The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Pyxis

LydiaJ wrote: »

I had friends who once lived in a house just down the street from a prison, and covered by its CCTV. That part of town wasn't generally considered a "nice area" but that particular street had no crime, of any kind, ever. Well, I suppose there may have been some domestic crimes going on inside people's houses, but nothing that could be observed from the street or the back gardens.

So I'll add 'near prison' to my list of ideal places to live.

Top of the list is still 'overlooking a cemetery'.

chris_m

LydiaJ wrote: »

I had friends who once lived in a house just down the street from a prison, and covered by its CCTV.

That's like where I live, about half a mile back along the only road that leads to, and ends just past, the nick.

I didn't choose the location for that reason, however I didn't let the proximity put me off. I took the view that there would likely be an increased police presence, if any inmates did abscond they'd be off into the sand dunes or onto the fells in preference to bothering houses close by and that it's not the sort of area in which the local yoof would, for preference, hang about. Also, it's category C/D prisoners so there's not likely to be many really nasty pieces of work housed there.

Since I've been here, there was one who absconded and the only clue we had was the police helicopter hovering around most of the day. The escapee had, of course, already made plans to be collected from a road a mile or so away so he was back in Manchester when they picked him up, and he didn;t get sent back here. Other than that I sometimes hear the whistles go for shift changes but that's about it. The greater problem is the prison officers arriving and departing - some of them consider a mile long straight road as a race track :-(

In fact, my house is one of an estate that was originally built to house the prison officers, all of which have subsequently been sold off. Because of that they are of a design/layout fairly typical of council houses (probably a copy of a council house design TBH) which doesn't bother me at all - it means larger than average rooms and a decent size plot area.

Being on the access road rather than in the estate proper does mean that my row of houses is nicely kept up and looks tidy. There are no houses across the road, just fields and the start of the Lakeland fells. On a reasonably clear day I can see Coniston Old Man, 14 miles away, and on a very clear day I can see as far as the High Street range, some 25 miles away. On a bad day, however, I can't even see Black Combe, only 4 miles away.

Around the back, though, much of the estate does look very "council estate" - crowded with cars (and bits of cars, one must have five Land Rovers in various states of dilapidation or actual collapse), many of the gardens tatty, etc. I wouldn't have bought there anyway, especially as quite a few of them have a big 15' yellow fence with barbed wire and lights on top just past the end of the gardens

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

Top of the list is still 'overlooking a cemetery'.

No, they're magnets for drinkers, drug takers, the homeless and teen criminal behaviour.

I lived near one once, there were dossers sleeping there, cider being drunk behind the wall all day - and "for kicks" you'd get teens either in there smoking/drinking themselves, or "up to no good, targetting the drunks and trying to get drugs from them".

If you Google something like homeless sleeping in tombs you'll find a lot are like that.

zagubov

I pass a prison every day on the way to work. As it's Surrey, it has a fancy restaurant.

I used to work in a part of London where Steptoe and Son was both shot and set, next to another, more famous prison.

London doesn't seem to have quite enough prisons judging by the current violent crime rate.

PasturesNew

It's the British Bank Holiday weekend.
I'm at the seaside.
It's raining.

Pyxis

I wonder what the statistics are for the percentage of bank holidays that have been rained off?

It does seem to be the awful ones we remember.

After all, the last one, at the beginning of May was very sunny, even though the Easter one had been foul.

Oh, hang on, it's half term as well. That increases the chances of it raining, doesn't it?

Jazee

Quite sunny here this morning, but I'll just be pottering in the garden. We soon learnt when we moved here that the locals don't go to the seaside on bank holidays. We leave that traffic chaos to the tourists!

PasturesNew

Jazee wrote: »

... locals don't go to the seaside on bank holidays. We leave that traffic chaos to the tourists!

That's right - unless you're retired and set in your ways and illogical ... because then you STILL insist on driving a small amount of irrelevant rubbish to the tip at 11am on a Saturday morning in August when all the outbound tourists with caravans are queueing to leave - and all the inbound tourists with caravans are queueing to arrive.



Never understood why dad did that..... but he was set in his ways and oblivious to the outside world and the impact of dates/events on roads and the ability to make progress.

Jackmydad

zagubov wrote: »

I pass a prison every day on the way to work. As it's Surrey, it has a fancy restaurant.

I used to work in a part of London where Steptoe and Son was both shot and set, next to another, more famous prison.

London doesn't seem to have quite enough prisons judging by the current violent crime rate.

I don't think that it's just that there aren't enough prisons, it's also that not enough people are sent to prison, and in a lot of cases it's not for long enough.

Jackmydad

Jazee wrote: »

Quite sunny here this morning, but I'll just be pottering in the garden. We soon learnt when we moved here that the locals don't go to the seaside on bank holidays. We leave that traffic chaos to the tourists!

I have a friend who, although retired for several years insists on going away at BHs.
Why?
I hibernate away from crowds. . .Nearly all the time!