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Original poster

If you're Northern how ignorant are you about the South?

126 replies

CuriousMama · 01/04/2023 10:19

I'm terrible sometimes. Today was talking to dh about a local football team who are playing Swindon. I actually thought that was near London. Always have. I seem to have a block about southern geography. I know where London is obviously 😂 I've been a few times. Hate it though. I only went for events etc.

OP posts:
Sittingonabench · 01/04/2023 11:35

The problem is all of the south is referenced in relation to London and so it feels like a black hole. There are so many places in the south I’d love to go to but always end up in London

Mrsjayy · 01/04/2023 11:36

Where I live Is in between Glasgow and Edinburgh I wouldn't expect somebody from Swindon to know exactly where my hometown is exactly. so near London Is probably fine. 😀

TrashyPanda · 01/04/2023 11:36

I live in the central lowlands.
I have reasonable knowledge of Scottish geography, plus northern England.

used to travel to London regularly for business, but not really much idea of English geography south of Manchester.

Eranzer · 01/04/2023 11:36

I'm Northern as they come, I thought Torquay was in Japan. I'm smart in other ways..

Tryphenia · 01/04/2023 11:36

PuppyMonkey · 01/04/2023 11:29

Yeah, well I can tell you both Northerners and Southerners are completely ignorant about where I live - the East Midlands. Not to be confused with the Midlands of course.Grin

I lived in Leicestershire for eight (not particularly happy) years. You’re a difficult place to crack, in my experience,

Original poster
CuriousMama · 01/04/2023 11:37

MrsAmaretto · 01/04/2023 11:34

London is as close to my part of the UK as Milan is to London. So it’s hardly surprising my knowledge of the south of England is very basic and vice versa

I know people who live in Thurso are you anywhere near there?

OP posts:
Seeline · 01/04/2023 11:37

Most people do not realise how big London is in physical terms. London is not just the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. There are swathes of London, particularly in the south, that are no where near a tube station. You can live on the edge of London and still have a commute of 1hr or more into central London/The City.

Original poster
CuriousMama · 01/04/2023 11:39

Sittingonabench · 01/04/2023 11:35

The problem is all of the south is referenced in relation to London and so it feels like a black hole. There are so many places in the south I’d love to go to but always end up in London

How does that happen? Is your car chitty chitty bang bang? Mind if it's own? 😂
I'd like to do some of the SWC path. That'll help my education.

OP posts:
Original poster
CuriousMama · 01/04/2023 11:42

PuppyMonkey · 01/04/2023 11:29

Yeah, well I can tell you both Northerners and Southerners are completely ignorant about where I live - the East Midlands. Not to be confused with the Midlands of course.Grin

Oh no don't get me started on there 😳😂

OP posts:
BridieConvert · 01/04/2023 11:44

I live in Scotland and am pretty ignorant about English geography (despite trying my hardest to learn!)... I've got a decent idea of where the major cities are but there are so many places I wouldn't be able to point to on a map! But I imagine a lot of people wouldn't be able to point to my town on a map either...

Ifailed · 01/04/2023 11:48

But I imagine a lot of people wouldn't be able to point to my town on a map either

There are over 200 towns/cities in the UK with a population over 50,000, I'd be surprised if many people knew where they all are.

ClassicLib · 01/04/2023 11:50

PuppyMonkey · 01/04/2023 11:29

Yeah, well I can tell you both Northerners and Southerners are completely ignorant about where I live - the East Midlands. Not to be confused with the Midlands of course.Grin

Ay up mi duck! 😉

We know we live in the best part of the country. We’ve got glorious countryside in the Peak District national park, the best Indian food this side of Mumbai in Leicester, and Rolls Royce, the world’s best engineers in Derby. And sensible house prices, too.

Maireas · 01/04/2023 11:52

Whaaaat?! There's a South! On my map, anywhere south of Barnsley is just marked "here be dragons"

AvengingGerbil · 01/04/2023 11:53

Does nobody ever look at a map any more? [old gimmer alert]

Botw1 · 01/04/2023 11:54

From where I'm sitting Swindon is near London

Do you know where Glasgow is in relation to Fife?

Botw1 · 01/04/2023 11:55

You're all southerners to me

🤣

PuppyMonkey · 01/04/2023 11:56

ClassicLib · 01/04/2023 11:50

Ay up mi duck! 😉

We know we live in the best part of the country. We’ve got glorious countryside in the Peak District national park, the best Indian food this side of Mumbai in Leicester, and Rolls Royce, the world’s best engineers in Derby. And sensible house prices, too.

Show quote history

Ey up youth! Grin

Galatine · 01/04/2023 12:01

I don't know much about the South, but I've heard the they have flush toilets inside their houses and shed to so they don't need to keep coal in the bath!

Dacadactyl · 01/04/2023 12:01

Everyone I've met in the North is hilarious with distance. So, if you say "did you grow up round here?" They will say "no, im from....." and then name the next town along that's lesss than 3 miles away.

Or if you say "fancy a night out in town?" meaning the city centre (8 miles away), they more often than not say "let's go to (our local town instead)...the city centre is so far away".

Same with commuting. Of my Northern friends (and I have become of the same mindset now), more than a 15 min drive to work is a long commute!! I used to do 1.5 hour commute when down ssouth and thought literally nothing of it.

Imtryingnottobother · 01/04/2023 12:03

I think people living in Greater London boroughs, or even further afield confuse the situation by saying they live in London, I think of London as places like Camden and Tower Hamlets.
Other than that I have fairly reasonable understanding of the geography.

Maireas · 01/04/2023 12:03

Galatine · 01/04/2023 12:01

I don't know much about the South, but I've heard the they have flush toilets inside their houses and shed to so they don't need to keep coal in the bath!

I've heard that too, but I say it's too far fetched. I do know that they eat eels in jelly and that the River Thames smells bad. Also, they speak in a strange rhyme.

JustMyLuckItsHappened · 01/04/2023 12:05

'No more ignorant than someone in the south of the north, or east from west.
if I live hundreds of miles from somewhere I expect my local geography to be shit.'

This^ not sure this thread is helpful.

TulipCat · 01/04/2023 12:07

Imtryingnottobother · 01/04/2023 12:03

I think people living in Greater London boroughs, or even further afield confuse the situation by saying they live in London, I think of London as places like Camden and Tower Hamlets.
Other than that I have fairly reasonable understanding of the geography.

But they do live in London 😊. What do you think they should say when asked where they live? "I live in London but not the touristy bit?"

Imtryingnottobother · 01/04/2023 12:14

@TulipCat. They don’t live in London, they live in Greater London. I live in Greater Manchester, I live in a town that makes up that borough I don’t live in Manchester.

twolilacs · 01/04/2023 12:14

I live about 35 miles north of London and it takes longer to drive to Cornwall from here than it does to drive to Glasgow.

And two and a half hours to get to Swindon, since that seems to have been mentioned a surprisingly large number of times, so I thought I'd mention it!

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