Friday, October 8, 2010

GREAT BRITAIN CITIES


Birmingham (pronounced /ˈbɜrmɪŋəm/ ( listen) BUR-ming-əm, locally[ˈbɜːmɪŋɡəm] BUR-ming-gəm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. It is the most populous British city outside Londonwith a population of 1,030,780 (2010 estimate),[2] and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the United Kingdom's second most populous Urban Areawith a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census).[3] Birmingham's metropolitan area, which includes surrounding towns to which it is closely tied through commuting, is also the United Kingdom's second most populous with a population of 3,683,000.[4]
Birmingham was the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England, a fact which led to it being known as "the workshop of the world" or the "city of a thousand trades".[5] Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined, it has developed into a national commercial centre, being named as the second-best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business.[6] Birmingham is a national hub for conferences, retail and events along with an established high tech, research and development sector, supported by its three Universities. It is also the fourth-most visited city by foreign visitors in the UK,[7] has the second-largest city economy in the UK[8] and is often referred to as the Second City.
In 2010, Birmingham was ranked as the 55th-most livable city in the world, according to the Mercer Index of worldwide standards of living.[9] The Big City Planis a large redevelopment plan currently underway in the city centre with the aim of making Birmingham one of the top 20 most liveable cities in the world within 20 years.[10] People from Birmingham are known as 'Brummies', a term derived from the city's nickname of 'Brum'. This may originate from the city's dialect name,Brummagem,[11] which may in turn have been derived from one of the city's earlier names, 'Bromwicham'.[12] There is a distinctive Brummie dialect and accent, both of which differ from the adjacent Black Country.



















GLASGOW:


















"Glaswegian" redirects here. For the Scots dialect spoken in Glasgow, see Glasgow patter.















This article is about the largest city in Scotland. For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation).
















Glasgow (pronounced /ˈɡlæzɡoʊ/ (GLAZ-goh); ScotsGlesga Scottish GaelicGlaschu(pronounced /ˈkɫ̪as̪xu/)) is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands. A person from Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian, which is also the name of the local dialect.















Glasgow grew from the medieval Bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of theUniversity of Glasgow in the 15th century, which subsequently became a major centre of theScottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with British North America and the British West Indies. With the Industrial Revolution, the city and surrounding region shifted to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of Heavy Engineering, most notably in the Shipbuildingand Marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was known as the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian eraand Edwardian period. Today it is one of Europe's top twenty financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses. Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world[
















In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew to a population of over one million,and was the fourth-largest city in Europe, after LondonParis and Berlin. In the 1960s, large-scale relocation to new towns and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, have reduced the current population of the City of Glasgow unitary authority area to 580,690, with 1,199,629 people living in the Greater Glasgow urban area. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers approximately 2.3 million people, 41% of Scotland's population















View of Glasgow from Queens Park.jpgGlasgow is located in Glasgow


Early origins and development:















The present site of Glasgow has been used since prehistoric times for settlement due to it being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, at the point of its confluence with the Molendinar Burn. The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotland's second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow.
There had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. Between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of Royal burgh from King William I of Scotland, allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives to this day as the Glasgow Fair.
















Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopricto become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 also increased the town's religious and educational status.














Daniel Defoe visited the city in the early 18th century and famously opined in his book A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, that Glasgow was "the cleanest and beautifullest, and best built city in Britain, London excepted."[15] At that time, the city's population numbered approximately 12,000, and was yet to undergo the massive changes to the city's economy and urban fabric, brought about by the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.

Trading port:














After the Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland gained trading access to the vast markets of the British Empire and Glasgow became prominent in international commerce as a hub of trade to the Americas, especially in the movement of tobacco, cotton and sugar into the deep water port that had been created by city merchants at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde, due to the shallowness of the river within the city itself at that time.[16] By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgow's River Clyde, with over 47 million lbs. weight of tobacco being imported at its peak














Industrialisation:














In its subsequent industrial era, Glasgow produced textiles, chemicals, engineered goods and steel, which were exported. The opening of the Monkland Canal and basin at Port Dundas in 1795, facilitated access to the iron-ore and coal mines in Lanarkshire. After extensive River engineeringprojects to dredge and deepen the River Clyde as far as Glasgow, shipbuilding became a major industry on the upper stretches of the river, building many famous ships (although many were actually built in Clydebank). The River Clyde then became an important source of inspiration for artists, such as John Atkinson Grimshaw, willing to depict the new industrial era and the modern world. Glasgow's population had surpassed that of Edinburgh by 1821. By the end of the 19th century the city was known as the "Second City of the Empire" and by 1870 was producing more than half Britain's tonnage of shipping[18] and a quarter of all locomotives in the world.[19] During this period, the construction of many of the city's greatest architectural masterpieces and most ambitious civil engineering projects, such as the Loch Katrine aqueductSubwayTramway systemCity ChambersMitchell Library and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum were being funded by its wealth. The city also held a series of International Exhibitions at Kelvingrove Park, in 1888, 1901 and 1911, with the Empire Exhibition subsequently held in 1938.

The 20th century witnessed both decline and renewal in the city. After World War I, the city suffered from the impact of the Post-World War I recession and from the later Great Depression, this also led to a rise of radical socialism and the "Red Clydeside" movement. The city had recovered by the outbreak of World War II and grew through the post-war boom that lasted through the 1950s. However by the 1960s, a lack of investment and innovation led to growing overseas competition in countries like Japan and Germany which weakened the once pre-eminent position of many of the city's industries. As a result of this, Glasgow entered a lengthy period of relative economic decline and rapid de-industrialisation, leading to high unemployment, urban decay, population decline, welfare dependency and poor health for the city's inhabitants. There were active attempts at regeneration of the city, when the Glasgow Corporation published its controversialBruce Report, which set out a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at turning round the decline of the city. There are also accusations that the Scottish Office had deliberately attempted to undermine Glasgow's economic and political influence in post-war Scotland by diverting inward investment in new industries to other regions during the Silicon Glen boom and creating the new towns of Cumbernauld, Glenrothes, Irvine, Livingston and East Kilbride, dispersed across the Scottish Lowlands, in order to halve the city's population base.[20]















However, by the late 1980s, there had been a significant resurgence in Glasgow's economic fortunes. The 'Glasgow's miles better' campaign, launched in 1983, and opening of the Burrell Collection in 1983 and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in 1985 facilitated Glasgow's new role as a European centre for business services and finance and promoted an increase in tourism and inward investment.[21] The latter continues to be bolstered by the legacy of the city's Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, its status as European City of Culture in 1990, and concerted attempts to diversify the city's economy.[22] This economic revival has persisted and the ongoing regeneration of inner-city areas, including the large-scale Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, has led to more affluent people moving back to live in the centre of Glasgow, fuelling allegations of gentrification.[23] The city now resides in the Mercer index of top 50 safest cities in the world[24] and is considered by Lonely Planet to be one of the world's top 10 tourist cities.[25] Despite Glasgow's economic renaissance, the East End of the city remains the focus of severe social deprivation.[26] A Glasgow Economic Audit report published in 2007 stated that the gap between prosperous and deprived areas of the city is widening.[27] In 2006, 47% of Glasgow's population lived in the most deprived 15% of areas in Scotland,[27] while theCentre for Social Justice reported 29.4% of the city's working-age residents to be "economically inactive".[26] Although marginally behind the UK average, Glasgow still has a higher employment rate than Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.[27]












Toponymy


It is common to derive the name Glasgow from the older Cumbric glas cau or a Middle Gaelic cognate, which would have meant green hollow. The settlement probably had an earlier Cumbric name, Cathures; the modern name appears for the first time in the Gaelic period (1116), asGlasgu. However, it is also recorded that the King of StrathclydeRhydderch Hael, welcomed Saint Kentigern (also known as Saint Mungo), and procured his consecration as bishop about 540. For some thirteen years Kentigern laboured in the region, building his church at theMolendinar Burn, and making many converts. A large community developed around him and became known as Glasgu (often glossed as "the dear Green" or "dear green place













Heraldry














The coat of arms of the City of Glasgow was granted to the royal burgh by the Lord Lyon on 25 October 1866.[28] It incorporates a number of symbols and emblems associated with the life of Glasgow's patron saint, Mungo, which had been used on official seals prior to that date. The emblems represent miracles supposed to have been performed by Mungo and are listed in the traditional rhyme:
Here's the bird that never flew
Here's the tree that never grew
Here's the bell that never rang
Here's the fish that never swam
St Mungo is also said to have preached a sermon containing the words Lord, Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word and the praising of thy name. This was abbreviated to "Let Glasgow Flourish" and adopted as the city's motto. The motto was more recently commemorated in a song called "Mother Glasgow", which was written by Dundonian singer/songwriter Michael Marra, but popularised by Hue and Cry.
In 1450, John Stewart, the first Lord Provost of Glasgow, left an endowment so that a "St Mungo's Bell" could be made and tolled throughout the city so that the citizens would pray for his soul. A new bell was purchased by the magistrates in 1641 and that bell is still on display in the People's PalaceMuseum, near Glasgow Green.
The supporters are two salmon bearing rings, and the crest is a half length figure of Saint Mungo. He wears a bishop's mitre and liturgical vestments and has his hand raised in "the act of benediction". The original 1866 grant placed the crest atop a helm, but this was removed in subsequent grants. The current version (1996) has a gold mural crown between the shield and the crest. This form of coronet, resembling an embattled city wall, was allowed to the four area councils with city status.
The arms were re-matriculated by the City of Glasgow District Council on 6 February 1975, and by the present area council on 25 March 1996. The only change made on each occasion was in the type of coronet over the arms.[29][30]

Glasgow Coat of Arms.png

Governance:

Since the Representation of the People Act 1918, Glasgow has increasingly supported Left-wingideas and politics. The city council has been controlled by the Labour Party for 30 years, since the decline of the Progressives. The left-wing support emanates from the city's legacy as an industrial powerhouse, and the relative poverty of many Glaswegian constituencies and wards. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and German Revolution, the city's frequent strikes andMilitant organisations caused serious alarm at Westminster, with one uprising in January 1919prompting the Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George to deploy 10,000 troops and tanks onto the city's streets. A huge demonstration in the city's George Square on 31 January ended in violence after the Riot Act was read.
Industrial action at the shipyards gave rise to the "Red Clydeside" epithet. During the 1930s, Glasgow was the main base of the Independent Labour Party. Towards the end of the 20th century it became a centre of the struggle against the poll tax, and then the main base of the Scottish Socialist Party, a left unity party in Scotland. The city has not had a Conservative MP since the 1982 Hillhead by-election, when the SDP took the seat, in Glasgow's wealthiest area: admittedly, the constituency boundaries make it difficult to elect one as the West End is split between two constituencies where its votes are cancelled out by large council estates.

Scottish Parliament region:

The Glasgow electoral region of the Scottish Parliament covers the Glasgow City council area, the Rutherglen area of the South Lanarkshireand a small eastern portion of Renfrewshire. It elects ten of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituency members and seven of the 56additional members. Both kinds of member are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The system of election is designed to produce a form of proportional representation.
The first past the post seats were created in 1999 with the names and boundaries of then existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. In 2005, however, the number of Westminster Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Scotland was cut to 59, with new constituencies being formed, while the existing number of MSPs was retained at Holyrood.
The ten Scottish Parliament constituencies in the Glasgow electoral region are:

United Kingdom Parliament constituencies

Following reform of constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) in 2005, which reduced the number of Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs), the current Westminster constituencies representing Glasgow are:-

    Geography

    Glasgow is located on the banks of the River Clyde, in West Central Scotland. Its second most important river is the Kelvin whose name was used for creating the title of Baron Kelvin and thereby ended up as the scientific unit of temperature. It is often believed that Glasgow is in Lanarkshire. This is not the case. As already indicated, Glasgow is a unitary authority, and therefore cannot be held to be within any other authority's area. Postal addresses for Glasgow, in common with the rest of Scotland, do not require a "county".

    Climate

    In spite of its northerly latitude, close to the same line as Moscow, Glasgow's climate is classified as Oceanic (Köppen Cfb). Owing to its westerly position and proximity to the sea, Glasgow is one of Scotland's milder areas. Temperatures are usually higher than most places of equal latitude away from the UK, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream.
    Winters are normally chilly, damp, and overcast, with a January mean of 4.0 °C (39.2 °F), though lows sometimes fall below freezing. Clear or dry days are rare. Snow occurs but rarely lies in the city centre. The spring months (March to May) are generally mild. Many of Glasgow's trees and plants begin to flower at this time of the year and parks and gardens are filled with spring colours. The summer months (June to September) can vary considerably between mild and wet weather or warm and sunny. The warmest month is usually July, with average highs near 20 °C (68 °F). Autumns are cool to mild, with increasing dampness. Extremes range from -20 to 31.2 °C (-4 to 88 °F), the latter occurring 4 August 1975

    Demography

    The population of the Glasgow City Council area peaked in the 1950s at 1,200,000 people and before that for 80 years was over 1 million. During this period, Glasgow was one of the most densely populated cities in the world. After the 1960s, clearings of poverty-stricken inner city areas like the Gorbals and relocation to 'new towns' such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld led to population decline. In addition, the boundaries of the city were changed twice during the late 20th century, making direct comparisons difficult. The city continues to expand beyond the official city council boundaries into surrounding suburban areas, encompassing around 400 square miles (1,000 km2) of all adjoining suburbs, if commuter towns and villages are included.
    There are two distinct definitions for the population of Glasgow: the Glasgow City Council Area (which lost the districts of Rutherglen andCambuslang to South Lanarkshire in 1996) and the Greater Glasgow Urban Area (which includes the conurbation around the city).
    Since the 1840s to present day, massive numbers of Irish immigrants have settled and contributed immensely in the city. At one point onlyNew York City had a bigger Irish population than Glasgow.[32] Numerous Scottish Highlanders also migrated to the city as a result of theHighland Clearances. The Irish, and to a lesser extent Highlanders, contributed to the explosive growth of Roman Catholicism in the city.[33][34]
    In the early 20th century, many Lithuanian refugees began to settle in Glasgow and at its height in the 1950s there were around 10,000 in the Glasgow area.[35] Many Italian Scots also settled in Glasgow, originating from provinces like Frosinone between Rome and Naples and Luccain north-west Tuscany at this time, many originally working as "Hokey Pokey" men.[36] In the 1960s and '70s, many Asian-Scots also settled in Glasgow, mainly in the Pollokshields area. These number 30,000 Pakistanis, 15,000 Indians and 3,000 Bangladeshis as well as Chineseimmigrants, many of whom settled in the Garnethill area of the city.[citation needed] Since 2000, the UK government has pursued a policy of dispersal of asylum seekers to ease pressure on social housing in the London area.

    Manchester:

    Manchester (pronounced /ˈmæntʃɛstə/ ( listen)) is a city and metropolitan borough ofGreater ManchesterEngland. In 2009, the population of the city was estimated to be 483,800,[2] making it the seventh-most populous local authority district in England. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas; the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,600,100, the Greater Manchester Urban Area a population of 2,240,230,[3] and the Larger Urban Zone around Manchester, the second-most-populous in the UK, had an estimated population in the 2004 Urban Audit of 2,539,100.[4] The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian.
    Manchester is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by theCheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian vicus associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established c. CE 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the riversMedlock and IrwellHistorically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by a boom intextile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.[5] The urbanisation of Manchester largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, resulting in it becoming the world's first industrialised city.[6] As the result of an early-19th century factory building boom, Manchester was transformed from a township into a major mill townborough and was later granted honorific city status in 1853.
    Forming part of the English Core Cities Group, Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce, factors all contributing to Manchester polling as thesecond city of the United Kingdom in 2002.[7] In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006, Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a business.[8] A report commissioned by Manchester Partnership, published in 2007, showed Manchester to be the "fastest-growing city" economically.[9] In the GaWC global city list, Manchester is ranked as a gamma- world city.[10] It is the third-most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and the most visited in England outside London.[11] Manchester was the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and among its other sporting connections are its twoPremier League football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United.[12]
     

    Etymology

    The name Manchester originates from the Ancient Roman name Mamucium, the name of the Roman fort and settlement, generally thought to be a Latinisation of an original Celtic name (possibly meaning "breast-like hill" from mamm- = "breast"), plus Old English ceaster = "town", which is derived from Latin castra = "camp".[13] An alternative theory suggests that the origin is British Celtic mamma = "mother", where the "mother" was a river-goddess of theRiver Medlock which flows below the fort. Mam means "female breast" in Irish Gaelic and "mother" in Welsh.[14]

    Industrial Revolution

    Much of Manchester's history is concerned with textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. The great majority of cotton spinning took place in the towns of south Lancashire and north Cheshire, and Manchester was for a time the most productive centre of cotton processing,[26] and later the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods.[18][27] Manchester was dubbed "Cottonopolis" and "Warehouse City" during the Victorian era.[26] In AustraliaNew Zealand and South Africa, the term "manchester" is still used for household linen: sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc.[28]
    Manchester began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation[29] brought on by the Industrial Revolution.[30] It developed a wide range of industries, so that by 1835 "Manchester was without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world."[27] Engineering firms initially made machines for the cotton trade, but diversified into general manufacture. Similarly, the chemical industry started by producing bleaches and dyes, but expanded into other areas. Commerce was supported by financial service industries such as banking and insurance. Trade, and feeding the growing population, required a large transport and distribution infrastructure: the canal system was extended, and Manchester became one end of the world's first intercity passenger railway—theLiverpool and Manchester Railway. Competition between the various forms of transport kept costs down.[18] In 1878 the GPO (the forerunner of British Telecom) provided its first telephones to a firm in Manchester.[31]
    The Manchester Ship Canal was built in 1894, in some sections by canalisation of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey, running 58 kilometres (36 mi) [32] from Salford to Eastham Locks on the tidal Mersey. This enabled ocean going ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester. On the canal's banks, just outside the borough, the world's first industrial estate was created at Trafford Park.[18] Large quantities of machinery, including cotton processing plant, were exported around the world.
    A centre of capitalism, Manchester was once the scene of bread and labour riots, as well as calls for greater political recognition by the city's working and non-titled classes. One such riot ended with the Peterloo Massacre of 16 August 1819. The economic school of Manchester capitalismdeveloped there, and Manchester was the centre of the Anti-Corn Law League from 1838 onward.
    Manchester has a notable place in the history of Marxism and left-wing politics; being the subject of Friedrich Engels' work The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844; Engels himself spent much of his life in and around Manchester,[33] and when Karl Marx visited Manchester, they met at Chetham's Library. The economics books Marx was reading at the time can be seen on the shelf in the library, as can the window seat where Marx and Engels would meet.[22] The firstTrades Union Congress was held in Manchester (at the Mechanics' Institute, David Street), from 2 to 6 June 1868. Manchester was also an important cradle of the Labour Party and the SuffragetteMovement.[34]
    At that time, it seemed a place in which anything could happen—new industrial processes, new ways of thinking (the Manchester School, promoting free trade and laissez-faire), new classes or groups in society, new religious sects, and new forms of labour organisation. It attracted educated visitors from all parts of Britain and Europe. A saying capturing this sense of innovation survives today: "What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow."[35] Manchester's golden age was perhaps the last quarter of the 19th century. Many of the great public buildings (including the town hall) date from then. The city's cosmopolitan atmosphere contributed to a vibrant culture, which included the Hallé Orchestra. In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a county borough with even greater autonomy.
    Although the Industrial Revolution brought wealth to the city, it also brought poverty and squalor to a large part of the population. HistorianSimon Schama noted that "Manchester was the very best and the very worst taken to terrifying extremes, a new kind of city in the world; the chimneys of industrial suburbs greeting you with columns of smoke". An American visitor taken to Manchester’s blackspots saw "wretched, defrauded, oppressed, crushed human nature, lying and bleeding fragments".[36]
    The number of cotton mills in Manchester itself reached a peak of 108 in 1853.[26] Thereafter the number began to decline and Manchester was surpassed as the largest centre of cotton spinning by Bolton in the 1850s and Oldham in the 1860s.[26] However, this period of decline coincided with the rise of city as the financial centre of the region.[26] Manchester continued to process cotton, and in 1913, 65% of the world's cotton was processed in the area.[18] The First World War interrupted access to the export markets. Cotton processing in other parts of the world increased, often on machines produced in Manchester. Manchester suffered greatly from the Great Depression and the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old industries, including textile manufacture.

    The Second World War and the Manchester Blitz

    Cotton processing and trading continued to fall in peacetime, and the exchange closed in 1968.[18] By 1963 the port of Manchester was the UK's third largest,[39] and employed over 3,000 men, but the canal was unable to handle the increasingly large container ships. Traffic declined, and the port closed in 1982.[40] Heavy industry suffered a downturn from the 1960s and was greatly reduced under the economic policies followed by Margaret Thatcher's government after 1979. Manchester lost 150,000 jobs in manufacturing between 1961 and 1983.[18]

    Regeneration began in the late 1980s, with initiatives such as the Metrolink, the Bridgewater Concert Hall, the Manchester Evening News Arena, and (in Salford) the rebranding of the port as Salford Quays. Two bids to host the Olympic Games were part of a process to raise the international profile of the city.[41]
    Manchester has a history of attacks attributed to Irish Republicans, including the Manchester Martyrs of 1867, arson in 1920, a series of explosions in 1939, and two bombs in 1992. On Saturday 15 June 1996, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out the 1996 Manchester bombing, the detonation of a large bomb next to a department store in the city centre. The largest to be detonated on British soil, the bomb injured over 200 people, heavily damaged nearby buildings, and broke windows half a mile away. The cost of the immediate damage was initially estimated at £50 million, but this was quickly revised upwards.[42] The final insurance payout was over £400 million; many affected businesses never recovered from the loss of trade.[43]
    Spurred by the investment after the 1996 bomb, and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games, Manchester's city centre has undergone extensive regeneration.[41] New and renovated complexes such as The Printworks and The Triangle have become popular shopping and entertainment destinations. The Manchester Arndale is the UK's largest city centre shopping mall.[44]
    Large sections of the city dating from the 1960s have been either demolished and re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and steel. Old mills have been converted into modern apartments, Hulme has undergone extensive regeneration programmes, and million-pound lofthouse apartments have since been developed. The 169-metre tall, 47-storey Beetham Tower, completed in 2006, is the tallest building in the UK outside London and the highest residential accommodation in western Europe. The lower 23 floors form the Hilton Hotel, featuring a "sky bar" on the 23rd floor. Its upper 24 floors are apartments.[45] In January 2007, the independent Casino Advisory Panel awarded Manchester a licence to build the only supercasino in the UK to regenerate the Eastlands area of the city,[46] but in March the House of Lords rejected the decision by three votes rendering previous House of Commons acceptance meaningless. This left the supercasino, and 14 other smaller concessions, in parliamentary limbo until a final decision was made.[47] On 11 July 2007, a source close to the government declared the entire supercasino project "dead in the water".[48] A member of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce professed himself "amazed and a bit shocked" and that "there has been an awful lot of time and money wasted".[49] After a meeting with the Prime Minister, Manchester City Council issued a press release on 24 July 2007 stating that "contrary to some reports the door is not closed to a regional casino".[50] The supercasino was officially declared dead in February 2008 with a compensation package described by the media as "rehashed plans, spin and empty promises."[51]
    Since around the turn of the 21st century, Manchester has been regarded by sections of the international press,[52] British public,[53] and government ministers[54] as being the second city of the United Kingdom. A 2007 poll by the BBC placed it ahead of Birmingham andLiverpool in the category of second city of England, but also ahead in the category of third city. Neither category is officially sanctioned, and criteria for determining what 'second city' means are ill-defined. Manchester is not the second largest city in terms of population, but it is argued that cultural and historical criteria are more important.[55] The BBC reports that redevelopment of recent years has heightened claims that Manchester is the second city of the UK.[56] This title however, which is unofficial in the UK, has traditionally been held by Birmingham since the early 20th century.[57]

    Geography

    At 53°28′0″N 2°14′0″W, 160 miles (257 km) northwest of London, Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped land area bordered to the north and east by the Pennine hills, a mountain chain that runs the length of northern England and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. The city centre is on the east bank of the River Irwell, near its confluences with the Rivers Medlock and Irk, and is relatively low-lying, being between 115 to 138 feet (35 and 42 m) above sea level.[61] The River Mersey flows through the south of Manchester. Much of the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive views from many highrise buildings in the city of the foothills and moors of the Pennines, which can often be capped with snow in the winter months. Manchester's geographic features were highly influential in its early development as the world's first industrial city. These features are its climate, its proximity to a seaport at Liverpool, the availability of water power from its rivers, and its nearby coal reserves.[62]
    The name Manchester, though officially applied only to the metropolitan district of Greater Manchester, has been applied to other, wider divisions of land, particularly across much of the Greater Manchester county and urban area. The "Manchester City Zone", "Manchester post town" and the "Manchester Congestion Charge" are all examples of this. The economic geography of the Manchester City Regionis used to define housing markets, business linkages, travel to work patterns, administrative areas etc.[63] As defined by The Northern Way economic development agency the City Region territory encompasses most of the natural economy’s Travel to Work Area and includes the cities of Manchester and Salford, plus the adjoining metropolitan boroughs of StockportTameside,TraffordBoltonBuryOldhamRochdale and Wigan, together with High Peak (which lies outside the North West England region), Cheshire EastCheshire West and Chester and Warrington.[64]
    For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, Manchester forms the most populous settlement within the Greater Manchester Urban Area, the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. There is a mixture of high-density urban and suburban locations in Manchester. The largest open space in the city, at around 260 hectares (642 acres),[65] is Heaton Park. Manchester is contiguous on all sides with several large settlements, except for a small section along its southern boundary with Cheshire. The M60 and M56 motorways pass through the south of Manchester, throughNorthenden and Wythenshawe respectively. Heavy rail lines enter the city from all directions, the principal destination being Manchester Piccadilly station.
    Manchester experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with warm summers and cold winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The city's average annual rainfall is 806.6 millimetres (31.76 in)[66] compared to the UK average of 1,125.0 millimetres (44.29 in),[67] and its mean rain days are 140.4 per annum,[66] compared to the UK average of 154.4.[67]Manchester however has a relatively high humidity level, which optimised the textile manufacturing (with low thread breakage) which took place there. Snowfalls are not common in the city, due to the urban warming effect. However, the Pennine and Rossendale Forest hills that surround the city to its east and north receive more snow and roads leading out of the city can be closed due to snow.[68] notably the A62 road via Oldham and Standedge, the A57 (Snake Pass) towards Sheffield,[69] and the M62 over Saddleworth Moor.

    liverpool:
    Liverpool (pronounced /ˈlɪvɚpuːl/) is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside,England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. Liverpool is the fourth largest city in the United Kingdom (third largest in England) and has a population of 435,500, and lies at the centre of the wider Liverpool Urban Area, which has a population of 816,216.[3]
    Historically a part of Lancashire, the urbanisation and expansion of Liverpool were both largely brought about by the city's status as a major port. By the 18th century, trade from the West Indies, Ireland and mainland Europe coupled with close links with the Atlantic Slave Trade furthered the economic expansion of Liverpool. By the early 19th century, 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's rise as a major city.
    Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also colloquially known as "Scousers", in reference to the local dish known as "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[4]Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, were drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.
    The popularity of The Beatles and the other groups from the Merseybeat era contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination; tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held theEuropean Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.[5]
    Several areas of the city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. Referred to as the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, the site comprises six separate locations in the city including the Pier HeadAlbert Dock and William Brown Street and includes many of the city's most famous landmarks.[6]

    History

    King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in a H shape:
      • Bank Street (now Water Street)
      • Castle Street
      • Chapel Street
      • Dale Street
      • Juggler Street (now High Street)
      • Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street)
      • Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street)
      In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indiessurpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[7][8] Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow. By the close of the century Liverpool controlled over 41% of Europe's and 80% of Britain's slave commerce.
      By the start of the 19th century, 40% of the world's trade was passing through Liverpool and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irish migrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the first part of the 20th century, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe.

      Inventions and innovations

      Ferriesrailways, transatlantic steamships, municipal trams,[15] electric trains[16] and the helicopter[17] were all pioneered in Liverpool as modes of mass transit.
      The first School for the Blind,[18] High School for Girls,[19][20] council house[21] and Juvenile Court[22] were all founded in Liverpool. The RSPCA,[23] NSPCC,[24] Age Concern,[25] Relate,Citizen's Advice Bureau[26] and Legal Aid all evolved from work in the city.
      In the field of public health, the first lifeboat station, public baths and wash-houses,[27] sanitary act,[28] medical officer for healthdistrict nurse, slum clearance,[29] purpose-built ambulance,[30] X-ray medical diagnosis,[31] school of tropical medicine, motorised municipal fire-engine,[32] free school milk and school meals,[33] cancer research centre,[34] and zoonosis research centre[35] all originated in Liverpool. The first British Nobel Prize was awarded in 1902 to Ronald Ross, professor at the School of Tropical Medicine, the first school of its kind in the world.[36]Orthopaedic surgery was pioneered in Liverpool by Hugh Owen Thomas,[37] and modern medical anaesthetics by Thomas Cecil Gray.
      In finance, Liverpool founded the UK's first Underwriters' Association[38] and the first Institute of Accountants. The Western world's first financial derivatives (cotton futures) were traded on the Liverpool Cotton Exchange in the late 1700s.[39]
      In the arts, Liverpool was home to the first lending libraryathenaeum societyarts centre[40] andpublic art conservation centre.[41] Liverpool is also home to the UK's oldest surviving classical orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.[42]
      In 1864, Peter Ellis built the world's first iron-framed, curtain-walled office building, Oriel Chambers, the prototype of the skyscraper.
      Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an annual Grand Olympic Festival. Devised by John Hulleyand Charles Melly, these games were the first to be wholly amateur in nature and international in outlook.[43][44] The programme of the first modern Olympiad in Athens in 1896 was almost identical to that of the Liverpool Olympics.[45] In 1865 Hulley co-founded the National Olympian Association in Liverpool, a forerunner of the British Olympic Association. Its articles of foundation provided the framework for the International Olympic Charter.
      Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an annual Grand Olympic Festival. Devised by John Hulleyand Charles Melly, these games were the first to be wholly amateur in nature and international in outlook.[43][44] The programme of the first modern Olympiad in Athens in 1896 was almost identical to that of the Liverpool Olympics.[45] In 1865 Hulley co-founded the National Olympian Association in Liverpool, a forerunner of the British Olympic Association. Its articles of foundation provided the framework for the International Olympic Charter.
      Shipowner Sir Alfred Lewis Jones introduced the banana to Great Britain in 1884.[46]
      In 1897, the Lumière brothers filmed Liverpool,[47] including what is believed to be the world's first tracking shot,[48] taken from the Liverpool Overhead Railway – the world's first elevated electrified railway.
      Liverpool inventor Frank Hornby was a visionary in toy development and manufacture and produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: MeccanoHornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys.
      In 1999, Liverpool was the first city outside the capital to be awarded blue plaques by English Heritage in recognition of the "significant contribution made by its sons and daughters in all walks of life."[49]

      Governance

      Liverpool has three tiers of governance; the Local Council, the National Government and the European Parliament. Liverpool is officially governed by a Unitary Authority, as when Merseyside County Council was disbanded civic functions were returned to a district borough level. However several services such as the Police and Fire and Rescue Service, continue to be run at a county-wide level.

      Local Council

      The City of Liverpool is governed by Liverpool City Council, and is one of five metropolitan boroughs that combine to make up the metropolitan county of Merseyside. The council consists of 90 elected councillors who represent local communities throughout the city,[50] as well as a five man executive management team who are responsible for the day to day running of the council.[51] Part of the responsibility of the councillors is the election of a council leader and Lord Mayor. The council leader's responsibility is to provide directionality for the council as well as acting as medium between the local council, central government and private & public partners.[52] The Lord Mayor acts as the 'first citizen' of the city and is responsible for promoting the city, supporting local charities & community groups as well as representing the city at civic events[53] The current council leader is Joe Anderson, and current Lord Mayor is Councillor Mike Storey.[54]
      For local elections the city is split into 30 local council wards,[55] which in alphabetical order are:
      During the most recent local elections, held in May 2010, the Labour Party regained control of Liverpool City Council for the first time in 12 years.[56] Led by Joe Anderson, the Labour Party gained nine seats during the election, taking their total to 48 seats, compared with the 37 held by the Liberal Democrats. Of the remaining seats the Liberal Party won three and the Green Party claimed two. The Conservative Party, one of the three major political parties in the UK had no representation on Liverpool City Council.[57]
      In February 2008, Liverpool City Council was revealed to be the worst-performing council in the country, receiving just a one star rating (classified as inadequate). The main cause of the poor rating was attributed to the council's poor handling of tax-payer money, including the accumulation of a £20m shortfall on Capital of Culture funding.

      Parliamentary constituencies and MPs

      Liverpool has four parliamentary constituencies entirely within the city, through which Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent the city in WestminsterLiverpool RiversideLiverpool WaltonLiverpool Wavertree and Liverpool West Derby.[59] At the last general election, all were won by Labour with representation being from Louise EllmanSteve RotheramLuciana Berger and Stephen Twigg respectively. Due to boundary changes prior to the 2010 election, the Liverpool Garston constituency was merged with most of Knowsley South to form theGarston and Halewood cross-boundary seat. At the most recent election this seat was won by Maria Eagle of the Labour Party.[60]

      Geography

      Liverpool has been described as having "the most splendid setting of any English city."[61] At 53°24′0″N 2°59′0″W (53.4, −2.98), 176 miles (283 km) northwest of London, the city of Liverpool is built across a ridge of sandstone hills rising up to a height of around 230 feet (70 metres) above sea-level at Everton Hill, which represents the southern boundary of the West Lancashire Coastal PlainLiverpool Urban Area runs directly into BootleCrosby and
       Maghull in south Sefton to the north, and KirkbyHuytonPrescot and Halewood in Knowsley to the east. It faces Wallasey and Birkenhead across the River Mersey to the west.

      Demography

      As with other major British cities, Liverpool has a large and diverse population. At the 2001 UK Census the recorded population of Liverpool was 441,900,[63] while a mid-2008 estimate by theOffice for National Statistics had the city's population as 434,900.[64] Liverpool's population peaked in 1930s with 846,101 recorded in the 1931 census.[65] Since then the city has experienced negative population growth every decade, with at its peak over 100,000 people leaving the city between 1971 and 1981.[66] Between 2001 and 2006 it experienced the ninth largest percentage population loss of any UK unitary authority.[67] The "Liverpool city region", as defined by the Mersey Partnership, includes Wirral, Warrington, Flintshire, Chester and other areas, and has a population of around 2 million.[68]
      In common with many cities, Liverpool's population is younger than that of England as a whole, with 42.3 per cent of its population under the age of 30, compared to an English average of 37.4 per cent.[69] 65.1 per cent of the population is of working age.[69]

      Ethnicity

      As of June 2007, an estimated 91.5 per cent of Liverpool's population was White, 2.3 per centAsian or Asian British, 1.9 per cent Black or Black British, 2.0 per cent mixed-race and 2.3 per cent Chinese and other.[2]
      Liverpool is home to Britain's oldest Black community, dating to at least the 1730s, and some Black Liverpudlians are able to trace their ancestors in the city back ten generations.[70] Early Black settlers in the city included seamen, the children of traders sent to be educated, and freed slaves, since slaves entering the country after 1722 were deemed free men.[71]
      The city is also home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe; the first residents of the city'sChinatown arrived as seamen in the nineteenth century.[72] The gateway in Chinatown, Liverpool is also the largest gateway outside of China. The city is also known for its large Irish and Welsh populations.[73] In 1813, 10 per cent of Liverpool's population was Welsh, leading to the city becoming known as "the capital of North Wales".[73] Following the start of the Great Irish Famine, two million Irish people migrated to Liverpool in the space of one decade, many of them subsequently departing for the United States.[74] By 1851, more than 20 per cent of the population of Liverpool was Irish.[75] At the 2001 Census, 1.17 per cent of the population were Welsh-born and 0.75 per cent were born in theRepublic of Ireland, while 0.54 per cent were born in Northern Ireland,[76] but many more Liverpudlians are of Welsh or Irish ancestry.
      The thousands of migrants and sailors passing through Liverpool resulted in a religious diversity that is still apparent today. This is reflected in the equally diverse collection of religious buildings,[77] and two Christian cathedrals.
      Christ Church, in Buckingham Road, Tuebrook, is a conservative evangelical congregation and is affiliated with the Evangelical Connexion.[78] They worship using the 1785 Prayer Book, and regard the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice.
      The parish church of Liverpool is the Anglican Our Lady and St Nicholas, colloquially known as "the sailors church", which has existed near the waterfront since 1257. It regularly plays host to Catholic masses. Other notable churches include the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (built in the Neo-Byzantine architecture style), and the Gustav Adolfus Kyrka (the Swedish Seamen's Church, reminiscent of Nordic styles).
      Liverpool's wealth as a port city enabled the construction of two enormous cathedrals, both dating from the 20th century. The Anglican Cathedral, which was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and plays host to the annual Liverpool Shakespeare Festival, has one of the longest naves, largest organs and heaviest and highest peals of bells in the world. The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, on Mount Pleasant next to Liverpool Science Park was initially planned to be even larger. Of Sir Edwin Lutyens' original design, only the crypt was completed. The cathedral was eventually built to a simpler design by Sir Frederick Gibberd; while this is on a smaller scale than Lutyens' original design, it still manages to incorporate the largest panel of stained glass in the world. The road running between the two cathedrals is called Hope Street, a coincidence which pleases believers. The cathedral is colloquially referred to as "Paddy's Wigwam" due to its shape

      Liverpool contains several synagogues, of which the Grade I listed Moorish Revival Princes Road Synagogue is architecturally the most notable. Princes Road is widely considered to be the most magnificent of Britain's Moorish Revival synagogues and one of the finest buildings in Liverpool.[81] Liverpool has a thriving Jewish community with a further two orthodox Synagogues, one in the Allerton district of the city and a second in the Childwall district of the city where a significant Jewish community reside. A third orthodox Synagogue in the Greenbank Parkarea of L17 has recently closed, and is a listed 1930s structure. There is also a Lubavitch Chabad House and a reform Synagogue. Liverpool has had a Jewish community since the mid-18th century. The current Jewish population of Liverpool is around 3000.[82]
      Liverpool also has an increasing Hindu community, with a Mandir on 253 Edge Lane; the Radha Krishna Hindu Temple from the Hindu Cultural Organisation based there. The current Hindu population in Liverpool is about 1147.[citation needed] Liverpool also has the Guru NanakSikh Gurdwara in L15.
      The city had one of the earliest mosques in Britain, founded in 1887 by William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to Islam. This mosque, which was also the first in England, however no longer exists.[83] Plans have been accepted to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum.[84] Currently there are three mosques in Liverpool: the largest and main one, Al-Rahma mosque, in theToxteth area of the city and a mosque recently opened in the Mossley Hill district of the city. The third mosque was also recently opened in Toxteth and is on Granby Street.
















      No comments: