Is Surrey an unfriendly place?

[Comedycook]

So recently I've had to go to Surrey several times for reasons I won't bore you with. I've been struck at how cold, unfriendly and quite frankly a bit snooty people are. I don't think I'm imagining it...it's hard to explain in real terms but it's just a weird vibe I get. Has anyone else noticed this?

Disclaimer....I'm sure not everyone in Surrey is like this...I'm sure there are some lovely people.

who all pretended they were from Kent even though I pointed out what happened in '65...

I was in Devon at the time. What happened in '65?

I guess that's a dated view in some ways.

But I'd say Surrey is far more affluent than kent in the main.

Do you often feel people are unfriendly to you for no real reason?

No one was unfriendly towards me personally.

But congratulations, you win the award of most passive aggressive question on Mumsnet ever!

Purley is London not Surrey, but has very friendly people.
I know Caterham and Oxted pretty well, and have met very friendly and helpful people there too.

Are you sure it's not the way you are behaving OP which makes others react a certain way?

What, more than 'Is Surrey an unfriendly place?' and dismissing a county of a million people because they weren't all ecstatic you'd visited?

Blimey OP, I live near where the places you have listed are (but am London) and think they have far more in common with Kent than Surrey. I grew up at the opposite end of Surrey near Middx and it's a different beast all together.

It's all bollix anyway, you get good and bad everywhere and you are being deliberately goady

I have seen this thread before...

I thought I had too....
I mean Surrey-bashing isn't unusual on MN, but the exact wording sounded familiar

Hasn't this exact post been posted before? Does OP start a thread every time they happen to go to Surrey?

you get good and bad everywhere

Yes you do but overall there are trends in regards to type of people living in certain areas. Are you really telling me that Maida Vale is exactly the same in terms of people as Rhyl? Or you get the same type of people in Knightsbridge as you do in Harlow, Essex?

I think it sounds like you just live somewhere a bit rough. The vast majority of supermarkets don’t feature people speaking loudly and making comments to other shoppers.

I think you've visited the posh parts of Surrey. There are lots of towns in Surrey that are not posh and have council estates. I live in Surrey and in my town there are parts that are nice and some not so.

I don't think I've ever started a thread about Surrey before..

Like I said, not by me...but does prove my point if other people have noticed enough to post about it

Absolutely depends which part

but does prove my point if other people have noticed enough to post about it

A few people noticed and post about it. How many people don't notice and don't post? it proves nothing.

Tell your great-aunt from me that while Fort Neaf may have been in Surrey, Upper Norwood, London SE19 was posher.

(Local rivalry that will mean sod all to non-South Londoners.)

Per se, just to be pedantic.

I lived in Surrey for many years, having been born in Yorkshire and lived there until I graduated. Now on the south coast. I haven’t known much difference in the friendliness or otherwise, of people in those places, other than Yorkshire folk can be very straightforward.

I did the same move and found exactly the same.

There seems to be a Surrey bashing thread weekly on here. Whatevs. I like it here. I grew up on the London-Kent borders and found that less friendly.

@Comedycook so first off, those places are mostly suburban/ urban sprawl of London. Guildford not so much, but still very much commuter belt ‘look we have all the London-y things’ urban vibe. Therefore the people living there are essentially suburban Londoners, with all the standoffish characteristics of urbanites.

Secondly, Surrey is in the home counties, so is always going to have a high proportion of residents with the London mindset. No different in terms of attitude to living in outer (or even inner) London - places not known for their friendliness.

Thirdly, Surrey is a big county, incorporating very diverse areas - lots of rural villages, countryside, urban areas where there are pockets of very notable deprivation living cheek by jowl with extreme affluence, suburban places of mixed IMD deciles.

maybe you should explore a bit more before making sweeping pronouncements?

Funnily enough, where I live borders a number of the places mentioned by the OP as being the particular ones which were unfriendly. And I find it particularly friendly.

It was the 1950s and earlier. My grandmother's family grew up in what we'd now call 'inner London' (Old Kent Road/Deptford) and to get out of London was seen as a step up. Places like Mitcham, Croydon, Thornton Heath were genteel suburbs over the county line in Surrey, and likewise Beckenham, even, was 'Kent'. Living in Orpington was a source of pride to a particular relative. In the mid 1960s they all became part of London.

I live in Surrey. We've got lots of public transportation. I even get the bus OP with the hoi polloi. I've even been known to chat to people and thank the driver.

What a weird thread.

I've lived in 2 of the towns on your list and currently live in a third. I find it no different from anywhere else I have ever lived - London, Scotland, Europe. There are some very rich people and some very poor people but most people are in the middle. There are some obnoxious tossers (from both those demographic groups) and some really lovely people, and everything in between. My local pub is in one of the places you mention. Amongst the regulars there are multi millionaires, people on UC and all sorts of people in between. I like that. Its also fairly diverse being near London.

but I'm from London so maybe I have much lower standards than you.