Flattest cities in the North of UK?
shankly
Posts: 8
Hello, I was wondering if anyone knows how flat these cities are: Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester? Or other places? I'm mainly interested in the city centres and about 2-3 miles radius outside it, i.e. the closest suburbs and student areas outside the centre. I currently live in Sheffield and it's very, very hilly.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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Posts
Leeds is hilly but not as hilly as Sheffield.I wouldn't class Manchester as particularly hilly.
Glasgow is relatively flat in the centre but quite lumpy to the North.
I live in Sheffield and it's the hills and surrounding area that' make it what it is!
2016 - Cervelo R3
2013 - R872
2010 - Spesh Tarmac
Absolutely the flattest city and surrounds I've found in the UK is York.
City of Culture these days with a popular university, still a censored though
Leeds is hillier.
Glasgow has very steep hills.
To get out the city centre involves cycling up some long hills. Armley Rd, Kirkstall Rd, Otley Rd, Scott Hall Rd.
To cycle anyehere north of Leeds, towards Otley or Harrogate, there's a huge ridgeline you need to cycle over that runs east to west.
Shanky: Some random people on bikeradar say the city is really flat
There was talk of building a causeway from Barrow to Heysham area with a tidal generator too. It got nowhere in the planning stage because why would you want to make it easier for Barrovians to get out?!!! Seriously you don't want that!
Hey, don't say that - I'm moving to Ulverston soon!
But you're right though
So you can imagine how culturally diverse it is, more people have been to Spain than Sheffield.
It is flatter than Manchester though by a long stretch.
It is when you're a full-time bike courier
Do you want to be very central or slightly outside?
I've lived in centre and various suburbs, moved here when I was looking for a graduate job.
If just outside, I think you would enjoy Chorlton if you can still get a decently priced houseshare there - pretty easy cycle to the centre if that's where you'd be couriering. I lived there for nearly a year after uni when we were looking for graduate jobs, and would have stayed but we ended up both working central so went for Green Quarter (north side of the centre) for a few months, then in Castlefield (central MCR). Currently live in Didsbury but not for much longer as I'm just about to move to another suburb (will be SK postcode though this time :oops: ). I also hear Prestwich is quite cool these days, did consider moving there but it didn't help my commute so decided against it.
If centre, Green Quarter has loads of flats and there's been some new good bars etc pop up recently but when we lived there (I think 2011?) it was really dull so we didn't stay for long. Castlefield was better. Northern Quarter is where all the trendy stuff is in the centre but I don't think flats there are very cheap.
Anyway good luck - happy to answer any Qs.
Whereabouts in Manchester? Not my experience.
Although I mainly live in Didsbury and Chorlton these days, I rarely foray into the centre any more since I no longer work there.
Are you just limited to the north of the UK ? If you fancy a move after uni for cycling and jobs, how about Amsterdam or Berlin ?
Hills just take getting used to. Helps if you're slim with a big cassette and see hills as a personal challenge to overcome
Doesn't seem THAT much worse than the rest of the UK, to me.
I live outside Manchester, but work in and around (including at The Christie). Can't think of much to like. It's just a big sprawl of angry motorists, yet going anywhere by bike within the city (excluding the odd segregated path) is pretty unpleasant. Couldn't be more different to Sheffield - 10mins into the Peaks and onto empty roads like the Strines.
Of course, you could say why don't I live near the Peaks then, but then I'd have to waste more of my life on the M60 to get where I need to go for work.....
Yeah, I don't really cycle in the city centre. The segregated bike paths are puncture traps - I bike toured from the Lakes back to Manchester, got a puncture on the Oxford Road one right in front of Yates's in the p!55ing rain. I cycle up to Chorlton or the Heatons from Didsbury a lot and its totally fine though.
There is the annoying 10km at each end of a ride where there's traffic but there's some good riding in easy access - the club I ride with is pretty much exclusively hilly rides in the Peaks in the summer. I can do Blaze or Brickworks in a ~50-55km ride from my house. Aberdeen was better for cycling in some ways (5-10 mins and on country roads, and some good climbs), but there aren't the same route options as in the Peaks. England has a better density of lanes.
I agree that Manchester centre is a bit soulless, but Manchester has many positives beyond that (lots of routes from airport, easy train to London, good motorway access, access to Lakes/N Wales/N Yorkshire/Peak District etc etc etc). It's a good balance for me - and I like the bit I live in!
No not really, there has been Chinese Seamens Mission in Hull for a long time, more to do with it being a port than a love of takeaways.