North London/South London divide

[LuckyAmy1986]

I have always lived South of the river and love it, although it's true you do have to cross for a lot of the good stuff! However, colleagues who live North of the river are quite down on the South and how dull it is, how far away from everything etc etc. Do other people have a clear favourite? Is there actually a real divide? Btw, I know this is totally mindless chat, it was just on my mind!

Whats Camberwell like for a student as a first living in London experience? I absolutely only know North London.

@stoptheworldiwant2getoff

It's so childish to say one side is "dull" or whatever! I love where I live but dont need to bash where others live to prove it. So sad

I agree.

[quote wombledown]@PercyKirke that made me laugh.

Purely anecdotal but SL seems to have lots of people born & raised here but everyone I've met from NL is from somewhere else. [/quote]
I now live south of the river. Most of the neighbours in my block of flats come from other parts of the UK.

I'm a born and bred Londoner - from north Londoner. Family born and bred north London too.

SL is massive, Womble. I can’t claim to know it well. I’m sure where you are, and your friends, are very civilised. But reckon Abbeville, Northcote, Twixt the Commons etc can legitimately be savaged as being full of people who think it’s normal to spend £6 on a loaf of bread at Gail’s.

Born & raised sarf Londoner here & whilst they are some great places & some beautiful architecture in the North the south obviously wins because of the people.

You are much more likely to find "locals" & ordinary people that grew up here & more diverse communities that live alongside each other whereas they have been pushed outwards in the North & as another poster said the central parts are full of people who just moved to the big smoke. Though the South is changing.

Growing up in London was amazing & many of us (north, south, east & west) have lots of shared experiences (One Nation anyone?!)

@breadcakebiscuits

They’re affluent areas and Gail’s does love bread!

@breadcakebiscuits

I really like North, East and West and I’ve just realised why I loathe the South - it’s because it’s full of people who don’t really want to live in London. They actually like getting in a car to do the big shop, and hanging out with people who are white and straight and Tory.

This actually made me laugh out loud on a not great day so thank you for that. It's literally the biggest post of bollocks I've ever read on Mumsnet. Have you ever heard of Peckham, Brixton, Tulse Hill, Norwood, Stockwell, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, New Cross, Lewisham, Hither Green, Brockley, Sydenham, Croydon, Thornton Heath, Catford, Morden, Colliers Wood, Tooting? to name just a few. If you think we are more overrun with white middle class Tory voters in these postcodes than you are in North London you are totally nuts.

@CustardSpaghetti I didn't say North Londoners didn't exist did I? Why don't you live North still?

@breadcakebiscuits but you're tarring the whole of SL with a Wandsworth shaped artisan loaf.

There are plenty of North Londoners who like overpriced bakeries too you know.

it’s because it’s full of people who don’t really want to live in London.

This may be a shock & you may need a seat but some of us (plenty of us) live here because it's where our immigrant parents settled & we like it & want to stay close to our families & community. Thinking about whether we do or don't want to live in London (whatever the fuck that means) doesn't really come into it.

. You’re so right, Womble. I reckon Canonbury has a good claim to being the spiritual home of the artisan loaf.

You’re very touchy about a Saturday night joke thread, Womble. I don’t think the Wandsworthies I’m caricaturing are the type to mix socially with immigrant families by the way. They’re only friends with people they’ve known since they were in the Pony Club.

I reckon you can buy a £6 artisan loaf easily in Primrose Hill, St Johns Wood, Hampstead, Highgate, Muswell Hill, Stoke Newington, Hoxton, Angel, Shoreditch, Crouch End, Camden, Kentish Town, Turnpike Lane and all those other terribly middle class areas of north London too.

I don’t even know where Turnpike Lane is, but I agree. I’ve gone off Gail’s since someone on here said all the bread is part-baked in a factory and the delicious smell is just re-heating.

I would agree that by now this is more of an East versus West debate - it used to be that North London was a lot posher and more expensive than South London (and I grew up in Wimbledon), but by now thats definitely not the case. So its more a question of wealth and age i.e. anyone over 40 can probably afford a house in naice bits of London - West, South West or North.......anyone else 40 and below has moved to ELondon or SELondon - not because of choice but cash.

No idea what happens next.....now that younger bankers and lawyers are all over SELondon - guess most normal folk will just have to leave...

By now Northcote, Chiswick, Crouchen End, Muswell Hill are all the same - older people who used to have normal jobs and middle-age bankers/lawyers. The only question seems to be where do you have to get to for work

Most people dont have much of a choice between North or South London - cos they can afford either.....

I’ve definitely heard some friends say they don’t “do south of the river”. Seems twattish. I’ve lived in NW for 6 years and we love it here.. but also know many friends who live in lovely places south of the river too. Tube connections are a bit trickier, and most of us who work in the city or wharf need solid connections and can’t rely on the buses.

Plus almost all of us (immigrants mostly) have kids in private schools and there are more private schools in NW. (but also the state schools are probably not great because there is such a demand for private schooling).

I love the individual vibes of different pockets of London.. but find places like Hampstead a bit much - it’s a bit too rich for me probably and I find it insanely focused on money and conspicuous consumption.

cant afford

@breadcakebiscuits challenging some of your points does not mean I'm touchy but if you can't debate then sure go with that.

Sounds like you were priced out of Wandsworth, rejected from the pony club & you're still salty about it! 😜Should we do a Just giving page to get you some Gails?

[quote wombledown]@PercyKirke that made me laugh.

Purely anecdotal but SL seems to have lots of people born & raised here but everyone I've met from NL is from somewhere else. [/quote]
Yes! We live in North London, and I rarely see people who were born and raised here. Most of us are immigrants.

Our previous flat had been owned by an Indian judge and then passed on through his family for generations and then sold; current house we bought from a family that had lived here for 30 years but also immigrated (from the US, but still). It makes it diverse and welcoming for us - because no one ever asks me where I am from etc, and my dd’s class is so multicultural and diverse.

But for all this ethnic diversity there isn’t a single family in her school or our neighbourhood who aren’t earning 6/7 figures. So it’s very limiting and monolithic in some senses.

@breadcakebiscuits and that's what put you off Gail's and not the fact that it is such a damn cliche of a bloody coffee shop that isnt even all that nice, but has now become a symbol of mc in really dull suburbs..............or for really dull upper mc women

See username, Womble, I can bake my own .

This is true @newsheadlines & prices are ridiculous.

Nah, it's not touchy to disabuse someone of the notion that south London is like a small area of Wandsworth.

I preferred South of the river, but South West not South East.

I lived in Battersea then moved to St Margaret's. I really liked both - and the places in between like Putney, Barnes, Mortlake, Richmond. All nice.

but @breadcakebiscuits does yours come in a paper bag?