Britain's Best City

[Son of Cod]

I lived in Rusholme last year and would walk for 20 minutes and be in the countryside

What are you classing as countryside here?

 

[blade1889]

What are you classing as countryside here?

Fields with no one else near me

 

[Son of Cod]

Fields with no one else near me

Just looking at a map, I fail to see how Manchester can be much better than Leeds for this. I thought you were talking about proper national park countryside.

 

[blade1889]

Just looking at a map, I fail to see how Manchester can be much better than Leeds for this. I thought you were talking about proper national park countryside.

I'm using it as an example that Manchester isnt less aesthetically pleasing as you can be in the countryside so easy (combined with a modern city center). To me countryside is countryside, may not have np status but I don't see how a title effects how nicer area it is

 

[lordofthepies]

Just looking at a map, I fail to see how Manchester can be much better than Leeds for this. I thought you were talking about proper national park countryside.

It takes me a little over half an hour by bike to get from my house to the Peak District.

 

[lordofthepies]

Over the years I've come to realise that Manchester people often have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Manchester bettering Leeds. Other than the obvious football club hatred, Leeds doesn't really reciprocate. The humour of its people? Seriously? Manchester people have their own brand of humour that transcends the natives of other cities? That's the kind of thing that puts me off Manchester. It's a very inward facing type of individuality that you're referring too, isn't it? The type that Scousers and Geordies are also guilty of. Almost unaware of life outside of Manchester. Londoners are the same, but of course London is a global city. Despite what some of its inhabitants might think, Manchester is not. Don't get me wrong though, I had Manchester down as my 2nd favourite city ahead of Leeds in 3rd. However, Manchester was held back from challenging London for top spot by one factor. Mancs.

I totally agree with all of this.

 

[Son of Cod]

It takes me a little over half an hour by bike to get from my house to the Peak District.

That's because you're a vegan cyclist. Essentially a motorbike.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I've had a shit day but because I love you all, the top 10 shall commence soon.

 

[Alty]

I've had a shit day but because I love you all, the top 10 shall commence soon.

Because you spent it in Leeds?

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Because you spent it in Leeds?

Because I didn't spend it in Manchester.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

So here we go, we're in to the top 10. Will Norwich win? Will Liverpool trump Manchester? Will anyone care by the end? Who knows.

10. Newcastle upon Tyne

C&B Opinion: Any city that has produced Ant & Dec would not be on my to-do list

Description: Newcastle, the final NE city to fall, is in Tyne & Wear and is the most populous (and popular) city in that corner of England. The local dialect is Geordie and is perhaps the most indecipherable of all English cities. Some of the local pasttimes include drinking, removing your shirt and punching horses, making it like a working class Royal Ascot. It is also well known for its nightlife which is a bonus as most of its inhabitants should only come out in public in the night. Sport wise, Newcastle is synonomous with years of abject failure. It was however very popular in this poll and finished highly even though one deemed it bad enough to be on their shit list.

Famous People: Ant or Dec from Ant & Dec, Ant or Dec from Ant & Dec, Alan Shearer

C&B Fact: The city's first indoor market was opened, 1849. All of its traders were pissed by 19:12.

 

[Whitechapel]

13. Truro

View attachment 2873

C&B Opinion: Stunning part of the country

Description: Truro is mainland Britain's most southernly city and also Cornwall's only city. The name could derive from tri-veru meaning three rivers but nobody actually knows. If you visit Truro, be sure to have a Cornish cream tea, which is exactly the same as a Devonshire cream tea no matter what the halfwits say. A royal mint used to operate in Truro to pay the troops until it moved to Exeter in 1646.

Famous People: Will Skuse, Henry Bone

C&B Fact: Truro cathedral was only completed in 1910 and has three spires.

Bullshit. Devon cream teas have jam first and then cream, Cornish cream teas are cream first and then jam. Also a traditional Cornish cream isn't a scone, it's a cornish split.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I was born in Truro. Lovely place.

 

[G.B]

no mention of the world famous saveloy dip. i are disappoint.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

no mention of the world famous saveloy dip. i are disappoint.

Keep that gay shit out of here thank you very much.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Over the years I've come to realise that Manchester people often have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Manchester bettering Leeds. Other than the obvious football club hatred, Leeds doesn't really reciprocate. The humour of its people? Seriously? Manchester people have their own brand of humour that transcends the natives of other cities? That's the kind of thing that puts me off Manchester. It's a very inward facing type of individuality that you're referring too, isn't it? The type that Scousers and Geordies are also guilty of. Almost unaware of life outside of Manchester. Londoners are the same, but of course London is a global city. Despite what some of its inhabitants might think, Manchester is not. Don't get me wrong though, I had Manchester down as my 2nd favourite city ahead of Leeds in 3rd. However, Manchester was held back from challenging London for top spot by one factor. Mancs.
Leeds and Manchester are probably the best two cities in the North for music, from what I've seen. Not sure what the clubs/venues are like now in Leeds, but when I left four years ago there was plenty going on if you're willing to invest the time and scratch the surface.
Which countryside areas around Leeds have you visited, too? I do think if you're only willing to drive 10 minutes out of Leeds city centre you're not going to be spoilt for choice, but I'd love to know where these mountains are located within walking distance of Manchester. Go a bit further out of Leeds into the Dales and you're set. Places like Otley, Ilkley and Horsforth are good days out if you want a good pub/countryside compromise if you're willing to go further than 10 minutes but not right into the Dales.

I'm starting to wonder now, if the secret reason why I'm partial to Scousers and Geordies is because they're self-regarding. They've also got good humour though. Neither of the three are the funniest people in the world or witty by default, but they certainly have it where Leodesians lack it, or whatever on Earth they're called. As if there's even a debate to be had! I feel like Tivvyultras when someone suggested he was a Taunton fan.

The fact Horsforth is being touted as a countryside getaway around Leeds shows how much they scrape the barrel there. It's just more suburbs, except some of them are made of local stone. Sights are lacking, rights of way are lacking. Otley's closer to Bratfud but I suppose it has its Chevin and is within the LS authority, OK. Ilkley: Bratfud. Yorkshire Dales: over 30 chuffing miles away! If we're going that far to excuse Leeds then we can say Manchester has Clitheroe and Hope Valley. Leeds' closest rural area is Eccup and thereabouts to its north, which is bereft of places to explore until you get to Harewood, which is about as nice as it gets.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Nowhere in the UK better exemplifies the architectural and urbanistic atrocities of the Blair years than Manchester. My brother lived there for about a decade, and whenever I visited, entering via the man-made canyon of whatever that big road they've got there is, I felt like I was encroaching onto the set of a dystopian satire.

It's a city sized exhibit dedicated to the terrifying specimens of the Regeneration Boondoggle: Stunning city centre apartment developments! (aka shoebox sized flats for atomised professionals and, latterly, post-crash, the bleached skeletons of unfinished ones). Iconic Towers! (a trillion mid rises with twattily uneven roof lines and pox-like encrustations of asymmetrical cladding; stupid fucking name encouraged but not mandatory). Revitalised canal quarters! (once thriving sites of Victorian industry now full of Costa Coffees and detestable pubs named after the the type of worker who used to make a living there). Thrilling street art! (lobotomised shit, and/or, in the case of Thomas 'The New Da Vinci' Heatherwick's B of the Bang, shit actually capable of performing an accidental lobotomy). Affordable student apartments! (digs so parsimoniously constructed as to be barely fit for human habitation). Vibrant cultural attractions! (Museums already abandoned, shortly to be abandoned due to further funding cuts, or w/ a collection stretched so thin that one can't be entire sure if they're abandoned or not). State of the art sports facilities! (paid for by the public, now lining the pockets of plutocrats). And so on.

One can find this stuff in most places in the UK, obviously, but not in this quantity, or on this scale, and worse still it's all wrapped up in a parochial braggadocio, a self-authored hagiography, a punchable parvenu pleading. This is ironic in two ways - firstly since Manchester is in fact anything but parvenu, and secondly since (a Owen Hatherley points out, IIRC) this predilection for self-mythologising seemed to begin exactly when the city ceased to have anything to proud of culturally. It's like Ravenbish telling everyone how suave, handsome, well paid and well endowed he is. It wasn't enough for Manchester to adopt retrograde mediocrities like the Gallagher brothers as avatars, the city had somehow metamorphosed into them as well, taking their shittiest, oafish and most belligerent characteristics and re-imagining them as a basis for city planning.

I had always felt this way, and that there was something basically (and cliched-ly) Ballardian at work in the place, but the idea really crystallised when my brother went striding out of his farcically overpriced Castlefield flat one December, and slipped and fell on the ice covering the pointless bit of decking in the courtyard outside, suffering a fairly serious spiral fracture of his ankle that required surgery and about 3 months off work. Obviously on some level the incident was extremely amusing, but it also made the suspicion concrete - not satisfied with recreating the topography of late Ballard, Manchester had now replicated the treacherous immanence of early Ballard. The fabric of the city was actively maiming its inhabitants.

The Town Hall is good though, granted.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

9. Norwich

C&B Opinion: Finished a lot higher than I thought it would. Pleasant but not spectacular.

Description: Naaarich, Norfolk's only city, is like the boil on the UK's bulbous bum. It's pleasant enough however it is so far from anywhere and try to drive to it and you'll be stuck behind a tractor on a single carrigeway for miles on end. Norwich did have a large shoe-making industry because of the demand for shoes that coped with webbed feet but the development of Crocs ended that. Norwich was England's second city for a while in the middle-ages however the mass burning and drowning of witches put pay to that. Similar to Newcastle, it scored well even though it had one negative score. It finishes quite a way behind 8th in truth however.

Famous People: Philip Pullman, Ed Balls

C&B Fact: Norwich was the first city to have postcodes. Like Plymouth, a small number of distinct families made the decision to choose Norwich an easy one.

 

[Abertawe]

Is someone seriously attempting to argue that Leeds is better than Manchester?
LOL

I've never known a Manc even mention Leeds as a city, let alone try and demean Leeds as a city. Liverpool yeah, Leeds means fuck all.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

8. Nottingham

C&B Opinion: I've only seen it briefly but I'm not sure what the appeal is.

Description: Nottingham continues the trend of cities in the top 10 starting with 'N'. It finishes a healthy 16 points above Norwich, the largest jump so far. Nottingham is well known for Robin Hood and tobacco meaning it has strong links with stealing shit; money and life expectancy. We owe a lot to Nottingham, not least as the birthplace of Brown Sauce. The name Nottingham apparently comes from a guy named Snot and it used to be called Snottingham (must be made up - surely). It also has two well-known urban myths; it's the gun capital of Britain and the student population is very female dominated. Both of which are aimed at bringing the chavvy-male students to the town.

Famous People: Paul Smith, Jake Bugg, Carl Froch

C&B Fact: Drug peddling is rife in Nottingham with Boot's the chemist having its origins there.

 

[Veggie Legs]

It's pleasant enough however it is so far from anywhere and try to drive to it and you'll be stuck behind a tractor on a single carrigeway for miles on end.

You need to get with the times, C&B, the fully dual carriageway A11 opened more than a year ago.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

You need to get with the times, C&B, the fully dual carriageway A11 opened more than a year ago.

OK - stuck behind 2 tractors trying to overtake each other!

 

[PaulHaddock]

8. Nottingham

View attachment 2889

C&B Opinion: I've only seen it briefly but I'm not sure what the appeal is.

Description: Nottingham continues the trend of cities in the top 10 starting with 'N'. It finishes a healthy 16 points above Norwich, the largest jump so far. Nottingham is well known for Robin Hood and tobacco meaning it has strong links with stealing shit; money and life expectancy. We owe a lot to Nottingham, not least as the birthplace of Brown Sauce. The name Nottingham apparently comes from a guy named Snot and it used to be called Snottingham (must be made up - surely). It also has two well-known urban myths; it's the gun capital of Britain and the student population is very female dominated. Both of which are aimed at bringing the chavvy-male students to the town.

Famous People: Paul Smith, Jake Bugg, Carl Froch

C&B Fact: Drug peddling is rife in Nottingham with Boot's the chemist having its origins there.

There's also a Hooters.

 

[silkyman]

Over the years I've come to realise that Manchester people often have a slightly unhealthy obsession with Manchester bettering Leeds. Other than the obvious football club hatred, Leeds doesn't really reciprocate. The humour of its people? Seriously? Manchester people have their own brand of humour that transcends the natives of other cities? That's the kind of thing that puts me off Manchester. It's a very inward facing type of individuality that you're referring too, isn't it? The type that Scousers and Geordies are also guilty of. Almost unaware of life outside of Manchester. Londoners are the same, but of course London is a global city. Despite what some of its inhabitants might think, Manchester is not. Don't get me wrong though, I had Manchester down as my 2nd favourite city ahead of Leeds in 3rd. However, Manchester was held back from challenging London for top spot by one factor. Mancs.
Leeds and Manchester are probably the best two cities in the North for music, from what I've seen. Not sure what the clubs/venues are like now in Leeds, but when I left four years ago there was plenty going on if you're willing to invest the time and scratch the surface.
Which countryside areas around Leeds have you visited, too? I do think if you're only willing to drive 10 minutes out of Leeds city centre you're not going to be spoilt for choice, but I'd love to know where these mountains are located within walking distance of Manchester. Go a bit further out of Leeds into the Dales and you're set. Places like Otley, Ilkley and Horsforth are good days out if you want a good pub/countryside compromise if you're willing to go further than 10 minutes but not right into the Dales.

I've never once heard anything about a mancunian trying to argue that Manchester is better than Leeds.

Leeds is a great place and I've had some great nights there, but I don't think 'Manchester' as a whole really gives a fuck.

Liverpool, yeah. Rivalry there. Birmingham... There's the whole 'second city' debate. London, probably, because the government has always been so London centric. But Leeds? You migh as well say Mancunians are desperately inventing a rivalry with Hull.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Shottingham.

 

[blade1889]

Uni of Manc and Uni of Leeds has a rivalry of sorts but think that's mainly as we're generally seen as similar and its quite common to have a rivalry with those close to you.

The few proper mancunions I know have never mentioned Leeds that I can remember tbh, although that's not to say it hasn't happened. I guess they are relatively pleased with themselves though, and so they should be, the city has really shot up in recent times.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

7. Manchester

C&B Opinion: Rain, rain, rain

Description: Manchester is a large city in the tropical rainforest of NW England. The name derives from the Latin Mamucium or Mancunium which in turn is derived from mamm meaning breast. Therefore, Manchester is efectively known as Breasttown. There are a lot of tits there for sure. It rains a lot there. Of course, the city is known for its world famous sporting teams such as Manchester Rugby Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club who play on the odd days it doesn't rain. A local delicacy is a chip barm (lights touchpaper and runs). Did I mention the rain? It is nowhere near as good as Leeds, it rains less there.

Famous People: Emmeline Pankhurst, John Thaw, Mick Hucknall

C&B Fact: Manchester became the first city to install a modern tram system in 1992. What is the point in a tram? It's a bus on rails, why not just have a bus? Are they better in the rain?

 

[Pliny Harris]

Oh yeah, and precipitation in Greater Manchester is actually slightly lower than the national average.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Oh yeah, and precipitation in Greater Manchester is actually slightly lower than the national average.

I chose to ignore that part on the Wiki page, it's obviously wrong. I've been to Manchester at least 3 times, I know.

 

[blade1889]

Oh yeah, and precipitation in Greater Manchester is actually slightly lower than the national average.

Beat me to it!


*throws toys out of pram*

As well as trams Manchester also has one of (maybe the...I think 'the') busiest bus routes in Europe with Oxford Road. Nightmare at uni kicking out time.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Being fair, the national average includes Scotland. The must drag it up a bit.