City Status 2012

[MidnightFlyer]

In connection with Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee, some UK towns will be granted city status. Suggestions? Croydon, Colchester, MK and Blackpool, as well as 5 town in Medway have already applied.

I'll start: Wrexham, Ayr, Blackburn. You guys?

 

[mrcheek]

I expect Swindon will have another go.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The Medway application is Rochester, Gillingham, Strood, Rainham and somewhere else merging together. That would be pretty big, Rochester lost it when it joined Medway

 

[NLC1072]

Chelmsford are having a go I think...

 

[atomicdanny]

The Medway application is Rochester, Gillingham, Strood, Rainham and somewhere else merging together. That would be pretty big, Rochester lost it when it joined Medway

Chatham

 

[ainsworth74]

Middlesbrough!

 

[scotsman]

Ayr? Nah - Perth is much more likely.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Ayr? Nah - Perth is much more likely.

Or Stirling? They seem to spread cities around now more, such as Inverness in the Highlands, and Preston in Lancashire, so should SW Scotland get a city before Central Scotland gets another one

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Stirling is already a City.
It does often surprise me that Perth is not.

How about Northampton or Milton Keynes?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I thought the only five cities in Scotland were Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness?

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I thought the only five cities in Scotland were Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness?

Stirling is quite a recent addition.

Another anomaly is London, where most of London (most of its Boroughs) is not actually within a City, though there are 2 Cities in London - Westminster and the City of London.
So how about a bid by Brent.
Or Haringey
Or Lewisham

I'd vote for the City of Tower Hamlets!

 

[Greenback]

Never mind cities, many natives here believe that Llanelli should be a country!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Never mind cities, many natives here believe that Llanelli should be a country!

Talikng about Wales I think that St Asaph and Wrexham will both apply

 

[37372]

I think Doncaster.

 

[Greenback]

Talikng about Wales I think that St Asaph and Wrexham will both apply

IIRC, Wrexham lost out to Newport last time, so no doubt they will have another go!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I think Doncaster.

No, No, No!
We need Doncaster to remain as it is so that it (and its self appointed Mayor Prime Minister and President, Martin Winter) can still appear in Private Eye's "Rotten Boroughs" page every fortnight to tell us all about his latest activities on behalf of the people he so greatly admires. And himself. (I suppose the Eye could create a "Rotten City" column just for Donny), but I really don't see why such a scandalously administered town could have its status elevated by HRH.

[BTW Shouldn't all this be in the "General Discussion" thread?]

 

[MidnightFlyer]

.

[BTW Shouldn't all this be in the "General Discussion" thread?]

isnt it already?

 

[Dreadnought]

There was me who thought Milton Keynes was already a city, especially as 86211 was named City of Milton Keynes in the 1980s!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Isn't Milton Keynes already a city?

Or did BR get it wrong when they named 86 211?


edited to add: SNAP!

( Crossposted! )

 

[Heinz57]

I think Doncaster.

I thought it was already a City. But there you go, you learn something new every day!

I think Milton Keynes. And as Doncaster isn't, I think they'll be in for a shot too

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The minute town of Brechin near Arbroath has a football team named Brechin City FC, as does Guildford methinks

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Isn't Milton Keynes already a city?

Or did BR get it wrong when they named 86 211?

It does have an odd "city status". I'm not reliably informed about this but I recall that in its early days, it was conceived as a "New City", quite distinct from the "New Towns" which were being created in many parts of the UK, but were nearly always being costructed close to, and within commuting distance of, existing Cities.
But Milton Keynes was conceived differently, with a vision of making it more self-sustaining and independent of any adjoining city. As a consequence, it was thought of as having a different status - a New City.

It just happens never to have been awarded the official staus of a City.
So, no. It isn't.

 

[sprinterguy]

Isn't Milton Keynes already a city?

Or did BR get it wrong when they named 86 211?

Well BR did get it wrong when they named an 86 "City of Preston" (It wasn't a city then, it is now though), quickly realised their error, and renamed the loco "Preston Guild" instead (Think it might have been 86212?).

Just goes to show that learning geography and history from loco names doesn't always work!

Milton Keynes definitely should be a city. Always thought that it was myself. Perth and Doncaster should definitely be in with a chance.

 

[Oswyntail]

Luton should get it this time, IMHO.

 

[4SRKT]

Does it really matter? Most of the old historic centres are already cities, as are the bigger places whose growth was driven by the industrial revolution. Having artificial constructs like 'Brighton & Hove' or suburbs like Lisburn given city status just makes the distinction between cities and not-cities meaningless.

 

[Mojo]

Definitely Reading, I believe the largest town in the UK, along with Milton Keynes and Swindon.

 

[Aictos]

Bedford, Hertford, Blackpool should all be considered,

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Dudley, St Helens, Crawley, Oldham, Blackburn and Gateshead

 

[yorksrob]

Does it really matter? Most of the old historic centres are already cities, as are the bigger places whose growth was driven by the industrial revolution. Having artificial constructs like 'Brighton & Hove' or suburbs like Lisburn given city status just makes the distinction between cities and not-cities meaningless.

I think you could say that even without Hove, Brighton could be considered worthy of being a City in it's own right. If you look at the towns in the rest of Sussex, or to be fair, most of the South East outside of London, Brighton's clearly streets ahead of any rivals. There may be larger conurbations in terms of size, but you won't find a cultural or economic presence in the same league

 

[37372]

No, No, No!
We need Doncaster to remain as it is so that it (and its self appointed Mayor Prime Minister and President, Martin Winter) can still appear in Private Eye's "Rotten Boroughs" page every fortnight to tell us all about his latest activities on behalf of the people he so greatly admires. And himself. (I suppose the Eye could create a "Rotten City" column just for Donny), but I really don't see why such a scandalously administered town could have its status elevated by HRH.

[BTW Shouldn't all this be in the "General Discussion" thread?]

Sod the politics side of it, I'd love Doncaster to become a city!