Many, many towns like this in the north of England...the only places that remain open are betting shops (about 3 on every street!), Turkish barber shops and vaping shops...
You know the score! Very familiar sight unfortunately but I must say Yeovil was seriously bad! What's your worst places in the north? Let me know, heading North soon!
Lived in Yeovil 30 years and work in one of the remaining open stores. The place is disgusting. The town is ruined, the crime rate is high and all I hear every day is how bad it is from my customers. You missed The Quedam centre which has a few shops in it and no works going on, but Yeovil has very little to offer. The best thing about it are the roads out of it. Oh, and if you see the local MP Marcus Fysh, let me know. He doesn't even live here and only turns up when it's election time, yet people will be slugs to salt and vote him in again next time. We're rubber ducked.
Well what can I say! Yeovil was a Shock! Hopefully the video sheds light on the situation in some way for people like yourself. The locals were very friendly I will say that! Thanks for watching and the comment! Please share the video to any other locals you know. Thanks again
@@ChristianoRodríguez-h3k Yes but no but. Surely it's not just the helicopter factory, it's all the satellite businesses and support businesses that were created due to what I still stupidly call "Westlands". Did helicopters originally bring in a lot of people, but the business has shrunk leaving a growing population with no high tech jobs to go to?
Indeed- under Brown the two biggest boom shops were Pound shops, and Charity Shops- so if even these can't survive, we're witnessing the death of actually physical shops. We can largely blame the internet, and people using stealth to close things during COVID, and blame the virus.
They got greedy, hiking business rates and now look, people out of work and no tax revenue. Incompetent councils who destroy places like this and are not held accountable, These people should be in prison, no doubt the corruption runs deep too.
I worked for Wilko's in the early- mid 2000's and Yeovil was one of the highest turnover stores in the 300 store group at the time. I had to do some training there once and the town was buzzing. Sad to see but there are plenty of towns on this path especially in the last 10 years.
Yes I totally agree! It's a very sad case of affairs that unfortunately have led the UK to this point! Can Britain turn back the clock and relive some sort of glory day? I doubt it... Thanks for watching and the comment
recently found the channel and subscribed. Austerity has never worked . It robs people of ambition and purpose and stifles business investment . There is money ( wars and covid? ) just not spent where it needs to be. Town centers were a retail destination which needs a rethink.@@JoefishJ
I started to see the decline in 2013 when people were spending less in the shops and doing more window shopping and comparing prices from shop to shop. Now they don't even come into town and city centres because of the street homeless, fake homeless beggars, drug dealers and street hawkers and evangelists. People don't like to be accosted as they go about their business or shopping.
@annettecurtain356 I stopped buying in Wilkos so much when they stopped the Doesn't Cost The Earth range of household cleaners. Julian Graves went into administration or was sold to another company, but then the previous owners set up Grape Tree to rival Holland and Barrett, but the latter sells more than health food as they sell nutritional supplements and essentials as well. Whittards of Chelsea disappeared from the high street at the start of the global recession and then reappeared a few months later. Virgin record stores closed. Now, Body Shop is suffering. Woolwirths went out of business. Use the high street or lose it. Stop shopping online so much.
@@jasonallen6081 I never imagined visiting the supermarket instead of high street shopping. Problem solved. Not to worry, I think Amazon are moving into groceries too.
@@ScandalUK We can buy anything from our living room sofas. Even booze and tobacco are delivered, then there's Uber eats, etc, online gambling. We all do it. Everybody that says it's a shame how bad things have become have contributed to it in various ways . Soon the bookies will start to shut because you can just get an app and do it on your kitchen table with a delivery of cider and an Uber eats takeaway.
I was born and educated in Yeovil, but left in 1965. It breaks my heart to see what was a lovely little market town in such a state. Many English towns are full of empty and boarded up premises but, from this video, it appears that someone has been making an effort to improve Yeovil but the various contractors have been beset by financial difficulties. We can only hope that things will improve soon. Thank goodness St John’s church, where my parents were married in 1939 and I was christened in 1943, still stands. This video hasn’t shown Princes Street, which I understand has still remained fairly unspoilt. Can we have another video, please, showing the good parts of Yeovil? - there are still some remaining!
Came along here and subbed after your guest appearance on Bald & Bankrupt in Weston-Super-Mare. Really well put together and a major eye-opener, Joe. All the best from an ex-pat who saw the writing on the wall and buggered off 30 years ago!
That's awesome to hear thank you for stopping by and saying hi! Hope you enjoy the content and the interview with Mr Bald himself on the channel. Thanks again 👍
I grew up in Yeovil, in fact as a teenager worked in one of those boarded up shops at the beginning of your video, that was in the 1980s. The town was thriving then, every shop full and brilliant nightlife and independent music scene. I have live abroad for over twenty years now, in Turkey. I live in a suburb of a city, yet still within 5 minutes walk from my home I have a hospital, two supermarkets, two tailors, two shoe repair shops, two bakers, at least three newsagents and a weekly market that frankly you could spend all morning walking around. Now, all those shops etc are privately owned and not part of some massive chain. They work within their means and are not charged extortionate rents and rates by the local council - because the council here still understands the human need of these shops. In short, human need still wins over corporate greed and profit. As for Yeovil, it depresses me each time I return... It has been allowed to rot, no way in a million years those shops will be filled again. Soon, that whole area will be torn down and redeloped into a trading estate or housing. Thanks for the video
Hey thanks so much for stopping by! That's really sad to hear your story of Yeovil, one that was a very familiar tale whilst filming. Thanks for watching and the comment. See you on the next one
I believe it was Somerset council who had a £ 50 million surplus and decided to invest it in the Icelandic bank before it went tits up - all while cutting public services to the bone of course and raising council tax - complete and utter bastardry -the Uk is finished .
@muckle8 cutting of Council funds by the Tories for the last 13yrs has lead to service cuts all over the country and this is the result. Yet muppets will still vote in there millions for the Tories
Mate, thank you for this video. It’s bad up here in Blackburn, Accrington etc. Northwest. My heart breaks for the UK. 35 years of Greed has resulted in holes in our souls, holes in UK finances, holes in our communities, holes in our towns, holes everywhere. Very tragic. 35 years of Greed and Me, Me, Me has resulted in despair and emptiness. Thanks again.
Those defunct mill towns are another level of grim. People in Siberian prison camps wince at what passes for life in Bolton, Rochdale, Burnley, Oldham. If those towns were animals they'd have been put down a century ago.
Could be the same anywhere in the UK..Charity shops, Bet Fred, 1 pound Shop, Cash Convertors , Greg's, Subway, Bank Kebab/ Chicken Shops amd a phone repair shop or two lol .If bit more upmarket maybe a Specs Savers..
Its the same up here in scotland. Funny how all the turkish barbers, chineese nail shops and vape stores are still open though 🤔 ( defintly not paying taxes)
@@apm763 oh how nice of them. To take money from the workers pocket when he barely has enough to eat, but he can walk comfortably down the dilapidated graffiti covered streets with no shops. And they truly believe they’re doing a good thing, I guarantee.
Thank you for showing what Yeovil is really like. I lived in West Coker and moved away 14 years ago. The area was a bit worse for wear then, but to see what has happened to the town center is heartbreaking. Part of my heart will always be with the UK, but I am very thankful we left when we did.
i got out of Bath 4 years ago and moved to the north east, best decision i have made Bath is circling the toilet. Rampant drug abuse ran by the Albanian mafia they have free rein to do as they want as Bath is now a police-less city. They removed the police station and turnt it into student accommodation. now the police do 1 sweep every 2 months which achieves absolutely nothing.
Out of town retail parks with huge multi national supermarkets and online shopping has ruined town centres recently but they have been going down hill for some time
exactley peoples shopping habits have changed thats all people are still spending its just elsewhere online, supermarkets and retail parks and stores like b and ms where you can get pretty much everything i really dont see the point of videos like this
Exactly. Too many shops in one town or city. People go to them because you can park more easily there but more difficult to get public transport to. I live a mile from a mini out of town retail park as it is just one row of shops newly built on a brown field site and I prefer to go there than the city centre for certain items and get harassed by drug dealers, beggars, chuggers, Big Issue sellers and hawkers. I used to be one of those harassing though as I would hand out leaflets at protests.
I agree with you.Most of the out of town centres are full of people because they can go in their cars.They all look the same and all have the same shops 😞It’s the laziness of the people who don’t go anywhere without the use of their cars who have ruined the centres of the towns.
@MrTyneduncan Unless you live close by an out of town shopping centre and can walk there. But there are fewer buses to them than the city centre. But many people have this old 60s and 70s idea that you should be able to drive to the shops and park nearby for free so when car parking charges were introduced in town and city centres in the 80s they stayed away from them and went to the new out of town retail parks and discount shopping villages like the one in Street and the one in Festival Park near Ebbw Vale. They won't walk half a mile from the car park, so they would rather park on double yellow lines outside of offices and shops they went into. That's why the shops around main bus and railway stations would look cheap and shabby as only poor people were seen to be using public transport so were assumed they would use only those shops instead of the department stores and chain stores. So people were even less inclined to take a bus or train to a town or city centre as they had to walk past these shabby shops to get to the nicer shops. It became a vicious circle. Lots of greasy spoon cafes and charity shops are close to bus stations.
Jesus, that's heart breaking. It's so sad that this "technological revolution" is tearing down brick and mortar, but, if we can adapt, we will prevail! In the meantime, people go hungry. I hope they, and all who are affected by this monumental economic shift, can find a new way to prosper. Thanks for this, and ALL your very cool videos, Joe. Feels like you're a friend giving me a great tour of the real Britain I love so much. (And look at your subscriptions!!) Jen.
I know very sad times Jen! Especially hearing the elderly ladies story in regards to their bus route being closed! Closing them off from society! Thanks for watching and the support as always Jen! There is still some beautiful towns and cities that we'll be heading to soon. I'll show you the real Britain, whilst building a community of like minded individuals along the way. I'll be setting up a members area or something soon for more interaction and extended videos and interviews etc.
Go up to Union Street in Aberdeen. I grew up there, it too has gone steadily downhill for the last two decades. A mile long, made from the same granite as Bond Street in London, wonderful architecture, all dirty, dilapidated, vacants everywhere, footfall is junkies. It's sad.
Class video again, Joe! Yeovil is a really sorry sight. I used to go on holiday to Weymouth every year growing up, I now live in the US and would love to see what Weymouth is like today - that would be a request/recommendation for your next seaside town 😀 cheers.
Hey buddy thanks for the comment! Yes Weymouth is definitely on the list mate so keep your eyes peeled for that one. Thanks for the kind words and for watching
I can tell you what Weymouth is like, mate. It's a complete dump. It certainly has more to offer than Yeovil, but not much more. Seeing a 16 year old, pushing a pram with a spliff hanging out her mouth is a common sight in Weymouth. I don't even live there, it's just been our go to spot for a beach since childhood. Now we go to Burton Bradstock.
I was based in Yeovil around 2008 and had a great time, surprisingly good night life back then for such a small town. Sad to see the state it's in now. I think amazon prime is one of the biggest factors in all these cases, high streets cant compete. The major supermarkets started the trend back in the 90's.
Agreed supermarkets started the downfall. They started selling dvds, games, clothes and electronic goods. And later began co-op type stores, which all drained the pockets of regular shops. Then ‘out of town’ business parks with ample parking - provided a chunk of big stores in one place very convenient. Online shopping let’s face it is excellent, easy and almost always cheaper. You won’t waste time trudging to the shops be told it’s out of stock or the price is way more expensive. You’d have to also find a parking spot, pay for parking etc. Unless it’s a niche shop, food outlet or clothes that require checking for fit, most of a traditional high street is now redundant.
I got stuck in Yeovil about a week ago, last bus to my destination was 17.20. Ended up paying £50 for taxi to get home. Bus would have been £2. Transport sucks in this area.
Yoevil. Thats really shocking. Also your video on Weston super mud, what a shock. I didn't think it could get any worse. Thankyou for drawing attention to this issue. Here's some more neglected places: Holsworthy, Bideford, Launceston, Newton Abbot, Bridgewater.
Surely the Yates Wine Bar is still open ? I see Yeovil Town centre is currently being expensively "Pedestrianised for ALL the invisible pedestrians. They should be doing the reverse to make car use easier if they want to "save the Town Centre" or to even come close.
Local Yeovil person here. He filmed and edited it to look way worse than it is. There is a multi million pound refresh project in progress (hence all the work going on) The whole of the bottom end has been sold and is planned for a complete refurbishment. (hence why everything is empty) He purposely missed the nice bits like the Quedam. I could go on and on about the sneaky misrepresentation this guy has done here. Basically propaganda to reinforce his personal agenda. Hold your head in shame Mr Joe Fish
Totally agree. Don’t get me wrong, the redevelopment is dragging on, but this was filmed and edited in a way to purposely not show the Quedam shopping centre and all of the businesses that are open, to achieve the agenda of the video. Whilst walking through Middle Street he stated only the pub is open, whilst walking past the open Kaspas, the Entertainer and 94 club. Also the attempt to make the young lads seem hard up, was comical. They are all in college and employed. I do watch these videos and I understand you don’t get views going, “Yeah, it’s not too bad”, so have to add drama.
Having lived in England for a year a while back, this is very sad to see. In general the state of England looks like it has dropped considerably. Was such a great place to be back in 2008. Thanks for sharing though mate. Great videos.
I moved to Yeovil in 1984. During the 60s I lived out Somerton and came in here shopping regularly. When my late husband was discharged from the army I decided for my family to live here in Yeovil. It was a lovely shopping centre until the pandemic arrived in 2020, then we couldn’t visit the shops as much, so a lot of them went bankrupt and had to close. We lost the bus station cafe. We still have M&S, Boots is still there and Iceland store. Those works has been going on for a few years now, so it doesn’t encourage anyone to come into town. I haven’t been to town since Christmas and that was to get a bus out to the station. There are also road works all around the outskirts of town. I don’t drive either and I only come to town if I really need to.
The emergence of giant superstores is surely one of the reasons for the appalling changes to town centres. A visit to any big food store (Sainsburys, Tesco, etc) usually reveals they sell all the goods that used to be offered by individual shops: a florists, a newsagent & sweetshop, a fishmonger, a greengrocer, a butcher's shop, a chemist, a bakery, a pet shop, a clothes shop, etc. And many superstores also have their own cafe. A RUclips video I came across recently showed how Slough town centre has been wrecked by an enormous J Sainsbury megastore. Such stores might benefit working men and women with busy lives and cars, but such megastores don't offer the social opportunities that existed when there were multi-faceted town centres to visit - places with cafes and restaurants as well as shops, library, pubs and perhaps a cinema and theatre.
Aberdeen Union Street, despite being a very rich city which has profited from North Sea oil and gas, a city with more millionaires per head than anywhere in the UK outside London, the city centre is just grey and empty.. with crumbling shopping malls. If you go there just think, if that is Aberdeen rich, what on Earth would it be like when it’s poor?
You appear to be a lovely person. You have so much compassion, do hope the no 1 bus still runs for particularly the elderly. Great video and fantastic that you have highlighted this once bustling town. 😊
Bless you thanks for the kind words! I genuinely hope so too, I have done an article in a national tabloid regarding this video hopefully something comes of it for the people. Thanks for watching
Do hope something can be sorted, not only for the elderly, but for those who are not able to drive and cannot afford to run a car. Good luck! Be great if you could give a verdict on this transport problem. Cannot believe the devastating carnage of that once busy town.
@@JoefishJGreat news Joe. Keep highlighting the once bustling Town, I fear they are being deliberately failing, by the government and Councils. Keep up the good work. 😊
The retail space you show was built in the sixites and seventies for chains that simply do not exist any more. There are no tenants waiting. They don't exist. Pull the lot down.
Hello Joe, thanks for your excellent videos that you do so well and professionally well presented. Only 12 years ago Yeovil was nothing like this and now total desolation and dilapidation of a good town once upon a time. I thought the interview outside the church was amusing. Suddenly waltzing up to three pleasant teenage boys with a video cam. If a police car had been there anywhere you might have been stopped and interogated for inciting minors. I hear a voice in my ear of another interfering cop saying 'excuse me Sir, I could'nt help but notice you were talking to those teenage boys, now, if I could take some particulars'. Warm regards Peter Luton UK
I lived just outside Yeovil around 2007-8 and the high street, Glovers Walk and Quedam were always busy and open. The grounds of the church used to be rammed with people enjoying their days.
Salute to three teenage boys. They grew up in some not the nicest area but still keep their heads down. They are good boys and I wish them all the best.
It's good that you're drawing more attention to this and I hope other RUclipsrs follow suit. Jokes aside, let's put the "Great" back into "Great Britain"
Really? 1 of my sons moved up there from London when he was a student at Uni. He made friends, got a good job + is still there. I last visited (I live in USA now) 4yrs ago + stayed in beautiful nearby Yarm but Middlesbro was thriving! R u saying it's all gone downhill in 4yrs?
@@christineh4427 its absolutely grim now. All the shops like marks and spencer, debenhams, house of fraser and h&m have pulled out since then. Yarm is gorgeous still though!
In the North of the UK where i drive for a living, i see so many people asking for money at traffic lights, teenage Girls are offering “ hand jobs” for a fiver a time; i see so many homeless folks shitting in the street, pissing on the floor and so many Towns have boarded up shops . I remember some of these Town centres when i was a teenager , they were very busy however, now folks do not seem to have the money now . The UK is going bankrupt and i think there is no stopping what is heading our way. Thanks for sharing…….
I moved to Yeovil 3 years ago and the high street looked bad due to lots of shops shutting during Covid. Since then it's got better and there are lots of nice shops in the Quedam Shopping Centre you didn't show in the video, plus quite often they have markets with local, independent stalls at the weekend. The Glover Shopping Centre started going downhill years ago and finally shut for good a few years back and the owners are wanting to sell it, hence no new shops opening up down that end of town. There are other towns with nicer looking high streets, but quite often they don't actually have any of the normal high street shops you want to go to. Yeovil Country Park is awesome and there are lots of other nice parks in the town. Crime is pretty low, a few dodgy areas, but I've lived in much worse places across Somerset & Dorset.
The Tories have decimated this country The owners of the building charge way too much rent and people are shopping on line more, plus people have less money after years of austerity There’s another guy called wandering turnip who does a show on here re the death of the high street hes a lovely cool knowledgeable guy
@@leejames1792 you cant say that the current labour party will fuck things up because a previous one did ,what kind of backwards thinking is that-the labour party now is a very different beast to the one from the past-whats the alternative let these lying cheating tories continue to fill their already full pockets and have 10 more years of austerity and corruption-i say give labour a chance -lets see what they do -lets invest money in deprived towns and cities in the north and south that have been long neglected and start making a difference to the lives of everybody not just the rich
Not seen anywhere worse that this, although most towns are to an extent like that. Underfunding from government, people shopping online, businesses that shut down during the pandemic. Brexit putting up prices. Electricity and gas price hikes making it more difficult to heat massive shops. Great video though Joe. Shared on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks.
Hey thanks so much for watching and sharing! Really helps my channel when viewers share the video. Hopefully it shines a light on the issue! Thanks for watching and sharing 😁👊👍
Trouble is, most high street shops are now closed due to Supermarkets, which if like me, are situated in out of the way places, where if you don't have a car, you can't get to.
Why the surprise? Make parking difficult by reducing number of spaces. Make it unaffordable by exorbitant charges. Make it impossible to find on street parking by putting yellow lines everywhere, in the interest of traffic flow, even on Sunday at 3.00 am. Employ a plethora of traffic wardens to ensure financial gain from aforesaid yellow lines. Ratchet up rates on shops and use them as cash-cows. Decimate affordable public transport just to finish it off. Violla. 😂
I was there yesterday, and I feel I should add that the precinct in this video is scheduled for demolition, which is why all the shops are shut. However just around the corner, and also up a flight of steps are some very nicely designed and maintained shopping areas. It's actually very pleasant.
Would have called in for a pasty but I can't see a bakery! 😃to be serious though it does look bad to say the least, problem is there are many many towns across the country just the same.This country is going to the dogs! sad. ☹
Turn the corner and you'll see a gleaming Tesco or Asda with ten tills ringing non stop. Supermarkets are the new high street. You park for nothing right outside and they sell everything. I saw this in Houston TX in 1994. The only thing that hasnt reached us yet is making each parking bay twice the size to fit the humongous cars that we all now drive round in.
@@JoefishJ glad to make a contribution to the topic! My point being that the retail landscape is decaying in one place only to spring up again half a mile away. So it's not as gloomy as you make it look. Vids like this by ordinary people like you are brilliant because it gets us thinking and discussing the world around us so I thank you too.
I visited Banbury's Castle Quay shopping centre yesterday for the first time in many months. It used to have a Debenhams, BHS, H&M and M&S but they've all long since gone, as have many of the smaller shops. I counted twelve closed units in one wing alone.
It seems some of these town centers got a bit too 'big for their boots' and in the changing world struggle to adapt which is a real shame. The same can be said about those which made large out of town shopping malls. The ones that seem to be weathering the change best are those small enough to make the centre a 'destination' where locals go to meet, eat and drink and buy different stuff rather than just shop for the same mass produced goods now cheaper online. Suggest you try places like Sailsbury/Frome to get a contrast with Yeovil and also Brighton vs Torquay. Thanks for the video really liked the 'look at this fab church' interlude and the 'looking for the positive' attitude.
The funny part about all this is they are building a New walkway but with no shops to walk too ! I would like to add you missed the good part on the other side where its full of phone shops & HMV :) I would like to add that next time you visit you check out nine springs as its one of the most stunning hidden gems in Somerset to walk around and FREE !
Wolverhampton council spent years digging up roads and blocking off public access to shops so bad that shops went bust because nobody could get to them during the reform of Wolverhampton apparently in the best interest of the town (city). They know expect retailers to go back and pay higher rent and businesses rates to fill those same empty shops they were once thriving in. One pub that remained open put thier own signs up pointing directions around the road works to get to thier door. The people in council who plan these things should be sacked. Who does this? Wheres the actual logic? Oh yeah logic went out with commen sense last recession. This looks the same as wolvo. Where do people go for jobs? No retail, no manufacturing, no customer service no pubs no restaurants no high streets no economy. Just supermarkets and online sit at home shopping 😢
Hello from across the pond! I know it was heartbreaking hearing their story! Hopefully the video can help in some way. Thanks for watching and the comment!
Hello mate, was really interesting to see. Would love too see more off the SouthWest. I live in Reading, if you ever decided to film this way, I could recomend a few locations in and around. 🤙🏻
Hi Joe! Great work! I've never been to Yeovil though have driven by a few times, now I see I wasn't tempted for a reason )) If you continue your series in Somerset and fancy a little visit to Exmoor. I guess Wells and Glastonbury would be something to check out, these used to be touristy flourishing towns. On the Exmoor side there is Minehead and especially Lynton. Minehead has been sliding a bit downhill for some time but I haven't seen it since 2018 which is pre-covid obviously. Good Luck in your next adventure!
Hey thanks for watching and the comment! There is a video on Wells on my channel titled Tiny City Frozen in Time, check it out. Thanks again see you on the next one
I live in South Wales a lot of our shops buildings etc are just empty and very run down! Apparently one whole street is being knocked down to build flats on!
Many people blame online shopping for the epidemic of shop closures in Britain but it's not that simple. Major contributors are rising rents, both commercial and housing, and central government defunding councils, many of them going bankrupt. The UK is going the same way as the US. In the US, whole city centres have closed or are closing down as property/rents are unaffordable. Many people with jobs are living in their vehicles because they cannot afford rents. As a result, consumption plummets and small businesses close down. Also, shoplifting has increased exponentially leading to more shops closing. Many people flee the worst areas and flock to other more affluent areas/states causing problems for those states too. I think Britain needs to face up to a new reality where extreme poverty and homelessness will affect not just the current poor and working class but eventually everybody but the rich. The current trends in global politics, economics and conflicts point toward this.
I’m from Yeovil and it’s been pretty sad since 1980-90 it was lots of people there and lots of shops and restaurants but it’s mostly a dump as far as the town is being run down as the council has been refurbish the whole town 80 million pounds and now the council is bankrupt 😢
Unfortunately it's a very familiar sight and take across the UK, however Yeovil was a shock! The decline and the deprivation in the town is shocking. I hope the video sheds light on the situation! Thanks for watching and the comment, please share it to any other locals you may know.
Another thing to consider, when a building becomes unused and derelict? All of the plumbing in each building must be replaced after a couple of years of neglect? Or longer? Sometimes the cost of refurbishment is too huge? Meaning such buildings can never be used again in its current state? So mass land clearance and demolishment is the only answer? But seeing the extent of abandonment is shocking ?
The shopping centre , which is now empty, wiped out the high street. You don’t have to be a genius to work it out. This happened in Ozfrom 1965 when a local golf course was turned into an isolated shopping complex. The called it Roselands, but it had thorns!!! It has happened Ias hundred (if not thousands) of once pleasant shopping streets, became retail deserts. Stavros
And yet all that is heard from the local council in Yeovil is that it will be wonderful when its finished, although this has been going on for some years and shops have closed due to lack of trade. The project is called Yeovil refresh but there is nothing left to refresh.
It's such a shame. They are trying to update the area, but it's catch 22 - you can't get the businesses in and trading successfully when there's all the work being done but at the same time the rents that are being charged for the current buildings is terrible - Yeovil used to be full of independent boutique shops but sadly with Covid and the rising rents/greedy landlords they were no longer able to stay.
Amazon online shopping is cheaper and more convenient. I went in to my local Currys to buy a new phone. After waiting 30mins to get some service found out the phone they had on display that I wanted they didn't have in stock but could get it ordered in 3days time. I pulled out my phone, found it on Amazon cheaper and had it delivered to my door inside 24hrs....That's just demonstrates the high st can't compete. The only thing that might save it is experiential stuff - cafes, restaurants etc.
I have to agree that Amazon do exactly as they state. I haven't been let down once by Amazon. But i refuse to sit around ordering everything online and turn into a fcking brain dead zombie which the government wants. To hell with them.
The towns that I visit who retained their historic buildings and avoided post war modernisation are doing alot better. The middle class come into the centre which supports small shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants and great food markets. Ely, bury st edmunds, market Harborough are examples. They still have a few empty shops but not on the scale of other towns I visit which are dead even on a Saturday.
This is generally the same through the West Country. Some other little towns are still thriving as they're pleasant places to visit with independent traders worth supporting. Even when I was a teen in Yeovil in the 90s, a visit to town was purely functional and never a place I'd want to linger round any longer than the next bus back home. It always had a rough reputation too, and never a place I wanted to stick around in after the shops closed.
Like all the cities and towns in the UK, years of government austerity policies, industries closed down, communities forgotten and abandoned and the wealth being invested abroad.
I think the main reason high streets have died is out of town shopping centres. I'm 75 from Teesside. When I was growing up towns like Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton were full of small independent shops but then The Metro Center at Gateshead opened and later Teesside Park, quickly things changed. In Redcar there was an electrical store called Birkbeck's, founded in the year I was born. Out of town shopping took over and it closed in 2008. You can't blame people for preferring the large out of town chain shops. If you want a new washer they may have 100 to chose from where Birkbeck's had say 10. My cousin and her husband owned a fruit and veg shop in the village of Wheathampstead employing 3 people. The week the out of town Tescos opened their takings dropped by more than 50%. They had to sack the staff and run it on their own but had to close the following year.
Back in the 80,s 90's you couldn't move in Yeovil town centre, it was always busy. Now the council want to rejuvenate the town with all that building work, turning it into walkways. Lack of and expensive parking is making matters worse. Those £Millions being spent on that work in the town, will fail to rejuvenate the place.
I think that the UK is missing a trick. Many Euroean cities that I've been to have residential units above the shops and restaurants, so in the evenings the place is still quite busy. I've known a number of UK cities that are absoutely dead in the evenings because the bars and restaurants are away from the main shopping area and no one lives there.
Unfortunate. This is not the first time when urban renewal killed a downtown. Failed attempts to throw money at a problem and only makes it worse. Happens here in the states all the time.
Mate that's the central business district or town centre, not downtown. Population of over 50,000 just left to deal with that! Crazy isn't it. Thanks for watching and the support Amigo!
It's happening all over the U.K. Llanelli town centre was a hub of commercial activity. A variety of so many traders, now all empty decaying buildings. It was reported the council is going to spend £millions to rejuvenate. With out of town retail parks and free parking and on-line shopping town centres are now out of date, dinosaurs. Town centre High streets are a thing of the past, unfortunately.
I've heard bad things about certain parts of South Wales and the lack of investment into those areas! Very sad, will head over the bridge soon and check it out for myself. Thanks watching and the comment
My mate lives in Grimsby and from what he's told me, their high street is much worse than this. But Yeovil is still a dump. There are a few pearls when it comes to eateries: there's a new spot called The Barolo Lounge, that does ok food. There was a nice sushi shop, thai restaurant and the foreign food markets have some good deals. The strange this is, 5 minutes down the road you have Sherborne where I live, and that's completely different.
I used to live 15 minutes up the road so would visit Yeovil regularly. It doesn't stand a chance as it's in the middle of nowhere so can't even work as a commuter town. However, I strongly recommend Cow & Apple! Great food and lovely staff 🙂
Looks like they are pedestrianising the town centre in an effort to revitalize and stimulate public interest. The large mall probably took the trade from the High Street, hence many closed shops, and the cost of living crisis led to the demise of the mall. Maybe if you had spoken to the workmen they could have explained what was happening with the roadworks.
Greedy Council rents and rates have rinsed every penny of profit so they all shut, and they've been on a super go slow with the paving upgrade the scaffold has been up for years, I live In 1 of the surrounding villages and yes the bus service has been cut
The country has been in real decline since 1979, but its got far worse since 2010, then brexshit cutting investment off from the EU, this is taking back control and the free market prevailing wonderful isn't it?
What a dumb comment, you said it yourself the country has been in decline for decades even when in the EU, so what evidence do you have that trend would not continue to accelerate as it had? Lazy excuse to blame brexit which btw STILL has not been delivered and if you deny that then there is a word for someone like you. You think the EU are doing well, that their economies are healthy? GTFO.
@@Zaphod-ef9yz Strange that when i go to small towns in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg the nordic countries they are thriving. They must not have the internet in those counties ya mate.
Many, many towns like this in the north of England...the only places that remain open are betting shops (about 3 on every street!), Turkish barber shops and vaping shops...
You know the score! Very familiar sight unfortunately but I must say Yeovil was seriously bad! What's your worst places in the north? Let me know, heading North soon!
@@JoefishJDefinately Blackpool
Same
Dewsbury 😣
@@jennyhicks1930 sad realit
Lived in Yeovil 30 years and work in one of the remaining open stores. The place is disgusting. The town is ruined, the crime rate is high and all I hear every day is how bad it is from my customers. You missed The Quedam centre which has a few shops in it and no works going on, but Yeovil has very little to offer. The best thing about it are the roads out of it. Oh, and if you see the local MP Marcus Fysh, let me know. He doesn't even live here and only turns up when it's election time, yet people will be slugs to salt and vote him in again next time. We're rubber ducked.
Well what can I say! Yeovil was a Shock! Hopefully the video sheds light on the situation in some way for people like yourself. The locals were very friendly I will say that! Thanks for watching and the comment! Please share the video to any other locals you know. Thanks again
Rishi and his team
Thought there were lots of high tech jobs in Yeovil what with a big helicopter factory being there.
@@SuperNevile well too few jobs in terms of population so you know how it is
@@ChristianoRodríguez-h3k Yes but no but. Surely it's not just the helicopter factory, it's all the satellite businesses and support businesses that were created due to what I still stupidly call "Westlands". Did helicopters originally bring in a lot of people, but the business has shrunk leaving a growing population with no high tech jobs to go to?
You know it's bad when even the Poundlands and pawn shops are closing down!
It was really bad! Sad scenes thanks for watching
Not my burgerland ass thinking pound land was a brothel...
However some porn shops survived.
Indeed- under Brown the two biggest boom shops were Pound shops, and Charity Shops- so if even these can't survive, we're witnessing the death of actually physical shops. We can largely blame the internet, and people using stealth to close things during COVID, and blame the virus.
That's Stoke .
It's no wonder councils are going bust. All these stores used to pay local taxes and employ people. It's an apocalypse.
They got greedy, hiking business rates and now look, people out of work and no tax revenue. Incompetent councils who destroy places like this and are not held accountable, These people should be in prison, no doubt the corruption runs deep too.
Yes that and mis placed spending I would say. Thanks for watching and the comment
There’s no shortage of overpaid councillors though there still drawing there thousands
They killed the goose that layed their golden eggs by making parking near to impossible.
They do it themselves by setting the rates far too high. The councils protect themselves first, the people and the area the government come last.
I worked for Wilko's in the early- mid 2000's and Yeovil was one of the highest turnover stores in the 300 store group at the time. I had to do some training there once and the town was buzzing. Sad to see but there are plenty of towns on this path especially in the last 10 years.
Yes I totally agree! It's a very sad case of affairs that unfortunately have led the UK to this point! Can Britain turn back the clock and relive some sort of glory day? I doubt it... Thanks for watching and the comment
recently found the channel and subscribed. Austerity has never worked . It robs people of ambition and purpose and stifles business investment . There is money ( wars and covid? ) just not spent where it needs to be. Town centers were a retail destination which needs a rethink.@@JoefishJ
I started to see the decline in 2013 when people were spending less in the shops and doing more window shopping and comparing prices from shop to shop. Now they don't even come into town and city centres because of the street homeless, fake homeless beggars, drug dealers and street hawkers and evangelists. People don't like to be accosted as they go about their business or shopping.
Yes loved Wilkos BHS, and C&A, AND MANY MORE local shops within our community's, yes found C& A still traidding within the EU ❤❤😊
@annettecurtain356 I stopped buying in Wilkos so much when they stopped the Doesn't Cost The Earth range of household cleaners.
Julian Graves went into administration or was sold to another company, but then the previous owners set up Grape Tree to rival Holland and Barrett, but the latter sells more than health food as they sell nutritional supplements and essentials as well.
Whittards of Chelsea disappeared from the high street at the start of the global recession and then reappeared a few months later. Virgin record stores closed. Now, Body Shop is suffering. Woolwirths went out of business.
Use the high street or lose it. Stop shopping online so much.
Britain is dying 😞
It certainly is in places! (Optimistic outlook) I hopefully will find some of the good spots
All this shopping isn’t just moved - Amazon don’t pay taxes.
@@ScandalUKAnd all the supermarkets deliver.
@@jasonallen6081 I never imagined visiting the supermarket instead of high street shopping. Problem solved.
Not to worry, I think Amazon are moving into groceries too.
@@ScandalUK We can buy anything from our living room sofas. Even booze and tobacco are delivered, then there's Uber eats, etc, online gambling. We all do it. Everybody that says it's a shame how bad things have become have contributed to it in various ways . Soon the bookies will start to shut because you can just get an app and do it on your kitchen table with a delivery of cider and an Uber eats takeaway.
High rents , business rates, parking charges, charity chugging and begging. It not exactly inviting is it.
Indeed all of the above, thanks for watching
Rents have dropped. No one wants to take shops even for free rent due to high business rates and energy prices
I was born and educated in Yeovil, but left in 1965. It breaks my heart to see what was a lovely little market town in such a state. Many English towns are full of empty and boarded up premises but, from this video, it appears that someone has been making an effort to improve Yeovil but the various contractors have been beset by financial difficulties. We can only hope that things will improve soon. Thank goodness St John’s church, where my parents were married in 1939 and I was christened in 1943, still stands. This video hasn’t shown Princes Street, which I understand has still remained fairly unspoilt. Can we have another video, please, showing the good parts of Yeovil? - there are still some remaining!
Same here. My family were farmers and Friday was market day when we all went to the town. Unbelievable. What is going on.
Sad scenes thanks for watching and the comment
Came along here and subbed after your guest appearance on Bald & Bankrupt in Weston-Super-Mare. Really well put together and a major eye-opener, Joe. All the best from an ex-pat who saw the writing on the wall and buggered off 30 years ago!
That's awesome to hear thank you for stopping by and saying hi! Hope you enjoy the content and the interview with Mr Bald himself on the channel. Thanks again 👍
Hi me too , love from the EU and Gran Canaria.
Amazon has killed the High Street.
I did the same to Australia but it's endemic
I see the signs here now
It's uncanny
They won't learn
They won't use UK as a model of what not to do
Lucky guy, I go to gran canaria for 4 weeks every winter bloody love it, the UK is completely and utterly screwed.@@philiphowell1505
This is very sad for the people of Yeovil. It must be really depressing to live there xx
Very sad indeed... Especially the elderly ladies at the end of the video! Thanks for watching
I grew up in Yeovil, in fact as a teenager worked in one of those boarded up shops at the beginning of your video, that was in the 1980s. The town was thriving then, every shop full and brilliant nightlife and independent music scene.
I have live abroad for over twenty years now, in Turkey. I live in a suburb of a city, yet still within 5 minutes walk from my home I have a hospital, two supermarkets, two tailors, two shoe repair shops, two bakers, at least three newsagents and a weekly market that frankly you could spend all morning walking around. Now, all those shops etc are privately owned and not part of some massive chain. They work within their means and are not charged extortionate rents and rates by the local council - because the council here still understands the human need of these shops. In short, human need still wins over corporate greed and profit.
As for Yeovil, it depresses me each time I return... It has been allowed to rot, no way in a million years those shops will be filled again. Soon, that whole area will be torn down and redeloped into a trading estate or housing.
Thanks for the video
Hey thanks so much for stopping by! That's really sad to hear your story of Yeovil, one that was a very familiar tale whilst filming. Thanks for watching and the comment. See you on the next one
I believe it was Somerset council who had a £ 50 million surplus and decided to invest it in the Icelandic bank before it went tits up - all while cutting public services to the bone of course and raising council tax - complete and utter bastardry -the Uk is finished .
Making room for our replacements
Nice! Izmir? Also can you speak turkish?
@muckle8 cutting of Council funds by the Tories for the last 13yrs has lead to service cuts all over the country and this is the result. Yet muppets will still vote in there millions for the Tories
Mate, thank you for this video.
It’s bad up here in Blackburn, Accrington etc. Northwest.
My heart breaks for the UK.
35 years of Greed has resulted in holes in our souls, holes in UK finances, holes in our communities, holes in our towns, holes everywhere.
Very tragic.
35 years of Greed and Me, Me, Me has resulted in despair and emptiness.
Thanks again.
Thanks for the kind words 🙏 really appreciate that. It's sad to see, hopefully something changes for the people of Yeovil and towns alike.
Those defunct mill towns are another level of grim. People in Siberian prison camps wince at what passes for life in Bolton, Rochdale, Burnley, Oldham.
If those towns were animals they'd have been put down a century ago.
That is catastrophic. Imagine the amount of money pulled out of the area by all those closed businesses.
every town and city is getting like this
@@spongebobsquaretits Yecch.
Really bleak for the people. Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the content
Could be the same anywhere in the UK..Charity shops, Bet Fred, 1 pound Shop, Cash Convertors , Greg's, Subway, Bank Kebab/ Chicken Shops amd a phone repair shop or two lol .If bit more upmarket maybe a Specs Savers..
You got it! Thanks for watching and the comment. Hope you enjoy the content
I'm glad that you care ... my life has shrunk now that I'm 76 but I like to totter out to the shops to talk to others
You never know what the next conversation will hold for you..! Thanks for watching and the comment! Hope you enjoy the upcoming adventures and content
Its the same up here in scotland. Funny how all the turkish barbers, chineese nail shops and vape stores are still open though 🤔 ( defintly not paying taxes)
🤔 hmmm thanks for watching and the comment
So many Turkish barbers and nail shops all over the UK! Ummm!
What is the point of all the construction??? Why? What a waste of money to do anything there.
Apparently it's been going on years!! But there's literally no shops there. What a waste land. Thanks for watching
Yes all that construction + not a single worker in sight - were they all on a tea break?!
@@christineh4427 yep. Looks more like a money funneling operation.
@@apm763 oh how nice of them. To take money from the workers pocket when he barely has enough to eat, but he can walk comfortably down the dilapidated graffiti covered streets with no shops. And they truly believe they’re doing a good thing, I guarantee.
Thank you for showing what Yeovil is really like. I lived in West Coker and moved away 14 years ago. The area was a bit worse for wear then, but to see what has happened to the town center is heartbreaking. Part of my heart will always be with the UK, but I am very thankful we left when we did.
So sad, we should be looking after everyone in the uk. Thank you for uploading.
Thanks for the kind words! We certainly should I agree. See you on the next one
People don't need 'looking after', adults need to be able to look after themselves and government get out the way
Explain more please.
I always imagined Yeovil to be a prime touristy place, kind of like Bath. What a sad story. Thanks for visiting Yeovil so I don’t have to! 😊
Drive past and head to Wells, very close by. One of the most beautiful cities in the UK, video on my channel. Thanks for watching
Dagenham is worse, much worse!!!!
i got out of Bath 4 years ago and moved to the north east, best decision i have made Bath is circling the toilet. Rampant drug abuse ran by the Albanian mafia they have free rein to do as they want as Bath is now a police-less city. They removed the police station and turnt it into student accommodation. now the police do 1 sweep every 2 months which achieves absolutely nothing.
Out of town retail parks with huge multi national supermarkets and online shopping has ruined town centres recently but they have been going down hill for some time
exactley peoples shopping habits have changed thats all people are still spending its just elsewhere online, supermarkets and retail parks and stores like b and ms where you can get pretty much everything i really dont see the point of videos like this
Exactly. Too many shops in one town or city. People go to them because you can park more easily there but more difficult to get public transport to. I live a mile from a mini out of town retail park as it is just one row of shops newly built on a brown field site and I prefer to go there than the city centre for certain items and get harassed by drug dealers, beggars, chuggers, Big Issue sellers and hawkers. I used to be one of those harassing though as I would hand out leaflets at protests.
Definitely a factor. Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the content
I agree with you.Most of the out of town centres are full of people because they can go in their cars.They all look the same and all have the same shops 😞It’s the laziness of the people who don’t go anywhere without the use of their cars who have ruined the centres of the towns.
@MrTyneduncan Unless you live close by an out of town shopping centre and can walk there. But there are fewer buses to them than the city centre. But many people have this old 60s and 70s idea that you should be able to drive to the shops and park nearby for free so when car parking charges were introduced in town and city centres in the 80s they stayed away from them and went to the new out of town retail parks and discount shopping villages like the one in Street and the one in Festival Park near Ebbw Vale.
They won't walk half a mile from the car park, so they would rather park on double yellow lines outside of offices and shops they went into.
That's why the shops around main bus and railway stations would look cheap and shabby as only poor people were seen to be using public transport so were assumed they would use only those shops instead of the department stores and chain stores. So people were even less inclined to take a bus or train to a town or city centre as they had to walk past these shabby shops to get to the nicer shops. It became a vicious circle. Lots of greasy spoon cafes and charity shops are close to bus stations.
Jesus, that's heart breaking. It's so sad that this "technological revolution" is tearing down brick and mortar, but, if we can adapt, we will prevail! In the meantime, people go hungry. I hope they, and all who are affected by this monumental economic shift, can find a new way to prosper.
Thanks for this, and ALL your very cool videos, Joe. Feels like you're a friend giving me a great tour of the real Britain I love so much. (And look at your subscriptions!!) Jen.
I know very sad times Jen! Especially hearing the elderly ladies story in regards to their bus route being closed! Closing them off from society! Thanks for watching and the support as always Jen! There is still some beautiful towns and cities that we'll be heading to soon. I'll show you the real Britain, whilst building a community of like minded individuals along the way. I'll be setting up a members area or something soon for more interaction and extended videos and interviews etc.
Go up to Union Street in Aberdeen. I grew up there, it too has gone steadily downhill for the last two decades. A mile long, made from the same granite as Bond Street in London, wonderful architecture, all dirty, dilapidated, vacants everywhere, footfall is junkies. It's sad.
Of heard it's rough in Aberdeen... Hopefully head upto Scotland one day soon. Thanks for watching and the comment
Class video again, Joe! Yeovil is a really sorry sight. I used to go on holiday to Weymouth every year growing up, I now live in the US and would love to see what Weymouth is like today - that would be a request/recommendation for your next seaside town 😀 cheers.
Hey buddy thanks for the comment! Yes Weymouth is definitely on the list mate so keep your eyes peeled for that one. Thanks for the kind words and for watching
I can tell you what Weymouth is like, mate. It's a complete dump. It certainly has more to offer than Yeovil, but not much more. Seeing a 16 year old, pushing a pram with a spliff hanging out her mouth is a common sight in Weymouth. I don't even live there, it's just been our go to spot for a beach since childhood. Now we go to Burton Bradstock.
I was based in Yeovil around 2008 and had a great time, surprisingly good night life back then for such a small town.
Sad to see the state it's in now. I think amazon prime is one of the biggest factors in all these cases, high streets cant compete. The major supermarkets started the trend back in the 90's.
Yes seems to have been a steep decline into what you see today. Very sad, thanks for watching and the comment!
Agreed supermarkets started the downfall. They started selling dvds, games, clothes and electronic goods. And later began co-op type stores, which all drained the pockets of regular shops. Then ‘out of town’ business parks with ample parking - provided a chunk of big stores in one place very convenient.
Online shopping let’s face it is excellent, easy and almost always cheaper. You won’t waste time trudging to the shops be told it’s out of stock or the price is way more expensive. You’d have to also find a parking spot, pay for parking etc. Unless it’s a niche shop, food outlet or clothes that require checking for fit, most of a traditional high street is now redundant.
I got stuck in Yeovil about a week ago, last bus to my destination was 17.20. Ended up paying £50 for taxi to get home. Bus would have been £2. Transport sucks in this area.
Nightmare! Thanks for watching and the comment. Hope you enjoy the content
It's sad to see this. on the need for more investment in small towns to keep them alive.
Yoevil. Thats really shocking. Also your video on Weston super mud, what a shock. I didn't think it could get any worse.
Thankyou for drawing attention to this issue.
Here's some more neglected places: Holsworthy, Bideford, Launceston, Newton Abbot, Bridgewater.
Haha brilliant thanks for the comment and for watching. Hope you enjoy the upcoming content, got my eye on a few of your suggestions.
Surely the Yates Wine Bar is still open ? I see Yeovil Town centre is currently being expensively "Pedestrianised for ALL the invisible pedestrians. They should be doing the reverse to make car use easier if they want to "save the Town Centre" or to even come close.
Sad times for the people of Yeovil. Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoy the content
Local Yeovil person here. He filmed and edited it to look way worse than it is. There is a multi million pound refresh project in progress (hence all the work going on) The whole of the bottom end has been sold and is planned for a complete refurbishment. (hence why everything is empty) He purposely missed the nice bits like the Quedam. I could go on and on about the sneaky misrepresentation this guy has done here. Basically propaganda to reinforce his personal agenda. Hold your head in shame Mr Joe Fish
Totally agree. Don’t get me wrong, the redevelopment is dragging on, but this was filmed and edited in a way to purposely not show the Quedam shopping centre and all of the businesses that are open, to achieve the agenda of the video. Whilst walking through Middle Street he stated only the pub is open, whilst walking past the open Kaspas, the Entertainer and 94 club. Also the attempt to make the young lads seem hard up, was comical. They are all in college and employed. I do watch these videos and I understand you don’t get views going, “Yeah, it’s not too bad”, so have to add drama.
Having lived in England for a year a while back, this is very sad to see. In general the state of England looks like it has dropped considerably. Was such a great place to be back in 2008.
Thanks for sharing though mate. Great videos.
Definitely gone down hill fast. Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the video's.
I moved to Yeovil in 1984. During the 60s I lived out Somerton and came in here shopping regularly. When my late husband was discharged from the army I decided for my family to live here in Yeovil. It was a lovely shopping centre until the pandemic arrived in 2020, then we couldn’t visit the shops as much, so a lot of them went bankrupt and had to close. We lost the bus station cafe. We still have M&S, Boots is still there and Iceland store. Those works has been going on for a few years now, so it doesn’t encourage anyone to come into town. I haven’t been to town since Christmas and that was to get a bus out to the station. There are also road works all around the outskirts of town. I don’t drive either and I only come to town if I really need to.
Common story across the UK unfortunately!! Hopefully something changes, thanks for watching and the comment!
The emergence of giant superstores is surely one of the reasons for the appalling changes to town centres. A visit to any big food store (Sainsburys, Tesco, etc) usually reveals they sell all the goods that used to be offered by individual shops: a florists, a newsagent & sweetshop, a fishmonger, a greengrocer, a butcher's shop, a chemist, a bakery, a pet shop, a clothes shop, etc. And many superstores also have their own cafe. A RUclips video I came across recently showed how Slough town centre has been wrecked by an enormous J Sainsbury megastore. Such stores might benefit working men and women with busy lives and cars, but such megastores don't offer the social opportunities that existed when there were multi-faceted town centres to visit - places with cafes and restaurants as well as shops, library, pubs and perhaps a cinema and theatre.
@@PhilBrown-ik1dk Yeovil’s main Tesco store is in town. Asda and Morrisons are out of town. Asda hasn’t got a cafe and we haven’t got a Sainsbury’s.
Aberdeen Union Street, despite being a very rich city which has profited from North Sea oil and gas, a city with more millionaires per head than anywhere in the UK outside London, the city centre is just grey and empty.. with crumbling shopping malls. If you go there just think, if that is Aberdeen rich, what on Earth would it be like when it’s poor?
Very sad sights across the UK. Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the content
You appear to be a lovely person. You have so much compassion, do hope the no 1 bus still runs for particularly the elderly. Great video and fantastic that you have highlighted this once bustling town. 😊
Bless you thanks for the kind words! I genuinely hope so too, I have done an article in a national tabloid regarding this video hopefully something comes of it for the people. Thanks for watching
Do hope something can be sorted, not only for the elderly, but for those who are not able to drive and cannot afford to run a car. Good luck! Be great if you could give a verdict on this transport problem. Cannot believe the devastating carnage of that once busy town.
@@starrgazer1000 Thank you so much. How very sad. 😢
@@JoefishJGreat news Joe. Keep highlighting the once bustling Town, I fear they are being deliberately failing, by the government and Councils. Keep up the good work. 😊
The retail space you show was built in the sixites and seventies for chains that simply do not exist any more. There are no tenants waiting. They don't exist. Pull the lot down.
Agreed 💯 thanks for watching and the comment
Hello Joe, thanks for your excellent videos that you do so well and professionally well presented. Only 12 years ago Yeovil was nothing like this and now total desolation and dilapidation of a good town once upon a time. I thought the interview outside the church was amusing. Suddenly waltzing up to three pleasant teenage boys with a video cam. If a police car had been there anywhere you might have been stopped and interogated for inciting minors. I hear a voice in my ear of another interfering cop saying 'excuse me Sir, I could'nt help but notice you were talking to those teenage boys, now, if I could take some particulars'. Warm regards Peter Luton UK
Thanks for the kind words and for watching. Really appreciate it thank you
I lived just outside Yeovil around 2007-8 and the high street, Glovers Walk and Quedam were always busy and open. The grounds of the church used to be rammed with people enjoying their days.
Thanks for watching and the comment 👍
Salute to three teenage boys. They grew up in some not the nicest area but still keep their heads down. They are good boys and I wish them all the best.
this is happening all over this country, it's so depressing....
Agreed thanks for watching
It's good that you're drawing more attention to this and I hope other RUclipsrs follow suit. Jokes aside, let's put the "Great" back into "Great Britain"
Definitely thanks for watching and the comment
Middlesbrough is just as bad, I recommend a visit! Great video bro :)
Thanks for the recommendation! I think I might be heading north soon enough! Thanks for watching and the comment
Really? 1 of my sons moved up there from London when he was a student at Uni. He made friends, got a good job + is still there. I last visited (I live in USA now) 4yrs ago + stayed in beautiful nearby Yarm but Middlesbro was thriving! R u saying it's all gone downhill in 4yrs?
@@christineh4427 its absolutely grim now. All the shops like marks and spencer, debenhams, house of fraser and h&m have pulled out since then. Yarm is gorgeous still though!
In the North of the UK where i drive for a living, i see so many people asking for money at traffic lights, teenage Girls are offering “ hand jobs” for a fiver a time; i see so many homeless folks shitting in the street, pissing on the floor and so many Towns have boarded up shops .
I remember some of these Town centres when i was a teenager , they were very busy however, now folks do not seem to have the money now .
The UK is going bankrupt and i think there is no stopping what is heading our way.
Thanks for sharing…….
I moved to Yeovil 3 years ago and the high street looked bad due to lots of shops shutting during Covid. Since then it's got better and there are lots of nice shops in the Quedam Shopping Centre you didn't show in the video, plus quite often they have markets with local, independent stalls at the weekend. The Glover Shopping Centre started going downhill years ago and finally shut for good a few years back and the owners are wanting to sell it, hence no new shops opening up down that end of town. There are other towns with nicer looking high streets, but quite often they don't actually have any of the normal high street shops you want to go to. Yeovil Country Park is awesome and there are lots of other nice parks in the town. Crime is pretty low, a few dodgy areas, but I've lived in much worse places across Somerset & Dorset.
Definitely going to come back oneday and get a guide. Thanks for watching and the comment hope you enjoy the content
The Tories have decimated this country
The owners of the building charge way too much rent and people are shopping on line more, plus people have less money after years of austerity
There’s another guy called wandering turnip who does a show on here re the death of the high street hes a lovely cool knowledgeable guy
Yes they have wrecked it but Labour will out do them and make it worse, remember the mess they left behind, both party's are no good.
@@leejames1792 you cant say that the current labour party will fuck things up because a previous one did ,what kind of backwards thinking is that-the labour party now is a very different beast to the one from the past-whats the alternative let these lying cheating tories continue to fill their already full pockets and have 10 more years of austerity and corruption-i say give labour a chance -lets see what they do -lets invest money in deprived towns and cities in the north and south that have been long neglected and start making a difference to the lives of everybody not just the rich
I stay out of the politics but show you the outcome of those decisions made by those in power. Thanks for watching
Lots of cities & towns like this here in the US as well. Keep up the good work Joe!👍👍
Awesome thanks for the kind words 🙏
When i was growing up it was a treat having a day out at the shops!
Now theres not many shops to go to!
Sad times! Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the content
Not seen anywhere worse that this, although most towns are to an extent like that. Underfunding from government, people shopping online, businesses that shut down during the pandemic. Brexit putting up prices. Electricity and gas price hikes making it more difficult to heat massive shops. Great video though Joe. Shared on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks.
Hey thanks so much for watching and sharing! Really helps my channel when viewers share the video. Hopefully it shines a light on the issue! Thanks for watching and sharing 😁👊👍
Wetherslops and betting shops…. What a prospect. Also as mentioned previously barber and vape shops.
And lots of them. Thanks for watching and the comment
Why don't you grow a beard? Then you can use the barber shops.
@@rainerschmid9965 Er… yes… whatever…
Trouble is, most high street shops are now closed due to Supermarkets, which if like me,
are situated in out of the way places, where if you don't have a car, you can't get to.
Many factors at play! Thanks for watching
Why the surprise?
Make parking difficult by reducing number of spaces. Make it unaffordable by exorbitant charges. Make it impossible to find on street parking by putting yellow lines everywhere, in the interest of traffic flow, even on Sunday at 3.00 am. Employ a plethora of traffic wardens to ensure financial gain from aforesaid yellow lines. Ratchet up rates on shops and use them as cash-cows. Decimate affordable public transport just to finish it off. Violla. 😂
Certainly part of the problem I think... Thanks for watching and the kind words. See you on the next one
I was there yesterday, and I feel I should add that the precinct in this video is scheduled for demolition, which is why all the shops are shut. However just around the corner, and also up a flight of steps are some very nicely designed and maintained shopping areas. It's actually very pleasant.
Would have called in for a pasty but I can't see a bakery! 😃to be serious though it does look bad to say the least, problem is there are many many towns across the country just the same.This country is going to the dogs! sad. ☹
Very sad sights across the UK thanks for watching and the comment
Turn the corner and you'll see a gleaming Tesco or Asda with ten tills ringing non stop. Supermarkets are the new high street. You park for nothing right outside and they sell everything. I saw this in Houston TX in 1994. The only thing that hasnt reached us yet is making each parking bay twice the size to fit the humongous cars that we all now drive round in.
Very valid point 👍 thanks for watching and the comment
@@JoefishJ glad to make a contribution to the topic! My point being that the retail landscape is decaying in one place only to spring up again half a mile away. So it's not as gloomy as you make it look. Vids like this by ordinary people like you are brilliant because it gets us thinking and discussing the world around us so I thank you too.
This video is a real shocker. When did the high street drop off like that in Yeovil then? Almost nothing remains.
Apparently it's been like it for years but especially post 2020. Thanks for watching and the comment
2021/ 2020 Yeovil was very nice. Brexit mean brexit. All the best from Poland.
I visited Banbury's Castle Quay shopping centre yesterday for the first time in many months.
It used to have a Debenhams, BHS, H&M and M&S but they've all long since gone, as have many of the smaller shops. I counted twelve closed units in one wing alone.
I've heard it's bad. Thanks for watching and the comment
Im heading out of this place... its depressing 😂😂😂.. wow man thanks for these videos highlighting whats happened to the UK. Its shocking
It really is! Thanks for watching 🙏👍
It seems some of these town centers got a bit too 'big for their boots' and in the changing world struggle to adapt which is a real shame. The same can be said about those which made large out of town shopping malls. The ones that seem to be weathering the change best are those small enough to make the centre a 'destination' where locals go to meet, eat and drink and buy different stuff rather than just shop for the same mass produced goods now cheaper online. Suggest you try places like Sailsbury/Frome to get a contrast with Yeovil and also Brighton vs Torquay. Thanks for the video really liked the 'look at this fab church' interlude and the 'looking for the positive' attitude.
Who knows what is happening... Just sad for the people of Yeovil. Thanks for watching and the comment
Go to Harlow Essex town centre next mate, I'd gladly meet up with you and show you around should you need someone.
Or Basildon
100% get me on Instagram if your on there?
@@JoefishJI unfortunately don't have social media like Instagram or Facebook, only Twitter if you are on there?
The funny part about all this is they are building a New walkway but with no shops to walk too ! I would like to add you missed the good part on the other side where its full of phone shops & HMV :)
I would like to add that next time you visit you check out nine springs as its one of the most stunning hidden gems in Somerset to walk around and FREE !
The road to no where... Thanks for watching and the comment
high rents high council t ax and the war on the motorist parking charges kills off town centres.
Businesses don’t pay council tax. My local town has free parking at the weekend, it’s still dead.
Thanks for watching and the comment
Wolverhampton council spent years digging up roads and blocking off public access to shops so bad that shops went bust because nobody could get to them during the reform of Wolverhampton apparently in the best interest of the town (city). They know expect retailers to go back and pay higher rent and businesses rates to fill those same empty shops they were once thriving in. One pub that remained open put thier own signs up pointing directions around the road works to get to thier door. The people in council who plan these things should be sacked. Who does this? Wheres the actual logic? Oh yeah logic went out with commen sense last recession. This looks the same as wolvo. Where do people go for jobs? No retail, no manufacturing, no customer service no pubs no restaurants no high streets no economy. Just supermarkets and online sit at home shopping 😢
Just been and filmed Brum. Shocking. Thanks for watching and the comment
It's insane to just see all that space empty... I hope those nice ladies don't lose access to their transport.
Greetings from the US. 👋
Hello from across the pond! I know it was heartbreaking hearing their story! Hopefully the video can help in some way. Thanks for watching and the comment!
Hello mate, was really interesting to see. Would love too see more off the SouthWest. I live in Reading, if you ever decided to film this way, I could recomend a few locations in and around. 🤙🏻
That would be awesome, get me on Instagram if you've got it. Thanks for watching and the comment
Hi Joe! Great work! I've never been to Yeovil though have driven by a few times, now I see I wasn't tempted for a reason )) If you continue your series in Somerset and fancy a little visit to Exmoor. I guess Wells and Glastonbury would be something to check out, these used to be touristy flourishing towns. On the Exmoor side there is Minehead and especially Lynton. Minehead has been sliding a bit downhill for some time but I haven't seen it since 2018 which is pre-covid obviously. Good Luck in your next adventure!
Hey thanks for watching and the comment! There is a video on Wells on my channel titled Tiny City Frozen in Time, check it out. Thanks again see you on the next one
I live in South Wales a lot of our shops buildings etc are just empty and very run down! Apparently one whole street is being knocked down to build flats on!
In 1984 it was a vibrant shopping centre & bustling high street in Yeovil. Sad to see it so empty.
Sad scenes indeed! Thanks for watching and the comment, see you on the next one!
Many people blame online shopping for the epidemic of shop closures in Britain but it's not that simple.
Major contributors are rising rents, both commercial and housing, and central government defunding councils, many of them going bankrupt. The UK is going the same way as the US. In the US, whole city centres have closed or are closing down as property/rents are unaffordable. Many people with jobs are living in their vehicles because they cannot afford rents. As a result, consumption plummets and small businesses close down. Also, shoplifting has increased exponentially leading to more shops closing. Many people flee the worst areas and flock to other more affluent areas/states causing problems for those states too.
I think Britain needs to face up to a new reality where extreme poverty and homelessness will affect not just the current poor and working class but eventually everybody but the rich. The current trends in global politics, economics and conflicts point toward this.
Many factors at play. Thanks for watching
I’m from Yeovil and it’s been pretty sad since 1980-90 it was lots of people there and lots of shops and restaurants but it’s mostly a dump as far as the town is being run down as the council has been refurbish the whole town 80 million pounds and now the council is bankrupt 😢
Unfortunately it's a very familiar sight and take across the UK, however Yeovil was a shock! The decline and the deprivation in the town is shocking. I hope the video sheds light on the situation! Thanks for watching and the comment, please share it to any other locals you may know.
Very good work! I think you need to visit Wrexham High Street and The Eagles Meadow shopping centre to highlight the desperate very similar situation.
Thanks for the tips! It's now on the list thanks for the suggestion 👍
Another thing to consider, when a building becomes unused and derelict? All of the plumbing in each building must be replaced after a couple of years of neglect? Or longer? Sometimes the cost of refurbishment is too huge? Meaning such buildings can never be used again in its current state? So mass land clearance and demolishment is the only answer? But seeing the extent of abandonment is shocking ?
Very good point. Thanks for watching and the comment
The shopping centre , which is now empty, wiped out the high street. You don’t have to be a genius to work it out.
This happened in Ozfrom 1965 when a local golf course was turned into an isolated shopping complex. The called it Roselands, but it had thorns!!!
It has happened Ias hundred (if not thousands) of once pleasant shopping streets, became retail deserts.
Stavros
Hey thanks for the comment Stavros. Hope you enjoy the content
And yet all that is heard from the local council in Yeovil is that it will be wonderful when its finished, although this has been going on for some years and shops have closed due to lack of trade. The project is called Yeovil refresh but there is nothing left to refresh.
It's such a shame. They are trying to update the area, but it's catch 22 - you can't get the businesses in and trading successfully when there's all the work being done but at the same time the rents that are being charged for the current buildings is terrible - Yeovil used to be full of independent boutique shops but sadly with Covid and the rising rents/greedy landlords they were no longer able to stay.
Amazon online shopping is cheaper and more convenient. I went in to my local Currys to buy a new phone. After waiting 30mins to get some service found out the phone they had on display that I wanted they didn't have in stock but could get it ordered in 3days time. I pulled out my phone, found it on Amazon cheaper and had it delivered to my door inside 24hrs....That's just demonstrates the high st can't compete. The only thing that might save it is experiential stuff - cafes, restaurants etc.
I have to agree that Amazon do exactly as they state. I haven't been let down once by Amazon. But i refuse to sit around ordering everything online and turn into a fcking brain dead zombie which the government wants. To hell with them.
Currys is being bought by an American private equity firm, although Chinese conglomerate Alibaba group are also interested...
Definitely a factor! Thanks for watching and the comment hope you the rest of the content
The towns that I visit who retained their historic buildings and avoided post war modernisation are doing alot better. The middle class come into the centre which supports small shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants and great food markets. Ely, bury st edmunds, market Harborough are examples. They still have a few empty shops but not on the scale of other towns I visit which are dead even on a Saturday.
This is generally the same through the West Country. Some other little towns are still thriving as they're pleasant places to visit with independent traders worth supporting. Even when I was a teen in Yeovil in the 90s, a visit to town was purely functional and never a place I'd want to linger round any longer than the next bus back home. It always had a rough reputation too, and never a place I wanted to stick around in after the shops closed.
It's because the Uk is actually poor. People are still denying it. Only the rich can go in real shops.
I agree! Thanks for watching and the comment
Like all the cities and towns in the UK, years of government austerity policies, industries closed down, communities forgotten and abandoned and the wealth being invested abroad.
Hopefully videos like this shine a light on the situation across the UK. Thanks for watching and the comment
I think the main reason high streets have died is out of town shopping centres. I'm 75 from Teesside. When I was growing up towns like Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton were full of small independent shops but then The Metro Center at Gateshead opened and later Teesside Park, quickly things changed. In Redcar there was an electrical store called Birkbeck's, founded in the year I was born. Out of town shopping took over and it closed in 2008. You can't blame people for preferring the large out of town chain shops. If you want a new washer they may have 100 to chose from where Birkbeck's had say 10. My cousin and her husband owned a fruit and veg shop in the village of Wheathampstead employing 3 people. The week the out of town Tescos opened their takings dropped by more than 50%. They had to sack the staff and run it on their own but had to close the following year.
This is sad. It was a thriving town when I was last there about 15 years ago
It seems all main streets are cut off for construction. Can't be good for business either...
Yes I've noticed this.
Just discovered your channel and subscribed from NZ .Keep up the good work very distressing
Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy the New Video 👍
Jimminy cricket, this was depressing. Especially the cuts to transport.
Yes definitely! I often think about those elderly ladies 🙏 thanks for watching and the comment
Back in the 80,s 90's you couldn't move in Yeovil town centre, it was always busy. Now the council want to rejuvenate the town with all that building work, turning it into walkways. Lack of and expensive parking is making matters worse. Those £Millions being spent on that work in the town, will fail to rejuvenate the place.
it’s funny how despite how terrible the high street is looking in yeovil, for us who grew up around here, this is still our main hangout spot hahaha
I think that the UK is missing a trick.
Many Euroean cities that I've been to have residential units above the shops and restaurants, so in the evenings the place is still quite busy.
I've known a number of UK cities that are absoutely dead in the evenings because the bars and restaurants are away from the main shopping area and no one lives there.
Not a bad idea. Thanks for watching and the comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the content
Unfortunate. This is not the first time when urban renewal killed a downtown. Failed attempts to throw money at a problem and only makes it worse. Happens here in the states all the time.
Mate that's the central business district or town centre, not downtown. Population of over 50,000 just left to deal with that! Crazy isn't it. Thanks for watching and the support Amigo!
It's happening all over the U.K. Llanelli town centre was a hub of commercial activity. A variety of so many traders, now all empty decaying buildings. It was reported the council is going to spend £millions to rejuvenate. With out of town retail parks and free parking and on-line shopping town centres are now out of date, dinosaurs. Town centre High streets are a thing of the past, unfortunately.
I've heard bad things about certain parts of South Wales and the lack of investment into those areas! Very sad, will head over the bridge soon and check it out for myself. Thanks watching and the comment
My mate lives in Grimsby and from what he's told me, their high street is much worse than this. But Yeovil is still a dump. There are a few pearls when it comes to eateries: there's a new spot called The Barolo Lounge, that does ok food. There was a nice sushi shop, thai restaurant and the foreign food markets have some good deals. The strange this is, 5 minutes down the road you have Sherborne where I live, and that's completely different.
Left Yeovil last year. Shame on Somerset council for giving up on Yeovil. 🇬🇧
Even the people are closed down. The country has been dying for decades and no one did anything about it.
I used to live 15 minutes up the road so would visit Yeovil regularly. It doesn't stand a chance as it's in the middle of nowhere so can't even work as a commuter town. However, I strongly recommend Cow & Apple! Great food and lovely staff 🙂
Agreed 💯 thanks for watching and the comment. Hope you enjoy the content
London and Glasgow are 2 of the worst areas in my opinion but we are discussing a high street problem. Deterioration spreads like a disease.
Indeed! Very strange seems to be a very British phenomenon. Thanks for watching and the comment
This is my home town. I haven't been there for 8 years and I can't see any reason why I should ever go back. It is dead.
Looks like they are pedestrianising the town centre in an effort to revitalize and stimulate public interest. The large mall probably took the trade from the High Street, hence many closed shops, and the cost of living crisis led to the demise of the mall. Maybe if you had spoken to the workmen they could have explained what was happening with the roadworks.
Greedy Council rents and rates have rinsed every penny of profit so they all shut, and they've been on a super go slow with the paving upgrade the scaffold has been up for years, I live In 1 of the surrounding villages and yes the bus service has been cut
Found you! Saw you on BandB and hoped you had/were going to make a channel. Subbed and absolutely love you. Have a good one!
Thanks for subbing! That's awesome to hear! Hope you enjoy the content and upcoming adventures 🙏
We need to nurture what's already here instead of what we might have in the future. Shop local.
Support local traders 👍
This once great country is now completely broken and beyond repair
Shocked! I went there in April 2014 for a couple days,and it was a vibrant town centre. 10 years on its tragic to see.
Really shocking scenes! Thanks for watching and the comment
For me they need to mix flats and shops so there is footfall . To leave everything shut looks sad and desperate
So sad! Thanks for watching and the comment
The country has been in real decline since 1979, but its got far worse since 2010, then brexshit cutting investment off from the EU, this is taking back control and the free market prevailing wonderful isn't it?
I was hoping to find a Brexit or anti Tory comment 😂 Mate, the internet has killed physical outlets for most sectors, nothing else..
What a dumb comment, you said it yourself the country has been in decline for decades even when in the EU, so what evidence do you have that trend would not continue to accelerate as it had? Lazy excuse to blame brexit which btw STILL has not been delivered and if you deny that then there is a word for someone like you. You think the EU are doing well, that their economies are healthy? GTFO.
I agree, a slow and steady decline unfortunately... Very sad sights across the country! Thanks for watching and the comment
@@Zaphod-ef9yz Strange that when i go to small towns in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg the nordic countries they are thriving. They must not have the internet in those counties ya mate.
@@bishton or maybe different demands / economic issues, they are all out of the UK.