40-50 years ago before complete deindustrialisation, which of these 2 manufacturing cities looked more..?

Question

industrial? Which had more of a reliance on heavy industry? Which one of these two British towns was more thought of as an industrial city? Which was dirtier, smokier, more soot sodden?

SHEFFIELD or BIRMINGHAM?

Answer 1

Birmingham surely that is why its known as the "black country"

Answer 2

Hi

Birmingham isn't in the black country, if you are talking about greater Birmingham then yes alot of the towns around Birmingham are in the black country, but that reputation was earned  in part because of the coal mining in that area and was over a hundred years ago not 40 or 50 years ago, My personal opinion would be Sheffield because of all the steelworks, neither city was pleasant from industry based there, close call but the votes from the Croatian jury go to Bosnia................... oops sorry!   SHEFFIELD!

Take Care

Answer 3

Id say sheffield, although both are **** holes, as are most industrial cities in Britain.

Answer 4

Both cities were highly industrialised, but with different emphasises.

Birmingham was essentially concerned with construction industries - witness the number of car manufacturers in the area. Birmingham drew on the output from areas such as the Black Country (to the north west) and the South Wales coalfields.

Sheffield was different because here, there was a concentration of production industries. For example, the steel made in Sheffield was, and still is, amongst the finest in the world.

It therefore becomes very difficult to answer your question, but I suspect that the answer that you are looking for would be Sheffield.