay and Plymouth) hitting local employment badly. This, in part, is the source of a lot of the anti-EU sentiment down here, as many of the jobs went to easter Europe. Add to that the continued decline in tourism, fishing and the military. Plus very poor town planning decisions and you have a recipe for what we have now, I love my adopted home town of Plymouth, but it's just dying. The high street everywhere is suffering, but Plymouth had 4 department stores when I moved here. It now has 1 holding on by the skin of its teeth in a shopping area way to big for the city. So you have clusters of shops, many in a poor state, interspersed with boarded up and a very messy and badly maintained pedestrian area. It's depressing. And to help us, the government spaffs money away on green initiatives so it can say how wonderful they are.

I'm a North Devon girl born and raised and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The reason our two largest towns are so run down is down to a greedy council. The cost of living here is so high but the wages don't match, hence the homeless. We do have a big drug problem sadly. We have one of the highest costs in water rates in the country too. Locals struggle to survive because everything is priced so high for the holidaymakers and all the second homes bought as holiday homes and ritch city people wanting an idyllic country life. There is a street in Appledore where over 80% of the houses are holiday homes and I've known locals in Croyde who have left because there are less and less locals living there. Our councils continue to build more and more houses but only 10% are actually affordable to those who desperately need it. They build new instead of using all these huge beautiful historic buildings going to rot that are perfect for affordable housing 😔

Surprised to see no mention of South Molton in the comments. Looks to be an OK enough town on the outside, but man the people there are...interesting. I lived there for about 5 years, felt like I aged about 60 in that time! I think its the law that as soon as you're diagnosed with dementia, you have to live in South Molton. Oh, and good luck if you want to buy anything. Apart from the worst Sainsbury's in the country, the next nearest supermarket is 12 miles away! At least there's very few empty shops - mainly because there's very few shops full stop. Or takeaways. Or restaurants. Or pubs. Or anything to do. Absolutely hated the place.

I was born in Plymouth but only lived there until I was 5-6 years old but have visited a number of times over the last 20 years. The city does look quite run down now but there are some beautiful views, especially around the sea front. I’m in South Yorkshire now. Trust me, you’ll have a field day if you get this far North 😂😂😂 Those crime rates look like heaven compared to up here!

I really like Ilfracombe, caves are stunning and we saw dolphins on a boat trip

Devon was my favourite holiday destination 30 years ago and I actually moved down there and lived in Brixham for a year. . I've visited most of the towns on your video including north Devon. The place was beautiful, especially Clovelly. The whole street was superbly well kept and is a shadow of it's former self.

I live in Devon and you are right. The place has suffered from an influx of Londoners, massive over-development with low - quality housing estates and concreting over of once lovely fields and green spaces. Now we have hotels full of grifting criminals - sorry, "assylum seekers"- to contend with

I'm born and bred in Plymouth and couldn't wait to get out when I was younger. I love it here now but I always tell people that the best thing about living in Plymouth is that it's easy to get out of Plymouth.

Devon is generally nicer than London. Richer, more country, cute, cleaner places in London look like Devon towns. We are actually quite lucky

Where is Tiverton? It's one of the most awful small towns i've ever visited!

I think most British towns are like this. Thank the conservatives for making sure all the money stays with the rich in off shore banks rather than being put back into our towns and communities.

I'm surprised that my town, Bideford wasn't on your list and Barnstaple was. I agree with Barnstaple though it's gone downhill massively in the last 20years ago! Like most Devon towns. Great video though man 👏

Love this as a channel idea. Do one on Posh/Poor town contrasts in Oxfordshire!

I live in Paignton and you really captured the essence of the town. I mean the first thing tourists see of the train is a rundown old building and a doggy pub. Most of the locals don't shop there we just drive else where

Loved filming this one mate! Definitely one of our best!

We moved down to Devon when I was a teenager in the 80's and I would regularly go out in Torquay in my youth. It was a violent and scary place, certainly when the pubs closed, as I remember (and there was a lot of small-town violence in general in south Devon). I lived in New York for a time after that in my 20's, and Manhatten in the dead of the night felt a lot safer than Torquay on a Saturday night. You were certainly less likely to get your head kicked in for no reason. Great to see it hasn't changed...

Are you sure you were in Brixham? We moved to Brixham because theres lots going on all year round (pirate festival, xmas fireworks, santa run, live music, theatre etc). We have some fabulous restaurants not just fish either including Thai, French, European, Pizza etc. Lots of choice and variety of places to have a drink and some gorgeous independent shops. Oh and we do have a beach!

Where's Tiverton? It's the root of all evil!

Two reason why Torquay went to the dogs. One. It became a unitary council along with Paignton & Brixham (funny how the other 2 are also on the list) and separated from Devon Country Council as a whole. They simply could not get enough revenue to maintain standards as tourists don't pay taxes, locals do. They slowly ran out of money whereas DCC essentially subsidised Torbay to tart itself up in return to get the holiday makers in which would boost the counties economy overall. Torbay Council then started subcontracting serviced to private companies to save money who offerer a far inferior service. Refuse collection for example. It also doesn't help that Torbay has(or had) one of the most corrupt Councils in England. The elected Mayor didn't help who was an absolute twazzock. Second point South Devon College. Huge campus that used to be situated 10 min walk from the High Street. Gave steady incomes to shops all year round. Relocated to outside Paignton due to one of the buildings(the large 5 story) getting concrete cancer and require demolishing. Instead of rebuilding on the site, they put grotty housing mostly filled with low income households instead. That truly was the death blown for Torquay. Sadly college is really too far way from Paignton town center for it to benefit what Torquay used to have.

You nailed Clovely, the steep walk up the sharp cobbles to try and escape was a nightmare.

I noted that when you visited Torquay you visited mostly at night, possibly in the winter when its deserted. Its nothing like that in summer, its alive, busy and vibrant and full of tourists. Torquay is still a great holiday town to visit , I know it has its rougher parts but so does every town in the UK. Unfortunately the vast majority of UK seaside towns are in the same boat . I would love to see you visit Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Saltley, Lozells in Birmingham coz believe me, you aint seen nothing yet. If you decide to visit dont go at night (seriously), coz you may not come back, and that will put the supposed Devon turdtowns into perspective.

I used to work in Axminster, and when people asked what it was like, I always used to describe it as "Axminster is a one-horse town, but the horse hasn't been very well lately." In the 1980s, it was OK, but always clogged solid with traffic as the A35 went right through it, and there were a couple of narrow points where anything bigger than a couple of smallish cars couldn't pass. The town campaigned for a bypass, and it got it in the early 1990s; but then nobody passing stopped to shop any more, and bit by bit the place closed down. Most of the major employers have packed up, either gone bust, or closed by their parent corporations and the work moved elsewhere.

As someone who was at uni in Devon in the early 2000s it’s really sad to hear this.

Excellent review I do reckon some of the mid-county places needed inclusion (top 12?) - Cornwall is similar, with the glitz reserved for the coast, but the beating heart & reality is just inland. For Devon, I'd say Cullompton, Crediton, Tiverton (I'll cut Honiton some slack) and on the coast - Westward Ho! Cheers for the view!

My family moved to Torquay about 40 years ago when I was 12 your assessment of the place is bang on I haven’t been back for over 32 years and never will what a shithole!!!

I live in Torquay, born and bred. It’s is a lovely place, but the councils and police force have seriously let it down. I’ve lived here long enough to see the absolute decline over the years. Drink and drugs is a serious problem. So is crime. The night life is also very poor. I head to Newton Abbot on a night out now. My question is who let’s a place like this turn into the worst place to live in Devon!?

I know filming on a grey day with muted colour settings and hunting out the shittest things you can find make it all look worse than perhaps it actually is but I do have to agree that the lack of levelling up funding for Devon towns is a scandal, especially with the refugee dumping that is going on. I guess that there are not enough marginal seats for the Tories to help win the funds

Spot on! Great video keep em coming. 👍

Paignton... is a great place to visit if you are into seriously into drinking... full of pubs... from the Spinning Wheel to the Sports Bar... We visited a bike show on the beech one summer... But no one wants to visit during the deep dark winter months... It's the same as many seaside towns across the UK... nothing to do... if the sun don't shine.. Thank you mate... that presentation was excellent...

I grew up in Axminster & a lot of my family worked for the carpet factory. It was a quaint place to grow up & felt quite safe but it isn’t really near anything. Trying to explain how long it takes to get to well known things (like how far away from a McDonalds, for example) takes an effort. I remember being happy when we finally got a swimming pool. I wanted to be annoyed at your take on it but ended up agreeing with so many things you said. 😂

I Live in Torquay but i also live in Exeter during term time since i go to Exeter Uni. I am thankful that i am no longer living in Torquay full-time. Part of the reason for its downfall is because of Tory austerity. At the moment, Torbay council is currently run by a coalition of lib dem and independent councilors but before then, the council was run by the tory party. Also, if you have a child with special needs, good luck trying to get them the support they need in Torbay. Hopefully in the may local elections this year the Lib Dems win enough councilors in order to form a lib dem controlled council so they can fast track on improving the town.

I have lived in Paignton for 26 years and steadily seen it go downhill. It seemed wonderful compared to the town that I moved from, Lancing, a grotty hovel of a dump between Worthing and Shoreham by sea. I hope you make it that way someday and film the experience.

Love this series, and as a Devonian, this video in particular. Just shocked to not see Newton Abbot (or the scabbot) on the list. Torquay without the beach 😂

Been waiting for this one, worth the wait!! Hope Hampshite's on the radar before too long. Also Cornwall's worth a look next - lots of mining towns which are some of the most depressing places in the UK given their reliance on tourism.

Missed it completely dude. Exeter surely tops the list having once been a world heritage class city until being bombed in WWII, followed by a council that flattened everything damaged in the blitz and most of the mediaeval areas that had survived. They can't even be arsed to rebuild the Clarence Hotel and the adjacent mediaeval Well House on Cathedral Green and would clearly love to play the waiting game before they can build a Norman Foster style Kruschovka tower block on the site. Yet once upon a time this city rivalled York, Bruges, Florence, Edinburgh etc for culture.

I can assure you anywhere in the South West is paradise compared to my home town of Grays in Essex which I couldn't wait to leave!! Just being close to beaches, the Moors and nature and away from densely populated cities ticks all my boxes. Towns and cities wherever they are located all come with thier own problems. There's no better feeling riding my bike across Dartmoor or down to Cornwall without a care in the world. A million miles away from Essex in distance and pace of life.

For the past 30 years I have wanted to go back and live in Devon. Thank you for pointing out to me the reasons to stay away. People who can afford £360.000 homes while the rest of the town looks as bad as this, well they are certainly NOT locals. Essential to drive if you want to spend any time living here because getting away to somewhere less dismal is paramount, sadly.

To be honest most of these towns are potentially nice places, they just need some serious investment to reinvent themselves the way somewhere like Bournemouth in Dorset has. The one I agree with is actually Clovelly. I went there once, absolute joke place. I’ve never been charged to get in a town or village before, I wouldn’t even have minded but there’s nothing actually in it except some crappy little harbour at the bottom of the hill.

Bideford, South Molton, and Tiverton are all ghastly places but still anywhere in Devon is better than most UK cities where you should need a passport to get in.