Where's the best 'sporty' town to live in the UK?

The Northern Monkey

poppit wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

poppit wrote:

I know its boring and not quite what the OP was asking but the data says that London has the highest percentage of sporty people. Still wouldn't want to live there though.

I suspect this is distorted data affected by lots of people saying they run or cycle regularly when in reality they dont do either that often or dont do it as a sport. Or alternatively it is distorted by people who work there but dont live there being asked!

And I dont want to live there either!

It's a national survey* thats been done for the last 4 years so pretty statistically valid.

* By "national survey" do you mean a survey predominantly carried out in London?

Either way, I imagine that a higher percentage of people in London visit the gym quite often and call themselves "sporty".... but thats not really sport though is it!

Sport:
Noun: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others

cooldad

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Either way, I imagine that a higher percentage of people in London visit the gym quite often and call themselves "sporty".... but thats not really sport though is it!

Sport:
Noun: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others

Using that logic, none of the people I ride with are 'sporty', as very few compete.
So MTB is not a sport unless competitive.

The Northern Monkey

I don't think MTB'ing is a sport... its a hobby*

*unless I take part in an event.

So yes I agree with you!

naefearjustbeer

Aviemore. Everything you need for 4 seasons of outdoor activity.

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

I think the Welsh might be a bit narked about their whole country being called a town.

I've actually had several PMs asking me where the best trails near (for example) Cardiff or Swansea are, since I live in Wales.
They seem quite disspointed when I explain that north Wales is very different, and very far, time-wise from the south, and that it only takes marginally longer to get to Glentress than it does to Cardiff.

cooldad

The Northern Monkey wrote:

I don't think MTB'ing is a sport... its a hobby*

*unless I take part in an event.

So yes I agree with you!

But darts is. Weird world.

The Northern Monkey

cooldad wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

I don't think MTB'ing is a sport... its a hobby*

*unless I take part in an event.

So yes I agree with you!

But darts is. Weird world.

Yup, chess is also a sport by definition!

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

But darts is. Weird world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clv0S--z4p0


But yeah, I don't participate in sports. I go out get some form of roughly what can be called exercise on a bike, have a laugh and maybe try and kill myself.

welshkev

cooldad wrote:

I think the Welsh might be a bit narked about their whole country being called a town.

Mojo_666

Cardiff might not be the best for outdoors stuff but it as everything else (even rafting)
The outdoors stuff is ever so slightly north of the city and the surfing a little west that's everything covered within 1 hours drive I think.

But yeah I am biased too.

dodgy

Lake District, specifically Grasmere. Great mountain biking (those of you that seem transfixed by trail centres might be disappointed though), excellent and extremely challenging road riding, climbing, fell running, hiking.

Many shops and clubs/events to support all the above activities, (which in itself is surely an indicator).

If I was considering a move in the UK purely to improve my outdoor life, it would be central Lakes.

CycloRos

pmsl at the person who said Derby and Sheffield for that matter!

for real outdoor sporty action it has to be Aviemore - on the edge of the Cairngorms; easy acess to the Western Isles, Fort Bill and Lagan down the road, doesn't get much better than that in the UK.

Anonymous

Even living right in Snowdonia - I have to say that Aviemore is a fantastic choice.

notax

How about somewhere warm and sunny? Has to be Poole on south coast. Purbecks and Wareham Forest pretty good for biking, cliffs for climbing, sailing, surfing, kite surfing all on your doorstep.

timpop

Thanks, I'm liking some of the suggestions. I think I should take a visit to Aviemore just for fun, it sounds great. I suppose it'll be a bit more rugged than down here but that's what I like.

Notax wrote:

How about somewhere warm and sunny? Has to be Poole on south coast. Purbecks and Wareham Forest pretty good for biking, cliffs for climbing, sailing, surfing, kite surfing all on your doorstep.

I'm glad you said that Notax as this is where I am, I'm over on Purbeck every week in fact. Don't forget Puddletown Forest, it's quite fun there. There's plenty of good climbing too and the area is nice, and dryer than most of the UK. Average surfing (unless you're good enough for Kimmeridge) etc.
I live in a good spot really, just thinking about where's better and has a more core outdoor nutters feel about the place. I miss the mountains so areas in Wales and Scotland seem the most likely candidates. I'm feeling a road trip brewing.

t0pc4t

the beauty of the UK is, for someone used to Canada, most places are a short drive away, so you can be fairly free with where you choose to be based

bewaresheep

What a strange debate. How do you define whether a 'town' is good for sport?! Most, by definition, are terrible as they're towns and are a bit... urban. surely it's the surounding area that you're looking for?

I live in Leeds and we're pretty well off when it comes to most sports. Within an hour I can be in Dalby, the North Yorkshire Moors, The Yorkshire Dales and the Pennines... fantastic for those who prefer the more rural focused sports or hobbies. There are a couple of rally's within an hour of me and Croft just up the A1. Football, both forms of Rugby, International and County Cricket, Athletics, Netball (?)... Possibly a bit harder for water based sports but their was Dragon Boat racing on the Leeds/Liverpool Canal the other week...!

We're not like some coutries where you have a large town or city and then nothing for miles and miles and miles and miles, everything is reasonably close together! Maybe a better question would be which region is best for sport?!

ex-pat scot

Hard to beat the W side of Sheffield.
Hard core roadies, mtb-ers and climbers galore.
The Peak District is one huge playground, easily accessible from Hunters Bar.

supersonic

CycloRos wrote:

pmsl at the person who said Derby and Sheffield for that matter!

for real outdoor sporty action it has to be Aviemore - on the edge of the Cairngorms; easy acess to the Western Isles, Fort Bill and Lagan down the road, doesn't get much better than that in the UK.

Why? Sheffield is the sporting capital of the UK for many years, with more facilites than most cities. We also have Wharncliffe, one of the best places in the WORLD according to Steve Peat to ride. And the peak district, loads of climbing spots, and the NI for sport is here. Also have Europes biggest dry ski slope, and a DH course is been built next door to make use of the chair lifts.

At least it has variety.

timpop

t0pc4t wrote:

the beauty of the UK is, for someone used to Canada, most places are a short drive away, so you can be fairly free with where you choose to be based

This is true.

lg18

Small town best must surely be Aviemore, for the full range of outdoor sports, summer and winter.

For big city, SHEFFIELD. Easily. Rivers, woods, gorges and Peak District straight from the front door, within the city itself. Amazing facilities within the city, even a semi-decent ski slope. The best X-country MTBing and fell running in terms of sheer variety (better than Scotland for variety in a short space). And as for the rock climbing... people go to Sheffield Uni just because of the climbing (sodd how good the course is!). (And who said it was a dump?! Friendliest place I've lived, statistically the safest, too (crime rate the same as most rural areas, apparently), and statistically the most wooded city in Europe!).

Lucy

supersonic

Well said! It is true that is is the UKs greenest city, maybe Europe's too. South Yorkshire has more wooded ground per unit area than any other county.

timpop

Well, it's looking like a trip back to Sheffield is in the cards too. I haven't been there for several years. I must admit, the climbing is a lot of fun around the Peaks but I haven't taken a bike up there yet.

Kaise

If your heading to sheffield make sure you soak up the delights of Glossop/Hadfield/Padfield, definately something not to be missed. :shock:

Bristol is known as the first cycling city, and whislt it does have a lot of riders, it isnt all that amazing. They have spent some cash on the local trails which are shaping up nicely but there isnt anything too awesome.

The only thing thats definately bike orientated in bristol is crime, your bike will get nicked, i'm on my 4th in 5 years and thats 4 new kryptonite locks as well!

j_l

paul.skibum wrote:

somewhere like Bideford for surfing, riding (exmoor, dartmoor, quantocks all close), generally being outdoors - no climbing but I dont climb so meh.

Pembrokeshire for similar reasons.

Yeah, North Devon is a good shout, Good surfing (some of the best in the UK), MTBing, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Quantock’s, also Haldon but its a bit shit TBH, kayaking you have the Ex, the Taw and Torridge, (the Dart less locally).

I have mates that climb Baggy and other Exmoor locations.

the down side is its full of "surf dudes" in T5's and is killer busy from late July - Late Aug with holiday makers.

Oh and housing is as pricy as the SE but wages are about 4-8K down on national averages.
Apart from that it’s perfect :?

Anonymous

J L wrote:

also Haldon but its a bit shoot TBH

The polite way of putting it. They've ruined it really, compared to what it was anyway.

CycloRos

supersonic wrote:

CycloRos wrote:

pmsl at the person who said Derby and Sheffield for that matter!

for real outdoor sporty action it has to be Aviemore - on the edge of the Cairngorms; easy acess to the Western Isles, Fort Bill and Lagan down the road, doesn't get much better than that in the UK.

Why? Sheffield is the sporting capital of the UK for many years, with more facilites than most cities. We also have Wharncliffe, one of the best places in the WORLD according to Steve Peat to ride. And the peak district, loads of climbing spots, and the NI for sport is here. Also have Europes biggest dry ski slope, and a DH course is been built next door to make use of the chair lifts.

At least it has variety.

because you can make the Peak District argument for tonnes of towns & cities (Derby, Manchester, Chesterfield, Buxton), and in comparison with somewhere like Aviemore there's no contest really.

supersonic

But Sheff is base to many of these facilities. Even within the city boundaries you have Wharncliffe. So plenty of contest, the climbing and riding in the city is superb.

CycloRos

I'm sure Sheff is lovely but to call it the sporty UK capital is a bit of a stretch.

Called in here http://www.ice-factor.co.uk/ whilst up in the highlands just to break up the mountain biking a bit, and it truly is world class!

Fort Bill, Laggan, the Cairngorms, the western isles, that link above... c'mon sonic Sheffield... really?

timpop

We seem to have moved more into regions and cities rather than towns. What about somewhere like Machynlleth? Small town with riding pretty much out the back door. Climbing is not too far away. That's the kind of size I'm thinking about and somewhere in the middle of it all.