choffer Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 Not sure if it warranted it's own thread, but it seems Manchester may be getting it's own elected Mayor in a similar fashion to London - Beeb link here With Manchester ever growing in size and status, is Birmingham getting left behind? What is it that makes Manchester a more attractive area for investment than Birmingham, and does the success of it's football teams have an impact on the fashionable perception of the city? Was having this conversation the other day. In my eyes Birmingham is very poor at promoting itself. The only time it is seen in the media is through negative programmes (benefit st etc). Whereas Manchester are always promoting themselves positively. Birmingham is twice the City Manchester is. Look at the times we hav gone for capital of culture and other such nominations, losing out to the likes of Liverpool. To be honest, Birmingham's a cultural desert in comparison to the cities of the North West of England. How so? How many world-famous Brummie bands can you think of? How many from Manchester? How many quality art galleries does Liverpool have? How many in Birmingham? Seriously, I'm no North-West apologist but by comparison, the North-West has heaps more culture. Birmingham has the CBSO (a poor imitation of itself since Simon Rattle left) and a library. As I'm writing this, I am very aware that this debate has been had many times on here and that it rarely ends well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dAVe80 Posted November 4, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted November 4, 2014 Hmmm, depends what you mean by "culture" I suppose. Birmingham has a world renowned symphony orchestra, along with a world class venue to house them. Then there's the Rep, the Royal Ballet, some decent art galleries, and museums etc. Then there's things like Handsworth Carnival, and the St Paddy's Day Parade, and The German Market. Musically, Brum has produced Sabbath, The Beat, Steele Pulse, Spencer Davies Group, ELO, The Moody Blues, members of Led Zep etc. Then there's the food side. The Balti Triangle, more Michelin Star restaurants than any other city outside London etc. Something for everyone there. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) Not sure if it warranted it's own thread, but it seems Manchester may be getting it's own elected Mayor in a similar fashion to London - Beeb link here With Manchester ever growing in size and status, is Birmingham getting left behind? What is it that makes Manchester a more attractive area for investment than Birmingham, and does the success of it's football teams have an impact on the fashionable perception of the city? Was having this conversation the other day. In my eyes Birmingham is very poor at promoting itself. The only time it is seen in the media is through negative programmes (benefit st etc). Whereas Manchester are always promoting themselves positively. Birmingham is twice the City Manchester is. Look at the times we hav gone for capital of culture and other such nominations, losing out to the likes of Liverpool. To be honest, Birmingham's a cultural desert in comparison to the cities of the North West of England. How so? How many world-famous Brummie bands can you think of? How many from Manchester? How many quality art galleries does Liverpool have? How many in Birmingham? Seriously, I'm no North-West apologist but by comparison, the North-West has heaps more culture. Birmingham has the CBSO (a poor imitation of itself since Simon Rattle left) and a library. As I'm writing this, I am very aware that this debate has been had many times on here and that it rarely ends well. Art galleries I've no idea. Music wise, Brum wins hands down (against Manc) on a worldwide level. The whole heavy metal genre began there, Sabbath, Priest et al. The region had a big hand in Led Zeppelin. Personal taste aside there were other huge acts such as Duran Duran, UB40, ELO. Who's Manchester's biggest act worldwide? Simply Red? Brum has more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere outside of London, is regularly considered the curry capital, gave us the balti. On top of that a few other things known worldwide, Cadbury's, Lord of the RIngs, Rover, Aston Villa (yeah that ones clutching a bit). It was also the driving force behind the industrial revolution, "The Workshop of the World", widely considered the most advanced city on the planet for a time. Edited November 4, 2014 by Wainy316 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 *May I add, I personally prefer the music of Manchester, but that wasn't the argument. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 How many world-famous Brummie bands can you think of? How many from Manchester? Seriously, even if you don't like Sabbath, they are huge! I'd wager Ozzy is more world-famous famous, than any Manchester musician you can name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 How many world-famous Brummie bands can you think of? How many from Manchester? Seriously, even if you don't like Sabbath, they are huge! I'd wager Ozzy is more world-famous famous, than any Manchester musician you can name. I beg to differ: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Never heard of them? Or is that the joke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 Pretty much Like I say, nobody ever wins this debate and I'm not really going to wade in to start running down the place in which I grew up but using Rover as evidence that Birmingham has more culture did make me smile. (I suppose not all culture has to be good) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Well due to my lack of knowledge on art galleries I veered off onto worldwide brands instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 Well due to my lack of knowledge on art galleries I veered off onto worldwide brands instead If you'd gone with Jaguar or Land Rover, I'd have let it slide but having done some work at Rover back in the day, I had to interject Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 ooooh, look over there! Two bald men fighting over a comb. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 A comb?! Where? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 Pretty much Like I say, nobody ever wins this debate and I'm not really going to wade in to start running down the place in which I grew up but using Rover as evidence that Birmingham has more culture did make me smile. (I suppose not all culture has to be good) I have no idea (and don't really care) how the amount of culture per square foot measures up to Liverpool and Manchester, but your portrayal of Brum as a library and an orchestra is flat out wrong. You may sneer at Rover, but it was a powerhouse in its time - including being a key production plant in both world wars. It's a bit like scoffing at Liverpool's shipbuilding industry because they don't build as many as they used to. Edit: obviously in its Austin guise. Same plant. No sneering on my part - certainly not intentionally anyway. I guess my (short) time at Rover was very much near the tail-end of its existence and by comparison to all the other production plants I was working in at the time, it was an embarrassment. But you're right in that my experience there was not during its prime era so my perception of the place is probably unfair. I've no doubt too, that my perception of Birmingham is wrong but then I've been away a long time now. All I am saying is that when I think of culture in Birmingham, that's what immediately comes to mind. Then again, when we're talking about culture generally, we all have different impressions of different places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I would say a lot of reporting tends to regionalise places in the Midlands, so the rest of the country rarely assymalate them with Birmingham and the surrounding areas. For instance, had Greater Manchester spawned The Belfry we'd all know about it. Same with Land Rover being in Solihull - we're it in Salford it would be a Manchester car company. Led Zepp are a midlands band + Jimmy, but never credited as such except in the Midlands. The Midlands is just shit at promoting stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) Manchester is responsible for inflicting this arsehole on us The place should be nuked for that alone Edit - and this prick Edited November 4, 2014 by Jimzk5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2014 Yeah but 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Honestly dont have a clue who that is? On a serious point, isn't Birmingham a bigger tourist attraction in England outside London? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Honestly dont have a clue who that is? On a serious point, isn't Birmingham a bigger tourist attraction in England outside London? Well I saw something that said London, Manchester, Birmingham have the most foreign visitors a year. In that order. You can bet your arse Man Utd pilgrims make up most of Manchester's figure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 4, 2014 Moderator Share Posted November 4, 2014 Brum has more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere outside of London, is regularly considered the curry capital, gave us the baltiThis is a myth by the way… Ludlow, yes Ludlow has more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Probably been mentioned on here but I didn't even think of it until it was just said on the radio Villa have had to cancel the October Goal of the Month competition due to not scoring a goal in October... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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