Closest settlement you've never been to.

[S&CLER]

Mine was Leigh until quite recently when I walked along the canal there from Wigan; still have never been to Culcheth or Tyldesley, neither of which places seems to have any special attractions. I recall reading a memoir by a woman who grew up in Culcheth called Manchester 14 Miles, which I enjoyed. Can't remember the author's name.

 

[Techniquest]

I made a boo-boo with my memory, Brampton Abbots near Ross-on-Wye or Bacton in the Golden Valley appear to be the nearest settlements to me that have yet to be visited.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I recall reading a memoir by a woman who grew up in Culcheth called Manchester 14 Miles, which I enjoyed. Can't remember the author's name.

Margaret Penn. The fourteen miles from the village where the main protagonist (Hilda Winstanley) lived, to central Manchester, was like travelling to another world.



(Pic of front cover of "Manchester 14 Miles" (book) by Margaret Penn).

 

[Segedunum]

I believe New Hartley is the nearest village I've never been to (around eight miles).

The next furthest would be Winlaton Mill (12 miles) in the complete opposite direction. I'll have been on the bus straight past on the A694 but never actually into it.

 

[Springs Branch]

When I saw this thread, my first thought was that mine is the same as the OP's - Banks, or more likely nearby (and slightly closer) Tarleton.

Now having glanced at a map, I've realised it's the cosmopolitan metropolis comprising Urmston, Flixton & Davyhulme.

I've skirted the edge many times on the M60, or (across the Ship Canal) on the A57 road between Peel Green & Irlam - and passed through non-stop on the CLC line to Warrington - but never ventured within that western bulge of the Manchester conurbation.

 

[telstarbox]

Through a combination of my job and riding my bike I've been to a lot of places near and not so me in South London, Kent, Essex and Surrey. The nearest towns I haven't stopped in properly would be Swanley or Forest Row.

 

[Acey]

Through a combination of my job and riding my bike I've been to a lot of places near and not so me in South London, Kent, Essex and Surrey. The nearest towns I haven't stopped in properly would be Swanley or Forest Row.

Well that's a blessing indeed !

 

[oxfordray1]

Without pouring over the OS map, I think it might be Rochdale.

 

[Gathursty]

Mine was Leigh until quite recently when I walked along the canal there from Wigan; still have never been to Culcheth or Tyldesley, neither of which places seems to have any special attractions. I recall reading a memoir by a woman who grew up in Culcheth called Manchester 14 Miles, which I enjoyed. Can't remember the author's name.

Tyldesley has a pub (Union Arms) with a mural for the England Women's footballer and Tyldesley-er Ella Toone.

 

[nw1]

Villages, lots I suspect, too many to list.

Towns, more difficult. Quite a few I've passed through without visiting but struggling to find anything nearby (I'm in Hampshire) that I've never even passed through. Perhaps Crewkerne or Chard? Or in the other direction, Bexhill? Or, closer, Burgess Hill if that's a town.

I think Bexhill is definitely the nearest large town I've never visited or passed through. Indeed the whole Hastings-Bexhill conurbation is still largely unvisited though in 1994 I did briefly visit an estate on the northern edge of Hastings (relatives) without ever getting near the town centre.

For cities, I've neither visited nor passed through Norwich. I think that's the nearest, unless Ipswich is a city (I don't think so). As for cities I've passed through but never visited, it would probably be Exeter or Gloucester. (Or Chelmsford? is that a city?)

And finally, for counties, Suffolk is the nearest unvisited one. Indeed I think Suffolk and Norfolk are the only two English counties I've neither visited nor passed through. You could perhaps add Rutland, as it didn't formally exist in 1989 or 1993, the two years I used the ECML. (The ECML just makes it into Rutland for a very short distance).

 

[PGAT]

(Or Chelmsford? is that a city?)

Think Chelmsford is a city

 

[nw1]

Think Chelmsford is a city

Thanks. So between that, Exeter and Gloucester for closest city not visited (though I passed through Chelmsford on the GEML in a 312 in 2001...)

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Villages, lots I suspect, too many to list.

Towns, more difficult. Quite a few I've passed through without visiting but struggling to find anything nearby (I'm in Hampshire) that I've never even passed through. Perhaps Crewkerne or Chard? Or in the other direction, Bexhill? Or, closer, Burgess Hill if that's a town.

Actually I've had a think about this again and I think the answer to closest unvisited town is Wallingford.

In a strange location, off the beaten track, not on a railway or a major road. Living in the far south I have a tendency not to think outside the south-of-the-M4 box when posed with questions like this, hence my original answers all being far-southern locations.

Henley and Marlow would have qualified until relatively recently, but during 2015/2016 I went up that way quite a lot (and gained the track to the two towns also).

Finally an honourable mention for Bracknell. I did pass through it one dark December night in 1982, on a diverted 119 DMU from Reading to Guildford, but wasn't aware of it. So Bracknell would clinch it as nearest town never visited or passed through in daylight.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Oct 2022 ==

Well that's a blessing indeed !

Is Forest Row that bad? Never been there but from the map it looks like it's in the middle of Ashdown Forest and therefore perhaps quite nice.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Oct 2022 ==

Seaview, four miles away. Or, if that is too small, then Bembridge, a bit over five.

Seaview is one of the relatively few places I can claim to have knowingly visited before starting primary school. And I lived a long way from it at the time!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

If we're including the equivalent for different places we've lived over the years, then when I lived in Kingston I never visited Roehampton or Ewell. I later moved out to West Molesey but never visited Hampton despite it being my closest station as the crow flies. When I lived in Taunton I never visited Somerton (though I sped through on a HST many times), and when I lived in Ormskirk I never went to Rainford. Though I did pass through Rainford on a train once.

 

[Taunton]

When I lived in Taunton I never visited Somerton (though I sped through on a HST many times),

That's an interesting one - I think most inhabitants of Taunton would be hard pushed to even say where Somerton is. Similarly, I long found that many from there visit Bristol regularly, but not so Exeter, which is actually the nearer major city, though they likely pass it by on the way to Torquay etc.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That's an interesting one - I think most inhabitants of Taunton would be hard pushed to even say where Somerton is. Similarly, I long found that many from there visit Bristol regularly, but not so Exeter, which is actually the nearer major city, though they likely pass it by on the way to Torquay etc.

During my time in Taunton, if I wanted "big city shopping" I'd usually choose Exeter over Bristol. Exeter is nearer, much easier to get to by train (Central Station being very handy for the shops unlike Temple Meads), and always felt safer and friendlier. Even if I was in the car, parking in central Bristol required a second mortgage whereas with Exeter I could park for free at Digby & Sowton and pay a few quid for the train into Central as a sort of unofficial park & ride.

 

[spyinthesky]

29 miles to Cucklington in Somerset not been or passed through from Bulford Wilts.

 

[nw1]

That's an interesting one - I think most inhabitants of Taunton would be hard pushed to even say where Somerton is. Similarly, I long found that many from there visit Bristol regularly, but not so Exeter, which is actually the nearer major city, though they likely pass it by on the way to Torquay etc.

Was Somerton the original county town of Somerset? The name might imply so.

I have a vague memory of probably passing through there in February 1994, on the bus between Glastonbury and Yeovil (the Badgerline 376). Looking at the map would imply that I did.

Looks (along with nearby Langport) a big enough place to have kept a station, but presumably the issue was that stopping trains would have got in the way of the ICs.

 

[lyndhurst25]

I am around 13 miles from Skelmersdale but have never been there, despite often driving past on the M58. It not having a railway station and being outside the SaveAway area probably hasn’t helped.

 

[route101]

I reckon Calderbank or Chapelhall near Airdrie. Or Netherburn or Ashgill near Hamilton.

 

[Gloster]

Was Somerton the original county town of Somerset? The name might imply so.

Yes, but only for a few years that ended in 1366.

 

[mlambeuk]

York: Nearest settlement would be Knapton (a Small village within the York boundry)

 

[nw1]

Yes, but only for a few years that ended in 1366.

Thanks. I guess by similar logic Wilton (another place which is on a railway line and has no station, oddly) was once the capital of Wiltshire.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I guess by similar logic Wilton (another place which is on a railway line and has no station, oddly) was once the capital of Wiltshire.

Yes, it once was, but many years ago now.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I am around 13 miles from Skelmersdale but have never been there, despite often driving past on the M58. It not having a railway station and being outside the SaveAway area probably hasn’t helped.

I used to work at the Asda there, you aren't missing much!

 

[dgl]

Quite difficult for me if you only include Villages with at least 30 or so houses, probably Charminster being one place I've driven through and not stopped, most other major villages/towns in Dorset, South Somerset and East Devon I have stopped at.

 

[Dai Corner]

Even if I was in the car, parking in central Bristol required a second mortgage whereas with Exeter I could park for free at Digby & Sowton and pay a few quid for the train into Central as a sort of unofficial park & ride.

Leave the M5 at Jn 18 and take the bus in from Portway Park & Ride. You'll have the choice of the train too soon, when Portway Parkway opens.

I had to look at a map to find the nearest place to western Newport I'd never been. I came up with the village of Abertidwr, a few miles north west of Caerphilly and about 14 miles from my home.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Leave the M5 at Jn 18 and take the bus in from Portway Park & Ride. You'll have the choice of the train too soon, when Portway Parkway opens.

I had to look at a map to find the nearest place to western Newport I'd never been. I came up with the village of Abertidwr, a few miles north west of Caerphilly and about 14 miles from my home.

It's fifteen years since I moved back to Yorkshire, and I don't think that park & ride existed back then. It certainly wasn't well signposted from the motorway as far as I can remember.

Exeter was a much more pleasant city to visit anyway, with a more compact commercial centre which was more walkable as a result.

 

[cuccir]

Interesting topic. I drove through Perkinsville today 9 miles from me and I don't think I'd ever heard of it before, nevermind been there!

I've never visited the village of Shadforth, only 4.5 miles from me. There's a few others in that part of East Durham (Thornley, Ludworth) that I've not been to either: not on useful through roads, no not services or walking routes. Maybe if I cycled more I'd have passed through, but I don't.

Nearest large settlement would be further... maybe Ingleby Barwick, 29 miles.

 

[150249]

I've always lived in Exeter. I live 16 miles away from Tiverton but I have never been there. Nor Taunton for that matter

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh if we're including places we used to live then my list could be so much bigger and more varied. There's going to be plenty of villages and towns quite close to Swansea that I never visited, although in all fairness that is mostly because I wasn't into non-bus or non-train travel much back then.

From Minehead, the list would be basically everything, I passed through some places on buses to/from Taunton but never stopped off at any of them, and this was over 19 years ago. A long time before an interest in keeping fit happened!

From Trowbridge, again that list is pretty extensive. If if wasn't served on the bus route to Bath or Swindon, or by train, I wouldn't have really gone anywhere near it.

I've been through a lot of places close to all the previous living locations, but never actually stopped off at many of them.