HIGH CRIME Council Estate with NOTORIOUS Reputation Explored!
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- čas přidán 25. 05. 2023
- In this video, we’re taking a tour around one of the highest crime and most deprived areas in Swindon, and that’s Penhill.
Most of the properties are council owned and were built in the 50s so they’re looking pretty dated and rundown at this point.
Penhill is best- known for the three huge tower blocks on the estate, they date back to the 60s.
As you’ll see in the video, most of the front gardens and public paths are unkempt, there is litter and large items dumped all over the estate, people park everywhere and anywhere, and there are burnt-out houses.
Looking at the crime stats, there’s a lot of criminal activity for an area that’s barely a square mile.
There are between 50 and 100 crimes reported in any given month, and most of those are violent offenses and anti-social behavior from the residents.
Criminal damage, theft, and shoplifting aren’t far behind, so it’s safe to say nothing is safe in Penhill.
The headlines coming out of Penhill don’t exactly sell the area as somewhere you’ll want to visit.
Stabbings, assaults, and robberies are fairly common, but something that puts Penhill a notch above other problem estates in Swindon is gun crime.
I read numerous reports of shootings and police raids finding firearms, which raises the seriousness of the crime problem in Penhill.
Oh, and how about this for a headline, ‘ delightful little children’ torching a couple‘s car as they enjoyed the nature reserve.
The tower blocks are notorious on the estate for all the wrong reasons, and obviously, they’re hard to miss.
Each block is 11 stories high and has 41 flats inside, which means they’re housing hundreds of people.
If you’ve never lived in close proximity with that many people, you have no idea how miserable it can be.
It’s not all happy families and a tight little community that looks out for one another.
From having to listen to someone else’s late-night rave music, to smelling what’s cooking (or being smoked) in the flat next to you, and stepping over unspeakable things in the stairwells, yeah.
Anyhow, if you’re interested in the house prices in Penhil, Rightmove says that the average price over the last year was £290,000 - which is pretty shocking as it’s above Swindon’s average of £272,000.
I’m sure I could name some other areas where your £290k would be better spent, and you’d sleep easier at night for sure.
Here’s a look at the local shop serving the towerblocks, I have no idea who owns it as it has no banner but we popped in for some water and the woman who served us there was nice.
On the plus side, Penhill has all of the amenities you’d expect on an estate serving the residents.
Like a chippy, that serves ‘ absolute banging chips, a post office that has some ropey reviews, a pub, a community center, and so on.
What do you think should be done to clean up areas like this? Maybe you live in Penhill or somewhere similar, we'd love to hear from you!
#swindon #citytour #walkingtour #crime_news #penhill
Hope you enjoyed this video! If you have any feedback or comments, we'd love to hear them!
You didn’t go to the roughest part of penhill called the valley main road through is ramsbury avenue
Not as bad as the hartcliffe estate in south bristol. This area kind of reminds me of hartcliffe
I was kinda hoping you were going to film by the church and catch my old home No 71, I always look at any video that has Penhill in the title, I sort of want to go back then realise it's not the 70's, I'm glad I left but i do look at Penhill as my best childhood memories, thanks for doing this video..
Do you remember the Walsh family? I think they lived in that row.@@fasttracktoforexprofits3528
"absolutely banging chips" is all I really need to know about an area
I used to live in Penhill, 71 Penhill drive in the 70's, we moved away to the south in 1977, it was great then, remember summer of '76' , very fond memories for me, such a shame its run down in places now, can't believe the price of the houses OMG!
I remember the summer of 76. I was eight years old and living in Sale, Manchester. That summer seemed twice as long back then.
My whole family moved to Swindon in 1979 as my dad was promoted at the Garrard turntable company just off the magic roundabout.
I live in Covingham now. Can't say I've ever been a big fan of Swindon, but there are some lovely places still left. I like Covingham. It's a tidy suburb the residents seem to respect.
If I had the money I'd move back to Manchester. I didn't want to leave. At eight years old, you don't really get a say in the family direction. I feel Manchester is like an unfinished chapter in my life that needs to be finished. More unlikely as the years roll by.
I hope your life is going well down in the south. Sounds like you did the right thing moving out of Swindon.
I lived at number 95 in the mid seventies to the late eighties. Did you know the Rowland family that lived a few doors down from you?
@@WhothefuckdrivesastationwagonMy mum worked at Garrards just before we moved to Penhill and she also lives in covingham now.
@@WhothefuckdrivesastationwagonMeant to say that mum lives in Hawkswood.
@@QueenNoTeetha151 I'm on Merlin Way. I can walk to Hawkswood within a minute.
I grew up in Penhill in the 60s/ 70s. It was a respectable, safe and friendly place back then. At that time it was bordered by countryside and many long summer days were spent in the surrounding fields. We walked across the fields to Blunsdon to the Speedway on a Saturday evening. The mighty Swindon Robins of Barry Briggs, Bob Kilby and Martin Ashby et al. Such a shame to see Penhill as it is.
Me too- but 50,s and 60,s, though Barry Briggs was around and Mike Broadbanks. Decent soccer team in those days too. Moved into Charlton Close in 52, first st to be built in Penhill. Def gone downhill since those days.
Great post. Good balanced view.
Have had a rental house on Penhill for the last 12 years, my tenants are 100% sound, spent 2 months doing the place up before they moved in, people on the whole were polite and friendly.
It's always the very small % that makes the headlines as nothing positive is written by the press.
Those balconies are surprisingly free of broken bicycles, old prams etc. I think you still haven't found the worst areas...
I know, right, this was like a fun day out compared to some places 😂
They have in Swindon Manchester Road. but as you say compared to Southend or London estates or parts of Liverpool, Manchester etc Penhill is like a holiday camp.
I grew up on Council estates in Bristol and now live in Penhill Swindon, Its actually decent compared to other areas I've been in
Yeah , it’s all relative to the overall area. So you feel safer and enjoy living in Swindon more than Bristol then?
@@ukexplored Tbh I didn't feel at risk back in the late 90's early 2000's I'm Bristol and I'd happily move back there
@@ukexploredI lived in Bristol for many years before returning to Penhill, where I grew up. I was told St. Pauls in Bristol was an area to avoid yet when I did go there I felt completely safe and very welcome. Knowle West had a reputation and indeed I saw many council houses that had dead washing machines in their front gardens, others with engine oil blackened drives, overgrown front gardens yet in the next street immaculate lawns and colourful floral displays. I got to know many of the residents and worked with a few. Hartcliffe, Southmead, and others, all told a similar story common to UK council estates. I have family members in one of those Penhill tower blocks. The view up high is fantastic. I used to take my kids to the playing fields at the bottom of Inglesham Road when they were growing up and have many many happy memories of summer evenings there. The play areas and amenities for kids are great. Pity the paddling pool isn't there any more. The park it was in is still there though. It's still very pretty. No one is going to come up to you in daylight and stab you. The worst thing about Penhill is vehicle crime, youths riding stolen motorbikes but this is a problem all over town and Penhill indeed Swindon is not any worse affected than anywhere else in UK. The gangs of feral thugs on stolen motorcycles in Coventry is just shocking. Other opinions are available, these are mine and I just happen to live there.
Couldnt agree more and being born and raised in London Brixton/Streatham then later Essex, Pitsea. Basildon and Southend these places are pretty decent compared to say Stepney or Westcliff areas of Southend.
if it was 80s and 90s it was mad 😂 ...i lived in vally for years ...
I lived in Penhill until fairly recently. Lovely place to live. Large green areas where the kids can play. Most houses have a decent sized back garden. A lot of folks don't bother with the front garden and let it get untidy. The three tower blocks are excellent. Four flats on each floor. There are two lifts so you don't have to wait too long. The flats are very good and are well sound proofed.
Yup grew up on council estates.
Imagine all of the old beautiful medieval houses getting knocked down for these soulless modernist nightmare houses.
There was nothing there but green fields when it was built. And populated by overspill Londoners who couldn't believe their luck. Five minutes away from the countryside. A far cry ftom the London slums.
Who cares, ppl need places to live . Not some vintage old ass house
I think the point is that the ‘vintage old ass houses’ being knocked down were built better and looked better. These houses were only built in the 70s (not very long ago from an architectural point of view) and they’re falling apart and look tatty
Built in the 60s on green fields. There were no medival houses
@@08emily89 who cares no one can afford that antiquated shitbox
3:12. I can confirm that the chippie does absolutely serve banging chips as I went there today & tried them out! As I was eating said chips I was approached by a local who tried to sell me a brand new mobile phone in its original box. I said no & pointed him in the direction of the local Chairty Shop which he then went to. I've never had any problems in Penhill. I often get the Number 17 Penhill bus as it stops near my area & I've never had any probl;ems on that bus either. Love the class cars (Austin A50 & Morris Minor) at 0:45 too!
You say "Most of the properties are council owned" which is wrong and thanks to Maggie's right to buy well over 60% of properties on the estate are privately owned and that was printed in the council new letter , a sad but true fact.
Thanks for that information, I couldn’t find that online.
been living in penhill all my life (28 years) and its actually not that bad...
Glad to hear that! Stats only give us an overview; the crimerate is pretty high, but it might mostly be contained to certain people/areas, such if often the case.
Enjoyed the video. I could see some high rise flats in the distance from the away end at the county ground when I went last season… maybe that was penhill then
Thanks, I think the high rise blocks in my Walcot video are much closer than Penhill to the ground, but depends on which way you were looking.
Would have been Walcot flats or maybe the David Murray John building which dominates the skyline from Swindon Town centre.
I worked on a fairly notorious council estate in the north once so doesn’t look too bad to me though I like tower blocks as used to mean lots of unassigned parking and when parking is 15 - 20 notes a night then it’s a good saving though not recommended for dates as girls don’t like it when you suddenly shout RUN and sprint off into the distance 😁. I will look for the one where you visit the Britwell estate in Slough.
Good idea re; parking , if your car is safe. I just looked up that estate, what a lovely facade off balconies those flats there have 🤔
@UK I’ve always driven old cars which takes away any concern. It started years ago in south London moaning to friends about nowhere to park and one said 15 min walk from here is the bottom end of the Aylesbury estate loads of unassigned parking especially tucked away at the side of garages but I was there a few years ago and mostly assigned parking now but then you could also park along main roads as I used to park under a bridge in Camberwell but red lines all along the roads now. London does not welcome careful or any other type of drivers.
Put people in housing this close together, it's asking for trouble , among them are hard working honest people it's heartbreaking
What's wrong with smelling what other people are having for "tea"? You'd be hard-pressed to find many houses in the UK where this isn't the case in the summer. Even a nice detached house in a leafy area, you're still only yards away from someone else's kitchen. Talking to neighbours over the garden fence or in the street is normal, not something to be feared.
Looks a nice little Estate!
I live next estate over from Penhill & it isn't that bad at all. I often get on the Penhill bus & never have any problems.
That Levelling Up is working wonders in the Sunlit Uplands. #brexthick 😂😂
These were built before the UK even joined the EU in the first place. Not everything is about Brexit.
Most people in China (Out of 1.4 billion) live in high rise flats, sometimes 5 times bigger than those in Penhill, as described and there's no grafitti, drugs, gun or knife crime. In the evenings they get together for line dancing, Tai Chi etc., without the benefits of UK and USA democracy.If you see a group of youths gathered under a lampost at night, they're usually watching some guys playing cards or chess.
No graffiti, knife or gun crime because China is a Police State with very strict censorship and close monitoring of the population. You have no choice of housing in China, high rise or high rise.
There is an extremely high amount of crime in China, arguably higher than the UK. The difference is that most of it is done by the CCP
Off you pop then. Let us know how much better it is
Been in China since April and it's great. Warm weather every day, good food and safe streets, no grafitti, homeless or any signs of police.@@kermitthefragg
Mr David drank the Kool Aid @@MrDavidc
1 of 10000 rough places in the UK, Swindon is probably don't scratch the surface when it comes to rough places
It looks nice!
Good video, but there are worse places up and down the country. Thank God you put in some positive aspects.
Penhill always had it moments like other towns but penhill always had good community spirit everyone no one person etc never states if never lived there
Seriously need to go see hartcliffe
Yeah, It's defo on our list of places to visit. I was in Bristol recently for business, but I was in Clifton, it's far too nice there, no one wants to see that. 😀
Hartcliffe isn't that bad, except for the dogshit everywhere. I lived in central Bristol though. I wouldn't live in South Bristol by choice. 😅
@@poguemahone5476pit bull shit 😂😂
I know someone from Hartcliffe & well let's just say that he still has his heart in Hartcliffe!
This video was made by the Pinehurst Posse I heard😂😂
New addington near croydon would be perfect for your channel
Thanks mate, yeah looking at Addington I'd like to go out and see that area in person, I've added itto my list of places to go!
The helmet on the tree you filmed was where one of my mates lispy lost his life and people respect it there was good to see it's still there R.I.P Lispy
I appreciate it when people share bits of information like that, thanks.
Is the helmet left there in his memory? Or you’re just pointing out that as the area?
@@ukexplored in memory
In defence of Penhill, it has certainly improved since the 1980s and 1990s - at that time it really was rough and you definitely wouldn't go there.
what's exactly is the issue with Tall apartments like Torrignton and Milverton court?
There are endless social studies showing crime rates are hundreds of times higher in high rise buildings like these, as is rates of poverty and all other social issues. It’s not hard to look up these stats. It’s obvious to me why, as well.
The chippy is banging tbf
Christ, imagine being the worst place in Swindon!
Can you do Yeovil, Sherborne, Weymouth and Taunton
Getting quite a long list of requests, but added those and will get around to them! 😂
tauntons a dump. not proud to say it but i got send down there when i was a teenager to sell hard drugs. it didnt look run down but was filled with addicts and gangs that come down from london to set up shop near hamilton park
Surely you mean Yeo-vile?
Horrific way to live.
I'd jump out the window.
Looks like Sheffield Park Hill flats, Britain will soon be the biggest open prison in Europe 🤣🤣🤣
I live in Sheffield and the Park Hill flats are a listed building and some are now private flats and sell for a small fortune.
You should go look at Manchester Road in the town center that is really bad.
We did a video on Manchester Road, interesting by night for sure! -
czcams.com/video/1nBP5crbhGc/video.html
@@ukexplored oh I didn't see that, thank you.
Yeah not a great place along with County Road too. That whole area around the bus station and the train station is really bad.
I lived in Swindon for too long. Eventually got out and moved to Cheltenham, never missed Swindon since. It is shame because it has great potential.
A German Car in Front of every House! Whats going on? Even poverty changed! LoL
Borrowing their way into poverty with misguided priorities? 😀
Stolen?!?
DLA pays for a lot of these cars I would say, I used to work in benefits so I know the story here.
Drugs trade has good returns 🤣🤣
@@johnfrancis2215. It does, I think some of my benefits clients had a sideline in that trade. Pulling up at the office to sign on jobseekers in a £30,000 car. 😂
Are these tall apartments used by council to house poor/refugees. And is that the reason for high crime rate coming from these towers?
I had a dream about moving too Swindon. Or should that be nightmare.
I usually dream about exotic locations, winning the lottery, or being a super hero, the usual things. And there’s you, dreaming about moving to Swindon 😂
West Howe,Bournemouth.
Enjoy 😊
Fun all day, every day!
@@ukexplored it’s an experience. Growing up on one
Turn your background noise down, it muffles the narrative.
I will do. Still learning how to balance audio!
Lots of open green spaces. Could be a good place to live if the people were nice.
Yeah. Could say the same for a lot of places
That corner shop is a nisa
Soon to be most places in England.
Such small community you'd think they could get a handle on this area. Also i think England needs more prisons for young criminals. They rarely give jail sentences of worth to keep trash off the streets. From lack of prison space.
Spoken like a truly clueless person
theres this weird british thing of building too many houses with out places for communities to flourish no weird lanes different structures it's all like prefab offices
What the Universal credit is going on here????
Penhill,pinehurst and parks all well know council estates with regular crime !
All the ‘P’s’ 😀
Grew up in Pinehurst, yes it was a poor area, but growing up there as a kid in the 80’s was fine, actually a good community. However, now it’s a pretty dangerous place to live unfortunately
@@dave-jk6en yes ,I agree,I wasn't putting or trying to state it's all crime ,booze drugs ,drug dealing, obviously there's a percentage of each community that are standard families trying to live a normal life in hard social and financial environment
@@dave-jk6en yes it had that stabbing incident which was fatal causing the death of a relatively young man ,up near the volcano in Pinehurst
@@averilloanthony7527 yeah that was terrible, sad to see what it’s like there now. Enjoyed the vids though, took me back down memory lane 👍
A totally unfair and misleading video. I've lived in Penhill for over 23 years. Our street is very quiet. Children are well behaved and seldom out after dark. You show a house that had a fire that, at the time of filming, had not been repaired. That is not the fault of the residents of Penhill but the fault of the slow and incompetent Swindon Borough Council. In our street, most of the houses turned private long ago. Many have been sold on to thoroughly decent, nice people. Yes, there are pockets of undesirables but you will get that anywhere. Perhaps you should be looking at the high crime rate in the new Tadpole Village Gardens, particularly drug related or even the mostly private Abbymeads estate. I will point out that the crime rate across the country has risen exponentially. The reason - there is no deterrent and too many "soft" judges. I'm totally fed up with people like you, who have never lived here, giving Penhill an undeserved bad name.
It's a sheet hole mate. Always has been always will be. The reason you don't know is becasue you have lived there so long and have nothing else to compare it too
@@user-ub5qp8sq1w First, you need to learn some manners. I am not your "mate". I am a 66 year old woman. I have lived in private estates and council estates. I owned my own house until my husband and I divorced in 1995. I left my home city to move to Swindon, rented privately for 4 years until the landlady decided to sell the house, hence how I came to live in Penhill.
I have plenty of places to compare it with and I am a retired taxi driver, retiring from that in 2004. Never once did I have a problem with anyone from Penhill, in fact, quite the opposite. However, I did have runners (those that run without paying their fare) from West Swindon, Wootton Bassett, Wroughton and Stanford-in-the-Vale from a young lady (if she could be called that) who lived in a very affluent area.
It doesn't matter where you go you will always find a bad element somewhere. As I said in my original comment, 3/4 of Penhill has turned private, the houses sold on maybe 2, 3 times or more. The bad rep Penhill once had is no longer valid. I blame the Swindon Adver for stirring it up about Penhill. They never miss an opportunity yet there's more trouble in Abbymeads and the new Tadpole Village Gardens. Yes, we do have our share of wrong 'uns but no more than anywhere else and as time goes by, there will be even less of them.
The majority of people in Penhill now won't put up with anti-social behaviour and it's high time people like you, who's probably never set foot in Penhill learned that.
I live not far from Penhill & have never had any trouble whenever I have gone to Penhill. I often get the Number 17 Penhill bus & I've never had any trouble on that either.
Can you bravely filming in Wythenshawe in Manchester?
I’ve made a note of that area. We’re stepping up the risk factor as we progress. Just survived two days in Bristol and feeling confident right now 😀
Glad you get out in one piece.
@@ukexplored I thought Charlie Veitch had it covered
Funny coz i know that area in and out , good ol times
this place is scuuuuuuuuuuufffed!
Laughed so hard. But yeah, it’s scuffshire.
Penhill is about as dangerous as Southends better estates. Southend i would rate as at least 10 x worse if not worse. Kursaal estate now Woodgrange by far worse. Swindon is like being on holiday compared to Southend and London... Dont start me on London.
tower blocks aint a touch on the vally you didnt go down to the vally my guy 😂😂....tower blocks are quite to say thr vally on a weekend lol 😂
Try filming Jaywick
I was thinking about it, I liked the TV show 😀
"You Will Never Find A More Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy."
Hi, sorry it doesn't look at all bad to me, though of course there may be problems
Same, seems fine.
It isn't bad at all. I live in a nearby estate & I've never had any trouble walking through Penhill or on the bus.
i live in one of the slightly better bits of Swindon as its cheaper than the Oxfordshire village i grew up in but its a crappy town in general full of crappy areas
I live in swindon
It's the police to blame not the people
Even driving through areas like this make me shudder, let alone living in a place like this, or any social housing estate.
1:49 that’s actually Pinehurst. Shows how misleading 1 video can be. I agree though, Penhill is probably the worst. Followed by Park north and south, with certain area’s of pinehurst very close behind 👍🏼
My bad if that's the case, we filmed a few locations on the day and had hundreds of clips to work through, appreciate you pointing it out.
Not sure how a 5 second clip of one house that has no impact on the narrative of the video is 'misleading' though.
@@ukexplored I think you’ve taken it to literally, my apologies. I think what I meant to say is how easy it is to mislead via social media etc. the narrative remains the same though. Although, I live in the same style house a mile the the west of “the circle” council built, in 1968-70. It cost me over 310k! The street is genuinely lovely, people have bought and improved 👌🏼
Yeah, that's my bad again! ha I thought you were saying the clip made it misleading - yeah, for the good and the bad, Swindon ain't cheap! I was actually over there this morning visiting a friend 😀
@@ukexplored it’s one of them, it serves a purpose for most, a place to live that is close to London/Bristol. Luckily, it’s very easy to get out of Swindon
@@zakstratton37why would you spend 300000 on a house in a town you fell lucky to get out of? You could move to bristol or london? Or anywhere else of your choosing
Nah the worst areas of Bristol and Plymouth are worse than Swindon.
A lot of drive by knife throwing
How are people paying 286,000 pounds for these piles of crap?
The bad news is ........................Shit aint improving
R.I.P UK
Migrant Disneyland !
😂😂
My friend has a friend who goes to Swindon Academy in Penhill and her and her best friend were just walking coming back from school and a man comes up and says to them "What are you 2 girls doing here"
They said they were walking home from school and he said "What are you doing here without a gun" Then the man gets his gun out and aims at my friends Friend but her best friend shields her and she gets shot and dies, then my friends friend runs away. I told my friend why didn't she call the police, and he says because the police don't care about Penhill.I was shocked and very sad to hear about the story.
That’s a crazy story, and part of the reality of the dangers that are out there. You make sure you stay safe if you go out in Penhill!
Lmao what is this, 1900s wild west, I'll a 1000 on that never happened! 😂
@@skinlesswalnut6259I think he was lying
That sounds suspiciously like a cold blooded deliberate lie. Having been on the police consultative committee, I know the police care about Penhill. In any case they always care about shooting and murder.
You been watching to much TV, as that never happened. but nice story all the same. Maybe a change of carer, I hear EastEnders are after story writers
IRRITATING BACKGROUND NOISE .........I AM OFF !
… thought something was making smells.