The Great North/South Divide

Lily what is wrong with Carlisle? It is quite a pleasant town and the surrounding area is lovely and not over populated like a lot of the south.

To me, the north means north of Yorkshire, which is a region on its own, south of Yorkshire is the Midlands and south of that is London and South East

All these definitions seem to leave out that broad swathe of counties that run from Hertfordshire through Beds, Bucks, Oxon, Bucks, Berks, Wilts etc, which are not really South east (south and east of London),nor west of England,(Dorset and westwards). If anything I would call us South Central

What happened to Hampshire and Berkshire, Essex & Kent! ?
I know Rutland & Middlesex got wiped but thought we still had Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire, Wiltshire, Somerset etc etc!!
I have lived in NE England and South London & Surrey. There are differences in local culture but much more similarity in the people.

I live in the North-East - over 40 miles from Aberdeen. To people here, Northumbria is the North-East of England. Yes, it's all relative.

The South = London and Surrey

Kent and Sussex are the South to those that live there. We have a coast line Surrey dosen't

Why are you offended by this lizzie ? At a loss to understand.

Great Yorkshire minds, tha knows, Maple, lass!?

I think the North/South divide, the hostility that is, dates from the Danelaw.

Sussex but were they locals? Last time we were on a crowded train in London it was foreigners who offered the old dears seats.

River! Has Sussex vanished!

Not long after we moved to the Midlands a lady told me that she knew all about the south. Apparently everyone lives in oast houses and drives around in limousines!

Strikes me that too many people walk around London scowling at people and wondering why they don’t smile and say hello.

When I walked out of Lewisham station and found the infrastructure totally changed and said (out loud) “where on earth do I catch the bus” half a dozen people came to my rescue.

River bet you wished there was a delete button I post in haste too sometimes.

Oops, crossed posts, greyduster!?

What about Yorkshire, Riverwalk ?

There’s a great big Yorkshire shaped hole in your map River. Where do we figure?

Oh no Riverwalk Boston isnt Far East .......Suffolk takes that title by a Merry mile

I take people as I find them and much is often said about the French not being very friendly. On the occasions that I've visited parts of France I haven't come across that at all. On the contrary the help at a few of their stations has been second to none particularly at ticket offices. No tutting or sighing when their Metro system seemed out of reach for you, just honest to goodness help and assistance with a map which they marked out directions, and those stations are packed and very busy and for someone to hold up a queue to take the trouble to do what they did deserved my respect and above all heaps of thanks.

I know I digressed but this is still about people's attitudes when you're a " stranger in their town "

Oh, yes and Leicester in the East Midlands and Boston the Far East!

Oh River you've just upset all the people who live in the East Midlands and East of England!

North East =Newcastle

North West = Liverpool & Manchester; Lake District is separate

Midlands = Birmingham & Wolverhampton

The South = London & Surrey

West Country = those nice places that are far away

Wales is Wales

Northern Ireland is Northern Ireland

And Scotland is another country

Sorted

Grey doesn't the 'north' start at Watford?

I do think people are different in different areas. When I lived in London strangers didn't talk to you. I went to yoga for three weeks and even the teacher didn't speak to me. When I moved to rural Midlands I found people extremely friendly and we joked that there must be a bylaw that obliged people at the bus stop to talk to each other.

In London I had a German colleague who had previously working in Birmingham and she far preferred the Brummies to her London colleagues and Guildford neighbours but our colleagues thought Brum was a dirty industrial city and laughed at her. When I told them Brum had more miles of canal than Venice they didn't believe me. They did have prejudice about 'the north' .

A few years ago we were on holiday and chatted to a couple from Kent. When they heard where we lived they thought it was terrible to live so far away because of the terrible cold weather in the Midlands.

Yes, I think people are different in different places but there are good and bad everywhere. I would go so far as to say there might be cultural difference in different places in the same way as there are different expressions.

There’s not only a debate about whether there is a North South Divide, but a debate about where the North actually starts. The last time it was debated on here, it became, as I remember, rather acrimonious .

Lily65, what's wrong with Carlisle? I lived 9 miles from Carlisle for most of my life. Even today it's only 20 miles away! I'm not a traveller, as you can tell. Content with my own little piece of Northumberland. Who would want to live anywhere else.
We have relatives in Scotland and Devon. They are lovely people.
To misquote Dr Zeuss, "a person's a person, no matter where they are".

I might have been the person who mentioned the far NE as we live in Gateshead just over the Tyne from Newcastle. I come from further north, up the coast. But not Scotland.
To me Scots are our neighbours, separate, but very close and many similarities. My MGM's family were from Glasgow.
As for the South, I think you Southerners are different, but not ready to argue this until tomorrow evening.
Maybe it's a generation thing.

North not both!

Have to add never been more both than Leeds! And the countryside there was very beautiful. Never been to Scotland as hate being that cold.