Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Blackrod
Blackrod
72/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 72. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
The scarecrows are the best bit
Hilltop village with a bypass. The lorries come straight through it anyway.
Blackrod sits on top of a hill on an old Roman road, and the lorries still come straight through it like the bypass was never built. Once a year they stick scarecrows up all over the village, and that's the most exciting thing that happens. The rain turns up on 171 days a year, so the scarecrows get the worst of it.
Sewage goes in the water for more than five times the typical town's hours, and Bolton council records twice the typical council's fly-tipping. Some premises still can't get even the legal minimum broadband. Legend says a crown and a key went missing from the old castle here. Nobody's found them. Nobody's looked very hard.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Blackrod's 93 for rain means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Rain93/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping90/10023.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bolton council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills90/1001,522 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson65/1008.1 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Food hygiene58/1004.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 23 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires54/1005.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour52/10015.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Air pollution49/1008.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband22/1004.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.0% across the Bolton council area
- Serious road collisions15/1001.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | Hyde | 75 |
| 42 | Atherton | 74 |
| 43 | Bredbury and Woodley | 72 |
| 44 | Shaw | 72 |
| – | Blackrod | 72 |
| 45 | Droylsden | 70 |
| 46 | Tyldesley | 68 |
| 47 | Westhoughton | 68 |
| 48 | Lees | 67 |
Blackrod by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 1 hairdresser, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.20am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 37.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,394 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Bolton council
Have a crap-off
Blackrod against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.