In Britain, we’re blessed with nearly 1,250 towns across England, Scotland and Wales, many of which are places of gorgeous architecture and greenery, nestled in landscapes with incredible views.
Ranking those towns in terms of how they look is, naturally, a pretty controversial task – but that hasn’t stopped the Telegraph, which just judged UK towns based on stuff like the aesthetics of their shopfronts and the amount of traffic and litter. Each town was given a score out of 50.
Plenty of towns did really well, with the likes of Lewes, Ilkley and Chagford all scoring highly. You can read a bit more about the prettiest towns in the Telegraph’s study here.
Other towns, however, weren’t so blessed. The Telegraph also revealed which places it thought are the ugliest in Britain right now, and Slough in Berkshire took bottom spot.
Scoring a measly 12 out of 50 overall, Slough only received two points for historic architecture and none at all for shopfronts. Slough’s high street is apparently largely to blame, due to it being currently occupied by a mix of pound shops and takeaways.
If you happen to agree that Slough could do with a bit more prettiness, however, we have some good news. The town is due an £110 million makeover over the next couple of years that’ll hopefully boost its ‘prettiness’ ranking a bit.
And the Telegraph didn’t stop at Slough: the publication also revealed other towns it thinks are ugly, with these being the top five.
- Slough, Berkshire
- Telford, Shropshire
- Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
- Newton Abbot, Devon
- Stanley, County Durham
Justified or a bit harsh? You can read the full original list, including the methodology, on the Telegraph website here.
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