A Look Inside Two of The UK's POOREST Most DEPRIVED Areas 

Hope you enjoyed this look inside a couple of the most deprived areas in Walsall; Pleck and Darlaston. As always, all comments, questions, and feedback are welcome!

England has really gone down hill big time . Poverty poor mental health and substance abuse issues.

0:27 I used to manage Pleck youth centre back in 2007/8 - it was tough / challenging work. But we did everything we could to make it recognised as one of the best youth clubs in Walsall at the time. Shout out to all the young people who passed through and all the staff that supported.

I think one of the things that truly highlight the future of these regions is the fact that, despite all the derelict houses, empty stores, poverty, crime and lack of services... The cost of living, rent, property, store leases, bills and taxes are equal or even higher than when things weren't in this state. Purely for morbid curiosity, It'd be interesting to see what happens when the cost of living exceeds the average income or when nobody can afford rent or mortgages or when every type of company becomes too financially high risk for a bank to provide a loan for..

nice coverage and commentary makes me thankful I live elsewhere tbh. What kills me the most is all the litter. New sub by the way, like your style 😎

I grew up in Pleck in the 70´s. It was OK and most people took pride in their home/area. Pleck park was lovely in those dreamy summer days. There has always been poverty in the UK but something has changed with peoples mindset. What drives people to trash the environment or dump litter? It must be a sign that people have no hope for the future economically or socially.

My late mother grew up around Pleck during WW2. I grew up around the Walsall area but moved to the north of Scotland 20 years ago when the kids were little. Best thing I ever did to be honest

Darlaston town center used to be a lot better before they knocked a large chunk of it down to replace the old Asda store with new current one. Also not meaning to be pedantic but Darlaston is pronounced Dar-Las-Ton. Oh, and Caldmore is called Karma by the locals.

This is honestly shocking, I grew up in north England, and the news always makes it seem like north England is the poorest and most destitute part of the UK. But I've started to realise over the past few years that that's not the case at all. It's mind blowing how house prices can be so high in the midlands when there's so much poverty.

I’ve become totally addicted to your vids. I’d no idea such squalor existed. It’s so sad.

"Pleck" literally sounds like someone coughing up flegm.

Poverty clearly affects a person’s capability of using a bin

You should visit Huddersfield. All the shops have turned into abandoned derelict blocks. Dewsbury is a 20 minutes drive too which is an awful town.

Would be interesting to see you cover parts of Coventry like Foleshill, Hillfields, Longford etc. I've spent the last decade living around Walsall and Coventry so seeing this outside perspective on what our communities are like is fascinating.

Great content. Keep it coming.

i was born in darlaston and grew up between there and pleck it was always "rough" in places but nothing like this! I think it was the thatcher years and the massive loss of industry that really started the rot now compounded by the rise of online shopping and the huge hikes in rents and commercial tax's that have killed the shopping areas. amongst some (other) changes now live in rural berkshire and it pains me to see how far darlo has fallen!!

I used to live in Darlaston once upon a time. I was an immigrant who arrived there in the sixties. It breaks my heart to see how it's gone down hill😢😢. What will be the future for mankind? Is there any hope for life? Tell me if you know the answer!!!!!!

You are depressing me, moved from Caldmore area to a new council house in Pleck 1952, just before the coronation, nice, safe. lot of industry, good jobs and at this point in time we had no migrants. In 1961 started my apprenticeship at Rubery Owen Darlaston, they employed around 6,000 people, well paid, on site doctor, dentist, optician, convalescent home, welfare department, full range of sports plus sports ground, and social side. It all started falling apart after we joined the EU, then Maggie stepped in, Darlaston employment fell from around 27,000 to around 3,000 in not much over 3-5 year period.. The problems we have today are due to actions taken by Governments, management and unions going back to the 60's, we look at yesterday, no 50 years back.

Yes I agree these areas are horrendous. I have been to all the places in this video, as I used to live not far away. It is an absolute dump, and getting progressively worse.

Would be good to see you visit some of the bad areas of Luton in Bedfordshire. Like the town centre, Farley Hill, High Town, New Town, Marsh Farm, Lewsey Farm. I grew up in a town nearby and it's always had a bad reputation and seems it's only getting worse

I keep hearing Walsall as Warsaw

I drive through Pleck regularly and seeing it here even I’m thinking “fuck me it’s a shithole” ...

Love the channel and videos. I am waiting for Oldbury and Handsworth. Dont mind going with you for handsworth. Lived there for 17 years

looks just like an everyday town in the middle east.

The UK is the test bed for Net Zero and Smart cities. Think ULEZ, 20mph zones, etc. They want to redefine what is a city, so these areas are being run down, because they don't tax Amazon (PULL FACTORS), make it difficult for physical shops to survive, high taxes for them and no deterrent for shoplifting (PUSH FACTORS). If your city is being run down but the next one is OK then you know what has been decided.

This place is really grim 😢

You should make a video on Walsall town centre.

You showed Scarborough Road and that's actually in an area called Alumwell. That's pretty rundown too.

Please come to Tipton 🙏

your first videos were not great but these are brilliant, drone use and walking around is great, just get a team and dont go alone!

I grew up on a housing estate , watching some of your clips has shocked me and made me ask myself why ?

Should definitely check out the Foleshill area in Coventry, fly tipping is rly bad been going on for years, high deprivation. Really industrial area, lots of drugs n crack dens

Willenhall town centre is much worse than pleck or darlaston why do's it keep being overlooked or just ignored

Very surprised you haven’t been to Teesside. It’s been the countries most dangerous and poverty stricken area in the country for years. From Southbank, Grangetown, Stockton, Hartlepool and beyond, the North East is one rough place.

I’ve watched a few of your films today and one thing that struck me is the number of Maseratis in these areas.

Go Newtown Birmingham or some of the other brummy areas m8 it’s grim

if houses cost 178,000, how does anyone pay it? most are poor. and also why would anyone want to pay all that to live there?

Walsall is a toilet. I worked there for 10 years and walking around the town Centre was very, very grim. I got out of the place as quick as I could every evening. To be honest, most of the UK looks like this.

I moved to Saudi from caldmore to teach, and looking back at Walsall it seems so dystopian, derelict and downtrodden. In the Middle East the the adults think of England as a prosperous place. When I showed them this video, they said if this was In saudi they would be ashamed. Every country has her issues. But some are in a rapid decline.

My one memory of Darlaston is the terrific chippy. Orange chips were the best, no idea if the shop is still there. The house prices in these areas are absurd!

Why does it feel that houses are the new gold bars since we left the gold standard? I mean houses are effectively locked away from poor people with high prices to prevent them from being used like gold bars would be.

why don’t you visit Edmonton! Was born in Enfield, really miss living there ngl.

3:00 tbf i wouldnt want to be in the video either so fair to him

You should do great yarmouth mate and other seaside towns and how they have been affected by the situation...the seaside towns were the first to start dying!

Its about the low lifes who live there not the Areas...

Not surprised the pubs close when none of the people who live there can't drink

Its walsall not Warsaw thats in poland

5:12 lmao, good point as well

Would be cool if you made a video on Leominster if you're up for suggestions.

I'm a bit confused, are you saying that the woman physically told you about the syringes in the area?

Im from darlaston and I saw the thumbnail of the town and I had to click

I appreciate what you doing. Instead of spending 4 billion per year of tax payers money housing illegal migrants, that money could be used to reform the education systems, and subsidise business ventures in deprived areas like the ones shown in you videos. What do modern Brits have to be proud of? Our country is sliding into a shot hole, and our elite politicians only care about themselves. It's depressing...

As someone who lives in Darlaston have done for 10 years and had commuted through it as a kid with my dad for a few years or used it when I lived in Moxley, It is a town that is misunderstood. Yes it's poor so to is Walsall, and yes there is fly tipping but I will get to that. 20 years ago Darlaston pronounced Darl as tun or Darl us ton Black Country Accent Everyone just calls it Darlo used to be a busy town, Asda was smaller and that is what caused the town to be like it is now as Asda wanted a bigger shop, years before that Darlaston used to be a massive employer you had Rubery Owen in Darlaston Green you filmed part of it actually it is just a frontage near to the bridge over the Canal, Garringtons, GKN, James Bridge Copper Works, FH Lloyds a big Steel place and Patent Shaft more Wednesbury those two, you also had Servis the Washing Machine Maker and Jebron Door Factory both opposite each other in the Kings Hill area near to Wednesbury. They closed around the late 80's to late 90's Servis was much later and Jebron to, you also had Wardys in Moxley/Darlaston. The town was decimated and people fell on hard times. But the one thing about Darlaston is actually the people are all working class salt of the earth people all know each other once you make a friend in Darlo you know like 5 other people as that person knows like 3 other people who ask who you are and then they know others and eventually you know a lot that you recognise people but don't know them all directly. Basically if someone who was well known was being chased or attacked by someone you would get help as that person who sees you would get involved then the people they know and so on, meanwhile you have cleaned yourself up and am playing PlayStation in say your Mates house whilst his mum makes you a cuppa and his Dad sorts it downstairs. But another less voilent example is actually a pretty horrible one but at the end of September it was about half past three and the school run was taking place when two Girls aged 6 or 7 were hit by a Dangerous Driver and then ran over as the guy tried to run, the Parents of other kids stopped the guy. He wasn't charged but the outpouring you had Current Parents and Ex Parents as there isn't a crossing doing Crossing Patrols, getting Petetions, Getting Better Speed Limit signs as the Sinage is awful and printing Banners you may have seem them on your way to the Park in Darlaston, but not just the parents of that school, other parents and People came out to get the council to do sometime. The local councillors said they were aware but the problem lay with the higher ups. Darlo is that sort of place everyone knows everyone struggles because Darlo ay what it was when my dad remembers it 20 years ago so they do community events and sort stuff out we have the wombles to counteract rubbish. Darlo managed to find a lost Dog from Wednesbury all the people looked for it and it was found in Bilston but people were helping the owner who didn't know the area out and trying to call him and left food out for it. The problem amongst with Darlo is there anywhere for people to work or to properly go we have Pubs sure, George Rose Park but in the middle of Winter, employment opportunity in Darlo are slowly rising in small manufacturing but at 7AM the bus to Walsall gets rammed with people either working there or getting the bus to Birmingham for education or Work. That is why between Walsall and Darlaston the buses combine to run every 6 minutes and the West Brom to Wolverhampton Bus who I knew many regulars off when I caught it to and from college is every 10 and is busy of a morning and evening. So people have no where to go. The Council don't care about the Place it took them ages to demolish a fire damaged building by me and they don't clean up the parks or fix stuff. The police have been cut so they are now based the otherside of Walsall near to Blakenall in Bloxwhich when you have them two plus Beechdale and Pleck to deal with Darlo gets left behind. The biggest issue is when we settled after moving around the Black Country here 10 years ago the area wasn't as bad as it is now. When you were filming the shops by the Libary how many J9 accommodation places did you count probably 3 there used to be 5 in a row why because J9 buy up a lot of derelict houses or Pubs or Dentists or buildings and convert them to HMO's and fill them full of Crackheads and Alocholics, it also been filled full of immigrants who are causing the rubbish and flytipping although the Bins we do have aren't emptied often enough. Most people of Darlo have moaned about J9 before but fuck all has happened. The Police Station they were gonna take off but someone outbid and is going to build Luxury flats or put them in the building. But yeah a lot of the Pubs are HMO's or flats not for The average Darlo person no for People out of prison. Opposite my house although listed on google as Hotel petite I assume it was years ago is a Halfway house right by a Primary school. Darlo is set to get a new train station and has been given 20 Mil funding but that does fuck all to scratch the service. Also the Town was probably queit as everyone was in Asda or at one of the local football grounds either West Brom or Wolves or Villa or Walsall or maybe even Darlaston Town who play in Bentley or had gon to the Pub to watch it on sky or Walsall for shopping. Darlo used to busy on the last Saturday of the school holidays as a shop called Clemmys sold School uniforms and obviously everyone would queue outside to get it that's closed as the owners retired and is now a fast food place. Clemmys was next to the Vape Shop opposite the Libary and Boots was further down I think where Boyle Sports is now. I ay gonna tell you what is above them shops but it certainly isn't for the people of Darlo and there is a similar place that Green topped Building you filmed to again not for the people of Darlo. But Darlaston is misunderstood Pleck is worse the only reason Crime seems lower is because most of the people who live there are linked to it. The Brown Lion you showed closed years ago in the 90's it is now Flats.

How is the average house worth 176k? UK is truly broken

it is a dump and a disgrace lately never used to be😕

That sad thing is the UK has so many deprived areas

The shops in darlaston town on a Saturday afternoon are definitely open and there will definitely be people out. There is a giant asda you didnt show that everyone goes to on a Saturday afternoon. Looks like youre showing us sunday morning

any chance of doing the worst and most dangerous place(s) in London?

Why are the houses still expensive!?

Yeah, about right. The main problem is the council tbh. No inclination to support areas with any meaningful help. Asb is actually the worst aspect and is generally the behaviour of car drivers who terrorise the neighbourhoods and cause a lot of destruction to public property from wrecking grass verges to smashing down railings to speeding in residential areas. The canals are used as bins despite volunteer clean ups. However wildlife is doing ok in the canals, certainly improving over the last 25 years or so. I live in Palfrey next to Pleck, not quite as shite here but bad in places.

I've lived in darlaston now for 45 years and seen go down hill

Is this what the government meant by levelling up.....

You should visit my home town of Scunthorpe

also u are much funnier than others that do similar youtube videos. an can i ask if u wer inspired by that american chap, only ask koz of tha way give all the relevant statistics for that area which he does 🙏🙏🙏🙏

You should go to leigh (Wigan)

I live in walsall for the last 5 years now would of been great to of met you 🙏💯

Do small heath....good luck😂

Lmao I love listening to your videos at 0.5 speed as you sound drunk XD

Do acocks green hall green stechford

looking forward to seeing pleck develop over the coming months and years.

The councils need to buck their ideas up and have the clean all the litter up and make it tidier. The abandoned buildings and nursing homes etc need to be dropped instead of making the place look like an eyesore

I thought kingstanding was bad. Even Streetly is beginning to wane. Have you been to Paisley?

Any areas which are predominantly Pakistani are full of fly tipping. I work in the sector so see it everyday. Have even witnessed them doing it in front of me.

The whole of the country will look like that soon.

1:49 whats that say?

Go to Stafford highfields / Attlee crescent

Attended my grandads funeral monday we had the wake at the railway pub, so after a free bar and a few hours later decided to walk home back to beechdale i ended up in one of them indian resturants in the main street only had a quick bite (tandori lamb chop) 3 days later im just startin to feel better. Never again am i steppin foot in any of the shops in that shit hole

When you grow up there that’s when it’s acceptable poverty is relative not compared to India Africa etc

Plenty more grim areas around Walsall. A complex socioeconomic situation that will not be turned around without a major world event occurring.

Come to aylesbury buckinghamshire it was rated uks worst town

Keep up the good work chief.

Born and bred in walsall...breaks my fuckin heart...labour in now 2024 can only imagining it getting wuss.!!

I believe darlaston is pronounced darlaston, not darlaston.

Its not thst bad i live in darlo....therrs plenty of money going

5:43 ive been in that building lol

Jesus... I will stop complain about London..

all the emply houses and Flats for the homeless people

Walsall is a dump Leamore is bad they would even steal your shoes 😂.

It is what the people make it.

'Walsall Rodney not Warsaw'

1:09 Did you go to Dixy Chicken? :D

ur videos need to be longer 12-16 is ideal. I have u on ticktock an its pretty much exactly the same content some different footage would be nice 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Visit wynal lane

The Trump organisation's bid won the contract for building the containment wall, beating North Korea's bid easily. Work is to begin in August.

Your lucky you don't get lifted

Darlaston used to be industry based lost in thr 80s, now the it is the outcome of that poverty and pleck is a dump area third worldim afraid ..........wont be changed anytime soon

Welcome to England

does look scary if kids come up to me and told me to hand money over i think i wud just do it

Humanity has definitely progressed 😂😂😂😂

Darlaston = Dar LAST on, whilst Caldmore is KARMA.