Northern Vs Southern culture?

[Gumper]

DP is working class and from Newcastle, I'm middle class and from way down South.

We often talk about cultural differences.

He lives down here and I've only ever been up north a few times so it's hard for me to gauge.

So, is it UR to think there are big differences and if so what are they, in your experience?

[Bearpeep]

Leek competitions (used to be really popular in Northumberland)

They still are in places! The social club near us has their Leek Show every Autumn where people bring in veg from their allotments to show. The winners get prizes and people gives some of their veg to the club, the stewardess cooks it to make broth which gets given out free in the bar.

[SuperFlyHigh]

almond no I think they just assumed all southerners were rich and "London" was one comment I had spoken to me by a few of them.

I wouldn't have minded but I was on my best behaviour, being friendly and all that.

Like i said the Coventry people I knew (oh I forgot I worked with and knew some Brummies too) were always very pleasant and no throw away slights. Chester like I said and Wilmslow also had some very pleasant people, I thought Chester was really pretty.

[almondpudding]

SuperFly, yes, it is terrible when people make up crude stereotypes about other people.

Maybe those men you met had been to London and met some Rich Southerners in a bar and leapt from that experience to a massive generalisation about the whole of the South of England.

[throwingpebbles]

"but I worked with a man who came from Leeds, if you dared make a comment jokey or not about Northeners etc he'd bite your head off"

Well the jokes can get pretty tedious after a while

[throwingpebbles]

ego we most definitely do have U.C. Northerners. Have met many through my past work, pretty much the same as U.C. Southerners ime. In fact most had a London base as well.

[SuperFlyHigh]

almond I am not joking when the few men I met when I was up the first time went on about posh southerners, how we had loads of money etc...

Contrast that to my mates in Coventry who i found far nicer.

This man had a chip on his shoulder generally. Probably not much to do with him being a northerner.

[SuperFlyHigh]

Oh I forget we did go to Quarry Bank Mill and stayed in Wilmslow, had a great time there, went there after TV series The Mill and stayed in a lovely B&B in Wilmslow and had 2 nights out there. Very pretty.

So that was my history lesson on mill workers in the North...!

[almondpudding]

Maybe that's because your comments about the North are quite rude.

[SuperFlyHigh]

Ego I know it's industrial and mill etc... But apart from that, blame my history education don't know much about it....

Love Lowry though!

[SuperFlyHigh]

Feckin generally whenever I've been up north can't remember where (Liverpool, Chester (they were friendlier there in Chester actually), Salford and someplace else, Wilmslow) but a few times no they weren't especially friendly especially when they heard a London accent.

This was also, when I encountered the unfriendly pub I went to also some bar in a warehouse in Manchester I went to, same weekend. Frosty atmosphere and no not at all friendly.

The northerners I've met who've worked down south, yes, many of them are friendly but I worked with a man who came from Leeds, if you dared make a comment jokey or not about Northeners etc he'd bite your head off.

No, give me London every time.

[AddictedToCoYo]

I think the most marked differences are those between the working class and middle class rather than those between northerners and southerners. I think working class southerners probably have more in common with WC northerners than middle class northerners have in common with WC northerners. And vice versa.

[Abraiid1]

I think I probably have intrinsic doubts about the trustworthiness of Southerners on the grounds of consistent Tory voting despite the suffering of others. I know IABVU but feels reflective of general 'look after self' culture and lack of empathy.

I think I still gave intrinsic doubts about the intelligence of some people from the north on the grounds of consistent Labour voting despite what they did to the economy. Strange, isn't it, how these silly stereotypes persist?

[NicknameUsed]

No stereotyping going on here then

[FeckinCrutches]

Northerners being friendly is a myth...

You're basing that on one night night in a local pub from years ago?

[SuperFlyHigh]

Northerners being friendly is a myth... I had a boyfriend years ago from somewhere in between Manchester and Liverpool, when we went out for the evening in the local pub the women my age were decidedly frosty and the men his mates referred to me as "southern" and made comments about me having lots of money...

As I got the train back it started to snow... And I couldn't get over the amount of Coronation Street houses.

No I definitely prefer London.

I tend to agree with a PP though, a lot of North Londoners are snobby compared to eg South Londoners (though go to Dulwich Village or Wimbledon Village and the snob factor comes out there too).

[PuppyMonkey]

Pah - the East Midlands and the West Midlands shamefully ignored once again. I'm reporting this thread.

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

I do recognise the food thing Grim albeit different traditions. Stotties, pease pudding , panac ....
Grayson Perry's class series was filmed in Sunderland and it summed the working class culture up brilliantly.
Middle class NE here. I wear my coat , I'm always freezing and wear my jeans on nights out.
But the open coffin is not that usual up here.It was prevalent in Liverpool when I lived there, DH is Irish and what you describe is the norm for him.

[Gumper]

We say 'Sconn' rather than 'scowne' probably as Scottish/Northern roots. DP also says 'Sconn'

[PigletJohn]

Rag pudding and curd tarts.

[NicknameUsed]

Scone and scone anyone?
Yorkshire pudding before a meal and not with it
Leek competitions (used to be really popular in Northumberland)