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?

Northerner (obviously) who has lived down south and in various other countries.

Yeah, I think there are differences. Between England and Scotland too. I think Scotland is more a social democratic country rather than straight up capitalist.
I find the north more friendly, slightly less pretentious, a bit more rough and ready. Other differences are less tangible. The humour is slightly different although I can't explain how exactly.

When I went to university two people asked me if there was electricity and computers where I was from. I had fun with that...

If I was to move back to the uk it'd be Scotland or Yorkshire. Nowhere nicer, in my opinion.

Citizen nah you would, I'm in Leeds and you get some VERY odd characters on public transport...

Surely it's less a north/south divide and more of a small town/large city/rural and class divide? I think it's far too complex to split into north/south. There are going to be issues within the country's history that are more pertinent to one area than another (miner's strike springs to mind) but I don't think that fuels the divide. Of course you've got shitty areas in the north but you have in the south too, and same for affluent areas (though admittedly, affluent areas in the SE are more affluent than elsewhere...).

WhisperingLoudly I know what you mean- suppose I was basing this too much on my own experience of living in small towns in Cumbria. You're right- whenever I've been out to the big cities I am surprised by the vast amounts of fake tan, fake eyelashes, elaborate hair-dos etc. Fashion is very very different I think in big cities in the South compared to big cities up North.

I'm originally from NW now living in SE and I love them both. I've met really lovely people in both places. I've not been up north in a good while and when we went last week I was astounded by how dressed up people were to go shopping (Trafford centre) it prompted a lengthy discussion between DH and I if it was because of more disposable income due to lower living costs or if it was just a regional thing.

Yorkshire - God's own county.

I have lived in Yorkshire (West and South) far longer than I lived in Surrey.

I am from very close to where your husband is from and now live in London, it is warmer here. I say bath not Barth. Not much quinoa in the north but they have pease pudding. I still talk to strangers and no one has run away screaming yet and have always had a residents association wherever I have lived in London so don't get this not knowing your neighbours. The one big difference is I am very close to my friends as most of our parents don't live in London whereas many of my friends in the north see their mums every other day. I was brought up 'posh' working class if such a thing exists and my children are middle class (but still trying to get their northern nursery workers to instil bath.......) I love going home but don't want to live there.

And also - London is a whole other ball game, surely? I wouldn't attempt to lump it in with the rest of the south.

I'm from the North and I will agree with all the southerners who lukew to thinky that its grim up here.

Youre correct, its shit so dont bother coming here. Stay in the wonderful south. Dont dare venture north of Birmingham lest you catch prole or summat

Cross posts with poterwine and Whispering. Maybe it is a city/ rural thing.

I'm from the Midlands, live in the South, and married to DH who is from the North.

When we visit his parents, the main difference I always notice is how dressed up everyone is when they go out! Not just the teenagers and 20 something's, who dress up everywhere, but EVERYONE.

I always feel underdressed, as I wouldn't think of putting a sparkly dress and high heeled sandals to go to the pub.

I notice it when visiting BIL on the other coast, also up North.

A few differences but also think class is more of a likeness/divider in both areas. I live in a posh Northern city - not really that friendly, infact, people we met in London much chattier but not born there

Northern town where I was born, less posh and very different so think what we endure growing up shapes us and my steel/coalmining town did affect my personality and values as a person.

Tbh, a twat is a twat wherever you're from and a nice person is nice regardless of origin

I'm Northern working class by birth but have lived all over country with my job.

Had a very impoverished start in life due to Thatcher and miners strike etc and that felt like an attack by South on North at time. 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 moved back North from London to have family because wanted a community where people cared about each other. Married a Northern lad done good too. Dated Essex boys a lot but couldn't get past some stuff. Most weird was lack of openness in families. Lots of keeping opinions to selves. So not used to that.

Biggest life differences:

1. pollution. Seriously the black Snots and skin when lived in London were horrendous.
2. Friendliness. I could ask any of my neighbours for help and they would. Takes a village to raise child and that's what it feels like we have, even though we live in small city (Durham)
3. Pace of life and work/life balance. I used to stay in office late. Here it's considered madness. Also everyone still takes lunch break.
4. Affordable housing in places with good schools. Seriously 4 bedroom detached for the cost of a one bed flat. Crazy.

And where I live is just beautiful. Sunday morning hearing the cathedral bells, lovely medieval town etc. My friend said she hated it when she visited (London girl) because it felt like a weird middle class white person utopia. There is a lack of mixing between cultures which I hate about North. I've family in Leicester and the everyday relationships between Asian and White community are ordinary. Here a rarity.

We're also always out of town for 9pm with kids because that's when town centre turns into a drinking zone and the mob descend from the pit villages. Its a real two teir society.

So I guess there's pluses and minuses on each side. However, for me, I really prefer it up here. Life is good.

I don't think the stereotypes exist - but lots of people like to jump on the bandwagon. From the NW, moved to London for a few years after uni, moved back (albeit to a different part of the NW) about 10 years ago. What drives me insane are all the generalisations eg living costs are sooo much cheaper up north (I live in the most expensive part of the country outside London/SE, my daily commute on the Metrolink is twice the price of the tube for the same distance, my council tax / nursery costs are the same as my relative's in South London).

I think people are different for a whole host of reasons - upbringing, education, personality, disposable income, job etc etc - that just suggesting it's only down to geography is far too simplistic.

ellen yeah too right. Plus it's my excuse for not being able to do any work when visiting family up north - "they haven't got the Internet up there yet"....

I find people to be more dressed up in the north, but to look more trendy in London (not sure about rest of south). My friends in the north don't tend to get buses; cars and taxis are the norm. I think that people are more reserved in the south, and are friendlier in the north. I've seen many more fights and drunken behaviour in the north but that probably just reflects the places I tended to go when I lived up north. A lot of southerners seem to be quite obsessed about the north being rubbish, despite not having experienced it. And a lot of northerners seem to be obsessed about southerners being posh. I'm not sure that the differences are that pronounced, especially now that many people move for university and work.

Shopping is a hobby/treat/outting up north, having to go clothes shopping is a hideous chore down south and you wouldn't suggest it for a fun meet up with a friend.. generally, pockets where its the exception in Essex and parts of london

Foreigner here. I found that when I moved here I made friends with more Northerners than Southerners. I just found them more open, more easy-going, more "steady".

All middle-class (we're all lawyers in the city).

Didn't realise at the time, but a few years ago I did a kind of mental audit and it was "Manchester, Leeds, Yorkshire, Birmingham... Watford..., Leeds..."

Make of that what you will.

I also find people in south London friendlier than those in N. London, but that's a whole other thread.

I grew up in Lincoln. Am i fucked?

I'm from a rough northern town, dh is from a rough southern town and both are very similar. I think a night out in his home town is terrifying and he thinks the same of mine. Both are full of people dressed up to the nines and spoiling for a fight.

In terms of upbringing and family values, these were also pretty identical but one of us was brought up in the north and one in the south.

There are massive differences. Posters on this site will deny them b/c most of them don't reflect favourably on the north of England. Basically, all of the stereotypes are true, and then some.

Having lived in both, the idea that the stereotypes don't reflect well on the north seems a tad eccentric.

There are differences but equally there are ways in which areas of the south are more similar to areas of the north than other areas of the south, iyswim. Manchester and London have more in common with each other than they do with sleepy villages in Cumbria and Hampshire, for example, even when the sleepy villages concerned aren't too far away.

I'm a proper northern (rural Scotland) so living in the NE of England feels southern. I think the rules in Scotland are different. But I've also lived in the proper south (Oxford) and would say that south is more cosmopolitan but the English north can, em, vary. I have work colleagues who are not British and they say it really varies from town to town how they are treated as they walk down the street. Where I live it's a middle class enclave and so people from all countries and skin colour are normal, in other more working class places having the wrong colour of skin means you could end up attacked. That's clearly a fucking embarrassment for the region in this day and age. In addition the poverty in the north can be terrible and the subsequent lack of educational attainment is shocking, in the NE only 15% of the population go to University. Local businesses do a lot to help with apprenticeships etc but there are still to many bright people that we employ that a) are the first in the family to go to Uni and b) didn't go to University until they were mature students. There's a big waste of talent that is not being addressed. The lack of central investment in the north does not help the situation, some decent train lines, motorways and proper regional hub airports (that don't send everything through Heathrow/Gatwick) would make a big difference. And the lack of cultural spend up here in comparison the south is terrible.

I'm a Londoner born and bred and I find quite big differences between inner London (where I am now) and outer London! And then huge differences behind that, north or south. Dressing up is one, I never dress up to go out in London but it seems to be the thing in other town and cities.

Shopping is a hobby/treat/outing up north - did you really say that?!

Foreigner here. I found that when I moved here I made friends with more Northerners than Southerners. I just found them more open, more easy-going, more "steady".

Were they northeners living down south though, or northerners "at home"?

I ask because IMO the further people are from the safety net of their school friends and family, the more outgoing and friendly they are. Whether from north, south, or abroad!