h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Apparently, and I must check it out at some point, way way way back in the day when bristol was Bridgestow or similar, the area south of the river was the 'dirty' area and also the site of a leper colony. We were taught this at school however I suspect that it might be a little bit of exaggerated propaganda. Grain of truth in there somewhere though, there often is in the old stories

Yup. Glasgow's the same. Although there are undesirable parts North, South and further West too.

So the East / West rule doesn't apply universally? Another myth bites the dust.

Reading this, it occurs to me that all modern cities in the UK are conurbations swamping dozens of smaller settlements.

My sister lives in New Cross which is between Peckham and Golsmiths, and she has 19th Century maps which show clearly that New Cross was not contiguous with London. All those victoriam red brick houses on the outskirts of our cities were built on green fields, and places like Bootle, or Salford, or Peckham, were villages or small towns away from the cities themselves.

Or so I thought....?

Ben

Surrey's wealthy in the West but merely affluent in the East. North Surrey's rich, whereas the South of the county is prosperous.

The untouchables all live on the Park Barn estate to the west of Guildford.

Hmm. Since you mention Bootle...

Liverpool was a medium-ish port that experienced a major boom and did, indeed, start spilling towards adjacent villages such as Anfield, Bootle. In the direction of Edge Hill, the conurbanisation (is that a word? it is now!) would have been hastened by the railway.

To the North, the new commuter suburb of Waterloo was built, fed by the new commuter railway (the first of its kind) from Liverpool. This itself was adjacent to the small villages of Great and Little Crosby - which themselves expanded.

Anyway - point is - cities don't just grow outwards. Think of a tree sending out suckers and offshoots and turning into a thicket. Joining up with other thickets. Etc. Or something.

An important factor is 'How far can I live from where all the money is?'

Don't forget the canal with Bootle Ed - it's no coincidence that the centre of Bootle is the area between the canal and railway.

Of course. All the way to Leeds. So basically the geography of Liverpool was shaped by Lancashire and Yorkshire. An intriguing thought.

Any idea how big Bootle was before the Canal? Did Bootle suddenly spring up as the South Docks?

It was mainly marshland round there anyway.

It was certainly pretty small, centered on the Bootle Village area between the Strand and Derby Park and distinct from Seaforth, Litherland and Netherton to the north and Kirkdale, Croxteth and Anfield to the south/east. Anything between the canal and the river dates from the 1850s or later.

Christ! It's hard to think of Netherton as a village. I think of it more as a safari park. Keep the windows wound up! If your car breaks down, sound the horn and wait for a ranger.

"places like Bootle, or Salford, or Peckham, were villages or small towns away from the cities themselves."

Whoa whoa whoa.

Salford was a fine, upstanding town of high standing. It was the capital of Salfordshire, which encompassed nearby villages and a tiny insignificant settlement on the wrong side of the Irwell.

Unfortunately for mankind, that tiny hamlet on the site of the Roman fort of Mamicumea (lit: Hill of Tits) ballooned to become the conurbation known today as Manchester.

And if the Tories have their way, "Central Manchester" will swell to encompass Salford Quays, Salford University and Salford Cathedral.

And those Mancunian upstarts will finally have won.

Tits? Ballooned?

Vancouver has it's West coast so the money flows that way. Unfortunately the Eastern part is the poorest postal code in all of Canada.
Victoria is on the Southern tip of a North-South island so both West and East are considered prime real estate, but the Western shore is wild and wooly as far as the ocean and weather is concerned so it is less populated. Money there is spent on sturdy but spectacular buildings.

http://www.gmprojects.ca/images/ewcc/ewcc003b.jpg

I don't know Bea, isn't Belfast a lot patchier? There are little wealthy pockets and poor areas cheek-by-jowl in east, north and south...maybe not west come to think of it.

The other interesting thing is that the sought after spots like the Malone ridge & Castlereagh hills seem to have been the same sought after spots for thousands of years.

Where's Cyprus Avenue? I always imagine it as having big, grand houses.

Am I the only one who lol'd at post 9?

"I'm worried about [...] rich people [...] moving in buying up houses...

[...]but they need to accept our culture which is full on friendly...

[...] I'm going to be unpleasant to them though if they can't respect our culture"

Yeah, man! If you can't get with our culture of peace and love, well, we'll kick your 'ead in, innit?

Those who say Islam is a violent, barbaric religion are disrespectful infidels and should be beheaded!

Etc.

Jaysus! *Another* random, gratuitous Islam post?!!

I took that one as a parody... ?

Post 9 was surreal, but it was surrounded by an ocean of bizarreness, so I don't think I more than blinked...

sprout

You didn't like my upwind of the nasty factory smells explanation then, sprout?

No, your post 10 is feasible - I bet Bridgewater used to be like that as well (very smelly glue factory).

It was the post before yours that led to some boggling of minds...

sprout