Why the Midlands is the best place in Britain

[Perthbum]

From Shakespeare to Walkers crisps to oxygen, there's more to the Midlands than Spaghetti Junction. In fact, it's where anything of any value – ever – started life

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• Robert Shore
   
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• The Guardian, Wednesday 26 March 2014 20.21 GMT
  
• Jump to comments (446)
  

 

That great literary Midlander William Shakespeare. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Midlands – that great swath of England squeezed between the self-mythologising power blocs of north and south on the national map – has an image problem. And that problem, essentially, is that it doesn't have an image.

Even in this great age of identity politics, coming from the Midlands is tantamount to coming from nowhere in particular. Professional northerners are legion, but professional Midlanders? Why, the very word "Midlands" is rarely employed outside the specialised news contexts of weather and travel. There are a lot of roads in the Midlands – it's a very popular place to travel through – and as for weather, there's as much of it in the Midlands as anywhere else. But beyond that, what are the term's associations? There's the correspondence of the (London-born) classical actor John Gielgud, where he refers to the zone between his legs and midriff as "the Midlands". We all come from there at a biological level, but in identity terms there is little social cachet in announcing that you hail from the nation's meat and two veg.

Personally, I blame the Midlands' anonymity on the national media's obsession with the so-called "north/ south divide". There are few cliches journalists and broadcasters in Britain find less resistible than that which pictures the country in terms of a sharp and simple opposition between north and south, with the north cast as the great English "other", the rebellious, working-class outrider to the normative, establishmentarian south.

Binary oppositions of the north/south kind dominate geopolitical thinking, and not just in England. The US is usually configured in terms of a culture clash between either north and south (Yankees v Confederates) or east and west (New York v California): the vast American Midwest, patronisingly portrayed as the home to bumpkins with straw between their teeth, is treated with disdain or mistrust. A similar state of affairs exists in England: hence the general attitude to Birmingham, the one place in the Midlands that people think they know something about – and all of it (roads, architecture, accent) negative.

You are free to ignore the media, of course, but it is dangerous and disorienting to ignore the signs on the M1. If you are driving up the country from London, the northern propaganda begins at Archway roundabout, where a signpost announces "THE NORTH" in block capitals – if you take the M1, you must be going there, it tells you. Note that it doesn't just say north – a direction – but The North, a place. The message is repeated, in the same bold lettering, all the way up the M1, next to each and every place name. Only when you get to the edge of Milton Keynes – where the region actually begins – does "The MIDLANDS" finally get a mention. And then, as suddenly as it appears, the word vanishes again, so that the names of all the major towns and cities of the East Midlands – Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham – are unerringly accompanied by the words "The NORTH". No wonder a lot of southerners think the north begins as soon as you leave London: that's what the road signs tell you.

 

 

[Guest51810]

You love copy and pasting don't you Would of been nicer if it was your reasons

[Perthbum]

Midlanders are better dressed than other Britons: from Margaret Thatcher to Noddy Holder, the region has been rich in fashion icons. It comes as no surprise, then, that Britain's finest menswear designer, Paul Smith, should come from Nottingham.

[Perthbum]

Manchester sometimes likes to style itself the comedy capital but Birmingham is the nation's true hub of humour. A 2002 BBC poll declared Brummie Tony Hancock the greatest British comedian of all time.

[Guest]

101 reasons why you're wrong and Scotland is

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/so-what-have-the-scots-ever-done-for-us-just-101-of-the-innovations-caledonia-gave-the-world-6289832.html

 

Except for David Cameron for that I truly apologise and remind you that I am in fact English

[Guest51810]

101 reasons why you're wrong and Scotland is

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/so-what-have-the-scots-ever-done-for-us-just-101-of-the-innovations-caledonia-gave-the-world-6289832.html

 

Except for David Cameron for that I truly apologise and remind you that I am in fact English

 

I don't think we should be proud of a fried mars bar lol

[Perthbum]

101 reasons why you're wrong and Scotland is

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/so-what-have-the-scots-ever-done-for-us-just-101-of-the-innovations-caledonia-gave-the-world-6289832.html

 

Except for David Cameron for that I truly apologise and remind you that I am in fact English

is that all you have got......:biglaugh:

[maidensarah]

The only issue I have with it is that I couldn't be any further away from a beach

[tea4too]

Nooooo.......sorry PB and Lady Rainicorn, you are both wrong. Wales is the the holder of this particular crown-

 

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/fun-stuff/many-reasons-you-should-very-6758655

 

Number 7 and number 10 alone prove it :cute: Tx

[bunbury61]

From Shakespeare to Walkers crisps to oxygen, there's more to the Midlands than Spaghetti Junction. In fact, it's where anything of any value – ever – started life

• See 20 great things from the Midlands

 

 

 

• Share2931

• 2

   

   

   

 

 

• inShare18

   

   

   

   

• Email

 

 

• Robert Shore

• The Guardian, Wednesday 26 March 2014 20.21 GMT

• Jump to comments (446)

 

That great literary Midlander William Shakespeare. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Midlands – that great swath of England squeezed between the self-mythologising power blocs of north and south on the national map – has an image problem. And that problem, essentially, is that it doesn't have an image.

Even in this great age of identity politics, coming from the Midlands is tantamount to coming from nowhere in particular. Professional northerners are legion, but professional Midlanders? Why, the very word "Midlands" is rarely employed outside the specialised news contexts of weather and travel. There are a lot of roads in the Midlands – it's a very popular place to travel through – and as for weather, there's as much of it in the Midlands as anywhere else. But beyond that, what are the term's associations? There's the correspondence of the (London-born) classical actor John Gielgud, where he refers to the zone between his legs and midriff as "the Midlands". We all come from there at a biological level, but in identity terms there is little social cachet in announcing that you hail from the nation's meat and two veg.

Personally, I blame the Midlands' anonymity on the national media's obsession with the so-called "north/ south divide". There are few cliches journalists and broadcasters in Britain find less resistible than that which pictures the country in terms of a sharp and simple opposition between north and south, with the north cast as the great English "other", the rebellious, working-class outrider to the normative, establishmentarian south.

Binary oppositions of the north/south kind dominate geopolitical thinking, and not just in England. The US is usually configured in terms of a culture clash between either north and south (Yankees v Confederates) or east and west (New York v California): the vast American Midwest, patronisingly portrayed as the home to bumpkins with straw between their teeth, is treated with disdain or mistrust. A similar state of affairs exists in England: hence the general attitude to Birmingham, the one place in the Midlands that people think they know something about – and all of it (roads, architecture, accent) negative.

You are free to ignore the media, of course, but it is dangerous and disorienting to ignore the signs on the M1. If you are driving up the country from London, the northern propaganda begins at Archway roundabout, where a signpost announces "THE NORTH" in block capitals – if you take the M1, you must be going there, it tells you. Note that it doesn't just say north – a direction – but The North, a place. The message is repeated, in the same bold lettering, all the way up the M1, next to each and every place name. Only when you get to the edge of Milton Keynes – where the region actually begins – does "The MIDLANDS" finally get a mention. And then, as suddenly as it appears, the word vanishes again, so that the names of all the major towns and cities of the East Midlands – Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham – are unerringly accompanied by the words "The NORTH". No wonder a lot of southerners think the north begins as soon as you leave London: that's what the road signs tell you.

 

 

 

 

 

From someone who works FROM STOKE DOWN TO HEREFORD on a daily basis ,,,,the midlands has , in my opinion some of the worst aspects , and some of the best aspects of living in the u.k .

I hate the bloody traffic and the bloody litter ( my pet hate ).... ....the m6 spine is a bloody nightmare ...theres deprivation in the inner city of brum , Coventry and the black country , that gets me down , you have to be on your guard,

To offset this we have out of the cities , some of the best quality of life to be seen anywhere , never mind the u.k .

I bloody love rural Warwickshire , Worcestershire and Herefordshire .

But the greatest gift is the people , I rarely meet a bad one ,and all the different accents , with the black country people being my favourites ....no side on them ....no bullshit ....no big time charlies .....

 

I have been in beautiful wales today , a lot of money has been spent, a great country ....but as an Englishman there s nothing like driving out of Cardiff, past celtic manor and through beautiful Monmouth, red dragon flags everywhere , and seeing that sign on the m50 that says ......WELCOME TO ENGLAND - COUNTY OF HEREFORDSHIRE ....aahhh that's better !:wink:

[tea4too]

....................I bloody love rural Warwickshire , Worcestershire and Herefordshire .:yes:

But the greatest gift is the people , I rarely meet a bad one ,and all the different accents , with the black country people being my favourites ....no side on them ....no bullshit ....no big time charlies .....:yes::yes:

 

I have been in beautiful wales today , :cute:a lot of money has been spent, a great country :jiggy: ....but as an Englishman there s nothing like driving out of Cardiff, past celtic manor and through beautiful Monmouth, red dragon flags everywhere , :cool: and seeing that sign on the m50 that says ......WELCOME TO ENGLAND - COUNTY OF HEREFORDSHIRE ....aahhh that's better !:shocked: :mad: :policeman:

Tx:wink:

[Guest]

The Midlands is very up and down. Most the towns and cities are pretty horrible..coventry , Wolverhampton Derby etc. Warwickshire and Northamptonshire have great villages however. What I like about oz is the bogans tend to be in the outer suburbs so don't all congregate around the city centre like in the UK. For example I have no reason to go to Logan so can avoid most the undesirables in Brisbane area and the inner suburbs feel much nicer. Back in Coventry they are just all around inner suburbs and congregate around the city centre which gives the place a dodgy feel.

[bunbury61]

The Midlands is very up and down. Most the towns and cities are pretty horrible..coventry , Wolverhampton Derby etc. Warwickshire and Northamptonshire have great villages however. What I like about oz is the bogans tend to be in the outer suburbs so don't all congregate around the city centre like in the UK. For example I have no reason to go to Logan so can avoid most the undesirables in Brisbane area and the inner suburbs feel much nicer. Back in Coventry they are just all around inner suburbs and congregate around the city centre which gives the place a dodgy feel.

 

 

 

as much as I would like to sugar coat it , you are right , most of Coventry ( not all ) , is a shithole .....go 10 miles in any direction its a different story .

Get to tile hill on the edge of cov ......go literally 1 mile towards balsall common , its a different place altogether ...that's England for you

[bunbury61]

as much as I would like to sugar coat it , you are right , most of Coventry ( not all ) , is a shithole .....go 10 miles in any direction its a different story .

Get to tile hill on the edge of cov ......go literally 1 mile towards balsall common , its a different place altogether ...that's England for you

 

 

Just to elaborate ....Coventry and Wolverhampton can be a bit dodgy ......but as I have said many times on this forum , and it pains me to say it ....inner city brum, and parts of east London are a level below that.

I remember being on a trip to NY and passing the Bronx , and thinking " is that it " .....I would take my chances in the Bronx ...rather than back home at night

[caramac]

You can keep Wolverhampton, Coventry and most of Birmingham, but I agree, the surrounding counties and countryside are gorgeous.

[northernbird]

I wouldn't put Grantham or Northampton in 'The Midlands' But hey, I am old now so boundaries may have moved since I did Geography.

[caramac]

I wouldn't put Grantham or Northampton in 'The Midlands' But hey, I am old now so boundaries may have moved since I did Geography.[/

 

Those places will be 'on-Sea' if the North Sea washes too much more of the east coast away! :wink:

[maidensarah]

I wouldn't put Grantham or Northampton in 'The Midlands' But hey, I am old now so boundaries may have moved since I did Geography.

 

It is generally described as East Midlands

[ABL275]

Very amusing (but you are joking - right?)

[Guest Guest66881]

Claim to fame WALKERS FRIGGIN CRISPS i ask ya:laugh:

 

So much more to the Midlands, industrial revolution for one.

[Sustain]

What is leeds like?

 

Not for living but as a business district. They mentioned last night about 28k people from Harrogate commute each day.

[melon]

The East Midlands beats the West hands down. Lincoln has the culture and touristic Roman sights, Skegness the beaches. The West has none of these ;-)

[melon]

Grantham is in Lincolnshire still and is very much East Midlands

[Perthbum]

The East Midlands beats the West hands down. Lincoln has the culture and touristic Roman sights, Skegness the beaches. The West has none of these ;-)

:biglaugh:

Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Stratford-on-Avon are the West Midlands Heritage Hot Spots.

From buildings to battlefields, phone boxes to factories, people in the West Midlands can now go online to find out more about their local heritage and its protected historic places.

 

 

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire

 

 

English Heritage has launched The National Heritage List for England, a new online database of the country's protected buildings, parks, landscapes, battlefields, ship wrecks and monuments. To mark this launch English Heritage has revealed the top five designation hot spots in the West Midlands.

The results reveal that Shropshire has 6,882 listed buildings, the most in the West Midlands, followed by Herefordshire with 5,889. In third place, Stratford-on-Avon has 3,324 listed buildings, followed by Wychavon with 2,452, and the Malvern Hills with 1,881.

Overall the West Midlands is home to 34,252 listed buildings, which equates to 9% of England's total (374,319). It also has 1,310 scheduled monuments, 150 registered parks and gardens, and 6 battlefields, all of which can be found on the List. The West Midlands also has two World Heritage Sites - Ironbridge Gorge, and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal.

[WeegieDave]

Last time I was in the Midlands it was spot the white man... I could have sworn I had been teleported to Islamabad!