maybe england is bad, but holland is definatly worse. trust me i've lived here allmost my whole live :D in england you have more chance of getting your hands on manga, because the america comics don't need translating. here they do, so finding them is a bugger.
as for cons, there are only two that i know of in this country a year. i went to 1 last year which was great, but there both at the other side of the country :animecry: i can hardly get to them.
the international film festival in rotterdam (which is quit near me) did show anime among other things, so maybe that's an option for you