Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Shiney Row and Penshaw
Shiney Row and Penshaw
47/100Crap Score
525th crappest of 984 towns, and 16th in Tyne and Wear. 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
They forgot the roof.
Penshaw Monument is on the Sunderland badge. Nobody ever put a roof on it.
Penshaw Monument sits on the hill with no roof on it, and Sunderland put it on the badge anyway. Down below, Shiney Row is a roundabout that's always jammed and junctions that are worse. The library shut. They keep building houses, so it'll get worse.
The local firebugs set the bins alight at about fourteen times the typical town's rate, and Sunderland's fly-tipping is over three times the typical council's. A major pollution incident put crude sewage in the water in 2020. They reckon the Lambton Worm wrapped itself round Penshaw Hill. It would have got stuck at the roundabout.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Shiney Row and Penshaw's 97 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Deliberate fires97/10042.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping95/10035.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Sunderland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills82/100976 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson54/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain40/100124 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution37/1008.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions28/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour21/10010.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene15/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 61 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband10/1001.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.3% across the Sunderland council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
| 10 | Houghton-le-Spring | 73 |
| 11 | Birtley | 69 |
| 12 | Longbenton | 61 |
| 13 | Washington | 57 |
| 14 | Whickham | 53 |
| 15 | Killingworth | 50 |
| 16 | Shiney Row and Penshaw | 47 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.17 | Whitley Bay | 26 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Shiney Row and Penshaw by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 53.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 29% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 47% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 13) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Shiney Row (2017)
- 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
- 12.14am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 3.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 75% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,519 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Sunderland council
Have a crap-off
Shiney Row and Penshaw 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.