A Look Inside Two of The UK's POOREST Most DEPRIVED Areas

In this video, we’re following on from last week’s video where I showed you two of the most dangerous areas in Walsall, by highlighting two of the poorest, most deprived areas in Walsall, and these areas are Pleck, and Darlaston.

Starting in Pleck, the stats for this area are pretty shocking and it really hits home how some of the poorest areas have been plunged further into poverty as a result of the current economic climate the UK is facing.

Pleck is listed as the third poorest estate across the whole of the Black Country, so that’s a pretty clear indicator of just how bad things are.

Demographically, the majority of residents in Pleck are Asian, and it’s mostly a Muslim population.
As you can see from the shopping districts, there are a lot of shops catering to the community.

On a positive, there are some good community services operating, this is the Pleck Library Community Centre where they offer courses to help residents improve their English among other skills.

Pleck also has a decent amount of green space and a large allotment, but for the most part the communal areas are overrun with litter and have been trashed.

Pleck isn’t the most dangerous area, it has about half the crime rate of Blakenall, but it’s far from being a safe area.

One of the most surprising things about Walsall is the price of housing. According to Rightmove, the average house price for Pleck over the last year was in the £176,000 range.

Darlaston

Not far behind Pleck in terms of poverty is Darlaston, and in particular, Darlaston Green.

Darlaston is predominantly a White area, which is a very different demographic from Pleck, but walking around Darlaston I saw much of the same as I did in Pleck.

There was a lot of litter, large items Flytipped, and signs of drug use not very well hidden in bushes and dumped on the roadside.

Darlaston has a pretty lofty crime rate of 122, which means there are 122 crimes reported per 1,000 residents.

That’s pretty high and makes this a dangerous area to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Interstingly, and this is quite telling of the economic problems in the area, there is a higher number of vehicle crimes, criminal damage and theft than there are social crimes, which is usual.

For the privilege of living in Darlaston, you can expect to pay around £178,000 on average.

That wraps this one up, this was a look at two of the most deprived areas in Walsall, all comments and feedback are welcome, have as awesome day!

#walsall #birmingham #birminghamuk

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Chapters
00:00 - Intro to Walsall's Most Deprived Areas
00:23 - Pleck
03:27 - Darlaston and Darlaston Green

All footage filmed by the UK Explored team and cannot be reused without permission.

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[ukexplored]

Hope you enjoyed this look inside a couple of the most deprived areas in Walsall; Pleck and Darlaston. As always, all comments, questions, and feedback are welcome!

[sbaby-kghn]

England has really gone down hill big time . Poverty poor mental health and substance abuse issues.

[frikshun_]

0:27 I used to manage Pleck youth centre back in 2007/8 - it was tough / challenging work. But we did everything we could to make it recognised as one of the best youth clubs in Walsall at the time. Shout out to all the young people who passed through and all the staff that supported.

[adrianjones]

I grew up in Pleck in the 70´s. It was OK and most people took pride in their home/area. Pleck park was lovely in those dreamy summer days. There has always been poverty in the UK but something has changed with peoples mindset. What drives people to trash the environment or dump litter? It must be a sign that people have no hope for the future economically or socially.

[absta]

nice coverage and commentary makes me thankful I live elsewhere tbh. What kills me the most is all the litter. New sub by the way, like your style 😎

[rexcatston]

I think one of the things that truly highlight the future of these regions is the fact that, despite all the derelict houses, empty stores, poverty, crime and lack of services...
The cost of living, rent, property, store leases, bills and taxes are equal or even higher than when things weren't in this state.

Purely for morbid curiosity, It'd be interesting to see what happens when the cost of living exceeds the average income
or when nobody can afford rent or mortgages
or when every type of company becomes too financially high risk for a bank to provide a loan for..

[ianwhitehouse]

My late mother grew up around Pleck during WW2. I grew up around the Walsall area but moved to the north of Scotland 20 years ago when the kids were little. Best thing I ever did to be honest

[anythingbootneck]

I’ve become totally addicted to your vids. I’d no idea such squalor existed. It’s so sad.

[theevildice]

This is honestly shocking, I grew up in north England, and the news always makes it seem like north England is the poorest and most destitute part of the UK. But I've started to realise over the past few years that that's not the case at all. It's mind blowing how house prices can be so high in the midlands when there's so much poverty.

[drbowater]

Darlaston town center used to be a lot better before they knocked a large chunk of it down to replace the old Asda store with new current one. Also not meaning to be pedantic but Darlaston is pronounced Dar-Las-Ton. Oh, and Caldmore is called Karma by the locals.

[MorgueOfficialMusic]

"Pleck" literally sounds like someone coughing up flegm.

[Carllizard]

Poverty clearly affects a person’s capability of using a bin

[vsuman]

You should visit Huddersfield. All the shops have turned into abandoned derelict blocks. Dewsbury is a 20 minutes drive too which is an awful town.

[lauramoore]

Would be interesting to see you cover parts of Coventry like Foleshill, Hillfields, Longford etc. I've spent the last decade living around Walsall and Coventry so seeing this outside perspective on what our communities are like is fascinating.

[shayne]

i was born in darlaston and grew up between there and pleck it was always "rough" in places but nothing like this! I think it was the thatcher years and the massive loss of industry that really started the rot now compounded by the rise of online shopping and the huge hikes in rents and commercial tax's that have killed the shopping areas. amongst some (other) changes now live in rural berkshire and it pains me to see how far darlo has fallen!!

[techscrew]

Yes I agree these areas are horrendous. I have been to all the places in this video, as I used to live not far away. It is an absolute dump, and getting progressively worse.

[shamimgough]

I used to live in Darlaston once upon a time. I was an immigrant who arrived there in the sixties. It breaks my heart to see how it's gone down hill😢😢. What will be the future for mankind? Is there any hope for life? Tell me if you know the

[briankinder]

You are depressing me, moved from Caldmore area to a new council house in Pleck 1952, just before the coronation, nice, safe. lot of industry, good jobs and at this point in time we had no migrants. In 1961 started my apprenticeship at Rubery Owen Darlaston, they employed around 6, 000 people, well paid, on site doctor, dentist, optician, convalescent home, welfare department, full range of sports plus sports ground, and social side. It all started falling apart after we joined the EU, then Maggie stepped in, Darlaston employment fell from around 27, 000 to around 3, 000 in not much over 3-5 year period.. The problems we have today are due to actions taken by Governments, management and unions going back to the 60's, we look at yesterday, no 50 years back.

[_Ali.]

I drive through Pleck regularly and seeing it here even I’m thinking “fuck me it’s a shithole” ...

[PaulHipToBeSquareAllen]

looks just like an everyday town in the middle east.