Bray - A kip - And I'm from bray !

FluffyCat

Ive lived in Bray all my life and hope to buy here soon. I love it here. Yes it has its bad points but I havent seen a town that doesnt!! Its a shame that the recession has hit hard.

darrenon

I grew up in bray.hated it while i was there so moved now i miss the place terribly has a lot of problems but so does everywhere.It has a whole lot going for it.Close to the sea, close to the mountains and country, yet it is close to dublin and all that has to offer.Mind your own business and everyone else minds theirs.
Id move back tomorrow and will when this recession levells out:D

HalloweenJack

The biggest problem with Bray is the lack of facilities for teens. Any kind of entertainment for them (amusements, McDonald's, cinema, etc.) requires money. Surely there is something that can be done there?

vasch_ro

there is loads of stuff in bray , loads, resource centre at st feargals in oldcourt, ballwaltrim community centre, Fassaroe resource centre and community centre with snooker tables indoor and outdoor floodlit soccer, dj desk , drop in , seomra drop for youths on adelaide road, bray youth service, bray outdoor education project , tonnes of stuff

Judgement Day

But it's still a kip isn't it?

The Guide

HalloweenJack wrote: »

The biggest problem with Bray is the lack of facilities for teens. Any kind of entertainment for them (amusements, McDonald's, cinema, etc.) requires money. Surely there is something that can be done there?

Think thats true of most towns. Its an awkward age to cater for it seems. Especially something that requires no money.

ibkeane

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=5310

Perhaps a re run might help !

Judgement Day

ibkeane wrote: »

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=5310

Perhaps a re run might help !

Dead-on! That is the type of thinking that is needed to rejuvenate Bray not more poxy snooker halls for unemployed teens! Thanks for posting - inspirational.

brayblue24

ibkeane wrote: »

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=5310

Perhaps a re run might help !

Enjoyed that

Gillington

ibkeane wrote: »

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=5310

Perhaps a re run might help !

brayblue24 wrote: »

Enjoyed that

Yeah that was very good,cheers for that!

Milly82

I agree it is a kip, good night life down the seafront though.

MrMickeyMouse

Occasionally you hear it said that Bray is like the Brighton of Ireland.

Sadly this is obviously said by someone who has never visited Brighton post 1980!
Brighton in the UK for, those that don't know it, is now a very vibrant and colourful city but not without similar problems to Bray previously.


What happened in Brighton was a huge effort by the local council to positively encourage small shops and businesses to move back into the city.
Brighton has a famous collection of narrow streets called The Laines, which are home to a great selection of arts, crafts, food and all sorts of funky shops.

Brighton cleaned up its act, litter is collected, the police do policing and on a whole the city is a fantastic place to visit.
Now Bray could become a smaller version, the council could actively attract smaller diverse arts and crafts shops to certain areas. We don't need more Pizza, Pubs or Bookmakers.

WE DO NEED to stop dropping litter EVERYWHERE, we need dog waste bins in the parks, we need to pick up dogs mess, it is EVERYWHERE.
Just try and walk from the north of town to the beach with 2 young children and I can assure you there is dog sh*t EVERYWHERE.

We are all responsible for our town, yet we are happy to blame everyone else.
Who are the people that dump rubbish in the park at Woodbrook Glen? Who are the people that don't pick up the dogs mess? WE ARE!

Yes the council does need to get a grip on the graffiti, the endless rubbish but also we need to take a more active role too.
I don't mean daft schemes like €25 fee per year residents associations just so i can tell my neighbour his dog sh*ts in the park, I mean we should campaign to our TD, ask why we have no dog litter bins in the park or along a lot of the streets.

Ask why the endless graffiti is left untouched, ask why there is not the odd police patrol around the parks from time to time.

Bray has a long way to go to get back to those glory days of seaside nirvana it once had.

Bullseye1

Bray has lost out on a number of major points. Dell moving out of Bray because BTC would not allow them develop their existing facility and the shopping center not being built in the center of the town. Those along with Tesco being refused permission to upgrade their facility has been bad for the town. Its now full of cheap shops and tattoo parlors. Bray Town Council has a lot to answer for.

MrMickeyMouse

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Bray has lost out on a number of major points. Dell moving out of Bray because BTC would not allow them develop their existing facility and the shopping center not being built in the center of the town. Those along with Tesco being refused permission to upgrade their facility has been bad for the town. Its now full of cheap shops and tattoo parlors. Bray Town Council has a lot to answer for.

Yep, sadly a lot has gone wrong for the town and a deep recession is not an ideal time to start seeing changes, though not dropping litter everywhere is something all of us can tell our kids for free!

A good few points you make

Judgement Day

Bray hasn't been known as the Brighton of Ireland since Victorian times but even in the 1960s it was a great place to grow up in. However the UDC have presided over the gradual run down of the town and although I occasionally visit friends in the town, wild horses wouldn't drag me back there to live. As for dog .....it's not for nothing that Albert Walk was known as "Dog **** Alley" when I lived in the town. Last one out turn off the lights.

Bullseye1

Parking at the civic buildings is a disgrace and a nightmare. It's a horrible town to drive in with poor light sequences. It's a pity really as there some nice pubs and restaurants and the promenade is nice if kept clean. It has alot going for it except the town council in their shiny new building wit inadequate parking.

veggie newbie

The bins on the seafront are a perfect example of how 'smart' the town council are. Quite a few (not all thankfully) have no lids, theyre just an open dustbin wth a black liner. Promende users are making the effort to put rubbish into the bins only for the crows to pick all the brown chip bags out so they can rummage through them on the ground. I see this any morning i walk the seafront at 7am. Cleaners then have to spend a huge amount of time picking up the scattered rubbish that was originally in the bin. Brilliant joined up thinking BTC. You cld save cleaners time & yourselves a lot of cash by putting lids on these bins.

Annasopra

Bray Tidy Towns and Bray Coastcare both do fantastic work and are always looking for volunteers to help out.

veggie newbie

mango salsa wrote: »

Bray Tidy Towns and Bray Coastcare both do fantastic work and are always looking for volunteers to help out.

never heard of coastcare, tnx for passing on.
I just think its such a waste of resources. I get frustrated every time I see the mess the crows are making in the mornings. Lids on the bins are a no-brainer i would have thought.
Ouch. *bangs head off wall again*

MrMickeyMouse

veggie newbie wrote: »

never heard of coastcare, tnx for passing on.
I just think its such a waste of resources. I get frustrated every time I see the mess the crows are making in the mornings. Lids on the bins are a no-brainer i would have thought.
Ouch. *bangs head off wall again*

Just having some dog litter bins in Woodbrook Glen streets / park would be nice!!

thomur

Never get over people from Bray giving out about it. Worked there for 7 years on the Boghall Road. The Martello, Porterhouse,Esplenade, Summerfest. Where else would you get a walk like the Bray-Greystones coastal walk. Did it again last week, only magnificent. 2 Americans passed us on the way and they were blown away with the scenery. The people are great.

veggie newbie

thomur wrote: »

Never get over people from Bray giving out about it. Worked there for 7 years on the Boghall Road. The Martello, Porterhouse,Esplenade, Summerfest. Where else would you get a walk like the Bray-Greystones coastal walk. Did it again last week, only magnificent. 2 Americans passed us on the way and they were blown away with the scenery. The people are great.

I agree with you fully Thomur, Bray is a beautiful spot but in no way is its' fantastic resources being capitalized. The Summerfest is brilliant, excellent work by all those involved. There are other good aspects of course and I'm not trying to take away from those.
However... Bray is reknowned for the promenade and most day tourists spend a large amount of time (and hopefully some money) in this area. Management of the litter around this area needs to be looked at as the current set up just isnt working.

Judgement Day

Sadly the promenade is a travesty compared to what it was like back in the 1960s. Everything that could be wrong with it is - from the awful Normandy gun emplacements shelters to the hideous new lights, to the missing timber and missing cast iron backs to the seating that runs the length of the prom. The whole thing is capped off by the repainting in black of the once iconic blue and orange topped railings.

I came across this interesting picture of the Cove seawater baths while looking for a pic of the seafront. I used to swim at the Cove back in the 1960s and it's a damn shame to see the state of it today.

loobylou

Nice pic above. Lets try to be positive.
My proposal is that we reinstate the chairlift up Bray Head.
Think of the tourism potential. Irelands only chairlift just a short ride on the Dart from Dublin.
Don't see as it being too expensive either, every little village in the Alps has one.

Judgement Day

Pics and more about the Chairlift here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72974688
but there was little interest expressed by anybody.

foxy06

The chairlift idea is a good one (not that I'd get on it that pic looks terrifying) for tourism but have to disagree with the post about the cleanliness of the promenade. The guys that go along every morning cleaning do a great job in my opinion.

zoobizoo

The chairlift idea had been looked at again recently but the insurance was going to cost too much, from what I remember.

Many town would kill for what Bray has in terms of amenities:
Promenade
Bray Head
Cliff Walk
Bowling Green
Bowling Alley
2 comedy Clubs
Theatre
Local Football team
Close to the Wicklow Mountains
Aquarium
Tennis Club
Sports Halls
Swimming Pool
Summerfest
St. Patrick's Day fest
Jazz Fest
Youth CLubs
Sports Clubs
Singing Clubs
Trad Sessions
Kilruddery

While the town has its problems, it has a lot going for it and one can never say that there's nothing to do here.

The council should get better bins for the seafront which are crow and seagull resistant but that doesn't work when people leave their rubbish on or beside a full bin (as tends to happen during the summer).

The chippies have a lot to answer for in that respect as they wrap up their food in so many layers of paper.

Judgement Day

Public liability insurance and the problems in obtaining it are used as an excuse for everything in Ireland. The 'it can't be done attitude' pervades public life in Ireland. If there was a will to reinstate the chairlift it could be done and the insurance could be organised through the local authorities but it won't happen in Bray.

MrMickeyMouse

foxy06 wrote: »

The chairlift idea is a good one (not that I'd get on it that pic looks terrifying) for tourism but have to disagree with the post about the cleanliness of the promenade. The guys that go along every morning cleaning do a great job in my opinion.

The thing is though, it's not just the promenade that makes a town and attracts the money in. Having terrible traffic jams along the Dublin Road and the graffiti over everything also takes away the shine from the once popular Bray of the 50's and 60's.

There is no point having a spotless seafront with zero crime when the rest of the town and 'burbs is left to suffer, don't know about you but I don't live on the promenade and my part of Bray is covered in dumped litter and graffiti!

Judgement Day

MrMickeyMouse wrote: »

The thing is though, it's not just the promenade that makes a town and attracts the money in. Having terrible traffic jams along the Dublin Road and the graffiti over everything also takes away the shine from the once popular Bray of the 50's and 60's.

There is no point having a spotless seafront with zero crime when the rest of the town and 'burbs is left to suffer, don't know about you but I don't live on the promenade and my part of Bray is covered in dumped litter and graffiti!

Bray UDC to blame http://www.braytowncouncil.ie/ Any town where the council abandon their historic town hall and let McDonalds open a fast food restaurant in it - say no more......:rolleyes: