I have noticed in recent times I dont recognise alot of people nowadays within the town. We have become a commuter town with virtually all industry gone save thorn lighting and tridonic who only employ a fraction of what they used to. We used to have some big names like black & decker and smart&brown, but there factories are demolished and now we have new build houses. I here a lot of southern accents and people commenting on local groups saying its really nice and quaint. God knows where they've come from because I've always found the place a tad rough. Most are coming for a better quality of life, selling their houses to get something much better because house prices are cheap. They usually are in northern mining towns. You can still get a 3bed semi for £70k or a new build for £200k. And if you've sold a shoe cupboard anywhere near london you could buy something in the affluent very old area of tudhoe village for a mere £700k.
