Second City

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?