Mutant Lemming
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The 'what constitutes a city' thread had me wondering what is the smallest official city with a railway station and the largest without ?
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Smallest Official UK City with a Rail Station
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ReverendFozz
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Going to take a guess and say the smallest with a station is St Asaph in Wales(Pop.3941)
MidnightFlyer
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St Asaph doesn't have one.
150222
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And it's not a city.
Cherry_Picker
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City of London. pop 7000.
London is always a bit of a stupid answer though as it is clearly so much more than the square mile. So you could have Bangor in North Wales (13k, excluding a rather large student population who dont show on the census) or Ely in Cambridgeshire (15k)
London is always a bit of a stupid answer though as it is clearly so much more than the square mile. So you could have Bangor in North Wales (13k, excluding a rather large student population who dont show on the census) or Ely in Cambridgeshire (15k)
Ivo
Established Member
London is the smallest city with a station 
Assuming this answer is barred, I believe the answer is Armagh (or Ely if it has to be British).
At the other end of the scale, if you can call it that, Ripon is the largest without a station.
Difference between the two: Very little. Literally 1,000.
Regarding Bangor, that answer is somewhat ambiguous. For every four persons resident there are three students. There are also immediately adjacent locations which by some definitions may inflate its size. Otherwise, it is the smallest besides London - but still only 3,000 smaller than Ripon.
Assuming this answer is barred, I believe the answer is Armagh (or Ely if it has to be British).At the other end of the scale, if you can call it that, Ripon is the largest without a station.
Difference between the two: Very little. Literally 1,000.
Regarding Bangor, that answer is somewhat ambiguous. For every four persons resident there are three students. There are also immediately adjacent locations which by some definitions may inflate its size. Otherwise, it is the smallest besides London - but still only 3,000 smaller than Ripon.
Scotty
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It was awarded city status recently.
150222
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ReverendFozz
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I overlooked the bit where St Asaph Station closed in '55, my bad, should concentrate more when I am looking for info.
It is a chartered city, whatever that may mean, it is listed 2nd on the list of smallest cities in the UK on Wikipedia...
It is a chartered city, whatever that may mean, it is listed 2nd on the list of smallest cities in the UK on Wikipedia...
How about Dunblane or Dunkeld & Birnam? Elgin is a city as is Brechin (on the Caledonian Railway) all have stations.
Ivo
Established Member
All no. Elgin was a city, but lost said status. None of the others have ever had City Status to my knowledge.
N.B.: If your idea of Brechin comes from the football club, note that the club were formed on City Road in Brechin - hence the name
It's not a stupid answer, Greater London itself is not a city.
Cherry_Picker
Established Member
It is a stupid answer because it doesn't fit in with the spirit of the question at all. London is London. Its a huge, massive, sprawling place which is one of the most important, historic and famous cities on the planet. Yes, there is a small square mile which was the old medieval city where not very many people at all live and there are several train stations there (understandably so, how many people work in that corner of the capital? Half a million?) but like so many of these threads where there is a "clever" answer of some location within the M25 which technically meets the criteria as long as you ignore the seven or eight million people who live and work nearby, it just does not fit the spirit of the question at all.
Most of the area you are referring to is not a city.
The question is about the smallest official UK city with a rail station. The city of London is one of the smallest cities to have a rail station.
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Ivo
Established Member
Maybe as an April Fools' joke this year the forum should temporarily change its name to Pedant City 
Armagh is British.London is the smallest city with a station
At the other end of the scale, if you can call it that, Ripon is the largest without a station.
Difference between the two: Very little. Literally 1,000.
Regarding Bangor, that answer is somewhat ambiguous. For every four persons resident there are three students. There are also immediately adjacent locations which by some definitions may inflate its size. Otherwise, it is the smallest besides London - but still only 3,000 smaller than Ripon.
Ivo
Established Member
Very marginal territory. The term "British" usually refers to Great Britain, of which Northern Ireland is *not* a part - Great Britain is an island.
The only real reference for "British" is "British Isles", which does include Ireland - but is not an official term.
Maybe as an April Fools' joke this year the forum should temporarily change its name to Pedant City
See?
Firesprite
Member
The smallest city without a station in the UK is St Davids in Wales (1,797)
The smallest city with a station in UK is Bangor in Wales (13,725).
The City of London is smaller with a population of 7,185. Some would claim it is not a city, Yet it hold's a city charter which has never been revoked.
The smallest city with a station in UK is Bangor in Wales (13,725).
The City of London is smaller with a population of 7,185. Some would claim it is not a city, Yet it hold's a city charter which has never been revoked.
Ivo
Established Member
Llandaf was a city until City Status was bestowed upon Cardiff. Since then it has been little more than an average suburb.
johnnychips
Established Member
Very debatable.
The title of our country is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. That's why some NI competitors got cheesed off at being in 'Team Brit' or some similar daft nomenclature at the last Olympics. But without reviving 100 years of bloodiness, I am sure some people in NI call themselves British, others Irish and others Northern Irish.
Anyway, what's the smallest official Scottish City with or without a station? And is Milton Keynes the largest town that isn't a city with a station? Could look on Wiki but it's time for bed!
EDIT: Couldn't resist it, the largest town with a station seems to be Reading.
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ReverendFozz
Member
Brechin is a city in all but name it has a Cathedral but has never had recognised designated City Status...
Similar to Chelmsford, it called itself a City, but wasn't
Similar to Chelmsford, it called itself a City, but wasn't
Crossforth
Established Member
I gather that the largest city without a station is Gosport which has a population of 79,900
ReverendFozz
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Im sure Gosport is only a town
It's not debatable - a fact is a fact. Anyone from the UK is British. What nationality is written on a NI passport? Exactly.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/british_1?q=british
I can't believe we're having an argument over what's British, when in this case it's very plain.
The only people in NI who don't think of themselves as British are republicans, and we all know why that is.
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