I come from the sunny town of Tavistock (known as Tavi by the locals) in Devon having read lots of the posts on this site I have come to the conclusion that my hometown is truly unique, and I shall tell you why.
A few years ago we had a major Chav population (then known as Townies) there were hundreds of the buggers, you did not need to go far to find the signs – used condoms, burned out cars, abandoned bottles of white cider you know, that kind of thing.
They hung around the Meadows all night they haunted the Crown (Tavistocks own rather poor version of a night club I shall come back to this later) on the weekends they loitered in car parks and used Dartmoor as a place to breed and dispose of McDonalds packaging, hung around the bus station all day and preyed on the elderly
And then another subculture arose and challenged the Chav dominance, suddenly people wearing hoodies with Korn written on them started hanging around the same places and acting pretty much the same way except listening to Rock music.
What followed was little short of gang warfare. Each side professing to hate the other, even though they did exactly the same things but wore different clothes this seemed to be enough to make them mortal enemies.
The Meadows became a battleground every night dozens of people meeting up to determine which was the righteous path that of the baseball cap or the way of the hoodie. On several occasions more than 100 people were involved in these confrontation. This went on for quite some time I don’t know what happened in the end but both subcultures disappeared overnight I can only assume the beat some sense into each other. So no longer does the night of Tavistock ring with the sound of Novas you can walk through the meadows and get to the other side with all of your teeth and your phone. Hell you can even make remarks about how crap the Crown is without getting assaulted by a Burrbury Buffoon.
The surrounding area though has got its fair share of scum and for the most part they keep away from Tavistock favouring the bright lights of Plymouth (A place so Chavie there is a good augment for Napalm bombing it)
The one remaining bastion of Chav culture in Tavistock is the Crown A place I am told that in a pole of clubs throughout Europe came second bottom it is that bad.
For some reason when people go to the Crown all traces of intelligence and humanity are removed from the patrons the dance floor (if indeed you can call it that) is small and covered with broken class I know many many people who have been injured by this. There is no air circulation and condensation created buy hundreds of sweating people drips from the ceiling the DJ is one of the most talent free I have ever had the misfortune to come across and the toilets are awash with stale urine.
But all of this pales into insignificance when you consider the people, they spend the evening hitting one another throwing bottles at the walls vomiting in the corner and trying to pull 14 year old girls wearing jeans which are 4 sizes to small for them. Fairly typical stuff but my favourite thing about the Crown is some graffiti which adorns one of the outside walls which simply reads “Tavi Boyz Waz Ere” what a remarkable testament to the ingenuity of the Tavistock Chav community that they feel the need to let every one know that they have travelled all the way from Tavistock to Tavistock I think you will agree that it is a breath taking achievement for a culture which has yet to master the art of coherent speech.
Still it’s a thousand times better than is used to be. Which proves that it is possible to cleanse the world of this plague without the use of fire or concentration camps, all you do is introduce an identical subculture that wear different clothes and they will wipe each other out problem sorted jobs a good one.
Although fire may be rather more fun.
Chav-i-stock
You need to take that silver spoon out of your behind, and start using your “intellectual” brain!!
I am now 21, and i was most lightly at the fore-front of these “youth riots” in tavi park during the late hours, as i recall it all started when “kings disco” kicked out, you had 200+ teenagers on the street at 10pm with nothing better to do… This only became worst when “The Crown” club closed. This lead to older people becoming involved which was like a catalyst to the violence. The only reason this died down was because of factions such as Jademonkey (Tavistock) and DnbJungle (callington) putting on regular parties / raves, out of the publics view, outside of tavistock. these would usually last untill 6am and were nearly always licensed. The local Police were always aware of these, and always gave there support. They never got out of hand because everyone was enjoying themselves, there was never any violence. These made the notorious Callington vs Tavistock “gang style” wars completely fictional.
Now however things have once again got out of hand since the collapse of these factions. For the first time bouncers of The Ordulph Arms and Jack Chams are wearing stab vests! I am not suggesting that raves should be started, (although this would a great idea). But someone must find a way to engage with the youths and teenagers, the council cannot clamp down on entertainment licenses, discourage nightclubs and expect problems to vanish into thin air. If anything they are creating them, as once again the teenagers of “Chav-i-stock” have nowhere to go…
Ahh the old warfare on which i based my video game upon
it wasnt just the chav vs korn fights though it was the carni fights afterwards where rival towns would come in to kick our heads in while we tried punching a carni and never succeed.
Theres so many different sides to Tavi now its crazy, you have the minority of plain chavs, stoner chavs, skaters, stoner skaters, pissheads, and so on.
Wait till this new bike trail opens i gurantee chavs will try going there only to get booted out by everyone and the polive (seen as its along the main road)
Anyway love the article brings back memories and sorry for the crap spelling i just cant spell
Haha, all of this is so true! I grew up in Tavistock, havent lived there since 2002 but still visit relatives regularly there – I remember the Korn vs. Kev phenomenon, and the glory days of the Crown. Tavistock certainly isn’t THAT bad for chav infestation, although there are a fair few…they seem to get everywhere these days
Wow, last post was over two year ago.
Time for an update.
For well over a year now, an area spreading from the bandstand across to the skatepark on the opposite site of the tavy, passing through Dawn’s cafe has been the domain of the Tavi Mandem, as they now refer to themselves. They mostly reside in the green shack (which is referred to as “The green tin”) between the skatepark, and the disused baketball court.
Here they spend their days making trips to Spar, and requesting rizlas, “baccy balls” or even pinches of cannibis to be used in rudimentary bongs, made out of coke bottles, known across the UK as Shotties. Go past the green tin, and I can guarantee you’d see the remains of one of these bottles filled with water either from the stream running into the Tavy, or on a wet day a nearby puddle.
Prepare to be robbed or “mugged off” at any point whilst in the tin. I’ve known people to go in with a full compliment of ipod, phone, and wallet, and to leave with very little. One of their main tactics is to get a victim stoned before taking advantage and looting through siad victims pockets. The younger models of chav are particularly good at this.
Elsewhere in Tavistock, the Chav population remains minimal. You are bound to see a group of lads hanging around town, after being booted from Jack Chams, or hanging around the kebab shop making racist remarks. The central chav breeding grounds still remain, with dense populations to be found in the council estate areas of Monksmeade, Bishopsmeade, Greenlands, and along Parkland road (particuarly along College Avenue)
Hey, at least it isn’t Bere Alston, whose inbred populous managed to cause roughly £40000 damage to cars in a single night, the other month. To think I have to go to school with these idiots.
Aw, aint that cute! She thinks she has a valid opinion even
though logic and reality are utterly absent from her argument…
Firstly I didn’t bitch about Tavi, I documented a dark
period of its past and went on to say how much the place had improved. Its all
in the past you see, do you know the difference between the past and the
present?.. Well things that are in the past no longer happen, they are no
longer relevant to what is happening now… do you see?
Secondly I cant see how you can complain about Tavi and then
say it’s the people who complain that are the problem with Tavi… how can basic
logic elude you in such a spectacular and self defeating fashion?
good bay!!! i agree 100% wit ya!! Chavs r here 2 stay!! n like he sed if ya dnt like it f**k OFF!!
i think you are the most saddest people! you obviously do live in Tavistock because there is f**k all to do here so you spend your time bitching about tavi, and thats why us teens get in so much s**t all the time! because theres nothing to do! and grown ups always giv us s**t 4 bein us!
if the f**kin council sorted something decent out for us to do! then you wouldnt have such a s**t jumped up life! having to bitch about Tavi! ive lived in Tavi most of my life! and yeah it is bad! but not as much as you are going on about it!! if you hateit so mcuh then f**k OFF! cause if you aint noticed this is the reason Tavi gets in Fights all the time because some sad f**kin tosser from Tavi or some other town i.e Callington, start bitching about Tavistock! and we all stick together!! us Chavs aint gonna hav s**t 4 f**k all!! so f**k u old lady!! ur the scum of Tavi bitching about your town!!
I remember the Korns and the Kevs!! I joined Tavistock college just as it was starting to die out…and I remember “Korn” (with the backwards R and everything) being carved into every available window sill!
I think the teen discos have moved up to Kings….and I think they are even planning to build a new night club…up at the quarry or something.
There are still quite a few chavs around in Tavi…and they can generally be seen hanging around outside the Co-op…infact just hanging around on street corners in general.
Does teens disco still exist in tavistock, i use to go there when i was 14 or 15 around 1996-1997. Wasnt to bad at the time. Tavistock is a nice place but really lacks entertainment or many good shops
Just an update to say that the crown has been knocked down! The last bastion of Chav culture in Tavistock has been destroyed, however I understand that the patrons were let out before the demolition… Which is a shame. Can this really be the end of the Tavonian Chavs? Only time will tell.
You say the article is entirely wrong but in your last comment you seem to agree the Crown is a hole.
You may also notice my Chavie friend that I also point out that people like yourself are still around just at greatly reduced numbers the only real hotspot nowadays being the Crown. I could have mentioned that bench near co-op but lets face it its just a bench.
In short as I said before its just a version of events. If you really disagree then you could always do your own article I would like to hear the other side of the story, your favourite haunts, the “truth” behind the Kev/Korn fights and why there is not so many of you guys around these days that kind of thing.
Otherwise in a town like Tavi I am sure we shall bump into each other at some point and then we can relate tales of a bygone era.
Just because you don’t remember something does not mean it did not happen.
The article I wrote is simply my perspective on events, which happened in and around the meadows as I had left collage many years previously and am unaware of events within the school but I was witness to a fair few fights in the meadows.
As for the names you people liked to be called Kev / Townie both were used when referring to you guys, and the people I referred to as rockers you called moshers the ones I spoke to preferred the term Korns, It is a matter of supreme indifference to me what you like to be known as.
In short the article (as with every other article on this sight) reflects my views and my own version of events, it is an impartial viewpoint written by someone who was a member of neither community but had mates from both sides of the lines.
P.S Well done on not joining the slack jawed legions of people who’s live revolves around going to go to the crown every week.
You’re point about the used condoms is a good one and I agree that Chavs that use condoms are a minority within a minority (unless you are in Plymouth in which case it is a minority within the majority) however I put it to you that only the lowest form of scum would leave an item like a used condom in an area where kids play, which is why I attribute this action to the Chav population
The Rockers we had were exactly the same as the Chavs they both were quite happy to use underhand tactics to win a fight (such as weapons) and both too stupid to win a fight without 28 mates as backup hence the fights which involved hundreds of these social f**kwits, they could not get any more mates in to help the in the struggle for dominance as there were no more mates to bring in. You see the thing is that Tavistock is in Devon a place not known for having a large population.
And as for saying that they are here to stay, are you that disillusioned with the world? Tavistock is proof that they will not be around forever. Just look at history for other examples. (remember the old Mods v Rocker battles? How about Bovva Boyz?)
However it is inevitable that a new class of scum will arise from the ashes.
I rest my case.