The Links - Manchester Picadilly - Not a hotspot but a top spot

As my Brummie friend now raises objection to the links posted on this page I find it a pretty desperate and contradictory act to immediately post an outdated 2005 link which places Manchester Picadilly 21st on a list of pollution hotspots.
To update to the present levels I have posted the current official data detailing urban pollution levels and surprise surprise, of the six monitored areas, 3 in Birmingham and 3 in Manchester, Birmingham has the three highest ozone levels of the two cities. Mancester Picadilly interstingly enough, has by far, the lowest level of all six monitoring points. I shall be updating this at regular intervals and I suggest our Brummie friend contacts the pollution criminals in his area if he wishes to better the environmental efforts of Manchester.
As stated in my previous blog, I am happy to remove links before an agreed date and await a response on this before our Brummie friend posts some Brummie inspired anti-Manc article from an 1850 edition of the Erdington Post.

Manchester - Reigning City

The creative heartbeat of an area has everything to do with it's inhabitants and the people born there.
I chose Carol Anne Duffy because she resides and works in Manchester, I chose Elisabeth Gaskell not because she actually spent much of her childhood in Knutsford and not in her Chelsea birthplace but because she chose Manchester as her home. a place she loved and worked tirelessly in to assist the less fortunate and a place so close to her heart that she wrote the Classic 'Mary Barton' novel and forgive me for not previously affording the book it's full title - 'Mary Barton - A Manchester Tale'.
Should my colleague prefer I am more than happy to limit my future postings only to those born within Greater Manchester boundaries and will happily afford him a similar luxury for Birmingham if he so wishes. This would then render his Lunar Society blog a little ludicrous just as it would his extolling the virtues of Birmingham's car manufacturing magnates, the vast majority of whom were born and lived outside of Birmingham. Lunar Society members for instance, visited Birmingham only once a month when the full moon was apparent and no doubt when Brummie mobs, eager to rid themselves of unwanted intelligencia, were fast asleep.

I'm grateful that you decided, as I thought you might, to refer to our wet weather reputation for not one but two reasons. Firstly it is a myth, no doubt conjured up by Brummies unhappy at our greater popularity, that Manchester is the rainiest city in the UK and I challenge my resourcful friend to show us the proof. Secondly his rather desperate wet weather references served only to remind me that yet another innovator who provided many Brummies shelter from the rain, Charles Mackintosh, forged out a very successful living up here in the "rainy city".

Moving on to Salford's inclusion here, as pointed out in my previous blog 'Noddy's ours - You can keep Neville' and being a Salfordian by birth, I can confidently state that Salfordians as with all neighbouring boroughs that make up our great city, are proud to call themselves Mancunians and unlike Birmingham's neighbouring towns such as Sutton Colfield, you will no doubt, should you ever wish to visit the bastion of northern pride, hear Salfordians, Stopfordians and all those born within the boundaries, refer to Manchester City Centre as 'Town' an affectionate colloquialism that describes Manchester City Centre as the hub and heart of their area.
In fact Salfordians visiting Salford Centre refer to it as 'the Precinct' and acknowledge 'Town' as being the more important centre of the area. Salfordians are indeed proud of their city just as people from Bury, Oldham, Stockport, Rochdale, Wigan, Tameside and Trafford are but they do have an acknowledgement and fierce loyalty to being proud Mancunians.

I do think it fair and honourable that we decide on equal size and population numbers but I am also happy to alter the criteria and base the debate on Manchester and it's suburbs should my friend wish yet he must in return concede that area size no longer be used as a factor to determine our Second City, given the obvious difference. I am also happy for him to incorporate examples born within the greater populaton of Birmingham City should he choose to. Please enlighten me in your next blog and be sure to include who we up here consider to be your greatest Brummie export - Duncan Edwards.


For the record, I am happy to include only links that were written after an agreed date. If January 2008 is acceptable then please confirm.
To update, I have added recent links that shore up the case for Manchester and do little to aid Birmingham's cause.

Vote Manc.

The Links

Before we go further, I feel I should address the links that my Manchester friend has been posting. These are for the most part wildly misleading and should be taken with a pinch of salt. Readers can be assured that any links I post will at least be up to date, from a reputable source and relevant. The worst examples I list below.

Manchester University most popular in UK – Link dated 2006 The links to the 2010 University ranking are now widely available but my friend has chosen not to post these. I wonder why not. Never mind, I have them and shall be referring to them in depth later.
Birmingham - Voted UK's Rudest City – Out of date link date - 2005
Manchester - Most creative city – Out of date link - 2003
Manchester - Best for business – Out of date link - 2007
Birmingham - Ugliest city in the UK – Wildly out of date link, the building listed as the most ugly doesn’t even exist any more, I shall be referring to this in a later post.
Birmingham - Worst for Credit card fraud – out of date link - 2007
Birmingham - Worst for pollution – Out of date link - 2007 and wildly inaccurate. The Link refers to the world-wide effects of Global warming and speculates that central areas using Birmingham as an example, will be worst affected. Nothing whatsoever to do with Birmingham itself.

Birmingham - Epoch making History

I must confess I did laugh out loud at my Manchester friend’s description of his small town as having a ‘Continental feel’ For any reader deluded enough into being tempted to visit Manchester and enjoy it’s pavement café society, may I offer this small piece of advice:

Take a mac.

Those dark satanic mills weren’t situated in Manchester without good reason, they were put there because of the favourable atmospheric conditions. This can be summed up in one word:

Drizzle.


I’m indebted to my Mancunian friend for informing me of the Manchester's Literary and Philosophical Society. I confess that until now, I hadn’t heard of it. Wikipedia provided some brief details and thankfully, their own site also provided me with some information.
They are indeed an impressive society and according to the website, consider themselves to be one of the oldest, establishing themselves in 1781, sixteen years later than the more illustrious Lunar Society but nevertheless, well done. There website also lists some impressive achievements: Portable metal buildings and the ‘penny in the slot’ gas meter. So again, jolly well done!
They also list some impressive members:
John Dalton, James Joule, Peter mark Roget, Ernest Rutherford, Joseph Whitworth, Tom Kilburn, Thomas Worthington. William Fairbairn, Henry Roscoe, Joseph Whitworth

Keen eyed Salfordians will no doubt notice that James Joule and Thomas Worthington are from Salford and of course Rutherford was from New Zealand, Roget from London, Kilburn from Dewsbury, Fairburn from Kelso, Henry Roscoe from London, Joseph Whitworth from Stockport and as my friend already points out, Dalton was from Cumbria. My friend also points out that this doesn’t matter as it is the location they chose to work that is important as is also the case with those members of the Lunar Society who all chose to travel, to live and to work in the Birmingham area where they contributed to a society founded in Birmingham.
Why? Because they knew that Birmingham was truly a place where world-changing events were taking place, where new idea were being formulated, where the old order of things was being shaken and irrevocably changed. My Manc friend points out that there were riots. Of course there were riots! We’re taking about enlightenment thinking here, revolution was in the air, new concepts of republicanism, theism, determinism, naturalism, challenges to church orthodoxy. This was the birth of the Industrial revolution, the beginning of the modern world. These sorts of epoch-making changes are a little more difficult to establish than the penny in the slot gas meter.


Now at this point I confess to being a little confused. In this first instance my friend goes to great lengths to research and inform me of all the names of individuals who played a key role in Birmingham’s Car manufacturing history but weren’t born in Birmingham, though frankly I don’t see of what relevance this is. Then he tells me about the Manchester Philosophical Society, none of whose famous members actually seem to come from Manchester, then he tells me it doesn’t matter where they were born, it’s where they chose to work and live. Then he wishes (I quote) to draw further comparison with actual sons and daughters of Manchester, then he gives me a list of spurious names of individuals, hardly any of which seem to come from Manchester!
Elizabeth Gaskell was born in Chelsea and spent much of her childhood in Cheshire, not settling in Manchester until she married.
Carole Ann Duffy is an avowed Scot! Born in Glasgow, she just happens to hold the poetry professorship at Manchester Met.
Leigh,Greenwood and Delaney are all from Salford.

Now on the subject of Salford, I know my Manc friend has lumped it in with Manchester to prop up his case but are Salfordians happy with this?
I know they are a distinct metropolitan borough with their own City Council, their own University, Cathedral, Mayor and a somewhat older history. Isn’t this just an instance of my Manc friend being prepared to do anything to support his failing case?

Manchester - Everything Birmingham aspires to become

Before I begin and for the record please note the following:
Herbert Austin born Buckinghamshire
William Morris born in Worcester
John Boyd Dunlop born in Ayshire
Edward Vickers born in Sheffield
Sir Alec Issigonis born in Smyrna ( Izmir ) in Turkey
Of the aforementioned luminaries, (forgive the pun), only Joseph Lucas of car headlamp fame, was born in Birmingham.
It's also interesting to note that one of the founding fathers of the 'Lunar Society', held up as an example of Birmingham's contribution to the world, was hounded out of the city after rioters burned his house down. Joseph Prietley, had to flee to America afer a mob of Brummies decided his radical thinking and teachings were not in line with thier regional aspirations, i.e to remain an isolated backwater as referred to in the Domesday Book. Poor old Joe didn't even have the luxury of returning to his beloved hometown of Batley in Yorkshire, such was the resolve of the baying Brummie mob who put paid to any of that intellectual forward thinking nonsense in Brum.
Let's also examine in a little more depth the 'Lunar Society' who formed it's base in Birmingham's Soho district. It was indeed a society of intellectual thinkers and was worthy of comparison to Manchester's Literary and Philosophical Society, whose members included John Dalton, James Joule and boasted a greater number celebrated members than it's Birmingham counterparts.
Josiah Wedgewood, whose undoubted skills and crafsmanship still render his work of the highest value was a member of both Societies yet first entered the world in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire a town almost equidistant between Birmingham and Manchester. Also let's note that Benjamin Franklin, James Watt, Erasmus Darwin and poor old Joseph Priestley were also members of a Society unashamed to include in it's title the city of it's origin.
Members of the Lunar Society included James Watt, a Scotsman born in Greenock, Erasmus Darwin a Lichfieldian, William Small another Scot, Thomas Day born in Middlesex, the poet Anna Seward yes - another non-Brummie born in Eyam, Derbyshire. The only participating Lunar Brummie worthy of note in this gathering of intellectuals was a Matthew Boulton, who, concerned about the level of crime in his native city, complained, "The streets are infested from Noon Day to midnight with prostitutes." In an era prior to the establishment of the police, Boulton served on a committee to organise volunteers to patrol the streets at night and reduce crime and chose Staffordshire, his county of residence. If my Brummie friend didn't digest that last sentence I suggest he read it again and note that Matt Boulton felt a little safer 33 miles closer to Manchester.

Now then let's draw further comparison with actual sons and daughters of Manchester whose number include, James Joule so celebrated they named a unit of energy after him, William Crabtree, the father of astronomy and John Dalton who although born in Cumbria, lived and worked in the city he called his home, Manchester evidently provided a place of safety in which he was able to further his ambitions.

Substance of the creative and intellectual repute of an area lies in those who were born, raised and worked there and this is an associated fact far more evident with Manchester than Birmingham. One only has to be aware of modern Mancunian contributions to sport, two clubs whose achievements render Birmingham and Aston Villa mere minnows in comparison. Literature and the arts, The world reknowned artist LS Lowry, the film director Mike Leigh, the next Poet Laureate perhaps? John Coopper Clarke, the current Poet Laureate Carole Ann Duffy, Elizabeth Gaskell writer of masterpieces 'Mary Barton' and 'North and South', Walter Greenwood author of the classic 'Love on the Dole' Shelagh Delaney's 'Taste of Honey' The list goes on my friend and our city is, I would argue, without artistic compare outside of London.


Turning again to your blog - 'World Changing Birmingham', one can forgive the aged musings of a great former Prime Minister way past his prime and a man who had long lost the ears of a nation but can we really forget that a serving prime minister may well have had us all kissin Jerry's ass to this day? I don't think so and to draw comparison with Lloyd George's gaffe is, I suggest, monumental naivete on the part of my Brummie Colleague however, like him I agree that to continue down this avenue would serve only to sidetrack the real debate.
As it appears that car manufacture forms the backbone of my friends current argument in defence of the third city, we can all agree that without an engine a car is no longer a car yet to compare early engines to their modern counterparts pretty much sums up the case I make for Manchester.
We have here a thriving modern city, the fastest growing economic engine in the UK whose drive forward renders it too busy to sit and gloat about our glorious history whereas in Birmingham you have a city wholly reliant on using past citeria of little worth to put forward their case - an early engine that ran out of petrol or should I say steam.
Our status it seems, was recognised at an early stage when Manchester was granted city status in 1853, thirty six years ahead of Birmingham.
I can only concede on one point when comparing the two cities, yet greater size never proved an effective weapon in historical terms nor should it enter this equation and it's time that the Goliath of Birmingham conceded to the David 70 miles north.
Friends, Scousers, Cockneys and countrymen I urge you - vote Manc.

The Lunar Society

In the late 18th century, with the ascendant British Empire centred on London, a small group of friends met at a house on the crossroads outside Birmingham and applied their minds to the problems of the age. Between them they managed to launch the Industrial Revolution, discover oxygen, harness the power of steam and pioneer the theory of evolution. They were the Lunar Society, a gathering of free and fertile minds centred on the remarkable quartet of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Joseph Priestly and Erasmus Darwin. The potter Josiah Wedgwood, another member, summed up the ethos of this group when he said that they were ‘living in an age of miracles in which anything could be achieved’.

But how did the Lunar Society operate? What was the blend of religious dissent, entrepreneurial spirit and intellectual adventure that proved so fertile and how did their discoveries permanently change the shape and character of this country?
- Melvin Bragg

Readers will I hope, forgive my posting on the single subject of the Lunar Society because of its profound effect not only on the development of Birmingham or even The United Kingdom but the entire world.
The society was a loose and informal group of entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, philosophers and thinkers who would meet and discuss scientific issues of the day at one of the founding member’s houses in the Birmingham area from the mid 18th century up until the beginning of the 19th century.
They were variously described as the Birmingham Philosophers, The Lunar Circle, The Lunar Society, fellow schemers, the beginning of provincial enlightenment, both challenging and undermining the (often corrupt) establishment in London and in a paper read at the science museum in London “of all the provincial philosophical societies it was the most important, perhaps because it was not merely provincial. All the world came to Soho (an area in Birmingham) to meet Boulton, Watt or Small, who were acquainted with the leading men of Science throughout Europe and America. Its essential sociability meant that any might be invited to attend its meetings”

Historians disagree on the definitive list of founding members but it’s generally agreed that they included Matthew Boulton (founder, with James Watt of the Soho manufactory) Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles Darwin), Thomas Day(ardent abolitionist), Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Samuel Galton Jr. James Keir, Joseph Priestley, William Small, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, John Whitehurst and William Withering.

Their sphere of influence was wide reaching across the whole of Europe and America and included two US founding fathers; Benjamin Franklin, who attended meetings of the Lunar Society and Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of The United States who was tutored by William Small, one of the founders of the Lunar Society.
Joseph Priestley’s accomplishments included the discovery of Oxygen, the discovery of Photosynthesis and the discovery of Nitrogen.

The group’s range of interests included Chemistry, Physics, Geology – establishing that the world was indeed millions of years old rather than six thousand as the bible suggests. Education and child-raising, pioneering modern learning methods including learning by play, one member even wrote a best-selling children’s book.

Today, the Lunar Society is still going strong, in Birmingham and on the 12th December they held their annual dinner at Birmingham's Council House, hosted by the Lord Mayor. The after dinner speech was given by Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Links:
In Our Time
Revolutionary Players
The Lunar Society

World Changing Birmingham

I’ve noted that my friend has mentioned the Birmingham relief road and humorously suggests that Manchester has no need of a by-pass. But isn’t this exactly what the M62 is? A road that links those two great northern cities of Leeds and Liverpool and in the process by-passes Manchester. When John Lennon was asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, he famously replied “He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles” and so it is with Manchester; Is Manchester the second city in England? It’s not even the second city in the North.
I feel at this point I should perhaps address some of the points my colleague raised about Neville Chamberlain. It’s certainly true to say that The Munich Agreement overshadows any other issue when considering the achievements of the man which included during his time in office in Birmingham, establishing the world-renowned CBSO, establishing the hugely successful Birmingham Municipal Bank, stock-piling coal for distribution to the poor and even with some considerable foresight, establishing creches for workers. It is also worth noting that during his time in office at National Government level, he was responsible for the Widows, Orphans and Old Age Pensions Act, 1925. Subsequent examination of documents now released under the thirty year rule at least provide us with some counter-balancing arguments regarding Chamberlain’s reputation in the aftermath of the Munich agreement but to examine these in detail would be to side-track the main debate.
However any personal failings in Chamberlain regarding this matter pale into insignificance when one considers the monumental naivete of Manchester’s own Lloyd-George who following his trip to Berchtesgaden in March 1936 where he met with Adolf Hitler, subsequently made the surprising public comments describing Hitler as "the greatest living German", "the George Washington of Germany"
It’s a shame that our Manchester friend has to use such examples of ‘Manchester firsts’ as the first mill to use steam power on Miller Street. Overlooking the fact the powers that be in Manchester have chosen to tarmac over this important heritage site and turn it into a car park, there’s a little more to the history of Arkwright’s mill than first imagined. Arkwright initially chose to power the Mill with a Newcomen engine which unfortunately failed and resulted in the construction of a water wheel to power the mill. This sorry state of affairs was fortunately rescued by Messrs Boulton and Watt of Birmingham who supplied the mill with a 6 horsepower double-acting sun and planet engine which thankfully managed to power the mill machinery directly and very successfully. Boulton as we know is one of the founding fathers of the industrial revolution and established the first modern factory in the world - The Soho foundry, situated in Birmingham. So it can be truly said that here in Birmingham was the beginning of the modern world.
As for my friends claim that Manchester University was the home for the world’s first computer, well let’s just say that’s a contentious claim and entirely depends on how one defines a computer. There are many other claims for the development of the first computer, Babbage of course and the Z1 developed by Conrad Zeus in Germany. I would certainly not wish to challenge the towering achievements of Alan Turing but I would dispute his claim that Turing was a son of Manchester. He was in fact born in Maida Vale, London. He worked and studied in various places throughout his career, latterly at Manchester University. He was however arrested, charged and convicted of homosexuality in Manchester, offered Chemical castration as an alternative to imprisonment and later committed suicide in Manchester.
But perhaps the most risible of my friends claims is that Manchester has any kind of history in motor manufacture. Can a natter over a cup of tea and cucumber sandwich in a Manchester Hotel really be compared with the enormity of motor manufacturing history in Birmingham:
Lucus Industries – Manufacturing a variety of car parts, notably Headlights.
Dunlop – The first pneumatic tyre factory – situated in Birmingham
Herbert Austin – Founder of the mighty Austin Empire and manufacturer of the Austin 7
William Morris – founder of the Morris Motor Company.
Wolsey – Started life in Washwood Heath, Birmingham
Vickers – situated in Castle Bromwich made aero engines, buses and cars. (They also made the Vickers Vimy, the aircraft that took Alcock and Brown across the Atlantic and now claimed by my colleague as credit to Manchester)
Sir Alec Issigonis – designer of the Morris Minor and of course The Mini.
I have already mentioned the Lanchester Brothers and their contributions to the Motor Industry and there are many more examples.
There is a great deal more evidence that I shall be detailing here in forthcoming posts but I’m sure that even by now, readers will be coming to the only sensible conclusion. That there simply is no comparison between the two cities. Birmingham is a large city, a city with a profound industrial heritage, one that transformed the whole world, not just some vacuous and ephemeral concept of ‘cool’. From that first modern-style factory in Birmingham we saw the rise of the modern-style city, indeed is can be rightly said that Manchester owes it’s very existence to those pioneering folk of Birmingham.

Noddy's ours - You can keep Neville

I must say, after reading my friends initial response that his 'tugging at the heartstring' tactics had me almost welling up when he mentioned the sufferances endured by Birmingham as part the war effort and the terrible price paid by the proud Brummies.
Manchester too paid a terrible price yet to rely on a sympathy vote to muster support for his case is only to be expected from an opponent whose whole argument for Second City status centres around it's size.
Well, in the words of my Mrs and countless little achievers across the UK, don't you know that size isn't everything? Never mind the quality feel the width became old hat when Birmingham City lost out to Manchester minnows Atrincham in the FA Cup 1985-6 season.

If we were to base the debate on size , then surely I could bleat as much about the search results returned by Google for instance and should my learned friend care to compare the return of 9 million more results for Manchester UK than for Birmingham UK, then size secures victory for Manchester but I won't. Instead I'll concentrate more on culture, popularity of those outside of
both boundaries and on our city's importance to the nation.

I will first though, respond to the notion that Neville Chamberlain be held up as some measure of worth in providing validity of Birmingham's claim.

After all, wasn't this the man whose paper waving moment misled a whole nation into believing that war had been avoided?
Mmm, a Brummie whose contribution to Birmingham's case in this debate will once again try to mislead a nation into believing an untruth.

As for the Gallaghers, yes they left for London but hey, Noddy Holder left Birmingham to further his career in none other than Manchester.
See, even your celebrities prefer to become ours.
Correct me if I'm wrong here but are you aware of any Mancs seeking life changing opportunities close to the Bullring or Spaghetti Junction?

Perhaps I was being a little unfair when suggesting that notable Birmingham inventions were limited to Brylcream and Custard because we now discover that Cotton wool, yes Cotton wool, you know - that stuff used to get the wax out of your ears, is another.

Anyway let's move on to the reasons why Manchester is undoubtedly the clear winner in this debate. We have here the most creative city in the UK with more patents per head of population than any other UK city including London. We have the fastest growing economy in the UK and more students apply to relocate to Manchester than to any other UK university.

There was never a need to build a bypass motorway toll to avoid our great city because commuters and tourists place Manchester the second most popular UK destination outside of London.
Mancunians also tend not to alienate neighbouring towns and cities that exist within our boundaries and unlike our Brummie counterparts you will find that Salfordians, Stopfordians and Boltonians are also proud to consider themselves Mancunians.
Ask any Sutton Colfield resident the same of Birmingham and they will shout as loudly as they did in 1974 when the area was swallowed up by Birminghams ambition to become the second largest city in England. Our Brummie friend further proves my point in his damning comments about Wolverhampton, a fine and proud city whose residents I'm sure, will vote in our favour.

Manchester's status is cemented further still by the perception of COOL, not a description associated with Birmingham and if judged by those who have visited or reside in both cities you will find that DULL is a more fitting term attributed to our bypassed rival.

There is a continental feel to Manchester that is more associated with a European city yet this is further shored up by the increasing amount of european tourists wishing to sit out in the splendour of Picadilly Gardens with its host of trendy bars or to shop in two of the top ten largest shopping centres in the UK. Celebrities now clamour into the plethora of entertainment venues and fine eating establishments eager to be seen in the city they also consider second only to London.

Do we really need to continue this debate or do we have to further embarrass the Brummies into acknowledging what the rest of the country, indeed the rest of the world already know?

I put it to my learned friend - concede or face further embarassment that will stretch to the unveiling of yet more sad exposures that would see Birmingham drop further than it's already undeserved third city status.

Vote Manc.

Birmingham - Workshop of the World, City of a thousand trades

For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries the second city in the UK was commonly understood to be Glasgow. There’s nothing terribly contentious or hard to understand about this fact, its status was achieved by virtue of the size of its population. Glasgow was the second most populous city in the UK and therefore the second city. Through boundary changes and population shifts it has now lost that status. Birmingham however has for much of the 20th century and from 2006 had a population of over one million and remains our second most populous city in England and the UK. Indeed if one was to look at a map, one would find only one City whose location is marked by a solid black circle, the map symbol widely used to indicate those cities of significance with over one million inhabitants and that is Birmingham.
That ought to be the end of the debate, Birmingham is not only bigger than Manchester, it is MUCH bigger than Manchester but our friends in the north always seem to ignore this simple, widely understood, fact-based analysis in favour of more subjective, contentious criteria – Pop Stars and Wine bars.

Here are some simple facts:
The ten largest Cities in England in order of size are;
1. London
2. Birmingham
3. Leeds
4. Sheffield
5. Bradford
6. Liverpool
7. Manchester
8. Bristol
9. Wakefield
10. Coventry

On this evidence alone Manchester have a tenuous claim to third place, let alone second.


Whilst it’s true that Birmingham does not have an illustrious start to life, this could also be said of most of our major industrial cities, Manchester included. The strength and success of these cities lie in thier expansion throughout the Industrial Revolution and here, Birmingham – Workshop of the World, City of a thousand trades, Powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution has a history and heritage second to none. Birmingham may not have it’s equivalent Roman name but then if Manchester was known as Mamucium, meaning breast-like hill, I’m not sure that’s a disadvantage. My goodness, Birmingham has its knockers, it’s certainly made them by the thousand in it’s numerous factories but at least it doesn’t look like one.

When it comes to industry, innovation and invention, Birmingham certainly has few peers and my Manc friend is not telling the whole story when he suggests that custard and Brylcream are it’s only inventions:

• Fredrick Lanchester and his brother built the first petrol car in Birmingham He also invented the accelerator pedal, detachable wire wheels, stamped steel pistons, piston rings, hollow connecting rods, the torsional vibration damper, and the harmonic balancer.
• The X-Ray was invented in Birmingham
• The world’s first pneumatic tyre factory was situated in Birmingham.
• Where would we be without Cotton Wool? – Invented in Birmingham
• Now I know Mancs like their bling so I’m sure they’ll be interested to know that One third of all the Jewellery manufactured in the UK comes from Birmingham.
• Hardly surprising then that Birmingham’s assay office is the largest in the world.

These are only a few of Birmingham’s achievements but the most telling of all facts regarding Birmingham’s proud industrial heritage is that Birmingham's contribution to the war effort was unsurpassed by any other city. Over half of all the armament used in World War 2 were made by one company, the mighty BSA and the Castle Bromwich factory of Morris Motors and Vickers built more Spitfires than all of the other UK factories combined. Needless to say, those proud, industrious Brummies paid a huge price and many of Birmingham’s fine Victorian buildings were lost to German air-raids. Perhaps those who would criticise Birmingham’s architecture, built in the aftermath to fill the ravaged, war-torn landscape would do well to remember that terrible price, paid willingly by the proud inhabitants of Britain’s second city.

My friend makes mention of an article in The Times by Sathnam Sanghera who is clearly displaying that ‘chip on your shoulder’ mentality that only inhabitants from a city’s less significant and overshadowed neighbouring towns possess. In this instance Wolverhampton.

I respectfully suggest that Sathnam Sanghera is disingenuous. When one examines his article, he states that Birmingham’s claim to be second city is fairly recent and that previously the title has been attached to Glasgow and Dublin – he’s right and in each case; the title was based on the respective populations of the Cities in question being second to London as is now the case with Birmingham. He also points out that the West Midlands conurbation and the Greater Manchester urban area have similar populations. – He’s right again but he neglects to mention that the West Midlands conurbation (population 2,284,093) is still larger than Greater Manchester (population 2,240,230) And whilst downgrading the value of Birmingham’s Symphony Orchestra, Opera and Ballet companies, he informs us that Manchester is popular with Chief Executives because of the availability of office space and car parks. I do sympathise with the columnist’s shopping experience in the interior of The Selfridges Building, in common with all of the ubiquitous shopping malls throughout England, it is bland and sterile but is that really any different from Manchester’s Arndale centre? More to the point, is this really a way to establish Second City status?

Now I’ll not bore the reader by trading tit-for-tat names with the Original Poster’s list of Manchester luminaries (who can compete with those cultural giants, Herman’s Hermits and The Ting Tings) Nor will I dwell too long on the fact that as soon as Manchester’s own Liam and Noel Gallagher made it big, such was the depth of feeling for their beloved city that they cleared off to live in London. It is however interesting to note that almost certainly the only thing that Ryan Giggs and David Lloyd-George have in common apart from their birthplace is that they both chose Wales as their home. David Lloyd-George is at least an important name on the list but readers will note that one of the more significant influences on his life was made by Joseph Chamberlain, radical, President of the board of Trade, One of the most important British politicians of the late 19th century and early 20th century, a successful business man who’s family firm was one of the leading manufacturers in Birmingham, he was also Lord Mayor of Birmingham and of course father of Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister and born in Birmingham.


One has to concede that in terms of footballing success, few cities (with the obvious exception of Liverpool) can boast the success and honours of Manchester United. Those ‘sons of Manchester’ in their distinctive red strip have walked out on the hallowed turf at Wembley and have lifted the FA trophy many times. Perhaps it should be noted though, as they press their lips to that most desirable of football prizes that it was designed and manufactured, where else, but in Birmingham.

So in conclusion, to those pretenders who try to claim second city status I say:
Kiss Our Cup.

Second City - Manchester or Birmingham You Decide

For some time now a friend of mine and I have had an ongoing debate about which is the second city, Manchester or Birmingham. So, in order to get the discussion to a wider audience and to gauge feedback from non Brummies and non Mancs, It is decided that I will open the debate in favour of England’s second city, Manchester.

I really do reckon that I have the easier job here in conveying the facts that will undoubtedly win the debate which will be put to a public vote at the same time as the next General Election. The result will be passed on to the serving Prime Minister so the result can be rubber-stamped, perhaps by act of Parliament.

We will welcome all participants to enter this debate but we do insist on respectful argument that remains swear free. Personal insults will not be tolerated and will be removed immediately. Let’s keep the debate witty, fact based and perhaps the participants can meet up for a few beers to both celebrate and commiserate in the result. As for a venue, well I believe the best ale houses exist in Manchester and to cram into the Circus Tavern to celebrate our victory would be quite fitting.

So, to open the debate I wish first, to concentrate on four elements, the history of each city, popularity of each contender among those who reside and were born outside the boundaries of each city, notable characters and celebrities belonging to each city, (A good barometer of the general wit, skill, humour and intelligence of an area) and finally in this first instalment, accent, language and colloquialisms.

Let’s start with history and to make things difficult for the opposition, I’ll begin with Birmingham the title of which first appeared in the Doomsday book of 1086 and was described as ‘a small village, worth only 20 shillings’. Prior to this time The only notable reference to the area was the Roman Rd, Ickfield St which travellers used to reach the established Roman settlements of Mamucium in the north and Londinium in the south. Until the Middle Ages, the area that would later be known as Birmingham was a sparsely populated backwater, due to Bunter Pebble, a poor quality soil which made agriculture unproductive.

In contrast, Manchester’s history stretches back much further. Founded in AD 79, Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, housed a Roman garrison of 500 soldiers, The remains of Roman Manchester exist to this day and Castlefield area, is a popular tourist attraction among the many that make up the popularity of Manchester.

The period beyond the Middle ages shows a similar pattern, with Manchester re-establishing itself time and again as the forerunner of innovation and creativity. To name just a few firsts that the city can lay claim to, the worlds first passenger railway, first free public library opened, founded using money donated by wealthy Mancunian Humphrey Chetham, the first totally artificial waterway independent of natural rivers, the first mill to use steam power on Miller Street in the city centre, paving the way for mass production techniques that saw Manchester’s rise to become the industrial capital of the world, the first international Arts exhibition was held in Manchester, the fisrt British aeroplane was designed and flown by a Manchester company. There are far too many firsts to list at this stage of the debate but I must end this section with three unrivalled firsts which will echo supremely among those casting a vote – the worlds first computer was developed at Manchester University, the most prestigious car ever in existence, Rolls Royce, would not have reached the status it has had not Frederick Royce and Charles Rolls met in Manchester’s Midland Hotel to set up the company and to end this section, the first ever recording of Top of The Pops took place in Dickenson Rd, Longsight.

Like its lack of history, Birmingham scores badly when it comes to “firsts” the most notable among these being the invention of custard powder by Alfred Bird and the invention of Brylcream in 1929.

In judging the popularity of each city outside of its boundaries let’s first examine the international beliefs of tourists visiting the UK.

Tourism is, of course a great barometer of a city’s popularity and Manchester wins out here too placing Birmingham into the third most visited place in England.

But what about the beliefs of those born within each conurbation? Here’s an interesting piece by Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera, a Wolverhampton born writer who concedes that Manchester is the second city. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/sathnam_sanghera/article4459429.ece

Yes, it seems that our status as England’s second city is not only verified and backed up by National Statistics and Polls but rubber stamped by some of our rivals better known celebrities such as Noddy Holder, the Slade lead singer who for many years now has Manchester to thank for a career and home beyond Wallsall where he was born.

Indeed Manchester’s national accolades go on to include being voted most popular University in the UK, top conference centre, best UK airport, the worlds best city for Sport. Pitting the achievements of Manchester United alone against all those of Birmingham soccer clubs is unfair and we won’t allow the unparalleled feats of MUFC to cloud the debate.

It is clear though, that among outsiders, Manchester unquestionably retains a far higher status of importance and popularity.

And so to celebrity and fame and to begin the Mancunian list I would like to name but a few from various categories.

Actors and directors

• Robert Donat
• Albert Finney
• John Thaw
• Christopher Ecclestone
• Bernard Hill
• Ian McShane
• Mike Leigh
• Robert Powell
• Ben Kingsley
• Robert Shaw
• David Warner
• Harry H Corbett
• Danny Boyle
• Bert Kwouk
• Pete Postlethwaite
• Sir Ian McKellan

Comedians

• Peter Kay
• Eric Sykes
• Les Dawson
• Bernard Manning
• Steve Coogan
• Caroline Aherne
• Victoria Wood

Science and Industry

· James Joule

· Ernest Rutherford

· John Dalton

· William Crabtree

· Alan Turing

· Sir Howard Davies

· Alcock and Brown

Culture, Music and the Arts

• L S Lowry
• Harold Riley
• John Cooper Clarke
• Anthony Burgess
• Alastair Cooke
• Shelagh Delaney
• Walter Greenwood
• Gracie Fields
• The Smiths
• Hermans Hermits
• Oasis
• Elbow
• New Order
• Bee Gees
• Freddie and the Dreamers
• The Hollies
• Lisa Stansfield
• Ting-Tings
• Simply Red

Politlicians and reformers

· David Lloyd George

· Sir Robert Peel

· Emmeline Pankhurst

Of course the list could go on to include sporting legends such as Ryan Giggs, Ricky Hatton, Amir Khan, Nobby Stiles, Mike Atherton etc but not wanting to embarrass my opponents in this opening blog I thought I would keep it to a bare minimum.

To conclude this, the first of I’m sure many blogs in favour of Manchesters claim, I wish to turn your attention to accent and colloquialisms.

Regularly voted the worst accent in the UK, Brummies are the people most likely to be left alone partway through conversation by any recipient of their twang.

I suppose that an argument based on which of the two cities deserves Second City status can be judged partly on how each accent is depicted by a wider general public and in closing this the opening volley, might we consider the soap Crossroads and it’s prime character Benny, who like Birmingham itself, was awarded sympathy for his appearance and his lack of wit, humour or intelligence. Poor Benny along with Crossroads was shunted off the TV schedule because viewers had become a rarity because of the lack of acting talent and because of the boring brummie accent. Many years on and Coronation St is still the country’s best loved and longest running TV soap opera.

On this note I end my opening case and await response from my Brummie rival who, I’m told, has a firm belief that “Yow ore roit” is among the most lovable of English local welcomes. Poor thing – shall I tell him or will you?