What do you know about UK cities/towns...other than London?

[manrush]

I know that Liverpool is one of the most Irish cities in Britain.

[OtAkAw]

I know Liverpool because of The Beatles. Edinburgh because of my English teacher. Canterbury because of Geoffrey Chaucer.

[svicious22]

All I know about Glasgow is what I saw in Trainspotting. I doubt it's really that vile but I have no intention of finding out.

[JohnnyFive]

Originally Posted by svicious22

All I know about Glasgow is what I saw in Trainspotting. I doubt it's really that vile but I have no intention of finding out.

Trainspotting was set in Edinburgh

[ckm]

When I lived in London, I never been further than any of the 4 suburban airports (just Oxford and Brighton).

The problem while living in London is how ridiculously expensive, uncomfortable and inconvenient can be travelling to anywhere else in the UK. Travelling from London to Birmingham or Manchester can be easily more expensive and takes more time than taking a train to Paris or a flight to Hungary or Spain... so when going for a break it is easy what to choose

[Jonesy55]

Originally Posted by ckm

The problem while living in London is how ridiculously expensive, uncomfortable and inconvenient can be travelling to anywhere else in the UK. Travelling from London to Birmingham or Manchester can be easily more expensive and takes more time than taking a train to Paris or a flight to Hungary or Spain... so when going for a break it is easy what to choose

It can be expensive, but then flying can be expensive too if you don't get the cheap tickets when they become available.

Just do the same with the trains and it shouldn't be too bad, London-Birmingham return tickets start at £10 (11.70 Euro), London-Manchester return tickets start at £24 (28 Euro) and there are no taxes, airport fees, baggage fees etc like there are on planes

[leverarch]

Originally Posted by ckm

When I lived in London, I never been further than any of the 4 suburban airports (just Oxford and Brighton).

The problem while living in London is how ridiculously expensive, uncomfortable and inconvenient can be travelling to anywhere else in the UK. Travelling from London to Birmingham or Manchester can be easily more expensive and takes more time than taking a train to Paris or a flight to Hungary or Spain... so when going for a break it is easy what to choose

You can take a train from London to Birmingham in 1hr 22mins (160km), and Manchester in 2hr 7mins (260km). This isn't so different to other European countries for comparable distances. For places on the straighter East Coast line, the journey times are even better - London to York is 1hr 50mins for a distance of 280km.

You are right that the trains can be horrendously over-priced! But if you book in advance, then you won't break the bank.... you can get a single to Birmingham for £7.50, Manchester £18 and York £12. If you just turn up to the station to buy a ticket to travel on the same day, its another story!

[PadArch]

Originally Posted by ckm

When I lived in London, I never been further than any of the 4 suburban airports (just Oxford and Brighton).

The problem while living in London is how ridiculously expensive, uncomfortable and inconvenient can be travelling to anywhere else in the UK. Travelling from London to Birmingham or Manchester can be easily more expensive and takes more time than taking a train to Paris or a flight to Hungary or Spain... so when going for a break it is easy what to choose

this is the maybe the biggest pile of rubbish i've ever read on this forum!

[Jonesy55]

To be fair, if you don't know how the system works and you just turn up at London Euston at 0900 on a Friday and ask for a return ticket to Manchester on the next train then you will be charged an extortionate price.

In many countries train fares are if not fixed, far less variable than plane tickets, while in the UK they are extremely variable for longer journeys.

Trains on the mainlines are fairly quick, not as quick as HSR but you can expect average speeds of 130-160kmh which is not bad and trains are frequent with 2-4 per hour on each of the major intercity routes.

Regional coverage is pretty comprehensive away from the mainlines too with frequent if not particularly fast services to and from most towns and cities.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by poshbakerloo

Ever wondered what living in Peterborough is like? etc

Here's a very basic problem for UK city publicity: speaking as an American who goes to England every year or so.... We don't often see the differences between English cities (the rest of UK maybe a little more), or the more unique aspects of them. In movies etc., there's simply the nice older town format, the Harry Potter's house format, and the council block format, but we might think every city has a mixture of those, vs. the much wider differences between, say, Miami, Detroit, and San Francisco. Centralized planning, similar weather (relatively), and the lack of dramatic mountain backdrops all contribute to the relative lack of "brand" differences.

As I said before, my own impressions are limited by having only been to London and a bunch of small cities.

PS, English cities do a lot of things way better than any US city. Not slamming anything here.

[PadArch]

Originally Posted by mhays

Here's a very basic problem for UK city publicity: speaking as an American who goes to England every year or so.... We don't often see the differences between English cities (the rest of UK maybe a little more), or the more unique aspects of them. In movies etc., there's simply the nice older town format, the Harry Potter's house format, and the council block format, but we might think every city has a mixture of those, vs. the much wider differences between, say, Miami, Detroit, and San Francisco. Centralized planning, similar weather (relatively), and the lack of dramatic mountain backdrops all contribute to the relative lack of "brand" differences.

As I said before, my own impressions are limited by having only been to London and a bunch of small cities.

PS, English cities do a lot of things way better than any US city. Not slamming anything here.

ummm

[svicious22]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFive

Trainspotting was set in Edinburgh

But the majority of it was actually filmed in Glasgow.

[Bannor]

Newcastle - Wet'n Wild (I've was there twice when I was a kid), and teenagers hanging out at the railway station in t-shirts when it is 5 degrees outside!

Liverpool - I don't like the people there, but The Beatles was great!

Manchester - Football football football, and O2 concert stage.

Sheffield - Used to have two ok football teams, but not any more.

Nottingham - Robin Hood.

Leeds - Football... lol?

York (or Jordvik as I would call it being a norwegian!) - Great historic city with a big cathedral and torture chambers. A must for tourists! It also has a city wall.

Scarborough - Much the same viking heritage as York, just a bit smaller. Has some casino's too at the beach (went there on a school trip once). Not far from Flamingoland amusement park.

Southampton - Titanic came from here. Largest port for the navy I think?

Brighton - not much

Bristol - not much at all

Birmingham - Its bigger than Manchester although every single manchester person refuse to admit it... lol. Big industrial city of old!

Norwich - It had a good football team nobody believed in.

Cambridge - Great city of old with lots of history, old buildings, and a good university. (I have friends living here too)

Plymouth - its in the south I believe.

Blackburn - the best football team in england.

Thats it for the English cities I recall off my head. Not adding suburbs though.

[poshbakerloo]

Originally Posted by Bannor

Blackburn - the best football team in england.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by PadArch

ummm

Nice pictures, but they don't address my point. Those are nice old-city pictures with hills in roughly similar climates. Besides, I'm talking about what people generally hear in the US, not what's actually there.

[Manitopiaaa]

Here's my American view of British cities:

London: big, beautiful, bustling, diverse and the best city for a beginner tourist. World economic hub, hosting Olympics, world-class museums, Queen lives here, Big Ben, London Eye, London Bridge is falling down, Shakespeare

for the other cities, let's see:

Aberdeen: oil and gloomy
Belfast: Irish but wants to be English
Blackpool: Victorian resort town with old English-style amusement park
Brighton: gay beach resort where Londoners go
Cambridge: where you want your kids to go
Canterbury: religious, big cathedral, Canterbury tales
Cardiff: Welsh people with welsh cultural things
Downton Abbey: big show on PBS
Edinburgh: gorgeous and has a great festival
Glasgow: industrial area trying to be hip again
Leeds: dying industrial town
Liverpool: dying Industrial Revolution megacity
Manchester: dying Industrial Revolution megacity...but not as much as Liverpool, Manchester United
Oxford: where you want your kids to go. The most recent X-Men was here
Salisbury: Stonehenge
Sheffield: Dying industrial town

and that's it

Edit: forgot Birmingham: The Detroit of England

[Ecological]

This thread shows us two things about my city.

1: It's true, Brummies are to down to earth and need to start blowing their own trumpet.
2: Because of that it's perception is pretty crap and it's about time Marketing Birmingham got their act together.

I'll do my little bit - i'm sure a lot of people would be surprised. Liverpool may have given the world Beattles but Birmingham gave the world an existence.

Birmingham

Birmingham is home to Cadbury's Chocolate

Birmingham was the birth place of Heavy Metal - Black Sabbath (Ozzy) etc.

JR Tolkien was brought up within the city and wrote the famous Lord of the Rings. You can journey the Tolkien trail if you ever visit.

The World Famous Mini was made in Birmingham.

Birmingham City Council is the biggest local authority in Europe, and employs twice as many people as the European commission.

Birmingham is the UK’s largest manufacturing and engineering centre and accounts for 25% of the country’s exports. F.W Lanchester built the first four-wheeled petrol driven car in Birmingham, hence the nickname Brum.

The Jewellery Quarter is the largest concentration of dedicated jewellers in Europe. Half of all jewellery made in the UK comes from Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, with a third of jewellery manufactured in the UK made within one mile of the city centre

St Valentine is rumoured to be located within the city boundaries given to John Newman by the Pope back in the 18th century.

The city of Birmingham has staged more World and European Championships than any other UK city

The Belfry Golf Course, venue for some momentous Ryder Cup challenges, also houses the headquarters of the PGA

Lawn tennis was first played in Birmingham in 1865. The Edgbaston Archery and Lawn Tennis Society, founded in 1860, is the oldest surviving lawn tennis club in the world

In 1888, William McGregor of Aston Villa FC invited other clubs to play regularised games of football, leading to the creation of the Football League

Famous food brands that originated in Birmingham include Typhoo tea, Bird's Custard, Blue Bird Toffee, Bournville cocoa, Cadbury chocolate and HP Sauce.

Birmingham is home to the Balti, a spicy, aromatic Kashmiri dish, with over 100 Balti houses attracting over 20,000 visitors per week.


-

Hope they weren't too boring.

I avoided the invention marlarky as at some point in your every day life Birmingham has been involved believe it or not.

And that's the sad thing and why the city needs to promote itself more.

[Haddington]

Good call - Brum never gets the credit it deserves as the birthplace of metal.

As well as Sabbath you could also include Priest and Zep.

[levaniX]

So, yeah.
Manchester-one of industrial centres, Metrolink, modern development, mediacityUK
York-great historical town, so pretty
Bristol-have heard a lot. Pretty good city. But dont know much as i know Liverpool and Manchester
Liverpool-The Beatles, that building reminds me of New York dont remember its name, awesome example of modem city centre reconstruction.
Edinburgh- city with soul, i can say its a bit better than London
Newcastle- i know that bridge in the centre only
Birmingham- mostly negative opinion, too industrial, but development in city centre changed my opinion a lot
Leeds-just heard of
Sheffield- just heard of.

So, thats it maybe

[dsohfan]

i visited shrewsbury , chester and liverpool .

and what i can say is that i'm totally in love with shrewsbury , very calm and little size typical u.k city ....