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

[CuriousMama]

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.

I just think it's quite shocking that we live on an island and don't know where our cities are. Talking about myself mainly. Dh is so knowledgeable. Dss are too.

(Off to study google maps)

Oh and those who don't like the thread just don't read/contribute. I'm hardly slagging anyone off... except myself.

I might. My dad was from Ayrshire and close friend from Glasgow.

Midlander here so ignorant about both 😂.

Are you from Unst?

Tbf I thought Swindon was near Bristol so what do I know 😄

I'm very familiar with Dumfries & Galloway, the Borders and Northumberland and Cumbria.

Anything further south than that - not really. Apart from London

@Mrsjayy oh you said if they were from Swindon. I'd have more chance of knowing being from the north.

It's only 40 miles away so you were closer.

I'm a southerner married to a northerner.

We booked a cottage in Bridlington for Christmas. Rather than being quaintly old it was prehistoric particularly regarding bathrooms. The heating also went on the blink and the owner had to come. Evidently we were cold because we were from the South. Er no, we were cold because your heating is dodgy and the instructions are unclear.

I don't think she was rude for being Northern, she was just downright rude.

I literally live 2.5 miles from England’s most central point. Makes going on holiday a bit of a treat as most locations are all fairly similar in distance. Excluding Scotland of course.

Ah, the Kingdom of Fife

once described as “a beggars mantle, fringed with gold”

the true test being if you know how to pronounce Anstruther

I'm Northern and my geography is pretty good; mainly as I've worked all over the UK and travelled a lot as well.

The comment upthread that northerners tends to expect a short commute doesn't ring true with me, but I guess it depends on your industry and where you work. I work in Manchester and most of my senior colleagues have a commute of 1hr plus- it's considered normal, and expected, to be coming in from Leeds/Liverpool/Bradford/ Cheshire etc. The difference is, though, that we can't rely on the trains as you can if you're commuting into London, so most of us have to drive.

When I worked in London, trains were fast, fairly reliable, and ran every 15 mins. Where I live now, trains to Manchester are one an hour, take almost an hour and are often cancelled/replaced by buses - despite it being a "short" journey in theory. Which then forces everyone onto the M62.

I’m northern. I’d have put Swindon somewhere between London and Oxford. Maybe a bit north of rReading 🤷‍♀️.

I wouldn’t say I’m totally ignorant but it depends if I’ve been somewhere or not. I know London quite well. I know Bedfordshire well, Hampshire, Suffolk. But there’s certainly counties I’ve barely been to, sussex, Surrey, kent…..and I’d only have a vague idea of geography.

Just looked, it’s certainly further west than I thought. 😀

I've no idea where Swindon is except that it's in England. I no nothing about it at all.

Oh Get me 😃

I'm a southerner who now lives up north. I think southerners are pretty ignorant about the north!

i’n a Southerner and what always annoyed me is the assumption we’re rich in the south which it might be in some cases but not all. That’s been said to me in a pub outside Manchester, Wilmslow. And also the assumption that Londoners are unfriendly.

Depends on which southerners you know, if they’ve lived in north and south or visited.

I do get a bit confused about the relative positions of cities and towns in Yorkshire. Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford etc. But I’m from Bristol and I know the south west and South Wales pretty well.

My DS has moved to Prestwich. Am I allowed to say he lives in Manchester? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Swindon isn’t nice. A few years ago I was internet dating and one guy was from Swindon, mentioned it to SIL who’s from Bath and she wasn’t complimentary about Swindon, same goes for Slough.

It’s like a lot of British working cities and towns. It was nice 20- 40 years ago. The whole country has been run down for the last 40 years or so.

My brother’s in laws live in Bath and his BIL wasn’t nice one year when the Christmas market was on, about the Welsh who visited for the markets. Think he said Welsh-pool?

I held my tongue as I’m quarter Welsh (grandma from Abergavenny though I’ve never been there!).

I know this isn’t about the North v South but when relatives visit Kent/Surrey/Sussex from SW England they always comment on how pretty the countryside is there, compared to their part of England. I’m used to it though and quite like the SW too though!

I live in Northumberland and feel little or no connection to the South. Im 100 miles closer to Glasgow than to London and the Scottish border is in my county. Because Northumberland was royally screwed by the South with the closure of the mines( in my small town alone there were 4 mines and our entire economy was built around them), I think a lot of people up here feel a closer connection to Scotland than London.