There's More to Burnley Than the BNP - Honest! (Burnley)

Member Name: kitschkitty

Product:	Burnley
Date:	13/10/08 (340 review reads)
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Welcome to Burnley, home of race riots, BNP and dog pooh. According to Location Location Location, it's the 19th worst place to live in the UK. I wish I could argue against that point but, having lived here fore nearly 3 years, I'd struggle to come up with a watertight argument. For those of you who aren't familiar with Burnley, it's located in East Lancashire and surrounded by some beautiful countryside.

When I moved to Burnley it had some of the lowest house prices in the country. According to the BBC, the current average price for a terraced property in Burnley is £78,524 which may sound cheap but is still far higher than the £20,000 or so properties were selling for when I moved it. Admittedly, the houses selling for those prices were in the roughest parts of town and I remember enquiring about one only to be told the previous tenant had decided to take the floorboards with them when they vacated the property. The estate agent advised there was just a 6 foot drop as soon as you opened the front door. But you could still buy a solidly built terrace property for an affordable sum of money, something that you'd struggle to do elsewhere in the country.

So in a bid to get onto the property, my then partner and I upped sticks and moved from a very affluent area of South Manchester to a rather derelict street in Burnley. I won't bore you with the story, but in January we parted company and I began renting a flat on my own, within a stone's throw of the town centre.

I often ask myself why I chose to stay in Burnley. So far, I've managed to come up with two possible reasons. Firstly, there's the simple fact that I couldn't afford to pay my bills and clear my debts if I was living in a more affluent town. And secondly, when I'm in more of a glass half full kind of a mood, I remind myself of all the close friends I've made here who've supported me through some very difficult times. So in the meantime, I'm riding it out in Burnley whilst I sort myself out financially. And this gives me the perfect opportunity to think of some positive points about the town, before I depress myself even further.

Firstly, Burnley is ideally located if you're looking to commute to Manchester. You can save a fortune on the cost of living and a return on the X43 will only set you back £5.50, with cheaper options available for weekly and monthly tickets. I'll let you into a little secret, I pay £100 a week rent. Many of my friends think this is extortionate for Burnley but my rent includes all bills, council tax, TV licence, everything! And my flat is spacious, comfortable, has all mod cons and is within staggering distance of the town centre after a night out. So when I say it's cheap, I really do mean it.

Speaking about nightlife, it's not all that bad round here. The town centre is heaving with pubs and bars and there's something to suit everyone's tastes. Quite a few of the pubs on the outskirts of town have excellent reputations for showcasing live music and although there are some rougher pubs, it's generally quite easy to spot which ones to avoid as soon as you catch sight of the clientele. Speaking of music, Burnley is also home to an annual Blues Festival which of course warrants a review of its own but, suffice to say, it's a worthy event in the Burnley calendar.

If you like to eat out, then Burnley has a small but varied selection of restaurants offering Indian, Chinese, Lebanese and Italian food amongst others. There's a large Asian population in Burnley so if you're lucky enough to be a fan of curries, you won't have to go far to find a restaurant or takeaway offering an excellent selection of Asian food.

If you like to shop til you drop, the Trafford Centre and Manchester city centre are a bus ride away. Burnley town centre itself has a decent selection of High Street shops and there's even a rumour that Primark may be coming to town after Debenhams decided to take their business elsewhere.

And for the more cultured visitors, there's Townley Hall, a large country house on the edge of town which is home to a museum and art collection. Entry is free to Burnley residents (there's another incentive to move here!) and I have visited once and was rather impressed by the artifacts on display. I recall an Egyptian mummy and a very large stuffed bear but there were plenty more exhibits to keep both young and old entertained. Oh, and by stuffed bear, I mean a real bear, not a teddy! There's also the Weavers' Triangle. I have to admit I've had to cheat and see from the website exactly what it is. The website reliably informs me it is 'a well-preserved Victorian industrial townscape.' Actually, it looks quite interesting and is conveniently situated next to the Inn on the Wharf so I may well combine a visit to the Weavers' Triangle followed by a relaxing drink or two by the canal...

For sports fanatics there's the local football team, Burnley FC who play at Turf Moor. I hear they're doing quite well this season but I won't pretend to be interested in football. Burnley is also home to St Peter's Centre, a newly built, state of the art health and leisure centre. It houses two swimming pools, a large and well equipped gym, fitness suite and spots halls as well as various GPs and medical services for the aftercare when you realize all the stress and strain of exercising was too much!

Finally, despite not having consumed any alcohol this evening, I feel the need to get a little bit cheesy and nostalgic and comment on the people I've met whilst living here. Burnley is full of characters. You only need to sign up to the Burnley Legends group on Facebook to see how fond people are of the interesting and charismatic locals. I've also been fortunate in meeting people who I know will be friends for life. Despite my family living miles away, I have so many friends who I know I can turn to for help at any time. If this were a radio show, I'd shout out to all of them. But since it isn't, I'll refrain.

Whilst circumstances have kept me in Burnley, I've rarely considered moving back to Manchester or my home county of Shropshire. For me, the good far outweighs the bad. That said, a quarter life crisis combined with reading Zoe_page_1's reviews has given me the desire to move to Mexico but I'll certainly be staying here for the foreseeable future...

Summary: Don't believe everything you read in the papers