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?

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

I only managed it last week ! It's really easy to find I was surprised as there are loads of people down there every day .
Have never been to Peterlee .
Would people get as excited about the Disney ship docking in the south ?

[BarbaraofSeville]

I'm northern and don't consider shopping to be a leisure activity.

People in the south don't have lunch . What are all those Prets and Itsus for then?

[nancy75]

I can sum up the difference in one word COATS!

[nancy75]

I think the not getting dressed up on a Saturday night is very much a London thing, I have seen lots of glam in places that are not at all north.
I live in London & I always have lunch

[ExitPursuedByBear]

Southerners look down on northerners and think they they are common and thick.

Northerners don't give a shiny shite what southerners think.

[nancy75]

Exit, I don't look down on anyone, I'm only 5ft1

[PigletJohn]

Some Northerners think people are looking down on them.

Southerners don't give a shiny shite where you come from.

[ouryve]

DH is from Peterlee - no one need ever visit, otherwise!

The Disney ship baffled me. The Coca Cola truck is more fascinating.

[ExitPursuedByBear]

And that is so not true

[ouryve]

The coats thing is, remarkably, real!

Not here though. Those soft Newcastle shites have never lived on the Durham coast!

(Fucking freezing today in both Newcastle and Durham, FTR, though warm enough for Mardi Gras, in Newcastle!!!)

[2rebecca]

Asking someone if they have children is a personal question if you don't know them because it implies the answer is somehow important to the person asking the question and the answer you give is important.
People can get very defensive about their procreation choices or lack of them. Safer sticking to hobbies, although some people are more in to talking to people for the sake of taking to people than others. I haven't found that to be a regional thing though. Some people don't do companionable silence. I think whether or not you chat in shops has more to do with what sort of shop it is and how busy you are than anything else. More chatting at small shop where people are on holiday or unemployed than busy supermarket after work.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Asking someone if they have children is a personal question if you don't know them because it implies the answer is somehow important to the person asking the question and the answer you give is important."

I always ask colleagues if they have children. It helps to understand people. People always ask me if I have a partner as well and I don't take offence. I think some people on mn just take offence at every little thing.

[notamummy10]

I haven't read the entire thread but I wanted to mentioned the arts, sure the North has some wonderful and beautiful art establishments but the South is unbeatable (sorry northerners).

However, the south sucks at chip shops. I was in Blackheath, SE London a few months back and visited the chip shop (a necessity) and found not only didn't they sell mixes but didn't sell curry sauce either :(


The issue with this North/South debates I find is that people forgot about the middle person (or place): the Midlands. I can see the argument from both sides though... Just going to leave this video here -

[nancy75]

What the hell are mixes?

[byjimminey]

I think County Durham is a pretty awful place to live. Also agree with a previous poster who posted a figure to show how unlikely it is for people from the NE to go to University. I went to school in the NE and not once were we told anything about University/Further education. I honestly thought it was for extremely clever people who all went around wearing long black cloaks and the graduation style hats and that University was either Oxford or Cambridge. Never occurred to me in a million years that I would ever be able to attend!

[notamummy10]

nancy a smaller* portion of chips (usually on a polystyrene tray) with beans/peas/gravy/curry sauce/cheese placed on top of the chips.

Smaller than the other portion of chips e.g. cone, regular, large.

[FeckinCrutches]

The whole of County Durham is s pretty awful place to live? Really?

[Capricorn76]

If you're abroad and see a bunch of people wearing football tops you know they're northern. Southernern men don't normally wear them at home unless they're going to a match let alone abroad.

[ThreeBarrels]

I am from the north, studied lived and worked in various areas but loved in London/SE for many years.

I agree that there are differences in dress code. In various large northern cities, the women would be dressed up to the nines and wearing heels and hunting in packs, especially on a Thursday evening for some reason. Conversely, they didn't wear coats, I assume because they thought it would detract from their outfits, even when it was freezing outside.

However, work wise, the men in particular dress a lot less smartly in the north, often characterised by wearing anoraks over a suit and tie, which I now find strange.

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

Maybe they didn't think you were bright enough to go byjimminey.

[ExitPursuedByBear]

They need the anoraks cos of the rain.

[RichardHead]

We were expected/encouraged to go to university at my northern comprehensive.

There are plenty of men who walk around in football tops in dh's southern town, mostly Arsenal.

Again, women dress up to the nines to go out in his southern town.

I am always far more underdressed/understated than most of dh's friends and I'm the northerner.

I have never once seen anyone walking round with curlers in their hair in the north.

Sil and family live in London and know all their neighbours very well. They all even give Christmas presents, we don't even swap cards with ours in the north. We do chat etc though.

In laws live are southern and are the chattiest people I know.

Some northern people have chips on their shoulder, some southern people very much give a shit where someone is from. Hence these type of threads constantly popping up.

[heron98]

I'm Yorkshire born and bred. I not friendly, quite shy, and would never strike up a conversation with a stranger.

I haven't spent much time down south apart from in London where I guess the rules are different anyway.

I really can't imagine that the 400 miles that separates north from South make that much difference.

[RichardHead]

I've never heard of mixes!?

Chips with anything other than salt and vinegar are an abomination in my eyes. DH loves a bit of gravy on his though, we do like to mix our stereotypes.