24 Reasons Newcastle Is Definitely The Happiest City In The UK

9. The Calibre Of Local Celebrities

There's no more celebrated modern TV talent than the two headed national treasure that is Ant & Dec, no better TV writer than Ian Le Frenais and no more famous a British writer than Catherine Cookson, but that's only a few drops in the pool. Sons Of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam hails from Newcastle, the WWE's Neville grew up in the region and arguably the world's most famous soldier Chris Ryan is from here. And that's not to mention the fact that Game Of Thrones' most beloved character - Ser Davos Seaworth is clearly a Geordie, even if his actor decidedly isn't/ And then of course there's this musical and comedy genius...

They're all just better, and even better, you can occasionally see them walking around like real life people.

8. The Metro Is A Thing Of Beauty... Ish

Look, it's absolutely garbage whenever there's any remotely extreme weather, with stray leaves, water and sunshine forcing Metros back down their tunnels like shy tortoise heads, but the Metro is a cultural phenomenon in itself. It's like a hopeless old bumbling grandparent, inspiring ludicrous #onlyinnewcastle stories and it offers a slice of regional life that is unlike any other. And where else do you get to see things like an army of invading crabs? https://twitter.com/AndrewDez91/status/644606643456622592

7. The Grainger Market

Widely considered the City's best kept secret - despite the fact that everybody actually knows about it - the Grainger Market is the heart of the city's culinary revolution. Who would have thought that you could get the city's best pizza slice, hot sandwich, fresh cupcakes and gyoza dumplings a few feet away from the circus that is The Black Garter?