UK cities

How to get the very best from Planet Earth.

x

Manchester
20
11%
Glasgow
30
17%
Bristol
18
10%
Sheffield
8
4%
Edinburgh
39
22%
Liverpool
27
15%
Birmingham
6
3%
Leeds
12
7%
Newcastle
18
10%
 
Total votes: 178

Bungo the Mungo

UK cities

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 02 Aug 2011, 10:44

I've excluded London as it'd be a runaway winner. What we're left with are the biggest cities in England and Scotland, altho' Newcastle is a bit further down the list (Hull, Stoke, Derby are bigger, among others, which surprised me).

Choose your three favourites, for whatever reason.

(some interesting stats here)

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Goat Boy
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Re: UK cities

Postby Goat Boy » 02 Aug 2011, 10:48

I'm slightly biased but it has to be Edinburgh. It's the prettiest by far.

I love Glasgow as well and it has the friendliest people in my opinion.
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Re: UK cities

Postby Insouciant Western People » 02 Aug 2011, 10:49

Newcastle, obviously. It's home. But I'd love it even if it wasn't.

I also went for Edinburgh and Liverpool. I've been visiting Edinburgh since I was a kid, and I've always loved it. It's a beautiful city.

I only went to Liverpool for the first time about 18 months ago, but I've spent a lot of time there since then and grown to really like the people and the place.
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Re: UK cities

Postby McBastard » 02 Aug 2011, 10:56

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, in that order.
I've been to Liverpool twice, and quite liked it.
Visited Birmingham once, it didn't make much of an impression.
Been through Sheffield on a bus a couple of times. same with Leeds. I spent a couple of hours in Leeds, not enough to see much.
I've only been to Manchester for the airport, and one other time by mistake.
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Re: UK cities

Postby Zilth Pilchards » 02 Aug 2011, 10:57

Newcastle and Sheffield.
Birmingham should register as nothing.

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Re: UK cities

Postby Insouciant Western People » 02 Aug 2011, 11:03

Yeah, Brum is just... meh. A bit like Derby. I still can't believe I lived in or around Derby for a third of my life. How the fuck did I end up in such a nothing place for so long ?

It's a real pity too, as Derby actually had, up until the 50s, some great old Victorian arcades. But the council flattened them and replaced them with anonymous shopping centres and whatnot, which was a crime. Now there's only Sadlergate and Irongate left that are the least bit attractive. The rest of the city centre is dullsville.
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Bungo the Mungo

Re: UK cities

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 02 Aug 2011, 11:06

I voted Manchester, Glasgow, and Newcastle. All for similar reasons, actually - friendly people, a bit of grit, a 'feel' you get when you're there. Good shops, too.

I've never been to Leeds. England's third city, apparently. Any good?

The Modernist

Re: UK cities

Postby The Modernist » 02 Aug 2011, 11:08

The Idiot wrote:
It's a real pity too, as Derby actually had, up until the 50s, some great old Victorian arcades. But the council flattened them and replaced them with anonymous shopping centres and whatnot, which was a crime. Now there's only Sadlergate and Irongate left that are the least bit attractive. The rest of the city centre is dullsville.


It's an absolute disgrace the way Britain's towns and cities were destroyed by venal developers. We'd have lots of lovely towns and cities to live in if that hadn't happened. As it is the ones that have remained relatively untouched are now prohibitively expensive for most people.

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Re: UK cities

Postby Zilth Pilchards » 02 Aug 2011, 11:10

The Idiot wrote:Yeah, Brum is just... meh.


It doesn't deserve to be England's second city,as much as Manchester is over hyped,most people might think think it has more of a claim than that shithole.

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Re: UK cities

Postby bhoywonder » 02 Aug 2011, 11:13

Bristol is bloody marvellous. Arguably more history than anywhere outside London (the modern world was essentially built from here), it's slap bang in the middle of spectacular countryside, which you can be walking in within 10 minutes from the city centre, the music scene is fantastic, there's gigs every night, great theatre, great galleries, great shopping, great open spaces and there's a different festival in the city every weekend in the summer.

Almost everywhere else I know, people moan about where they live. In Bristol people just rave about the place.

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Re: UK cities

Postby Insouciant Western People » 02 Aug 2011, 11:13

Sir John Coan wrote:I've never been to Leeds. England's third city, apparently. Any good?


Bakc in the mid-90s I spent a fair bit of time there, as I was dating a lass who was at Leeds University. There was a fair bit of investment going into the city around that time, and it had smartened up a fair bit, I liked it. Couple of decent music venues - I saw Supergrass and Leftfield at the Town & Country around that time, and those were both brilliant gigs.

I spent a lot of time around Headingley too, as she lived out there. That was a pretty nice place, for a student area.
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Re: UK cities

Postby dang65 » 02 Aug 2011, 11:14

I've been to all of the listed cities, which is a start I suppose, but I've only lived in Bristol and Manchester. When I left Bristol at 17 I despised the place, but I now realise that many UK cities were like that back then - basically decrepit. And most of them have recovered from that so that the only decrepit bits are quite nostalgic now - the red brick chimneys with trees growing out of them; rusty railway sidings; derelict mills and factories; bomb sites; grim concrete estates - everywhere was like that and now they only remain in occasional places and are interesting instead of depressing.

In the end, I find it impossible to answer this question as I simply don't have my heart in any city other than London.

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Re: UK cities

Postby bhoywonder » 02 Aug 2011, 11:18

dang65 wrote:I've been to all of the listed cities, which is a start I suppose, but I've only lived in Bristol and Manchester. When I left Bristol at 17 I despised the place, but I now realise that many UK cities were like that back then - basically decrepit. And most of them have recovered from that so that the only decrepit bits are quite nostalgic now - the red brick chimneys with trees growing out of them; rusty railway sidings; derelict mills and factories; bomb sites; grim concrete estates - everywhere was like that and now they only remain in occasional places and are interesting instead of depressing.

In the end, I find it impossible to answer this question as I simply don't have my heart in any city other than London.


When I lived in Bristol 20 years ago it was a very different place. Not sure you'd even recognise half the place today.

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Re: UK cities

Postby Footy » 02 Aug 2011, 11:18

Manchester.
In my youth, my mate's oldest brother lived there and we went and stayed with him on numerous occasions. It gave me a taste for the North and made me want to live there. It had an atmosphere that was palpably yet inexplicably different from what we knew in London. It seemed to rain continuously and the whole place was being dug up as part of early 70s regeneration. Even though it was unattractive, it succeeded in filling my head with all sorts of romantic notions about the North of England.
I had a long professional link to the city with it being a significant fashion and textile centre.

Newcastle.
I net my future wife, a Geordie, when she was working in Romford. I was still full of the idea of moving to Manchester but a few trips to Newcastle soon convinced me that the North East was a preferable choice to the North West. Newcastle was smaller but more attractive (despite being dug up, too, with the Metro and Eldon Square being built at the time). It was vibrant and the people were great. I engineered a move there through work and managed a store in the then brand new Eldon Square for six years.

Edinburgh.
Just a gorgeous city.
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Re: UK cities

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 02 Aug 2011, 11:20

bhoywonder wrote:Almost everywhere else I know, people moan about where they live. In Bristol people just rave about the place.


Southern wankers.

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Re: UK cities

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 02 Aug 2011, 11:25

I am a big fan of Plymouth. Sensational views over the Sound, proper city amenities, and Dartmoor on your doostep. The retail centre (developed in the fifties after the city took a pasting in the Second World War) is a bit dated, and there are no bars or restaurants in it, so it is empty in the evening, which is a shame. But Sutton Harbour is magnificent.
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Re: UK cities

Postby The Modernist » 02 Aug 2011, 11:27

bhoywonder wrote:Bristol is bloody marvellous. Arguably more history than anywhere outside London (the modern world was essentially built from here), it's slap bang in the middle of spectacular countryside, which you can be walking in within 10 minutes from the city centre, the music scene is fantastic, there's gigs every night, great theatre, great galleries, great shopping, great open spaces and there's a different festival in the city every weekend in the summer.

Almost everywhere else I know, people moan about where they live. In Bristol people just rave about the place.


Bristol has always appealed to me, though I've never been. But it's expensive isn't it?

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Re: UK cities

Postby trans-chigley express » 02 Aug 2011, 11:28

Zilth Pilchards wrote:
The Idiot wrote:Yeah, Brum is just... meh.


It doesn't deserve to be England's second city,as much as Manchester is over hyped,most people might think think it has more of a claim than that shithole.


I prefer Brum to Manchester.

Never been to Leeds or Glasgow but the rest I know and Manchester comes bottom.

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Re: UK cities

Postby bhoywonder » 02 Aug 2011, 11:31

TopCat G wrote:
bhoywonder wrote:Bristol is bloody marvellous. Arguably more history than anywhere outside London (the modern world was essentially built from here), it's slap bang in the middle of spectacular countryside, which you can be walking in within 10 minutes from the city centre, the music scene is fantastic, there's gigs every night, great theatre, great galleries, great shopping, great open spaces and there's a different festival in the city every weekend in the summer.

Almost everywhere else I know, people moan about where they live. In Bristol people just rave about the place.


Bristol has always appealed to me, though I've never been. But it's expensive isn't it?


Certainly not compared to London. I expect it's expensive compared to Leeds, but then, it would be, wouldn't it? I don't find it especially expensive though.

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Re: UK cities

Postby The Modernist » 02 Aug 2011, 11:32

I'm surprised Newcastle's so popular.
Admittedly I've never been, So I'm going on rather negative impressions here. But I always imagine it to be really cold with fierce winds. Then you have the whole pissed fat birds stumbling around the Bigg Market flashing their tits. It seems to lack class.
I voted Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow btw.


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