5 Nights in the Midlands
Jul 27th, 2015, 10:36 AM
#21
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"talking to U.K. folks they know to be a city a town has to have a cathedral"
That hasn't been the case for some years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13841482
That hasn't been the case for some years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13841482
Jul 27th, 2015, 11:01 AM
#22
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The bounds of city status throw up a plethora of quirks.
There aren't too many people who would deny that London was a city but in the UK it is not an official one, although it contains two of them - the City of London and City of Westminster.>
Yes and if I called say London a city folks like annhig would jump on me?
It's even worse than I thought - St David's is a city but London is not?
and we ferriners are supposed to know that - seems it makes little rhyme or reason even to Brits.
annhig - please take this all in good humoUr!
There aren't too many people who would deny that London was a city but in the UK it is not an official one, although it contains two of them - the City of London and City of Westminster.>
Yes and if I called say London a city folks like annhig would jump on me?
It's even worse than I thought - St David's is a city but London is not?
and we ferriners are supposed to know that - seems it makes little rhyme or reason even to Brits.
annhig - please take this all in good humoUr!
Jul 27th, 2015, 12:46 PM
#23
Yes and if I called say London a city folks like annhig would jump on me?
It's even worse than I thought - St David's is a city but London is not?>>
you're being silly, Pal - of course London is a city, in fact it's several cities in one. And I really don't know anyone who talks of London being a town, except perhaps in a song or two, in the same way as New York!
Coventry, has been a real city for 100s of years and as I posted upthread, was the 6th most important city in medieval England and more than once was the actual capital of the country. with a population now of over 300,000 it is a city in anyone's language except perhaps yours.
Truro, OTOH, with a population of roughly 20,000, is really only a town which is called a city because it has a cathedral.
however little sense it makes to you, it makes perfect sense to us.
It's even worse than I thought - St David's is a city but London is not?>>
you're being silly, Pal - of course London is a city, in fact it's several cities in one. And I really don't know anyone who talks of London being a town, except perhaps in a song or two, in the same way as New York!
Coventry, has been a real city for 100s of years and as I posted upthread, was the 6th most important city in medieval England and more than once was the actual capital of the country. with a population now of over 300,000 it is a city in anyone's language except perhaps yours.
Truro, OTOH, with a population of roughly 20,000, is really only a town which is called a city because it has a cathedral.
however little sense it makes to you, it makes perfect sense to us.
Jul 27th, 2015, 01:44 PM
#24
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and calling Coventry a town makes perfect sense to us. Like we use "downtown" for city centers not "downcity" regardless of the size of the town. Midtown Manhattan - Uptown - Downtown.
Or let's go to town tonight - never let's go to city. Have a night out on the town.
Much ado bout nudding but interesting link Hooamyeye gave to explain the rather arcane thing of what is a city in the U.K. and what is not - size makes little difference it seems and that obscures the meaning of a city in our sense.
Cheers!
Or let's go to town tonight - never let's go to city. Have a night out on the town.
Much ado bout nudding but interesting link Hooamyeye gave to explain the rather arcane thing of what is a city in the U.K. and what is not - size makes little difference it seems and that obscures the meaning of a city in our sense.
Cheers!
Jul 27th, 2015, 07:08 PM
#25
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When I was in London I stayed in the city of Westminster and the borough of Haringey - county of London . All in Greater London .
Next visit I can't wait to go to Coventry to see where some of my convict family were weavers .
Saw an amazing tv program on Coventry cathedral - 2 people doing climbing exploration of it !!
Next visit I can't wait to go to Coventry to see where some of my convict family were weavers .
Saw an amazing tv program on Coventry cathedral - 2 people doing climbing exploration of it !!
Jul 28th, 2015, 01:26 AM
#26
northie - what sort of weavers were they?
the only weaving that is left is Cash's who are familiar to every mother in the UK for producing woven name labels for sewing into children's school clothes. amazingly in this digital age they are still going strong:
http://jjcash.co.uk
where did you see the programme about climbing the cathedral? I'm sure that my mum would like to see it.
the only weaving that is left is Cash's who are familiar to every mother in the UK for producing woven name labels for sewing into children's school clothes. amazingly in this digital age they are still going strong:
http://jjcash.co.uk
where did you see the programme about climbing the cathedral? I'm sure that my mum would like to see it.
Jul 28th, 2015, 11:14 PM
#27
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annhig- mostly just says weaver starting in 1820 and living at West Orchard - although 1851 census states "hand loom weaver".
Cash has a sister company in Australia and we use their labels for school clothes etc.
program about cathedral is called Climbing Great Buildings , Coventry Cathedral - BBC two program from 2010 . Episode 13 of 15
Cash has a sister company in Australia and we use their labels for school clothes etc.
program about cathedral is called Climbing Great Buildings , Coventry Cathedral - BBC two program from 2010 . Episode 13 of 15
Jul 29th, 2015, 01:08 PM
#28
Northie - West Orchard [if it was then where it is now] is right round the corner from where my mum lives! [and where I was brought up, for that matter] - about 3 miles outside the city centre.
That said, it is the site of a quite modern Church building and a 1950s suburb and I would have thought that the weavers would have been closer to what would have then been the city centre.
I'll have a look out for that TV programme, thanks.
That said, it is the site of a quite modern Church building and a 1950s suburb and I would have thought that the weavers would have been closer to what would have then been the city centre.
I'll have a look out for that TV programme, thanks.
Jul 30th, 2015, 07:56 AM
#33
Coventry is twinned with about 20 different places, including Dresden, and 3 places in the US that are called Coventry and Truro is twinned with 2 other places called Truro [one in Nova Scotia, another in NE]
bilbo - is the Paris that the small village in rutland twinned with Paris, France, or Paris Texas?
bilbo - is the Paris that the small village in rutland twinned with Paris, France, or Paris Texas?
Jul 30th, 2015, 08:06 AM
#34
France, they have can-can nights, men with onion ropes, black mostaches, the celebrations are as exciting as you can get with one pub and pond. 
Just a thought but if it were Texas there would be that weird music and dead bodies surely not even the people of Rutland can get fun out of that.
Just a thought but if it were Texas there would be that weird music and dead bodies surely not even the people of Rutland can get fun out of that.
Jul 30th, 2015, 10:50 AM
#35
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I'm pretty sure you know it is . . .>
wrong again - I thought it could be but was not sure they would do it because of the brouhaha with that Mad Bomber British General or whatever who decided to level Dresden even though it had virtually no importance militarily and was filled with refugees as a retaliation for Coventry.
So janis once again dead wrong....
wrong again - I thought it could be but was not sure they would do it because of the brouhaha with that Mad Bomber British General or whatever who decided to level Dresden even though it had virtually no importance militarily and was filled with refugees as a retaliation for Coventry.
So janis once again dead wrong....
Jul 30th, 2015, 01:11 PM
#36
The man in question was "bomber Harris" of the RAF and of course it wasn't just HIS decision to bomb Dresden or anywhere else for that matter - just as it wasn't the decision of the pilots who bombed Hiroshima to do so.
Nor was it "retaliation" for anything [it took place in February 1945 i.e. 5 years after the bombing of Coventry] but was more a calculated attempt to undermine german resolve and morale as well as to send a message to the approaching Red Army.
This website has some interesting insights into it, including the fact that US bombers were involved as well:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk...ng-of-dresden/
Was it justified? probably not, but it is very difficult to put ourselves into the position of those who were making these decisions. After all, they were not to know that the war would end [in Europe in any event] later in that year.
Ironically, one of the books I read [in 1970s Coventry] for german A level was a book by Erich Kästner called "Als ich ein kleiner Junge war" which is all about his experiences growing up in pre-war Dresden. for obvious reasons it had a big effect on me at the time.
Nor was it "retaliation" for anything [it took place in February 1945 i.e. 5 years after the bombing of Coventry] but was more a calculated attempt to undermine german resolve and morale as well as to send a message to the approaching Red Army.
This website has some interesting insights into it, including the fact that US bombers were involved as well:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk...ng-of-dresden/
Was it justified? probably not, but it is very difficult to put ourselves into the position of those who were making these decisions. After all, they were not to know that the war would end [in Europe in any event] later in that year.
Ironically, one of the books I read [in 1970s Coventry] for german A level was a book by Erich Kästner called "Als ich ein kleiner Junge war" which is all about his experiences growing up in pre-war Dresden. for obvious reasons it had a big effect on me at the time.
Jul 31st, 2015, 12:58 PM
#38
no problem, Pal. I have written here before about how moving it was taking my german pen friend's father [who as a young man fought on the Russian front and was a British POW] to see the ruins of Coventry cathedral, and then years later to be able to visit the rebuilt Frauenkirche in Dresden, though sadly not with him. Although my dad had been working in an aircraft factory in Rugby when the bombs were falling on Coventry, he encouraged me to learn german and came up with the idea of going on a family holiday to visit my pen friend's family. Our fathers were the same age, and though they had been on opposite sides they got on amazingly well, even my pen friend's grandfather who enjoyed telling us about the "Panzers" that had driven across his fields. We never did establish whose tanks and indeed which war he was talking about but he didn't seem to bear any grudges.
Sorry for the diversion!
Sorry for the diversion!
