The friendliest and least friendly places to live in U.K

NotSpaghetti I lived in many places but escaped Norfolk after 20 years. I think you make some valid points.
Now looking to moving to East Yorkshire and slightly thrown by some negative remarks made. On visits there found it very friendly. Hope that is the case.

OK good! Thanks ?

I'm sorry if my feelings about Norfolk have upset people

I’m not upset?

merlotgran - I'm not sure it's that we are "all different" in this scenario because obviously I am the same person moving around and living in different places. Maybe I was rather blunt in saying I found Norfolk to be hostile and I should have said there was a lack of acceptance. I did wonder if historically this was because it was relatively "off the beaten track" so fewer strangers had been passing through. It's also a place where many people I met had lived in an area where there family had been living for generations. RichmondPark1 says something along those lines too. I did meet a vicar in Norfolk once who told me he had lived there and worked in the community for (I think) 16 years and was just "settling in"!

This said, I still have good friends in Diss as it happens and did make friends in Norwich (mainly, I confess, as one local said "with other blow-ins").

I'm sorry if my feelings about Norfolk have upset people and as I haven't felt this anywhere else, really I'm not sure why. I'm the same person, and have no problem chatting and socialising. I'm not someone with hundreds of true friends but I do easily make friendly relationships. Good ones turn into friends over time.
I have good friends still, even from Norfolk.

I’ve only ever found one place where how I spoke identified me as someone not worth a welcome, but that wasn’t true of all areas round there. Other than that I’ve found most places welcoming, particularly the North West and Cumbria.

I started my married life in Wokingham (over 50 years ago) where I had to learn to stop chatting to strangers. We moved to the outskirts of Glasgow where I had to learn to chat to strangers again. After Glasgow it was Aberdeen, people were still friendly, but they were all nationalities. In the small group of houses we lived, on one side they were Norwegian, the other side Northern Ireland. Across from us were an American family and a French family. In my Art group, we had Japanese and Dutch, as well as Moroccan, I did meet the occasional Aberdonian and some English couples - everyone was very friendly. I now live in Harrogate, and find everyone very friendly here, too. Don't know if that helps!

???? That was a nice comment- South Wales is definitely very friendly x

I've lived up and down the UK and haven't really encountered unfriendly people. I did find London very friendly especially neighbours. In the east of Scotland I found it took quite a time to establish anything like friendship. May have been as I wasn't nor was DH involved in off shore industries at the time tgerefire we were "poor"

Another vote for Glasgow as the friendliest place. I'm from another part of Scotland but my first stay in Glasgow at age 16 on work experience (staying with a college teacher's mum in her own home) was just great. All the staff in the large store where we worked were so friendly and welcoming.

I live back near my childhood home town now but get to visit the city often as my DD lives near Glasgow.
Just met up with some friends there today.

On the downside I have bad memories of a holiday visit to central London in the 70's. Firstly I had my bag stolen in the cinema, apparently, so the police told us, thieves crawl commando style under seats to nab bags from the floor. The other occasion was when I asked a market stall trader how much his flowers were. I was horrified at the price so didn't buy any and he swore at me. He probably thought I was a tight fisted Scot! I was on my own that afternoon as DH was visiting a motorbike shop (not my thing) so just scuttled away embarrassed.
Burt that doesn't mean I think Londoners are unfriendly. I just happened to come across the wrong 2 on that visit.

RichmondPark1

I've moved around a lot and find the unfriendliest places are villages where you have to have six generations in the church yard before you're worthy of a smile.

To me people seem more relaxed, open and less wary in large towns and cities, but then I am a city type of person.

Well I moved to a very old village in Essex with many inhabitants having been born and bred here, whereas I was born and bred in London, but I was made welcome here from day one.

westerlywind, that does sound annoying.
maybe polite passive resistance ?
or do you have any glasgow friends/relatives who could come down and big you up a bit in the face of the local snooties.
or you could play the slightly vague dotty card; when they are saying how disgusting the mess is, ought to have been swept up already..
you could smile sweetly and say,
oh, do you really think so, well you're probably right, i wouldn't know.
and drift away. do not respond to them in any way they are trying to manipulate you into doing.
do not acknowledge their self-appointed role.

Oh Welbeck It is almost like you know me.
I do know some of the worthies from Glasgow. They are from Glasgow and I know what areas and what those areas are like. One does not exist now! I am from another area in Glasgow and perhaps they do not like that.
I do play it dotty at times but I also refuse to comply with their demands.
I do not shriek like a fishwife like she does.
I do not back down any.
They have had hints dropped at them but they have not got the light yet.
The fact that no-one has stood up to them prior to me makes me wonder what level of cowardice this is. There are males living here but they comply too!
It puts me off my new area
Thanks for the response

I lived in South Gloucestershire for many years near Bristol border. Our immediate neighbours were lovely but apart from that the others weren't sociable. On busses nobody spoke or passed the time.
Retired to South Devon and its so friendly here. Very different in my friend's east Devon town though. People are quite reserved there.

I agree, Elless.

Funnily enough, a new bar has just opened near us called ‘The Cap and Whippet’! ?

red1

Yes, it’s a shame that the old Lancashire dialects are disappearing. Most younger people now speak in a kind of horrible ‘Manc’ accent (think Oasis?).
However, at least wider travel has meant that certain towns are less insular, e.g. Littleborough in the 60s - if you weren’t born there you weren’t accepted. The M62 has brought new housing, new shops and lots of outsiders to the area.

Gabrielle56

red1

lived in south west manchester on and off for 50 years, made very few real friends, i would say that people on the whole were reserved,and some downright ignorant, penny millionaires and the ilk.I moved to the east side of manchester, it was noticeable that people were friendlier on the whole, i won't romantise it though, people are people!

South Manchester types live under the illusion that they're 'Cheshire' ?? hilarious how stuck up they are! And they're mostly gronks anyway, you're spot on!!

I lived in South Manchester for a few years (Withington), and it was one of the friendliest places ever. You can only speak as you find, and I loved it there.

east manchester was a lot of working class, mills. mines etc now they gone i agree that the advent of gentrification/cosmopolitan mix has split them up. there used to be local dialects, now the accent is similar throughout manchester.The days of the man with a flat cap and two whippets is a memory!

Congratulations on your Golden Wedding Anniversary, Thisismyname1953!

red1

lived in south west manchester on and off for 50 years, made very few real friends, i would say that people on the whole were reserved,and some downright ignorant, penny millionaires and the ilk.I moved to the east side of manchester, it was noticeable that people were friendlier on the whole, i won't romantise it though, people are people!

South Manchester types live under the illusion that they're 'Cheshire' ?? hilarious how stuck up they are! And they're mostly gronks anyway, you're spot on!!

I hate to say- but Manchester unfriendly. I'm from the city but it's morphed into a mean and frankly a tad intimidating place. I don't feel either comfortable or welcome there any more on the scant occasions I venture in. Maybe it's because of its now cosmopolitan mix rather than majority Mancs?
Friendly? North East, Durham and we were well looked after I. Edinburgh last visit both in passing and when we got a bit lost!! Everyone helped us find our bus stop and were both locals and folks with foreign accents too! Loved the place!

lived in south west manchester on and off for 50 years, made very few real friends, i would say that people on the whole were reserved,and some downright ignorant, penny millionaires and the ilk.I moved to the east side of manchester, it was noticeable that people were friendlier on the whole, i won't romantise it though, people are people!

I counted up the addresses where I have lived, the other day - both in UK and in Germany, The Philippines, Egypt and China. 22 addresses, unless I have missed any! I've never found any place unfriendly: I think people normally react to the way you are and how you behave towards them. I usually expect to like people, until/unless they prove me wrong...

BlueBelle

I haven’t found anywhere unfriendly but I think I shock Londoners on the tube or on buses as I talk to everybody and they don’t do they ?

heh heh, yes they do!
Londoners are very friendly, but I find as a general rule that young people everywhere are too busy on their phones nowadays.Older people do chat away, sometimes, according to my husband, far too much.He may mean me.

Without a doubt Merseysiders are the most friendly people. I have the Liverpudlian habitat of talking to people at bus stops, on the bus, in shops …I never stop sometimes to the embarrassment of my children. I have not lived in Liverpool for a long time but whenever I visited and asked for directions so many people would start a conversation and hearing my rather Australian accent they wanted to know more. I would go to the Cathedral a lot…so many helpful people and at the main Liverpool library, when I would look at microfiche records people thought I may need help and were full of friendly advice. I am so proud to be from the friendliest city in the UK. This post shows that I can never shut up!

50 years ago this week we were in Edinburgh on our honeymoon. I remember going to a pub one afternoon and chatting to a couple of customers who proceeded to buy our drinks for the couple of hours we were there . Doesn’t come much friendlier than that