Poll finds Brits ignorant of local surroundings

Britons are struggling to remember the names of streets and attractions in their local area and only turn to the internet and other sources when researching destinations abroad, a survey has found. The poll of 2,000 members of the UK public found that around a quarter could only name the road they live in or…

Britons are struggling to remember the names of streets and attractions in their local area and only turn to the internet and other sources when researching destinations abroad, a survey has found.

The poll of 2,000 members of the UK public found that around a quarter could only name the road they live in or in the immediate vicinity and only one in six could identify the location of a local landmark.

Around 60% of those questioned in the survey said they looked out for new places to visit in their local area around once a month or less, while a lowly 11% said they would do the same approximately once a year.

The results were in stark contrast to the behaviour of holidaymakers who admitted in the survey that almost 40% said they would ask local people for information about the neighbourhood.

The survey found that the most popular sources for those who did look for local attractions in the UK were searches on Wikipedia (58%), maps (50%) and friends and family (49%).

The survey was conducted by Microsoft-owned Multimap.

Marketing communications manager Stuart Anderson explained: “No matter where you live, there’s a whole world of hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered, and there’s lots of different ways we can all learn more about our local areas.

“Our study shows that the desire to learn more about our towns and villages is still there, but as a nation we’ve lost our way a little when it comes to getting out there and making great new finds.”