WITH its pretty harbour, Tudor castle and Blue Flag beach, it’s perhaps surprising that Falmouth has been named the UK’s most depressing place to live.
The Cornish town was awarded the dubious accolade by satirical website iLiveHere.co.uk, voted for by the public across its social media channels.
Falmouth has been voted the UK’s most depressing place to live[/caption]
One of the town’s shops sits boarded up[/caption]
The iLiveHere team admitted: “We know absolutely nothing about Falmouth. We Googled it, it looks picturesque, but we’re sure it’s a facade it trades on, and who are we to question the wisdom of the crowd?”
While tourists are largely baffled by the award, locals are less surprised, with resident Joe Trengove, 23, blaming it on the “shop window effect”.
“I can see why it’s been voted the most depressing town in the UK,” he told The Sun when we visited this week.
“Falmouth has a bit of a shop window effect – it looks beautiful, but it has its problems.
“Since we have a big student culture down here there’s loads to do at night with the clubs and the bars, but not much to do in the day.
“There are things like the Maritime Museum centre which runs activities for young kids, but other than that there’s not much enrichment outside school and university.
“It’s difficult to get a job here – there’s not a lot of hiring going on in Falmouth because most of the shops are small independent businesses, and also there are a lot of shops closing down.
“I believe drugs affect the community here too, but as much as anywhere else in Cornwall.”
Falmouth has a population of 22,000 people and is popular with celebrities including Tess Daly and Vernon Kay, who holiday there.
Comedian David Baddiel and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson live nearby and are regularly seen in the town, while Dawn French has been the Chancellor of Falmouth University, formerly Falmouth School of Arts, since 1994 and lives an hour’s drive east, near Fowey.
While tourists are largely baffled by the award, locals are less surprised[/caption]
Locals The Sun spoke to told how independent businesses struggle in the town[/caption]
Darren Wallis, 35, who runs family business KW and Sons car repair garage on Avenue Road, agreed the town has underlying issues, and cited a lack of available housing.
“Falmouth has changed drastically over the years, leaving people struggling to buy homes in their own town,” he said.
“Part of the reason for this is the richer parents of students who need to live here would come down and buy a property for their kids to stay in, planning to rent it out afterwards, so the prices were pushed up.
It’s difficult to get a job here – there’s not a lot of hiring going on in Falmouth because most of the shops are small independent businesses, and also there are a lot of shops closing down
Joe Trengove, local resident
“I tried to buy my first home last year at a price of £300,000 for a three-bed, as we have two kids, but by the time we offered on it we were told it was now £340,000.
“It’s ridiculous. Eventually we found somewhere through the housing association.”
Falmouth’s main shopping street smells of exotic foods and is lined with boutique-style independent shops and cafes, offering all sorts from vegan to exotic dishes.
But several units lie empty, their windows whitewashed.
Falmouth in numbers
FALMOUTH is among the top 10 most dangerous small towns in Cornwall, and in the top 20 most dangerous of Cornwall’s 212 towns, villages, and cities.
The overall crime rate in Falmouth in 2022 was 48 crimes per 1,000 people – higher than the county’s average of 40 per 1,000 residents.
The most common crimes in Falmouth are violence and sexual offences, with 496 offences recorded during 2022.
In May 2021, Falmouth had a spate of burglaries; seven incidents were reported successively in the one month. In July 2021, there was a peak of nine drug offences in the area.
Nearly a quarter (21.2 per cent) of people in Falmouth and Truro are economically inactive, which compares to a figure of 19 per cent across the South West.
Meanwhile there were 45 drug deaths in Cornwall in 2022 – the highest recorded in any one year – with the council predicting more than 50 in 2023.
Cornwall has an estimated 2,562 people dependent on heroin and crack cocaine, of which 54.3 per cent are receiving treatment.
‘Priced out’
Amy Bayes highlighted issues with the housing market in Falmouth[/caption]
Amy Bayes, 33, owns Dig and Delve in Swanpool Street, a quirky second-hand shop where she started work as a shop assistant a decade ago.
On the day The Sun visited it was bustling with students.
She said: “I love Falmouth, I always have. My family used to come down with me in the summer and it’s always been my dream to live here.
“It has changed a lot though in the ten years I’ve been here. From December to January, you might as well close the shop, but as more students have come in and so many independent businesses have opened, it’s booming compared to how it used to be.
“The main issue which would make people see it as depressing is the housing market. For a lot of people the second-home buyers have meant local people are being priced out, and the prices are going up everywhere.
The main issue which would make people see it as depressing is the housing market. For a lot of people the second-home buyers have meant local people are being priced out
Amy Bayes, local business owner
“The rental market is crazy – you’re talking around a grand for a one-bedroom flat, so it’s unaffordable for people.”
The average price of a home in the west Cornwall town , which has the third largest natural harbour in the world and is home to Henry VIII’s Pendennis Castle, is £400,000.
Amy added: “I’m lucky enough to have got a mortgage in the last few years and it’s half of what I was paying in rent.
“I have friends, couples my age, who have dual incomes and are fairly decently paid – the wages are low in Cornwall – and they can’t afford to get on the housing ladder or save enough to buy a house.
“A lot of people are choosing to stay in Falmouth renting because they love it here, but eventually they’ll have to move out.
“If you’re born here and your family is from here, but you can’t afford to buy, I can see why that would make people feel really disheartened and angry.
“I know a lot of people, especially the older generations, are angry at that situation – but I still love having a business here.”
An old hotel been left to rot in Falmouth[/caption]
Andy Whiteley was surprised by the award, but believes the employment opportunities there are lacking[/caption]
Retired teacher and newcomer Andy Whiteley, 59, moved to Falmouth six months ago and was shocked to hear about its new ‘depressing’ title.
“My wife and I moved to Truro and come to Falmouth once a week to look after our grandchild,” he said.
“I’m very surprised it was called depressing. The are other places you could call that, but we’re outsiders and find the people are really friendly. You can strike up a conversation with anyone, so I don’t find it depressing here at all.
“The downsides are the traffic to get here on the A30 where they’re making improvements, especially in the summer holidays, but once it’s finished it should be better.
“There could be better employment opportunities, too. Since fishing for pollock commercially was banned, I think it’s had a massive impact on that industry with job losses.
“But as a place we’ve found it a very happy place to live, as well as being beautiful.”
Visitor Mark Brown defended the town, praising its pubs and pretty views[/caption]
Tourist Mark Brown, 51, from Reading, was walking towards the harbour through Discovery Quay – home to branches of Pizza Express, sports clothing store Musto and a Tesco Express.
He said: “I think calling it the most depressing place in the country is a load of old rubbish.
“It’s got fantastic pubs, fantastic views and lots of really lovely places nearby.
“We’ve been to the castle, that’s cool, and the town is just a lovely place to come.
“I don’t understand why people say it’s depressing. I’m a tourist, obviously I don’t live here, so I don’t see another perspective, but I came here with my dad once and remembered it being nice, which is one of the reasons I came back.
“The only downside I can see is it takes a while to get anywhere, as it’s so far out, so it’s a bit of a trek – but that’s Cornwall.”
The second spot on iLiveHere’s list of most depressing towns in the UK, with only 27 votes less than Falmouth, was previous winner Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.
The Sun has reached out to Falmouth town council and Cornwall County Council for comment.
Falmouth has a population of 22,000[/caption]
During The Sun’s visit we found areas where people had dumped rubbish[/caption]
Resident Joe Trengove blames the ‘shop window effect’[/caption]
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