UK cities

[Insouciant Western People]

Fucking hell.

Yeah... it's criminal.

[The Modernist]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

Well there aren't any big cities really other than those two..do you mean towns?

[Bungo the Mungo]

[ I'm attached to the UK in general though. I've found myself falling in love with this country more and more as I get older.

Same here.
When I was younger I used to be one of the "it's just another country" brigade. In fact I always saw myself living abroad when I was older.

And yet most young, educated Brits are as unpatriotic as it gets. You don't get the same suspicion of national pride elsewhere in Europe. It's an odd thing.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

Well there aren't any big cities really other than those two..do you mean towns?

No, not really. I suppose you've answered the question there.

[Polishgirl]

Ok...

Edinburgh - like it a lot, and when I went there, I was surprised to find how different it looked to English cities. I know that's just me being an igorant janner, but the darkness from the stone there, and the inherent beauty but also spookiness. Very keen; would like to go back.

Of the others, the only one I know well enough to comment upon is Bristol, which I also like a lot. There's a great deal going on and it has some great charity shops.....

Cardiff is one I like too; lovely Victorian arcades, lots of history and the rejuvenation has been quite well done, I think.

[The Modernist]

I tell you a place that looked really nice that you don't hear much about and that's Norwich.
I don't know it at all, just spent a few hours there earlier this summer, but I got a real "I could really live here" vibe off it.
Some lovely architecture in the centre and plenty of scenic character with the river and cathedral. Seemed to be a lot going on culturally too.

[Limpin' Jez McKenzie]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

How big's big?

Oxford
Cambridge
Bath
Hereford
Plymouth
Exeter
Brighton
Canterbury
Salisbury
Winchester
Penzance

[Bungo the Mungo]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

How big's big?

Oxford
Cambridge
Bath
Hereford
Plymouth
Exeter
Brighton
Canterbury
Salisbury
Winchester
Penzance

OK! Thanks.

Maybe I'll do a tour one of these days. Take a little camera, go from town to town, pub to pub, interviewing people. That would be great, actually. Get funding from Channel 4 in advance, put together a docu - England's Dreamers.

G, you in?

[Insouciant Western People]

I'm attached to the UK in general though. I've found myself falling in love with this country more and more as I get older.

Me too. I spent most of my youth wanting to get away from Whitley Bay, and to be fair in those days it was a bit of grotty rundown seaside town.

These days, I'd sell my Granny to be able to move back there, or Tynemouth...

[The Modernist]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

How big's big?

Oxford
Cambridge
Bath
Hereford
Plymouth
Exeter
Brighton
Canterbury
Salisbury
Winchester
Penzance

OK! Thanks.

Maybe I'll do a tour one of these days. Take a little camera, go from town to town, pub to pub, interviewing people. That would be great, actually. Get funding from Channel 4 in advance, put together a docu - England's Dreamers.

G, you in?

Absolutely!

[The Modernist]

These days, I'd sell my Granny to be able to move back there, or Tynemouth...

I'm sort of derailing the thread with this, but it does fascinate me.

When I was younger I always gravitated towards London. Kent bored me, it was just this large expanse of countryside somewhere "out there". Now I'd really like to move back to Kent, not where I grew up necessarily (which was just a fairly characterless suburb that has become pretty shabby). One of the larger towns would appeal to me -Canterbury or Faversham, or one of the coastal towns like Deal or Margate.
What is it though? I think ageing brings with it an interest in history, you begin to appreciate the character of things and form some kind of identity from it.

[Insouciant Western People]

Maybe I'll do a tour one of these days. Take a little camera, go from town to town, pub to pub, interviewing people. That would be great, actually. Get funding from Channel 4 in advance, put together a docu - England's Dreamers.

G, you in?

Absolutely!

I would love to see that show. I'm imagining a cross between Vic & Bob and The Odd Couple

[The Modernist]

It's actually a very good idea though!

[Insouciant Western People]

These days, I'd sell my Granny to be able to move back there, or Tynemouth...

I'm sort of derailing the thread with this, but it does fascinate me.

When I was younger I always gravitated towards London. Kent bored me, it was just this large expanse of countryside somewhere "out there". Now I'd really like to move back to Kent, not where I grew up necessarily (which was just a fairly characterless suburb that has become pretty shabby). One of the larger towns would appeal to me -Canterbury or Faversham, or one of the coastal towns like Deal or Margate.
What is it though? I think ageing brings with it an interest in history, you begin to appreciate the character of things and form some kind of identity from it.

I know what you mean. The longer I live in Lincoln the more I'm growing to love the place. It's a small city, but the history all around you here is endlessly fascinating, the people are friendly, there's some wonderful architecture, and it has enough nice pubs, restaurants and shops to keep most people entertained. I doubt I'll stay here for more than a couple more years more, but while I am here I'm making the most of it.

[The Modernist]

Why do you think you'll leave?

[Insouciant Western People]

Why do you think you'll leave?

It doesn't feel like home. Ideally I want to get back to the north east, although I'd happily live in Scotland too. But my kids are in the midlands, so I need to stick around here for a few years yet.

[The Fish]

Outside of London and Bristol, what big cities are worth seeing in the south?

How big's big?

Oxford
Cambridge
Bath
Hereford
Plymouth
Exeter
Brighton
Canterbury
Salisbury
Winchester
Penzance

A pedant points out that Pemzance is not actually a city, but then to be fair you were the first to come up with the correct answer of Brighton (and Hove).

[KeithPratt]

London's a fantastic place, but unless you've got a lot of money, it's a struggle.

I moved to Tunbridge Wells in October and must say that it's been the best move I ever made. Looking back at it, we could have moved to somewhere in Zone 3 or 4 but as someone who grew up on the periphery of London, this just seems like the worst of both worlds - too far out of the centre so that it takes ages to get in, but still paying city prices and suffering from noise, bad schools etc and too inside the M25 to be able to get to the proper countryside. As much as I think London has some of the most amazing green space in the world with parks like Greenwich and Richmond, it is not the same as getting out to somewhere properly rural.

The pace of life is slower, the people are friendly, it's self-contained enough so that I can enjoy things like decent bookshops and a cinema/arts centre without having to go to some huge industrial estate and all our food shopping can be done within a 3 minute walk of our flat. As I work in London, I'm never that far from it and by train it's only 50 minutes away. In fact I can say that going to the Jolly on Saturday will only take me 20 minutes longer than if I was still living in East Dulwich and I won't have to share a bus with a load of awful people.

[The Modernist]

I went for a drink in Tonbridge Wells a few months back.
I've always found it a little prissy and middle class, though there's lots of nice buildings. You don't find it a little conservative?

[Polishgirl]

I really like Hereford - it's like a big market town. The Cathedral is fab and the Mappa Mundi is wonderful. Granted it's not exactly a throbbing metropolis, but for a country girl like me, it strikes a balance between country and city,. which is also why I like Exeter.

I'm quite fond of Southampton, which surely is a city? Like Plymouth, it was bombed to hell and redeveloped in the 60s, but the centre is very pleasant, there are still some old corners and bits of the city walls, the Quay has been snazzed up etc.

I want to love Bath, but I can't. First off, the centre of it is FILTHY - trade rubbish and people's rubbish everywhere. Second umm off - it's that whole annoying aspirational thing about the place that annoys me. I like the bit where my friends live which is a bit more mixed and friendly.