Britain's Mean Streets

[scotsboy]

Read this article in Time the other day, it makes for grim reading.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547,00.html

[Phoebus_Apollo]

Read this article in Time the other day, it makes for grim reading.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547,00.html (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547,00.html)


Good article - looks like Thurso maybe gong the same way - there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.

[golach]

Good article - looks like Thurso maybe gong the same way - there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.
I spotted that last weekend when I was up, we nicknamed it Hoodie Corner

[Phoebus_Apollo]

I spotted that last weekend when I was up, we nicknamed it Hoodie Corner

I call it Chav Central...natch!

[percy toboggan]

Good article - looks like Thurso maybe gong the same way - there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.

Must be a big seat.
'Scowling' sounds par for the course for teenagers but if they're breaking windows where are the Police? Surely there must be a couple or three on duty...is this worse at weekends?
The youth have to congregate somewhere I suppose but I'm sure 'mean' is not a description appropriate to Thurso's thoroughfares.

What do the local crime stats say?

[Phoebus_Apollo]

Must be a big seat.
'Scowling' sounds par for the course for teenagers but if they're breaking windows where are the Police? Surely there must be a couple or three on duty...is this worse at weekends?
The youth have to congregate somewhere I suppose but I'm sure 'mean' is not a description appropriate to Thurso's thoroughfares.

What do the local crime stats say?

Seems worse on Weekends Percy...at least from what I`ve seen...there have been a spate of broken windows in Traill House (where the job centre used to be) and all this beneath the watchful eye of a CCTV camera! tbh it`s small fry in comparison with what goes on in the larger cities but it can be enough to discourage tourists, older folk et al from walking through chav central.

[poppett]

Yesterday morning I was driving down Olrig Street about 7.30am and came upon 8 or 10 old "mannies" two or three dogs at the front of Serendipity. They mostly had on bonnets and rainjackets, is this a fashion statement from the previous generation of the hoodies mentioned in a previous posting?

They were not going to Dounreay as they did not have yellow jackets, but they looked a daunting lot, and there were a few skowels on show too.

[cd1977]

Those "mannies" had best watch themselves.

What with gangs of feral youths roaming the streets of Caithness habitually beating up the elderly.

[Cattach]

Good article - looks like Thurso maybe gong the same way - there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.

News to me. Go past that way a lot and in the evenings take that route in both directions on my evening walk. Mostly a large group of girls in their very early teens who seen to be having harmless fun and chat. Have never bothered me, an old pensioner who migh be seen as a yarget, and I have not seen them bothering anyone else.

Problem is most likely that some people are always on the lookout for something bad to say about the youth of today. Read the 100 years ago columns in the various newspapers and you will see that little has changed with the same youthful and generally harmless exuberance.

[henry20]

News to me. Go past that way a lot and in the evenings take that route in both directions on my evening walk. Mostly a large group of girls in their very early teens who seen to be having harmless fun and chat. Have never bothered me, an old pensioner who migh be seen as a yarget, and I have not seen them bothering anyone else.

Problem is most likely that some people are always on the lookout for something bad to say about the youth of today. Read the 100 years ago columns in the various newspapers and you will see that little has changed with the same youthful and generally harmless exuberance.

I beg to differ Cattach - on many occassions I have seen groups of young teens intimidating people passing by. Its never been big groups, but I don't think it needs to be for someone to feel intimidated. It is mainly female groups I have seen this happening with.

On other occassions I have seen them pestering passers by to go in and buy them cigarettes. The odd time they do pick on someone stupid enough to do it :roll:

Saying that, it only takes a few 'bad eggs' to ruin it for others.

[Sporran]

Good article - looks like Thurso maybe gong the same way - there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.




Seems worse on Weekends Percy...at least from what I`ve seen...there have been a spate of broken windows in Traill House (where the job centre used to be) and all this beneath the watchful eye of a CCTV camera! tbh it`s small fry in comparison with what goes on in the larger cities but it can be enough to discourage tourists, older folk et al from walking through chav central.

I am shocked and saddened to hear of this going on in my hometown of Thurso!! Changed days from when I lived there! Is anything like this happening in Wick as well?

[the_count]

You would think that CCTV would be a deterent but i think the youths or today look at it as a chance to get their first ASBO, the first badge of recognition among their peer group. Strange i know but true!!!! :confused

[rich]

Thurso in the 50s and 60s had some pretty tough characters. As in the Glebe or Shore Street or Springpark. I can remember in Campbell Street ducking stones hurled at me in some sort of confrontation with the Glebers.
And who will ever forget the protracted scandal of the Thurso Youth who got taken up an alley by two policemen for some physical chastising.
Phew!
I was in my fair share of fights.I can't say I was awfully good at it but I had a big mouth and a plummy accent and I was a great sneerer too so I got in fights. The last fight I was in I got absolutely hammered by a guy called Robert Smith. There was a group of us hanging out at the railway station. It must have been winter because I was wearing gloves.
Anyhow I started shoving Smith around - for no conceivable reason that I can remember - and he retaliated with a swift biff on my nose. So I hit him back on the side of his head. It didn't do much damage because cunning old Smith had started in on me before I could get my gloves off.
What with trying to get my gloves off while withstanding this hurricane of blows I did not do well in this skirmish.
So we finally quit when he was well ahead on points and was still dancing round me ready to get a few more shots in.
I often wonder what became of him....

[percy toboggan]

I still think most of 'the youth' respect old people.
Intimidation is surely a rare event, especially up there where locals are so much more identifiable surely?

Those with most to fear are younger people, especially lone males or those out in two's late on.
We cannot allow ourselves to categorise every group of young folk stood on street corners taling as being 'up to no good' A society that fears the young generation has a very dodgy future. I can recognise some of this in oru big cities but that's because those there have safety in numbers and in anonymity.
Any way most kids who wear hooded tops are doing so to merely blend in and keep a low profile...they are just as 'scared' as some of the old folk in my opinion.

[SunsetSong]

I can't speak for all the kids who hang around that particular corner.....but I do personally know a few of the girls, 4 of them in particular....and I can assure you they are up to no good.

We had problems with 2 of them about 6 months ago (they live within a couple of streets of me) as they were friends with my son in primary school. Since going into High School things have changed drastically and my son is no longer friends with them....they tried to extort/blackmail money off him in return for not telling me something he had done. In the end he did the right thing and owned up to me what he had done (tried smoking) and we reported the girls to the police.

[Phoebus_Apollo]

I am shocked and saddened to hear of this going on in my hometown of Thurso!! Changed days from when I lived there! Is anything like this happening in Wick as well?

Well tbh Sporran Wick is the crime capital of Caithness- a quick shift over the courier/jog journal crime section reveals a plethora of misdemeanors - mostly in the format - "Joe Bloggs,Somewhere Street,Wick".

[trix]

there are a gang of about 30 youths who frequent the green seat opposite Cafe Cardosi and enjoy walking in front of cars, scowling at tourists and breaking windows.

ye wid niver ken (unless someone telt ye) but, see 'at green bench....

weel, i da ken 'e proper crack aboot'ed but there used til be a plaque on'ed that said, 'rest, and be thankful'

ma auld wifies an manies telt me 'at ;)

[trix]

guess 'e kiddies that hing aboot ayre now only hev til be thankful for cheap booze an thick fowlk til get it for them :roll:[evil]

[TBH]

Well tbh Sporran Wick is the crime capital of Caithness- a quick shift over the courier/jog journal crime section reveals a plethora of misdemeanors - mostly in the format - "Joe Bloggs,Somewhere Street,Wick".Keep repeating that rubbish and you may actually convince somebody.[lol]

[trix]

ye wid niver ken (unless someone telt ye) but, see 'at green bench....

weel, i da ken 'e proper crack aboot'ed but there used til be a plaque on'ed that said, 'rest, and be thankful'

ma auld wifies an manies telt me 'at ;)

aww...excuse me....i niver read 'e thread properly...

'e green bench that i wis meanin wis 'e aine cross 'e road fie auld cabrelies - 'e cafe in wiek.....beside 'e camps...

[Phoebus_Apollo]

aww...excuse me....i niver read 'e thread properly...

'e green bench that i wis meanin wis 'e aine cross 'e road fie auld cabrelies - 'e cafe in wiek.....beside 'e camps...

Aye well Trix - Thurso has it`s own version of the green bench, but I`m sure the weekers will agree that it`s a better class of bench..;)

[TBH]

Aye well Trix - Thurso has it`s own version of the green bench, but I`m sure the weekers will agree that it`s a better class of bench..;)A nice bench in a place that has more chance of an Asbo than an Asda.:D

[Phoebus_Apollo]

A nice bench in a place that has more chance of an Asbo than an Asda.:D

Any man worth his salt will tell you that Asda is the poor mans Tesco....or maybe not..:Razz