Shields isn't very 'canny' now...

[anna]

Don't be apprehensive. Shields isn't really a dangerous place. I happily travel on public transport at night, go in pubs and wait for taxis in the town centre and never see anything that bothers me. There are a couple of pubs that are maybe a bit rough but Shields is no different to anywhere else..

I agree.

[cushy butterfield]

Thanks for the reassurance guys.

[jimmywizz]

cushy just bring your pepper spray, knuckleduster and tazer gun and you will be ok

[malaymac]

I agree with just about everything that's been said so far.

However, after being away for a long, long time, I have made 4 visits in the last 12 months with the first of those 4 being August 07.
Now I know there had been a lot of rain that summer but for us, the sun came out and I was very impressed just how colourful the sea front was, all the flowers in the centre of roundabouts and hanging baskets outside pubs etc. It really was quite uplifting to see Sheels in many colours.

Of course, more recently the weathers has turned cold, the trees are bare and during my last visit I was reminded of how most of the colour around the town was the graffitti.

Obviously being out and about is not much fun when the weather is bad, but despite the wind and the rain, why do these gangs of lads have to hang around, making such a lot of fuss over nothing and generally going around intimidating decent folks. It's just so depressing.

Thankfully, there's still plenty of right thinking, kind hearted souls out there reminding us of the better things in life.

[jimmywizz]

spot on mal, mind you its just not shields that has the problems with thugs most uk towns are in the same boat

[rainbow]

Hi Sanddancers....is it just me or does fish n chips taste better when your down at the coast....lol.....winter, summer, spring...lol...back to winter......a big bag of juicy chips, salt n vinegar.....oohh!! a can of pop, the wind in your face as you walk along to the pier.............mmmm!!magic...... cheers Rainbow

[anna]

Hi Sanddancers....is it just me or does fish n chips taste better when your down at the coast....lol.....winter, summer, spring...lol...back to winter......a big bag of juicy chips, salt n vinegar.....oohh!! a can of pop, the wind in your face as you walk along to the pier.............mmmm!!magic...... cheers Rainbow

nowt better Rainbow ....
.
but if given the choise ,,i would be sunning it somewhere hot ,drinking pena caladas...

[malaymac]

Hi Sanddancers....is it just me or does fish n chips taste better when your down at the coast....lol.....winter, summer, spring...lol...back to winter......a big bag of juicy chips, salt n vinegar.....oohh!! a can of pop, the wind in your face as you walk along to the pier.............mmmm!!magic...... cheers Rainbow

nowt better Rainbow ....
.
but if given the choise ,,i would be sunning it somewhere hot ,drinking pena caladas...

Now you might find this is a strange thing to say, but yer both right, there's not much can beat fish n chips down at the coast, even on a cold day.

Yer want some sun Anna, get yer self ower here hinnie, there's too much of it

And that's actually the problem because we're right on the equator, so there's no seasons.
Every day's the same. And get this, every day it gets dark at 7 pm and daylight is at 7 am.

When I'm back in Sheels, it actually feels good to sometimes where a jacket, coz over here it's unheard of.
And because it's so humid, it's quite common to break out in a sweat just standing there, doin nowt !!!

Sorry guys, I obviously went on a bit of a rant and off topic.

[Larna]

It's not all down to really bad taste and decision making by the Council, the defacing of once elegant victorian homes is very sad, and has turned many streets into tacky slumlike areas.

For example, in the Westoe area there are streets where they have replaced the wooden panelled front doors with white plastic!! In one instance I even saw that the bay windows had been removed and replaced with flat 'picture' windows and pebble dashing, thereby defacing the look of the whole terrace, and probably devaluing the property. I remember this area as being very attractive.

I have not lived in the town for many years but occasionally return to visit family. It looks more and more down at heel. You can't walk along the main streets without shabbily dressed people stuffing pasties into their mouths as they go along. Wrappers are then thrown onto the ground.

There was a time when the local people cared about how they dressed to go into town, and eating was done at a table. They cared about their town, and their street, and this was in a time when they had little income so that is no excuse today.

South Shields has so much to offer. Last time I saw the sea front it looked good. Unfortunately the town streets get worse. Why allow so much loud plastic signage outside of shops? What about natural materials such as stone, brick, wood, wrought iron etc.

Residents, Police, & Council - get it together! Clean up the town. Deal with unruly unsociable behaviour.

Give the town back some dignity, and some pride.

[jimmywizz]

hi Larna welcome to our website

[rusty]

Just look at the number of Geordies who post from all over the world,the answer to Shields problem is not in Shields any-more.Most of the people with any get up and go have done jusy that ! I doubt if ther is any country in the world with-out a large group of Geordies.The bright sparks saw the writting on the wall a long time ago.A long line of Goverments gave huge amounts of cash to firms to re-locate in the North East.............a couple of years later firms vanish down South with lots of profit and new machinery .....leaving behind lots of Geordies twiddling ther fingers.The ones with any sense thought with there feet.Lots of comments about the Sea front...............lots of waves at the sea front...unlucky for Shields many are waves goodbye.

[mr-angry]

Rusty, will you not associate people from South Shields with Geordies.

[rusty]

I,m sure there is a logical reason not to call them Geordies ?? North Easten Gentlemen =NEG Tyneside Urban Region Dwellers = ?

[sherri]

Hmm, hope you won't mind an 'outsider' making a comment.
Was reading a book recently where the author lamented the way a lot of interesting buildings were being pulled down in various English cities. Once it's gone, it's gone, and part of the charm of England for visitors would surely be the history. If you build tacky modern buildings, your towns will just look like anywhere else.
graffiti-it is everywhere.
Our local council tackled it head on.
If you are caught anywhere around here, you have a fine and have to help clean it up.
Spray paint is not sold to minors in any shop in this area, by law. It is kept in locked cages in shops and anyone wanting some has to ask an assistant and get served that way. No one under 18 is allowed to buy it.
If your property or fence is spray painted, there is a council hotline. They will send someone out asap-same day if they can, and paint over the graffiti. free of charge.

I can't pretend that it has stopped the problem completely. I live in a growth corridor with lots of young teens, so there is always a bit of vandalism.
But compared to a few years ago, it is almost non existent.

We don't get any shopping trolleys abandonded along paths either. That used to be a problem and helicopters used to have to search to recover them, but the council insisted every supermarket in the district bring in coin operated trolleys and the problem stopped overnight.

If you want an end to graffiti, then your local council has to get serious.

[highshieldsman]

I too was born in the early Fifties and had a good time in downtown South Shields at weekends, even on a Sat afternoon. Of course, it was always coloured by the wanderlust and need to escape from a small town that many people have. But it's not looking thru rose-coloured specs to say the 60s and 70s were good times in SS. Nobody, absolutely nobody, had to leave the town for entertainment or shopping. No one went into Newcastle (it wasn't easy anyway).

I too remember Frederick St in its heyday (I was born in So. Frederick St). It was the second shopping street to King St. It had the town's first supermarket (Fine Fare, built on the site of the Palace cinema - yes a cinema on Frederick St), and plenty of different shops. Only one pub, the Eureka, and you didn't go there as a young 'un. It was for the fathers, and it even had a snug for the old ladies. Now it looks like something from the Third World. I could not believe it when I saw it a few months ago.

'Downstreet' itself was great even on a Sat afternoon, walking up one side of the street, and down the other, hoping to meet girls (and v-v if you were a girl) - before pedestrianisation, and the Market was a source of entertainment. You'd hang out on the benches at Marrs' Corner (now Fitzpatricks) with the occasional trip to Minchellas (which only closed one day a year - Christmas Day). At night, the Ship and Royal then the Cat or Ruperts.

In the summer, you had the beach and the fairground.

What other town could match that for a teenager or young adult?

Now the town centre is a dump, full of foul-mouthed drunks.

Sorry, but it's true.