Calling all Southerners: What's your impressions of the North

[yorksrob]

True, but a city is much more than its centre.

We only got the second Sainsbury's in Wakefield city centre because they were the anchor tenant in Trinity Walk, although Debenhams might disagree there.

I believe the other one on Ings Road closed, but reopened after a short while as Tesco were interested in the site. Also, local people put pressure on Sainsbury's to keep it.

I actually prefer Ings Road. One, it's nearer. Two, it's less busy.

True, but I haven't the time or inclination to go meandering around the suburbs of an evening.

 

[Senex]

Leeds only seems to have those crappy little local Sainsbury's which never have what anyone wants.

And they have higher prices too!

 

[W-on-Sea]

If we're talking about supermarkets, Booth's are purely a northern thing. And they are way posher than Waitrose....

 

[yorksrob]

And they have higher prices too!

Yes, that too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If we're talking about supermarkets, Booth's are purely a northern thing. And they are way posher than Waitrose....

I wouldn't say posher, a very wide range of people shop there, unlike Waitrose. Better, absolutely - better quality, better staff, better everything. Waitrose is a pale imitation.

You'll never see it in the South, though, as the Booth family has a lot of respect for John Lewis and they will not compete with them - indeed they share quite a lot of their supply channels. The furthest south they used to go was Penwortham (now closed), now I think it's Manchester.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh, I agree that making such comparisons is not really accurate. It does, however, reflect my instinctive view on which bits of England are "North", which is to relate it to the place i live. Much like GusB does.

I suppose association is quite powerful - geographically nobody quite knows where MK is (east of England vs. south Midlands), but most people who live there consider that they live in the South East or at least "darn Sarf", the classic border for which being the Watford Gap, which in railway terms is near Long Buckby. Maybe it's in part NSE's legacy!

In railway terms I've usually considered the North West to start at Crewe, though that may be influenced by the Merseyrail map!

 

[Starmill]

I wouldn't say posher, a very wide range of people shop there, unlike Waitrose. Better, absolutely - better quality, better staff, better everything. Waitrose is a pale imitation.

You'll never see it in the South, though, as the Booth family has a lot of respect for John Lewis and they will not compete with them - indeed they share quite a lot of their supply channels. The furthest south they used to go was Penwortham (now closed), now I think it's Manchester.

I think almost anyone will shop at Waitrose personally. It's not much more upmarket than M&S. I often buy reduced products or things on offer from both, or from Sainsburys. All 3 are at Manchester Piccadilly. I have also shopped in Booths when there was one nearby (rare). I also shop at Aldi and Lidl. Not everyone is like me of course but I don't think there are really people left in this country who say they would 'never be seen dead' in Waitrose / Selfridges or Aldi / Lidl.

 

[Senex]

In railway terms I've usually considered the North West to start at Crewe, though that may be influenced by the Merseyrail map!

I'd agree with that. And what about going on to say that Stoke is clearly Midlands, but Macclesfield is North West (but what is Congleton?), Ashbourne clearly Midlands, but Buxton North West? What are Chester and Birkenhead?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd agree with that. And what about going on to say that Stoke is clearly Midlands, but Macclesfield is North West (but what is Congleton?), Ashbourne clearly Midlands, but Buxton North West? What are Chester and Birkenhead?

Chester is North West to me, it's north of Crewe. Certainly anything on the Merseyrail map is in the North West to me (other than any bits of Wales).

 

[AM9]

I'd agree with that. And what about going on to say that Stoke is clearly Midlands, but Macclesfield is North West (but what is Congleton?), Ashbourne clearly Midlands, but Buxton North West? What are Chester and Birkenhead?

So what is Nottingham?

 

[Darandio]

So what is Nottingham?

If you ask my son, a forest...

 

[Busaholic]

I'm sorry, but ALMOST all people in Grenfell Tower were foreign, with a heavy influence on Middle Eastern people. Some it transpires were subletting to illegal immigrants!

The ambulance, fire and police treating them probably included staff who can't afford to live in London!

Sorry if this will get the backs up of the "white, middle class, let's love everybody, PC brigade", but personally I don't that is right.

Also, a lot of the so called victims are being VERY choosey about where they will be housed, despite being on housing benefits and paying nothing/very little towards their rent.

I'm sure some white, middle class, Guardian reading, sandal wearing, do gooder from the heart of the leafy Home Counties, will tell me I'm wrong though!

I'm white and, possibly, middle class (though my butler might disagree), don't include the Guardian amongst the three newspapers I buy daily, last wore a pair of sandals approx. 60 years ago and live as far from London/Home Counties as it is possible to do in England: on the whole, I also prefer doing good to doing bad, but then I probably don't have the physical energy necessary to do much of the latter now.

As for the rest of your post, I take it the Daily Express has replaced the Guardian as your choice of reading.

 

[AM9]

If you ask my son, a forest...

I see no trees (apart from the twigs on the right).

There are trees both in the north and south, to add to the debate, where would you say these sparse Nottingham trees located.

 

[Senex]

I see no trees (apart from the twigs on the right).

There are trees both in the north and south, to add to the debate, where would you say these sparse Nottingham trees located.

If we're going by forests (and what a pathetic little forest you're shewing for Nottingham -- come on, think Sherwood!), the mediaeval division between the north and the south was the Trent: the Forests North of Trent, and the Forests South of Trent. No Midlands. And the old town of Nottingham is north of the river. Nowadays, I'd put Nottingham firmly in the (East) Midlands, along with Chesterfield, Newark, and Lincoln.

 

[Waldgrun]

Well I must be in The North, because if I head due north from here in less than a mile I'll be walking into the sea! (Sure, we're in different countries, but that's a mere technicality.)

I've had a hard job convincing my wife that Derby is in the North. If it's on the same lattitude as Pwllheli, Bala and Gobowen, all of which are definitely in North Wales, then Derby must be in the North of England. Shurely?

Hate to say it, but, Gobowen is in Shropshire therefore it's in England. As is Oswestry, which was once the Headquarters of the Cambrian Railway.Co.

 

[krus_aragon]

Hate to say it, but, Gobowen is in Shropshire therefore it's in England. As is Oswestry, which was once the Headquarters of the Cambrian Railway.Co.

I concede this completely. I meant to name a place near the border, but strayed the wrong side of it.

 

[Waldgrun]

I concede this completely. I meant to name a place near the border, but strayed the wrong side of it.

Don't worry, the Border was very fluid at one time and perceptions may not be correct, a bit like the so called Border between Northern and Southern England, is there a Midlands in-between?

This is from one who lives in the Welsh Marches, which means the Village I live in is in Powys, but the English side of Offa's Dyke, and the English Border lies to the west of the Village, and if using the A (Trunk) Roads you can not reach another Welsh Settlement with out traveling into England!
(see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Marches)

 

[PeterC]

Depends what you mean by "south" of course. To many Geordies the "south" starts at Scotch Corner.

I did manage to shut one up once by telling him that my family was from the "north east" and that the "south" began at the Tay Bridge.

 

[AM9]

If we're going by forests (and what a pathetic little forest you're shewing for Nottingham -- come on, think Sherwood!), the mediaeval division between the north and the south was the Trent: the Forests North of Trent, and the Forests South of Trent. No Midlands. And the old town of Nottingham is north of the river. Nowadays, I'd put Nottingham firmly in the (East) Midlands, along with Chesterfield, Newark, and Lincoln.

I tried to find a picture without any trees but I missed the twiggy one. If the north/south divide is based on geographical 'northness', I would say that Sherwood Forest is north of the line as is Chesterfield, Buxton and Macclesfield and indeed Lincoln - all north of Crewe. I don't think Stoke-on-Trent has much afinity with the midlands and is really in the North.
The problem is that some wear the north (or south) identity as a badge of pride so getting an agreement of anywhere south of a line between Liverpool and Grimsby being in the north is as difficult as with the infamous Watford Gap 'northern limit of civilisation' considered by many in the south.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I tried to find a picture without any trees but I missed the twiggy one. If the north/south divide is based on geographical 'northness', I would say that Sherwood Forest is north of the line as is Chesterfield, Buxton and Macclesfield and indeed Lincoln - all north of Crewe. I don't think Stoke-on-Trent has much afinity with the midlands and is really in the North.
The problem is that some wear the north (or south) identity as a badge of pride so getting an agreement of anywhere south of a line between Liverpool and Grimsby being in the north is as difficult as with the infamous Watford Gap 'northern limit of civilisation' considered by many in the south.

Depending who you believe, Sherwood Forest once stretched as far North as Mirfield/Hartshead/Bingley/Hawes/Prudhoe/Hawick/Peebles!

(delete as appropriate!)

 

[muddythefish]

My opinions are largely formed from spending a fair amount of time in Blackburn. If you've been there you'd know that 4,000 holes would just be a start on improvement.

I grew up in Blackburn. It's a great place, and a I find your comments objectionable.

 

[muddythefish]

Been there? I went to a school there, and my dad lives in nearby Darwen. It's a hovel!

No it isn't. It's a good town. Your comments are objectionable

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I grew up in Blackburn. It's a great place, and a I find your comments objectionable.

I'm pretty sure that poster was simply making a joke about the Beatles' lyric...

No it isn't. It's a good town. Your comments are objectionable

No objection to this though, I'd like to assure all southerners that we aren't all bigoted idiots up here- it's just that the empty vessels make more noise!

 

[Busaholic]

I'm pretty sure that poster was simply making a joke about the Beatles' lyric...



No objection to this though, I'd like to assure all southerners that we aren't all bigoted idiots up here- it's just that the empty vessels make more noise!

My father-in-law was a Preston man through and through. The last time I managed to visit him in Lancashire when he was well into his 80s I took him out to see Joe, just outside Darwen, who grew some sort of orchid and sold them for a rudimentary living. Joe, probably aged in his late 70s, had NEVER visited anywhere further from Darwen than Blackburn or Accrington in his life! He would probably have escaped call-up/National Service on account of being a bit 'soft' shall we say: a friendly guy but totally unworldly.

 

[Harbornite]

sandal wearing

Sandal wearing? That's a criticism I haven't heard before, what a strange rant!

 

[Harbornite]

I watch both BBC and ITV London News each evening. I'm well versed up on Grenfell Tower thank you very much, since it's mentioned every single night.

No it's not.

Now to address the thread topic, speaking as a Midlander, I've realised that- believe it nor not- there are nice areas and not-so-nice areas in the North and the South (wherever they are). Same goes for the Midlands.

 

[43021HST]

As a southerner who has Yorkshire heritage and I'd lived in Shotton for a few years I can quite rightly say that I'll never live further north than the Thames ever again.

Mostly down to the lack of jobs but it's also down to the fact that when I lived in Shotton, I did get very homesick and missed the south of England dearly.

I missed most the soft rolling Landscape, having London on my door step and also everything and everyone is a bit quicker. I also noticed, however I think this is more of a small town thing rather than a northern thing, that the locals around Shotton weren't very open to outsiders, whereas in London and the south east in general you seem to get a variety of people, in Shotton you had the usual same sort of people. I felt I was treated a bit like I was from a foreign country, on account of my southern accent and I didn't dress in the mandatory uniform of a grey tracksuit.

 

[najaB]

No it isn't. It's a good town. Your comments are objectionable

For the most part the people I used to deal with were great to get on with, but the town itself is dreary. I always describe it as having lost its reason to exist (the mills) in the 1950s but it hasn't realised it yet.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No it isn't. It's a good town. Your comments are objectionable

Blackburn? I find it a bit average and there are Northern towns I'd choose over it, but it isn't *bad*.

 

[najaB]

Blackburn? I find it a bit average and there are Northern towns I'd choose over it, but it isn't *bad*.

Agreed. It isn't bad, but there's nothing that makes it stand out as a place to want to be either.