And I bet if you asked people from other countries who they think Britain's second city, I think they'd say Manchester first as well. That is probably influenced by sport and specifically football though.
Pretty much all my UK city exposure is with Charlton away. Am I unusual with that?
The only UK cities I’ve been in outside of simply going to the game is London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester and Southampton. And 3 of those were Charlton weekends
Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham, Coventry, Luton, Portsmouth, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, Oxford, Bradford, Cambridge, Colchester, Doncaster, Exeter, Norwich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Preston, Stoke, Swansea. All those I’ve literally parked a couple of roads away from grounds and been in and out without even seeing a High St. or place of interest.
So 61 UK cities and there are only 2 I’ve been to (in Wales and Scotland) that wasn’t Charlton related!
If we are saying Greater Manchester that includes Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Stockport and Bury. The actual population of Manchester itself is smaller than Liverpool and Bristol. So in a way it does depend what the parameters are.
Always been a big fan of Bristol - great medium sized city.
One of my nearer cities - historic and culturally very active but the desire for "radicalism", active promotion and acceptance of graffiti and the almost constant and permanent smell of weed is making it, sadly, less redeeming by the day.
I do think these sorts of arguments are hilarious.
Mate of mine is from Coventry (a widely accepted khazi) and he always says it's funny how when you go outside of London people can get quite fiercely obsessed about whether their town or city is bigger or better than another, but since he moved to London he realised that nobody here really gives a fuck!
Birmingham gets a lot of stick but mainly from people who have never been or haven't been for years. Of course there's some total shithole areas but what city doesn't have the same?
Birmingham gets a lot of stick but mainly from people who have never been or haven't been for years. Of course there's some total shithole areas but what city doesn't have the same?
There's nothing wrong with Birmingham, but it feel quite provincial. There's no feeling of "self importance" about the place, or a City designed to show itself off to the world, hence it lacks major historical sights for a City its size, and when compared to say Liverpool or Bristol.
Birmingham gets a lot of stick but mainly from people who have never been or haven't been for years. Of course there's some total shithole areas but what city doesn't have the same?
OK I haven't spent a lot of time in Birmingham, but anytime I have been, the city centre feels devoid of any history or culture bar a lot of shops, it also feels very dirty and dodgy. I know Manchester ain't exactly idyllic at times near Piccadilly Gardens and the Arndale but if you branch out to the areas around the very centre there is a lot of vibrancy and life in the areas surrounding it as well as lot of cultural history. Outside the very centre of Birmingham it just seems to turn into dodgy suburbs and big roads/highways.
Again, might not be fair as I haven't spent an equal amount of time in Brum as I have in Manc but I've never, ever heard anyone say "I love Birmingham" after a visit.
Comments
Truro.
But then I'm biased.
Anywhere not in England is irrelevant to this discussion
But Manchester has overtaken it now in my view
Pretty much all my UK city exposure is with Charlton away. Am I unusual with that?
Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham, Coventry, Luton, Portsmouth, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, Oxford, Bradford, Cambridge, Colchester, Doncaster, Exeter, Norwich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Preston, Stoke, Swansea. All those I’ve literally parked a couple of roads away from grounds and been in and out without even seeing a High St. or place of interest.
So 61 UK cities and there are only 2 I’ve been to (in Wales and Scotland) that wasn’t Charlton related!
If we play a midlands team and you don’t stop here for a couple you aren’t doing it right.
England's second city is Manchester.
Manchester
Birmingham
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Glasgow
Bristol
Leeds
Sheffield
Newcastle
In my perception at least and spent time in them all, albeit a few years ago in some instances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_city_of_the_United_Kingdom
Mate of mine is from Coventry (a widely accepted khazi) and he always says it's funny how when you go outside of London people can get quite fiercely obsessed about whether their town or city is bigger or better than another, but since he moved to London he realised that nobody here really gives a fuck!
Again, might not be fair as I haven't spent an equal amount of time in Brum as I have in Manc but I've never, ever heard anyone say "I love Birmingham" after a visit.