Barnsley

Close to the Peak District. Unfortunately like a lot of places the town centre has deteriorated due to the number of out of town shopping centres.

50% of the shops are TV repair shops

There’s only one TV repair shop

Near (but not strictly my town)

Submarine Museum and in particular HMS Alliance in Gosport. In fact all the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

I live in London so quite a lot, but even within walking distance we are very lucky:

Loads of sports facilities (rugby, football, cricket, lacrosse, rowing, canoeing, sailing, tennis, squash, racquets, fives – both major codes, swimming, athletics etc) Major rowing events and a championship football team.

Venues: Major venue of bands and comedians, top jazz venue, large theatre and also some small ones, a few cinemas including a chi chi one.

Wetlands centre, a number of festivals, pubs, restaurants etc.

Submarine Museum

That sounds awesome!

But don’t you get awfully wet?

Look at Georgian architecture
Go to a spa (new or old)
Watch a rugby match

Beat up a womble, smug little feckers

Retire. That is about all there is to do in Ferndown as it is full of retirement homes and the average age of the residents is about 70.

On the plus side it is 6 miles from the New Forest and 12 miles for the Purbecks so the riding is excellent.

For the next few days, risk being virtually infected by a pandemic. Terribly exciting.

Some of the best restaurants in the UK.
Brilliant bars covering everything from ale to cocktails.
Stunning architecture.
Hugely varied museums, modern art, fine art, natural history, science and more, all boxes ticked.
Diverse and accepting culture covering a huge variety of race and religion.
World class sporting and cultural venues and (bar the football) and world class performances taking place in them.
And more canals than Venice.

Yes, it’s safe to say that Birmingham is a damn fine city.

My town is apparently the happiest in England, according to some kind of bullshit algorithm.

You wouldn’t know it to look at the miserable old tykes wandering around town.

Er…we have a castle, a pretty canal and some wood with all the mud you could want.

Go to the Wimpy burger restaurant which Brad Pitt has eaten in.

There’s a pretty good micro-brewery/pub as well.

Errr, that’s about it really! 😆

Leeds.
all cosmopolitan now…..or so I am told.
but, good pubs, good food, lot’s of live music.
some nice riding around the outskirts.

Go hunt Martians

and some Mod bloke lived here (Mod in the musical sense)

Shoot a bear, go snowboarding, eat a cinnamon bun.

Östersund

Go to the theatre
Lots of Some pubs, cafes, restaurants. It’s ok for a small place.
Swim in the lido
Nearby Downhill venue. (accessible by train)
Ride directly to the trail centre via a new linking cyclepath

hunt reindeer, deer, Elk or fish for trout in the lakes or salmon, cod etc

nowhere to eat out or get a drink though, but a couple of okay take aways and beer available in the supermarket
5 mins to mountain bike trails and the forests

absolutely no culture at all. Nearest cinema or theatre is 15 miles away

“Town”? I can do village.. ?

Heard of Howard’s Way?

Then you can go sailing here.

We also have a couple of decent pubs, hardly any restaurants of note, lovely countryside and beachfronts though.. so really the best thing to do is get outside.

Ah yes, the lovely Bursledon beach.

Six pubs, three Indian restaurants, two Chinese takaways, one live music pub, a supermarket, half an hour on the train to brum and pretty decent riding half a mile from the centre.
£2.70 a pint for prize winning ale.

Harrogate

Eat overpriced food

Drink overpriced beer

Pay over-the-odds rates for workmen

Sit stationary in the clogged up streets

Count Range Rovers

Count trophy wives in Dior sunglasses no matter the weather

But…

Watch bike races

Trying to workout where the flying ix lives without googling.
…
I was trying to figure out where flying ox is is too

I’ll give you a clue. It’s neither Ceres nor Guardbridge.

Trying to workout where the flying ix lives without googling.
…
I was trying to figure out where flying ox is is too

I’d hope i’d have a better chance than most spending 1000’s of hours cycling roads and trails in East Fife, but even i don’t remember any pyramids

I’d hope i’d have a better chance than most spending 1000’s of hours cycling roads and trails in East Fife, but even i don’t remember any pyramids

You would have to go on some pretty long rides it is on the other side of the country

Not a great deal here other than a great pub and a few camping/caravan sites, but it’s a good base for exploring the East Neuk. Oh, and there’s a small pyramid up the road commemorating the murder of some archbishop or other.

[quote]I’ll give you a clue. It’s neither Ceres nor Guardbridge.[/quote]Fairly strong suggestion he’s in Fife, not the other side of the country

Hednesford

a) Go to the chase
or
b) Get the train out of hednesford.

You are quite right, I confused him with another poster. Slightly west of St Andrews I would have thought

If you like Chinese food you will be in hog heaven here though there’s restaurants from every corner of the world if you look and all at worst a 45 minute metro or taxi ride away at most.
Despite the impression people have of huge megastructures and lack of private space its 60% country parks so there’s lots of places to get out and ride.
Nightlife, culture and Asian exotisim all in one melting pot, being one of the most famous cities in the world its almost a match for Swindon (where I was born and lived the early years of my life).

Do you like?
Rain.
Riding up and down big hills in the rain.
Walking up and down big hills in the rain.
Friendly people, usually a bit damp, with an unusual but justifiable pride in their town.
An almost disturbing lack of litter.
Endless trails and back roads.
Being an hour away from everywhere else.

Then welcome to Burnley.

Honestly, they’ve hidden a couple of flat bits alongside the canal, but basically, it’s steep.
🙂

Surprising amount of off-road riding to do – which is one reason why I moved here from London; the real reason, though, being my wife told me to. Then it drops off a bit…. Lots of awful charity shops, the major restaurant in town is Maccy D, and we’ve a light industrial estate with an Indian Bikes dealership. And at one point we were supposed to have the highest proportion of care in the community people compared to not in care residents.

Nico – Member
“Town”? I can do village.. ?
Heard of Howard’s Way?

Then you can go sailing here.

We also have a couple of decent pubs, hardly any restaurants of note, lovely countryside and beachfronts though.. so really the best thing to do is get outside.

Ah yes, the lovely Bursledon beach.

Ah, yes.. you must be thinking of the Jolly Sailor slipway…

We do have a great little Bistro in one of the many marinas, which I forgot to put in the original post, its got itself a nice pizza wood fired oven and sells ice cold lager too.. which is nice to watch the sun go down.

Sunderland – has very few redeeming features other than a road network than can connect you to places that are slightly less shite.

The council has closed all the museums bar one. Closed all the libraries and moved a selection of books into one room in the one remaining museum. The town centre is a shambles even though they are renovating it. I think the only half decent place is the beach. All this from a place that is bidding to be UK City of Culture in 2021.

@midlifecrashes

Houses are cheap, beer is cheaper and a few good places to eat. Riding? Did I mention it’s easy to get to other places?

Steetley Quarry would be the main one, then there is Rother Valley about 40 mins away.

Portsmouth mentioned on the previous page – (not my town either, thank gawd, but nearest) – visit Albert Road, Southsea, other bits of Southsea, especially if you like antiques. Gunwharf Quays for all your outlet shopping needs plus a decent cinema and lots of restaurants. However! DO NOT DRIVE! Get the train or you will go (like me) nuts.
And go up the A3 to ride Butser, QECP and the South Darns innit.

Ainsa, Aragon – MTB, kayaking, hill walking and mountain climbing, bars and restaurants, amazing views, bird watching, geological marvels . . . Same old same old.

I once lived in Littlehampton – aside from Smarts Amusments there was pretty much nothing.

Weymouth.
Water sports. MTB in the quarries on Portland. Purbecks and Puddletown. Seaside pubs. Great seafood. Good local music scene.
Great sunsets best viewed from the Cove House Inn.

I live between Oxford and Wycombe. Wycombe is awful – end of.
Oxford has plenty of highs – but I’m too old and grumpy to tolerate the crowds

Best bet is to head off into the Chilterns on the bike

You can watch the rugby and other sporting events, and the occasional concert.

Have a chat and a pint with David Icke.

Go for a Long Walk (sorry)
Visit the Queen

Not much. Used to be real top class rugby but now not so much.

Oh we have common riding which is OK if you’re male and like horses and rum n milk and getting pissed at 5am. Not so much fun if not.

A park (actually a nice Park) which is soon to have a £300k pumptrack, once we’ve raised the last £285k.

Lots of good road riding and some good local mtb riding. But we’re not in the fashionable tweed Valley so the cooncil ignore our cycling tourism potential.