Comment by acatnamedjoe

Comment by acatnamedjoe 12 hours ago

I was curious - what was the angle on Hythe in the book?

These days Hythe seems like a posh seaside town with a Waitrose, a nice canalside park, a cute steam railway, lots of boutiquey shops and cafes, etc.

I know a lot of places in the area (e.g. Folkestone, Margate, Whitstable) have all been heavily "gentrified" in the last few years, but I sort of assumed Hythe was always this way? Is that not the case?

And even allowing for a bit of gentrification, it seems wild in 2025 to select it for a "crap towns" award ahead of somewhere like Dover or New Romney.

mattrad 10 hours ago

Crap Towns called Hythe "...quite possibly the most spirit-crushingly tedious town in Kent." and "...the place that makes nearby Folkestone look like Las Vegas."

As someone who grew up in Hythe in the 80s and 90s I'd point out that the Rotunda was a far cry from Vegas.

https://www.warrenpress.net/FolkestoneThenNow/The_Demolition...

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acatnamedjoe 9 hours ago

> quite possibly the most spirit-crushingly tedious town in Kent.
This is an extremely high bar to hit in a county that also contains Ashford.

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- rikroots 8 hours ago
  
  Ashford at least has a high-speed rail connection to London. If nominations were to open today, I'd vote Dover.
  
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  tonyedgecombe 4 hours ago
  
  It used to have one to Paris however when you look at how they voted in the referendum you can see why it doesn't anymore.
  
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rikroots 9 hours ago

I worked at Portex back in the 80s. After a shift at that factory it was a pleasure to get home, slip on the shell suit and spend the evening drinking and discussing minor, mindless vandalism opportunities. I moved away in the end (to a squat in London) because I knew, deep down, there had to be something better for me out there.

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