I Visit The Worst Place To Live In The UK? - I Was Shocked!

Peterborough has been voted the worst town to live in for three years in a row!
This year it's come second-worst place to live BUT I wanted to show you why you SHOULD visit Peterborough

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[jamiedarcy]

I was born in Peterborough and lived here all my life! It's not the physical place that makes it bad it's a lovely place in that regard! However the local council are incredibly corrupt and have an ambition to turn it into another london and are intent on building on every bit of green land and tearing down every piece of history and link to the past and that is why it's a horrible place to live!

[kitm]

I don’t know about this… I grew up in Scunthorpe so Peterborough seems like Monaco in comparison.

[TimmyMagic]

Born & raised Peterborough here, my great grandfather was one of the architects for the Lido swimming pool in 1936, my family roots go back here 150 years ago, I even found recently my great great grandmothers grave from 1928, it’s where my grandfather had a successful business, did charity work & got an MBE from the queen in 2000, I’ve lived in rough areas, I have walked the streets with a camera & feel safe, I think it’s got it’s bad places, but where hasn’t? I love the fact it’s close to east line from access to London, and it’s what I call home, everyone has an opinion. Great video Tim, would love to meet you one day just to shake your hand on the content you produce.

[SmartSilver]

I remember Peterborough as a kid when we used to go there shopping and to the ice skating rink. After some 30 years I returned there recently and was very shocked by the decline. Sadly this is typical of the decline taking place across the entire country some areas worse than others but nowhere seems to be immune from this disease.

[Alex-cwrz]

I'm so glad you are doing this, there is a lot of negativity about towns and cities like Peterborough but how are they going to improve if all people do is put people off going by calling it horrible. To improve an area you have to focus on what it does well already, to give it a boost that can then be used to improve the areas that have issues and even in the place voted the worst in Britain there are lots of good things to see.

[nelliemelba]

I hope you make this a bit of a regular feature, Tim. I hate how some towns are lambasted as the worse places to live, usually by people who have contributed nothing to help improve it, or be a part of it. I remember way back in the 80s there was was an advert on tv with Roy Kinnear, dressed as a Roman, promoting Peterborough It does look a nice place to visit! 👍

[judybee]

To be honest Tim it's a nationwide thing....some parts of towns/cities are fine, other parts are no go areas & all High Streets are usually dotted with empty premises, boarded up, major stores gone. It's all a bit sad really & every time you go back to somewhere you visited in the past something else has disappeared. This didn't look too bad tbh....there are some towns in Kent that need a huge overhaul & some parts which are actually quite nice to visit. But the local on line news items will tell you that crime has risen almost everywhere in all forms. If you live somewhere you soon get to know which are the bits to avoid! x J x

[welovepeterboroughuk]

Thanks for popping by and taking a deeper look at Peterborough. There is so much you’ve missed, but we appreciate that can’t do it all in a day.

Let’s just clear up a few things…
Peter Boizot MBE was passionate about Peterborough, also London and Italy. He created Pizza Express, based on his many travels to Italy, but not here. His first Pizza Express was in 1965 in Soho, LONDON. What he did do was created a pizzeria called Gaston’s on Broadway, it was a glass front building with a fabulous open kitchen.

In 1997 he took on the old ‘Odeon’ cinema which had been closed for years - originally built in 1937 - and renovated it to become the Broadway Theatre (now New Theatre) with an art gallery on the side. Within it you’ll find the Boizot Lounge named in his honour.

Peterborough Cathedral’s painted wooden ceiling dates back to the 13th century and is the only one of its type surviving in Britain. It is the largest of only four wooden ceilings of this period surviving in the whole of Europe and is in the official European guide book as a place of interest along with the two Queens.

Have fun on your next visit.

[Tpavra]

I've spent a lot of my life in Peterborough and can safely say it is nowhere near the worst place in the UK. Sure there's some real dives but compared to other cities its actually not too bad!

[diannehardwick]

I haven’t been to Peterborough for a long time, but considering all the changes that have taken place in Britain’s town centres due to out of town, retail parks and closures from Covid, town centres have suffered and it’s hard to believe that Peterborough is the worst place in Britain to live. They must be many places that are really struggling. Thanks for the nice trip and introducing your friend with the information.

[louisekinsley]

Ex cinema projectionist here Tim, loved the projection box tour. I used to know an ex projectionist who lived in Peterborough but he sadly passed away last year and would prob would have known where that other projector went. As actual film is now very rarely used in cinemas there are A LOT of old projectors every where around the country, mostly dumped. The film reels are scrap metal now, it's funny what IS'NT worth anything now days. The theatre seating was so like my first cinema I used to work at which was an ex Odeon in Derby. MEMORIES

[WoManRay]

Thanks for highlighting some of the positives about Peterborough! I've lived here for several decades and, like many cities, it's changed almost beyond recognition. But rather than bemoaning that, I prefer to focus on the many good things that are here. As a cyclist, I've been able to enjoy some wonderful bike rides on the extensive Green Wheel network and there are some great walks by the River Nene. Central Park is a stone's throw from where I live and it has a lovely cafe, The Willow, with a pleasant terrace for warmer days. So much else to see and do, which makes it easier to turn a blind eye to some of the less pleasant aspects of the city.

[ScottZ]

Peterborough gets a rough time because it's seen as an entrance to the North by snobby southerners who haven't seen the horrors of Slough

[robmortimer]

Btw. Just as a reference for how bad it used to be: apparently it was the first place on the UK to require coins in the supermarket trolleys to stop them being stolen. There was also a school referred to by a local councillor as “a repository for the damned”

[adamsmith]

Just a quick correction.

The restaurant (currently known as Katana) isn’t a former Pizza Express.
It was the former Shelton’s department store, Peter Boizot bought it in the early 1990s alongside the Odeon Cinema.
He named the restaurant “Gaston’s” after his father.

The original Pizza Express was opened on Wardour Street, London in 1965. Pizza Express didn’t open in Peterborough until about 2006.

I used to work for Peter Boizot at the Great Northern Hotel.

[dalebates]

While on holiday last year, I lost my passport and am no longer resident in the UK. This posed a bit of a problem. I was staying in Wisbech, just around the corner, and decided to go to Peterborough passport office to try and get an emergency passport. I was in that place for less than an hour and the passport arried 3 days later. The staff, including the security gaurds, were all great. I then waited for the Mrs at the train station and we spent a few hours in the town, which I haven't done since I was a youngster. It was suprisingly pleasant, considering how the press like to portray the place. The Mrs, who is Spanish, has told me she would like to spend a bit more time there this year. We just might do that.

[philipellis]

Looking at the theatre, the riverside bar, the smart restaurant, the lovely cathedral there are so many U.K. towns/ cities that don’t have these kind of facilities. I could name a dozen worse looking town centres off the top of my head (including my own local one and even that isn’t truly terrible).

[darrenwilson]

I am not religious but I do find cathedrals, minsters and abbeys always leave me in awe - when you remember when they were built

[Edditaur]

Peterborough local here. It's a shame you didn't get a chance to come here sooner and see the historic market that had been around in some form or another since the middle ages. The council demolished it last year in favour of building flats in the centre of town.
Thankfully we still have a bit of market left (and it's lovely) but things keep being knocked down or sold off here sadly. There was a row last year because it was found out the council was trying to sell off the Key Theatre.
Sad stuff. But hey, glad you enjoyed the place!

[dylancarter]

I'm originally from the city, it's changed too much and a fair number of areas are run down. The city council also ignore the local populous.