The worst places in Northumberland, UK

Building a cinema in order to reduce poverty has to be the most insane idea ever

As someone who was born in Ashington - I completely agree that these places are a bit rough in some ways but the one thing that keeps Northumbrians going is their character and community. Northumberland has a lot of truly beautiful places too, but the thing I take greatest pride in coming from the region - is the people.

Once the mines were shut nothing of any consequence took its place. The heart was ripped out of the community. Men got very rich on the bloody and broken bodies of men, women and children who in some pits still lie where they died. The people want a purpose, want work, so the government build a cinema. While they give more steel making to India

I left Blyth 39 years ago but still occasionally have to go back to see my parents. They've just got no concept of how bad it is coz they've always lived there. 😢

I am postie in Ashington and yes it is depressing and irrelevant, but lets be honest about it like most places Ashington has a corrupt council that steal the wealth from the people.

This channel is both interesting, depressing and compelling.

Doesn't your heart just weep for people like the lady at 10.18. Head down and no hope. What the hell have we done to this world

I found Newbiggin to a charming place, very few vacant commercial units, independent shops, decent selection of restaurants, lovely beach and not full of tacky arcades like some seaside towns!

I can confirm it's so bad in that area people from the nearby 'town' of Cramlington think they live in a nice place.

It might be in one of the nicest counties, but Ashington is one of the most depressing places I've ever been to.

Ashington is the home town of legendary Newcastle United footballer Jackie Milburn and he was the uncle of World Cup winners Bobby and Jackie Charlton who also grew up in the town. More recently, England cricketers Steve Harmison and Marcus Wood both grew up in Ashington.

Blyth looks exactly like the deprived seaside towns in Suffolk/Norfolk, you could've lied to me and I wouldn't have questioned it. Maybe they all look the same.

I live in Northumberland and cannot disagree with you , I laughed all the way through it because it's bloody true .

Cinemas aren't likely to bring in business like they used to 15 years ago with everyone now having 65" tvs, surround sound and schneidy firesticks. There are much better things that could be built that would be of benefit to the communities in these areas

Blyth did have railway station but it was closed and demolished a long time ago - a casualty of Dr Beeching I think

Slap bang in my part of the UK. You've hit the nail on the head with these places. Newbiggin has always tried to be a tourism destination and locals go nuts if you tell them it isn't! Stakeford (and the others within it) has always been like that - mine or no mine, a strange place. Cambois is OK if you like looking at the remnants of what industrial NE England looked like. The locals are actually quite nice there. Blyth isn't getting a new railway station - it's being placed outside the town because there was once a railway station in the middle of the town but it closed. The council allowed development on the route of that railway and thus a new station is having to be built away from it! The lovely market place is being ripped up to provide a very small cinema that concentrates on selling beer and food not films. The building is being advertised as community space for groups to move into - local community groups have their own places. Blyth actually has a cinema but council leaders think that backing an outsider and giving favouritism is best practice. Crime in Blyth is rife. Statistics are manipulated terribly - go to the town at 11am for the zombies to head for their daily fix of medication and you'll see the place in its true glory. Yes shops are all shut - it had nothing to do with how early you went. Ashington was a wonderful town before the mines closed. It had 52 social clubs (I'm serious) and a whole variety of nightlife and social venues were available. There was little crime back then - the town being a 'latch key' one - no need to lock your door because everyone looked out for each other. When the mines closed the town was hit really hard. So much went down hill and it broke my heart to see a younger generation with nothing to aspire to, no jobs and social life to look forward to. Crime, drink and drugs became the way of Ashington and almost every day the police helicopter pays a visit. Ashington and the new railway station - they have two close by and could use those (Pegswood and Morpeth) but the truth is, few have any money to pay a fare on one never mind spend at a destination. Council leaders claim that the railway will bring investment but honestly, not even us who live a few miles away want to visit the place! The cinema is to be built on a hole - leaders had a hole dug and walked away from it. It's been like that for years and is a local joke. As you say, the cinema will do nothing for the place - much like the Blyth one won't. Oh!! That stunning big building near the bus station was a huge CO-OP store. It closed when the town fell to its knees.

I lived in Ashington for six months, the most depressing place, everyone was miserable and hostile to southerners. There was an onshore wind which kept it 10 degrees colder than the rest of the UK, imagine living there till you die.

Really enjoyed this one. Ashington was famous as the birthplace of Jack and Bobby Charlton. All these mining towns that leave social deprivation in their wake is so depressing.

Most people don't realise but a lot of mines closed during the 60s and 70s. We think the 80s was the period this happened, but it had been going on for some time until the miner's strikes of the 80s. It's a shame these places haven't found a way of shaking off the decline.

I used to live in Newbiggin, can see my old house at one point in the video - lefr there in 2010. It saddens me to see how run down it's become, the council were supposed to be rejuvenating the place when I left, they'd just spent a fortune importing sand to improve the beach etc. Seeing all the shops closed on front street was really disheartening, nearly every single one was fairly busy in 2010, but the pubs were going one by one, The Black Pearl had a revamp and changed name, can't even remember what to now. The main problem I found with the village was the only proper grocery shop was Co-op, and their prices were extortionate, likely still are as they have a captive audience - it has a knock on effect for all the smaller shops though as everyone just goes into Ashington to do their shopping, so all Newbiggin's money is going to Ashington because of the greed of the Co-op, plus there's a Wetherspoons there bang next to the bus stops so they take the pub trade away. It's a damn shame, really lovely place (and not actually that bad in winter, I spent 3 there) and some lovely people. It's just one of those forgotten towns that's close to somewhere with more amenities, so people go there. It was pretty busy in summer, not sure how true that is now, and the caravan park next to the church was always full, as was the place just as you enter the village. I miss being literally a minute away from the beach and a minute away from nothing but fields if you go the other direction, but I'd not move back there, it was very dull with not much to do or see for 10 months a year. Really bad drugs problem too, which is part and parcel of the poverty and boredom combining.