English counties without a city, in population order
1) Surrey (1,185,000) - Guildford has a cathedral, but no great claim to be a city 2) Berkshire (906,000) - Reading is an obvious candidate 3) Buckinghamshire (803,000) - it's probably too soon for Milton Keynes 4) Dorset (771,000) - Bournemouth is top of the list next time round 5) Suffolk (757,000) Ipswich has the university, Bury St Edmunds has the cathedral 6) Northamptonshire (741,000) - Northampton would be quite keen 7) Bedfordshire (665,000) - Luton will one day be a city 8) Warwickshire (565,000) - no decent candidates 9) Shropshire (493,000) - Telford's big, but unlikely 10) Northumberland (319,000) - no decent candidates 11) Isle of Wight (141,000) - no chance 12) Rutland (39,500) - no chance
Cities close to London(there aren't many)
0-1 miles: Westminster, City of London 1-10 miles: 11-20 miles: St Albans 21-30 miles: Chelmsford 31-40 miles: 41-50 miles: Brighton, Cambridge 51-60 miles: Oxford, Chichester, Canterbury
Areas of England a surprisingly long way from a city(map)
30 miles: Wokingham, Berkshire 35 miles: between Northampton and Bedford 40 miles: Suffolk, east of Ipswich 40 miles: Welsh border, near the Shropshire Hills 40 miles: North Yorkshire coast, near Whitby 40 miles: east Cumbria, around Kirkby Stephen 45 miles: Isle of Portland, Dorset 45 miles: northwest Devon, near Clovelly 50 miles: Northumberland, near Holy Island
