The region has a rich history to tell the world about and a wealth of well-deserved achievements to boast, but it looks as though the ‘rainy city’ has earned itself a new nickname by topping this frisky list.
It’s true that we may be in the middle of a global pandemic – with the UK having entered into its third national lockdown – but that hasn’t stopped the world getting down, dirty and dogging, with the latest research by DatingRoo showing that there has been an 85% increase in people searching for hookup spots, like cruising and dogging locations, likely due to the pent-up sexual tension and extra free time we’ve found ourselves with.
And yes, Manchester has taken the number one spot on the top 10 rankings.
The Hookup Hotspots Map by dating and sex experts DatingRoo has revealed that Manchester is the dogging capital of the UK, with Mancunians not wanting to miss out on the lockdown loving.
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Manchester clocks in at an impressive 131 outdoor hookup locations, with car parks of course among the top spots for casual outdoor-loving, and Silburn Way at Rhodes Lodges and Heaton Hall Park being firm favourites with locals.
But the adventures aren’t limited to just parks.
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Rank
City
Number of Locations
1
Manchester
131
2
Birmingham
103
3
Chelmsford
85
4
Liverpool
82
5
Bristol
76
6
Cardiff
76
7
London
67
8
Leeds
63
9
Edinburgh
62
10
Newcastle
59
Mancs apparently love to get risky in more public areas too, as Ancoats canal, Tesco Supermarket in Cheetham Hill, and Central Manchester Library are just a few of the daredevil places people love to have sex.
Elsewhere on the list, in second place is Birmingham with 103 spots, in third place is Chelmsford with 85, and heading back up north, in fourth place is Liverpool with 82 sexy hotspots.
And it’s not just England that loves to get frisky either.
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Cardiff takes fifth place with 76 spots, and meanwhile in Yorkshire, Sheffield, Leeds and Doncaster all appear in the top 20 cities.
While dogging may be stereotypically more of a British fetish, if we take a look overseas, Spain completely blows the UK out of the water when it comes to outdoor hookup and cruising locations, with an impressive 15,872 sexy hot spots.
The UK does come in second place though, with 4,616 hookup locations, but with no white sandy beaches, the top locations here were car parks and off road laybys – You know, the classic romantic spots.
You can find more information and check out the full top 20 list via the DatingRoo website here.
Trending
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
Trending
Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Emily Sergeant -
8th January 2021 
