Micro VanLife S02E28 The Appalling Brutalist Dystopia of Cwmbran

[@slange7828]

Second time watching. Totally brilliant. You should be a movie producer! Better than anything from Hollywood.

[@heaoun2381]

😱

[@adrianhydephotography]

Another fantastic video. You captured the area beautifully. The angles and colour casting you put over some of the clips was inspired. It’s a place I would like to shoot. Different textures, repeating patterns and many layers. It’s lovely in a brutal way. Thanks for sharing.

[@SocksWithSandals]

If you can be entertained by the overbearing bleak grimness of Brutalism you can learn to photograph it.

[@welshwoody217]

Hey buddy new sub here! After watching your last video on Cwmbran I wondered if you were from there or had lived there as I thought you looked familiar. Lived there most of my life no wonder I got so depressed, I knew it was bad but seeing it by film makes me realise the psychological impact of those buildings 😳😭 brilliant work, I'm also a fan of your outlook and thoughts on life after watching a few of your videos. Da iawn butty!

[@welshwoody217]

Also that broken glass tray used to have water shooting out of the wall behind it and then a waterfall into the concrete flower garden below.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yes I lived there in 2004/5 for an IT contract at 🐷 HQ. In the video I showed where I stayed, in Monmouth House opposite the bingo hall and Iceland. My view was of that awful concrete garden and broken glass tray. And then I had three months' unemployment there over a winter and the grimness really got to me, especially walking around other suburbs. This was a film I wanted to make for a long time.

[@welshwoody217]

@@SocksWithSandals yes I saw you shiw that mate and I know Monmouth house isn't the greatest of places to live either, thank you for showing me just what a dump this town is from the outside. When living somewhere like that I suppose we don't know any different but I know now why I love nature so much. We have some nice places here but that town centre is a dystopian hell hole for sure, brilliantly captured Socks and I'm looking forward to catching up on the rest of your videos in the near future. Stay safe mate.

[@tompo7467]

I love living in Cwmbran man

[@SocksWithSandals]

I loved it when I was there too. I made six videos about Cwmbran as I loved being back there.

[@rover100bunson]

the town centre has significantly improved over the years, covered and pedestrianised, it really is a very nice shopping centre

[@SocksWithSandals]

This was just three years ago. I went back there a couple of months ago. It's as I filmed it.

[@edek8470]

Another socks with sandals production..seriously got a ring to it that has. Attenborough moment haha and the speeded up part upon leaving the multi-story as if you were suddenly in a great hurry. Class! But it all kinda makes sense in the end...all the good folk regularly visiting from the valleys, rivers and mountains (need their pounland/cheesy chips quota) must crave escapism from all that natural beauty.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Even more grim Cwmbrân videos coming up...

[@edek8470]

Funny thing is quite a few places I've visited both here and abroad, I often veer off the beaten track and am quite surprised what one can discover hidden behind the nicer shinier bits... Broken glass tray is a new one tbh.

[@edek8470]

*multi-storey or multi-story? Both methinks ; )

[@garyvandweller6959]

Very good edited video, looks like an area from a post apocalyptic movie. 💙❤️💙❤️

[@SocksWithSandals]

Complete with zombies. It was quite nauseating to edit let alone have lived there.

[@garethdelaney8375]

The hilarious thing is this guy is serious, yet features almost entirely the post 80's and 2010's rebuilds.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Indeed Gareth. Before they tarted it up it was even grimmer than that! 😟

[@40AndAWakeUp]

Are the Welsh valleys on your list to visit at some point? Did you manage to fix your van yet? If so, what was the issue?

[@SocksWithSandals]

The Welsh Valleys will be an epic adventure once I'm back on the road, especially with how many Welsh viewers might be inviting me into their front rooms for a cup of tea.

[@TheScottishWalkingChannel]

I would love to see your take on my wee brutal town Airdrie next time youre in Scotland. 😂 Great vid 👍

[@SocksWithSandals]

Top recommendation. I need to visit Scotland again. One month was not enough.

[@High_Lord_Of_Terra]

I'm sat here thinking 'it's not that bad' then I remembered I saw my first dead body in one of the places you showed.

[@SocksWithSandals]

That's brutal multi-storey car park is so grim but nobody was in there when I filmed. Except me. And the ghosts of smack heads.

[@High_Lord_Of_Terra]

@@SocksWithSandals there's a really nice community run sustainable shop at the bottom of the tower block now, can even grind your own peanut butter.

[@kaiachannel9643]

You've gone out of your way to make the town look awful. The music and the area's you have captured. It's really not that bad.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yep 😇

[@diecastcollectors4791]

Awesome video I subed

[@SocksWithSandals]

Welcome aboard, Dude. I saw some of your stop frame toy car stories.

[@peterjackson7426]

What a place ☹️ thanks for video 😃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@SocksWithSandals]

Grimmer than an orc factory in Mordor.

[@allancollins1531]

You must remember that the shopping centre was built in phases starting in the late 50s early 60s 60 plus years ago , even I looked better 60 odd years back then! Would they use the same building methods/materials now of course not and what new builds now look like 600years hence?

[@stuartjones675]

Lived in Cwmbran untill I was 21, as it's all I knew I didn't notice as a kid, fucking depressing looking back at it, glad I got out lol

[@SocksWithSandals]

Some of the suburbs are even worse than the town centre. I won't name them in case people in those areas are reading.

[@mystichare8924]

Never been a fan of this particular style of architecture. To my mind it represents decay and depression. An assault on the senses and a headache to behold. Every working town/city in this wonderful landscape has such a blight.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Horrific isn't it. These academic progressive pop up in every generation and are mercifully defeated every time. But they leave their imprint of how they believe OTHERS should live.

[@mystichare8924]

Socks With Sandals You are both a patriot and a traditionalist Sir - I approve.

[@waggonfm]

@@SocksWithSandals brutalist architecture can be very visually pleasing and a success. I think the biggest issue it has faced though was where it was intended as a utopian experiment to shape and improve areas. And the poorer the area, the worse the outcome. But if you look at e.g. the Barbican centre, that's the exact opposite

[@thornwarbler]

I thought we had reached the axiom of tastelessness when the broken glass sculpture appeared to light up like one of those electric fires that adorn the living rooms of people of a certain vintage. Imagine my relief when i realised it was you mr socks, flexing your creative muscles. Tell me please this was the case :p Love the channel btw.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yes thornwarbler, it was an overcast drizzly day which helped with the mood but not with the lighting. I briefly accentuated the saturation to attempt to display the garishness of a box of glass rocks to viewers.

[@mostyngregory1856]

I lived there & went to Fairwater Comprehensive , never ever felt like going back

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yeah I didn't really sell it well in this video but there are two more coming up about Cwmbrân. Must say I really enjoyed spending last week there.

[@mostyngregory1856]

Socks With Sandals it was a Wales first new town , I lived there 40 years ago it was built as part of the governments new town policy to rebuild after the 2nd world war and I think to use as much concrete as possible.

[@michaelnash6763]

Very grim to say the least, you captured the mood very well albeit as depressing as hell. You would have to wonder what the town planners were thinking perhaps they had shares in the local concreting business.

[@SocksWithSandals]

I'm pretty sure that Brutalism and modern art are there to dispirit weaker minds. However, in Wales the mountains are always visible and a short walk away.

[@michaelnash6763]

I agree Wales is truly a beautiful country. I spent a lot of time there in my younger years as my family used to escape the West Midlands to Wales just about every weekend until we made the ultimate escape ‘down under’ in the early 70’s.

[@TheLegend-vd9xy]

Shut you're mouth. Living here is amazing

[@TheAlmightyAss]

It's a "new town". I presume they are all grim as fuck?

[@officalj6531]

Fuck off jsut beacause it isn't posh ass London u lot point out the bad never the good

[@lararain2801]

Well what a mixed bag of comments ive read following this upload of ..dudn dun..Cwmbran, valley of the crows. Personally i like the surrounding area & looks like they have more shops open there in 2023 than other towns recently.

[@popestar100]

Remember The kids use to tip bubble bath in the water feature most wk ends and bubbles everywhere 🤪 Merthyr Tydfil is another gem 🥴

[@SocksWithSandals]

Oh Merthyr Tydfil. I don't think there's a town in England that grim. Not even Hull.

[@popestar100]

@@SocksWithSandals I’m staying in a van in Swindon and driving home to the valleys on days off is getting harder as the wks pass would make a great reservoir 😊🥴

[@SocksWithSandals]

How would a great reservoir be made?

[@popestar100]

@@SocksWithSandals turn every tap on 😊Lyn Celyn reservoir was a village years ago that got flooded (Capel Celyn) / all jokes aside there’s some beautiful places in South Wales Just a few shit holes that let it down

[@David-nz6ox]

That was probably me and my friends,spent 50 pound on fairy liquid between us one day,bubbles all the way to McDonald's

[@tomdytrych]

Didn't make it to the end of this one. Was losing will to live. Even the shipping trolley had given up.

[@SocksWithSandals]

I spent fifteen months there, looking out on the secret garden and the giant tray of smashed glass, the grim exterior of Mecca Bingo above lceland leading to the mouldy plastic roof above Gregg's and Matalan.

[@tomdytrych]

@@SocksWithSandals Explains your sardonic outlook on life

[@edek8470]

Giant tray of smashed glass lmao!

[@larryfroot]

Yep! And the walls blow down in the wind!

[@SocksWithSandals]

Oh I didn't hear about that story!

[@larryfroot]

@@SocksWithSandals In Fairwater in the 1980's. A couple of walls blew over in strong winds! Small garden walls, but still.

[@Watchugoton]

Yes they really tried on the design aspect of this homes in cwmbran. 🧐

[@SocksWithSandals]

It was deliberate all right.

[@frankcoveney6222]

Just superb! I felt like I was watching a program by the late, great Robert Hughes.

[@SocksWithSandals]

High praise indeed. Yeah I needed the scathing narration of an art critic to do this film justice.

[@frankcoveney6222]

@@SocksWithSandals I think the photography combined with the music and the filter effects spoke volumes, no words needed, although the text underneath was very useful. I remember Robert Hughes discussing Brutalism in 'The Shock of the New' but he didn't have footage like yours.

[@Seds245]

What an inspiring place, post chav ?

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yeah, inspired me to make a video about it. When I lived there I always imagined making a film like that but the tools to do it and show it weren't free back then.

[@rexgeorg7324]

Whats a WW2 German Bunker doing in Wales

[@SocksWithSandals]

A lot of aircraft and munitions factories were in Birmingham and Coventry. Imagine how tempting it would be for the Luftwaffe to bomb their reservoirs. They hung Steel cables across the valley to prevent this

[@rexgeorg7324]

@@SocksWithSandals Ja

[@jorgeferreira2950]

You've reminded me of my youth and how crap and depressing it really was . Thanks 😁

[@SocksWithSandals]

Any time, Jorge. Don't let the bastards win, they put up those horrible buildings to keep you down.

[@paulmanser1345]

Producer my arse, next time you go shopping in Cwmbran see if they sell lives and for fucks sake. Get one,,,,,

[@SocksWithSandals]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video, Paul.

[@paulmanser1345]

@@SocksWithSandals yea miss Cwmbran a lot, living in Wrexham last 10+years, and love it here, still got sis in Cwmbran an lot of good friends I miss bro, just look after my old town ok thanks

[@paulmanser1345]

Wales is a awesome country, we got our problems but so has everyone else bro, know what I mean?

[@daveormerod7426]

looks a right depressing place !!!

[@SocksWithSandals]

Spent fifteen months there. Three of them unemployed. I had been waiting 17 years for technology to reach the point where I could make this video.

[@Bigmancorb]

This guy had to pick out the worst bits of our town like

[@SocksWithSandals]

Does Pontnewydd, Croesyceiliog and Twmbarlwm count as Cwmbrân?

[@ljr448]

@@SocksWithSandals yes

[@povey7980]

Feel like this dude just had a bad experience there

[@SocksWithSandals]

I'd have preferred not to have to rebuild my van in the snow in very little time.

[@rustybrownstein8985]

Coed Eva isn't St dials. Just thought I'd let you know. It's still a turd all the same

[@officalj6531]

Explain to me what's wrong with Cwmbran trust me see u round in my enz bro getting soaked

[@SocksWithSandals]

You can have that sentence as Exhibit A if you want.

[@yesthen2704]

ur defo some year 7 , but it’s good that ur proud of ur town

[@paulmanser1345]

Cwmbran is a fucking awesome Town shame not everyone appreciates it ,

[@thebaphomet9436]

Ahhhh home sweet home

[@davidmac2852]

Good grief!

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yep. Cwmbrân exists.

[@abodeless]

💙

[@stevenharrison3715]

Looks fantastic if you're into parkour 🤣

[@SocksWithSandals]

Yes I thought that, Steve There are some sketchy but still stickable jumps all over Cwmbrân town centre. I wonder if Storror know about it.

[@stevenharrison3715]

🤣Tagged them up. Keep up the good work 👏

[@SocksWithSandals]

@@stevenharrison3715 That would be cool if Storror were inspired by my Cwmbrân video.

[@Chris-uh7cw]

Is this satire? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Obviously you could film the back end and loading bays of most towns and cities and call them sh*tholes 😂 , and whilst the town centre is brutalist architecture, most of the town isn't . The council houses aren't the prettiest ( btw that was Coed Eva not St Dials ) , it there are a lot of more attractive houses also. That feature in town used to have water which made a lot more sense, there was a large jet of water that used to shoot over the broken glass , it looks far less appealing without the water cascading over it and then forming a waterfall leading into the garden with the statue. I guess if you lived in Monmouth House your outlook would be quite bleak, I wouldn't fancy it myself 😂

[@SocksWithSandals]

The main thing is that it entertained Someone Like You who has zero Talent and ability and confidence to produce videos of your own, and probably lack the thick skin required to brush off retarded comments like this one.

[@Chris-uh7cw]

@@SocksWithSandals very eloquently put 🤣🤣, I have a feeling I saw your old place on Zoopla or something, did it have a mannequin in it , that place in Monmouth house was very 'arty' 😁

[@jasondean9767]

Yes. I live in a shithole.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Count yourself lucky you don't live in Southend-on-Sea or Lowestoft.

[@thelastengineer2315]

2,500,000:00 quid , 2 years and I’ll have the whole town pressure washed.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Good luck polishing that turd, Last Engineer.

[@southernwanderer7912]

That architecture leaves a lot to be desired. Ugly and depressing.

[@SocksWithSandals]

Great place for a Mad Max sequel: Rise of the Zombies.

[@daituom]

Actually you are totally wrong about Cwmbran. The architecture is from the 50`s and 60`s. The people are an ecclectic mix of cultures and nationalities. YOU, however, are just a self centred egotist saying "look at me, I am clever".

[@SocksWithSandals]

Totally wrong? I agree with you on the architecture date and population make up, but you imagined I talked about those things and got them wrong, when I never even mentioned those two subjects. You even imagined my own opinion of myself incorrectly even though I never mentioned that either. I lived and worked in Cwmbrân.