'Wakefield is no worse than Brighton' - Yorkshire dad leaps to city's defence after Wakefield is rated worst place to live

A Yorkshire dad has filmed a video defending his home county after six local towns were featured on a list of the worst locations in England.
A Yorkshire dad has filmed a video defending his home county after six localtowns were featured on a list of the worst locations in England.A Yorkshire dad has filmed a video defending his home county after six localtowns were featured on a list of the worst locations in England.
A Yorkshire dad has filmed a video defending his home county after six localtowns were featured on a list of the worst locations in England.

Jim Coulson said the list, which includes Halifax, Wakefield, Keighley and Huddersfield, was "wrong", and ignored the cultural and social highlights of the places it featured.

He said: "I had a look through and there were Yorkshire towns there. It didn't make sense.

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"I do this series of videos and we've visited these places, so we know for certain that they're not rubbish.

"I think if you live in a town you have a sort of right to talk down about it, but if anyone else does it you realise they're wrong.

"All these towns have got their own problems, like every other town and city. It's no worse in Halifax or Wakefield than it is in Guildford or Brighton.

"There's quite a lot of people on Facebook really getting into it."

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Jim runs the Bewildered Dad blog, where he records his experiences raising two young children, including visits to attractions across Yorkshire.

In his YouTube video, Jim criticises the website's rankings, which he says rely on reviews by those who have not lived in the towns they are reviewing.

He said: "So a website's decided to take a pop at Yorkshire, saying that six of the 10 worst places to live are in God's own country. Absolute nonsense.

"Theoretically those towns were votes for by people who live there, though if you read the comments you'll see most of the contributors, their only connection to Yorkshire is they once watched an episode of Last of the Summer Wine."

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Speaking up for the towns that had been criticised, Jim said: "It says Halifax is only known for the bank and being the birthplace of Ed Sheeran.

"It's also home to cats' eyes, Quality Street and Anne Lister, who was the subject of one of the most popular and successful international TV hits of the last couple of years.

"Now the website refers to Wakefield as a cultural wilderness, which is completely true - oh, except, you know, the Hepworth Gallery, which is dedicated to one of Britain's most successful and popular sculptors.

"There's also the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Theatre Royal, the Coal Mining Museum and all the other cultural activities it has to offer."

Last year, dozens of people leapt to the defence of Castleford, after it was featured on the same list.

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