The 'most normal' town in britain

sgosden

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

Rox

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

Having seen the way some people talk about other of differing creeds and faiths, there's far too much misplaced pride and prejudice for my liking...

EricTheWeary

I know Droitwich Spa a bit which is second, I tend to think of it as a slightly odd little town with the spa (although I think it's closed) and funny little streets in the town centre. I'd be surprised if it represents Britain's diversity very well although living in the West Midlands perhaps I think we are more diverse than lots of places in the UK really are. 

guitars4you

I love these #hit surveys's - what the hell is normal and how do you measure it - worse still that someone gets paid to create such stats - granted there are nice towns and grotty towns but how do you determine nice town A,B,C or D is better than nice town E,F,G or H - different shops, population, amenities and surrondings all have an impact - but overall these survey's are #hit IMO

boogieman

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

Moominpapa

boogieman said:

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

Holy cow! I hope that guy was all right ....

scrumhalf

Can you be the most normal anything?

Isn't "normal" defined by a set of parameters? Unless you say that "normal" is, say, meeting three of five parameters and meeting four might make you "more normal". But then how do you get to be the most normal?

I say this from the viewpoint of never meeting any sort of criteria for normal.

CabbageCat

Southwick? That's not a town. It's barely even a place. It's just a smear between Portslade and Shoreham, which are themselves just extra bits of Brighton and Worthing.

Sambostar

kennedydream1980

boogieman said:

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

Almost as bad as, "Man dies of natural causes" definitely a slow news day that day :-)

Bridgehouse

I used to live in Didcot.

Me and the missus, and most of our friends used to call it DeadCat.

Says it all really...

Sambostar

Bon Jovi and Motley Crue made me change the future

Sleepyscholar

Several posters have asked about what the researchers mean by 'normal'. This is the key part of their research, but as with most reporting, it's the bit that gets mostly missed out of the media reporting, because it's rarely as sexy as the soundbite conclusion. Don't blame the researchers for the partial reporting that appears on news sites!

However, in this case, the answer is right there staring you in the face. Didcot is statistically the most normal. That means that according to the criteria they selected (which are, again, mentioned right at the start of the article) Didcot's overall result is closest to the national average.

On the face of it, therefore, it's a purely objective numerical measure. That's not quite true, of course, because the selection and weighting of criteria affects the result; but if you read the research, I'm sure you'd find an explanation of their methods.

Ghost Town, of course, is Coventry during the early 80s. I know, I was there...

VimFuego

boogieman said:

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

well, nothing ever happens in the towns down here, but if you see some of the natural born inhabitants of those towns, you'll quickly realise they are a long fuckin way from normal.

thecolourbox

Sleepyscholar said:

Several posters have asked about what the researchers mean by 'normal'. This is the key part of their research, but as with most reporting, it's the bit that gets mostly missed out of the media reporting, because it's rarely as sexy as the soundbite conclusion. Don't blame the researchers for the partial reporting that appears on news sites!

However, in this case, the answer is right there staring you in the face. Didcot is statistically the most normal. That means that according to the criteria they selected (which are, again, mentioned right at the start of the article) Didcot's overall result is closest to the national average.

On the face of it, therefore, it's a purely objective numerical measure. That's not quite true, of course, because the selection and weighting of criteria affects the result; but if you read the research, I'm sure you'd find an explanation of their methods.

Ghost Town, of course, is Coventry during the early 80s. I know, I was there...

Yes I agree, their definition of "normal" for the purpose of this study is very clearly defined in this but I suppose it's easy for people to get all wound up by applying their own (subjective) concept of normal to it instead and therefore missing the point

sgosden

VimFuego said:

boogieman said:

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

well, nothing ever happens in the towns down here, but if you see some of the natural born inhabitants of those towns, you'll quickly realise they are a long fuckin way from normal.

12,000, 4 surnames, something isn't right here.

guitars4you

just baffles me as to what the research criteria can call normal - for something to be normal then something else has to be not normal - so for now what is not a normal town and what will I find there ? - Toon town - some weird alien characters - mud hut style shopping centres and wacky natives with multiple body piercings and wear string vests 

boogieman

sgosden said:

VimFuego said:

boogieman said:

sgosden said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-39428314

Having lived in the area all my life, it's strange to think that Didcot is considered 'normal' . The town centre , which is populated by charity shops, and single mums in track suits chugging down faaags - seems very far flung from the American view that everything is all pride and prejudice on this side of the pond!

My first bro in law and his family lived in Didcot. If by "normal" they mean nothing ever happens I guess they're right. I remember him showing me the local paper once (Didcot Herald?): the headline was "girl empties bag of crisps over man's head". 

well, nothing ever happens in the towns down here, but if you see some of the natural born inhabitants of those towns, you'll quickly realise they are a long fuckin way from normal.

12,000, 4 surnames, something isn't right here.

I lived in Oxford and worked in a diy shop Witney in the late 70s. On market day in Witney you'd get a whole bunch of very odd people coming in from the the local villages. There was one place, I think it was Bampton, where everyone was seriously interbred and the place had a reputation for having the biggest number of ESN people in the whole of England. I remember one Bamptonite asking me for a part for a lawnmower. When I asked him what make it was, he looked puzzled for a while then finally said "Errrr, I dunno. It's green ". 

guitars4you

boogieman said:

I lived in Oxford and worked in a diy shop Witney in the late 70s. On market day in Witney you'd get a whole bunch of very odd people coming in from the the local villages. There was one place, I think it was Bampton, where everyone was seriously interbred and the place had a reputation for having the biggest number of ESN people in the whole of England. I remember one Bamptonite asking me for a part for a lawnmower. When I asked him what make it was, he looked puzzled for a while then finally said "Errrr, I dunno. It's green ". 

sounds like a local shop for local people - Royston Vasey style

so can we say Didcot has a normal shop for normal people

Handsome_Chris

Didcot, even Wetherspoons won't go there.

Bridgehouse

Handsome_Chris said:

Didcot, even Wetherspoons won't go there.

Bicester Snob