[acatnamedjoe]

I was curious - what was the angle on Hythe in the book?

These days Hythe seems like a posh seaside town with a Waitrose, a nice canalside park, a cute steam railway, lots of boutiquey shops and cafes, etc.

I know a lot of places in the area (e.g. Folkestone, Margate, Whitstable) have all been heavily "gentrified" in the last few years, but I sort of assumed Hythe was always this way? Is that not the case?

And even allowing for a bit of gentrification, it seems wild in 2025 to select it for a "crap towns" award ahead of somewhere like Dover or New Romney.

[mattrad]

Crap Towns called Hythe "...quite possibly the most spirit-crushingly tedious town in Kent." and "...the place that makes nearby Folkestone look like Las Vegas."

As someone who grew up in Hythe in the 80s and 90s I'd point out that the Rotunda was a far cry from Vegas.

https://www.warrenpress.net/FolkestoneThenNow/The_Demolition...

[acatnamedjoe]

> quite possibly the most spirit-crushingly tedious town in Kent.

This is an extremely high bar to hit in a county that also contains Ashford.

[rikroots]

I worked at Portex back in the 80s. After a shift at that factory it was a pleasure to get home, slip on the shell suit and spend the evening drinking and discussing minor, mindless vandalism opportunities. I moved away in the end (to a squat in London) because I knew, deep down, there had to be something better for me out there.