That people in the south think they are better than those in the north

[EatsShitAndLeaves]

That's it really.

I'm interested in your opinion.

I once had to kick my friend under the table for commenting about Norfolk people with webbed feet. He'd forgotten that the person sat next to him was from Norfolk... and unfortunately had webbed feet too

There's this implication that everything is so much better in the south and London particularly (shopping, culture, food, job opportunities etc)

^^This. Some/many people from London seem to assume that there are no well paid jobs elsewhere, no museums/theatre worth going to, no decent shops and everyone/everything is a little bit backward, insular or old fashioned.

It's said on here many, many times and those of us from other parts of the UK quite rightly get just a little bit pissed off with constant, incorrect assumptions like this.

I live in Leeds and it's a great place to live. I agree that the weather is better in the south and public transport is also better, but that's due to much, much higher investment in infrastructure in and around London.

There are also decent jobs and people on average incomes can afford to buy entire houses all to themselves. We also have several national museums within an hours travel, great restaurants, theatre and opera, local smaller museums, great shopping, city parks and other attractions, are close to the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and within reasonably easy reach of the Lake District and East Coast, which has some really lovely resorts.

Unless you are very well off, the small perceived disadvantage of not being in London, which is only a couple of hours away anyway, is massively outweighed by unaffordable housing.

And plenty of us can work anywhere, not everyone has to be in London for work. Things could be improved greatly if jobs, investment and opportunities were spread more evenly around the country.

I was born in London, grew up on the south coast but lived in Yorkshire for 2 years and then Scotland for a further 22 years before moving back to the south coast of England (where my family live).

I haven't experienced any snide comments from anyone about anything related to where people live.

There are lots of jokes about the weather in both Yorkshire and Scotland which IMO are thoroughly justified. We went to a Christening in June this year in Yorkshire and it fucking snowed where we were staying (high up above the moors admittedly but still, it was June!). And it snowed in June when I lived in East Kilbride in Scotland too. So the jokes are entirely justified. It rains a lot up north.

I take people as I find them. I have friends all over the UK and they all have different backgrounds, jobs, incomes, homes but I really don't care about any of that as I prefer to pick my friends on how nice they are, not where they are from.

I do think you have a chip on your shoulder.

London is better for food/culture/shopping and, depending on your career, job opportunities. That's just a fact. Yes other cities have lots to compare to what London has but none match it.

Where would you consider Herefordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk?

The house prices are also generally over egged, it has to be said. I bought my house in London 3 years ago for £275k. That wouldn't have paid for much more in many parts of the north (yes let's ignore the abandoned streets of terraces you wouldn't let a dog live in for £40k, I'm talking desirable property)

Parts of Kent, Bedfordshire Essex etc are extremely affordable. Take the house price stuff with a pinch of salt. It's not untrue, but exaggerated

Norfolk and Suffolk are kind of nowhere but east. Herefordshire is north west, but also practically Wales

London is better for food/culture/shopping and, depending on your career, job opportunities.

It's not that simple though, is it?

If you take overall quality of life issues into account, it's not always such a no-brainer. I was staying with friends and we decided to go and see a film we knew had just come out. There was a choice of three cinemas in easy striking distance - but they were all full - so that didn't really help. Even though (due to massive investment - which BTW I am not complaining about at all) London has a lot of public transport options - they can be a miserable experience begin so overcrowded.

I'm not sure about all this weather stuff. The weather's pretty shit in the south too if we are talking about England. It's pretty marginal 'but it's worse because it snowed in June' Yeah I bet Bournemouth beach was packed to the rafters with people in bikinis that day 😂😂

I've been to Borough Market. It's about five miles from where I live. I don't usually go because there are plenty of nearer places to buy nice food and it's crowded, mostly with tourists. Hardly surprising, as it's marketed as a tourist destination. I hear Edinburgh is quite busy in August.

There are good things there but declining to buy things because they aren't value for money is not an exclusively northern trait wasonthelist. Neither is spending money just for the hell of it exclusive to southerners.

I have taken guests there - they were from Rome - so further south than me, and they specifically requested it.

They enjoyed it. Go figure. If we're doing stereotypes then surely Italians know how to run a food market far better than the British.

I don't get this. I am really perplexed by the OP's question. I live in the South and I don't think I'm better than anybody up North or anywhere else in the entire British Isles and I genuinely don't know anybody else who thinks like that either. We are all from the same island and I - and everybody I know - has got great affection for folk from other corners of the UK. I love all the different accents and slight culture differences between counties.

If there is a north/south divide then I wish there wasn't, it all seems really daft, because I'd like to think the majority of people are decent and would be friendly wherever they hail from.

Actually it's precisely discussions like this that stimulate aggro, imho.

There can indeed be massive weather differences accross the country.

Many times I've seen posters on here in London and the south east going on about 'all the great weather we've been having' while people in other areas are wearing jumpers and raincoats.

It can work the other way too and sometimes even northern Scotland gets a warm sunny period while the rest of the country shivers.

That's exactly what I mean wasonthelist, for most people, on balance, the quality of life can be just as good, if not better elsewhere, when taking into account affordability, accessibility and things not been crowded/full etc compared to London.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of great restaurants, serving food from many different cultures near me. I think they'll keep me going for a while.

This article from the Daily Mash, is spot on, as usual:

'Whether it’s an A-list star on stage in the West End I can’t get tickets for, a Michelin-starred restaurant laughing contemptuously at my attempt to make a reservation or a nightclub with guest list admittance only, London has it all.'

I live in Essex, I have worked in the square mile but currently don't. I do not think I'm better than people who live up north. I recently visited Yorkshire and was jealous of the beautiful countryside that people have on their doorsteps.

Re the "better weather" in the south, how come whenever I've been anywhere down there - London, Brighton, cornwall - it's always been pissing it down and freezing cold, while back home has had a heatwave?

I come from the East Midlands btw, we're the land everyone forgot.

I think there will always be some people who think they are better than others, regardless of where anyone is from, I wouldn't say people in the south think they are better than propel in the north. I was born in London, and lived there my whole life, until I moved to Liverpool to go to university. I loved living there, and ended meeting my now dh. We moved back to London for a year so I was near my family when I had the baby, but I couldn't wait to move back home, because I do consider Liverpool my home now.

Re the "better weather" in the south, how come whenever I've been anywhere down there - London, Brighton, cornwall - it's always been pissing it down and freezing cold, while back home has had a heatwave?

You didn't drop the ironing board and flatten a fairy, or anything like that, did you Puppy.

Only that can cause bad weather to follow you all around the world.

And, when you say "The North" I see most of the UK as "The South" from where I am.

So, that'll be all those Geordies thinking they are better than me. All those arrogant Yorkshire folk. All those posh wankers from Glasgow.

If people are insecure they can convince themselves that what they believe to be their superior is looking down on them when in fact the other party isn't.

I'm a born Londoner. I can honestly say that neither myself or my London born friends say negative things about areas outside of London. Why would we? We're used to living close to and working with people all over the world so why would we be interested in putting down other towns and cities in our own country. It would be seen as weird. The only people I've heard say negative things about places outside of London are those who have moved here from elsewhere and think they've 'made it' and slag off where they've come from.

Londoner's largely keep quiet about other places because we know that as soon as we open our mouths we'll be slated as being part of some elite who think we're a better. A large number of Brexit Leave votes were about teaching London a lesson. People didn't even care if they ended up being worse off as long as they could give 'London' a kick. So many seem to be negatively obsessed with London whilst us Londoner's, the vast majority of whom are just normal people in normal jobs get on with our lives and don't have time to spend wondering what the people of Scarborough or wherever thinks of us.

EatsShitandLeaves - I had a corker from a solicitor once. She was in-between jobs from something like her fourth role to her fifth, so we're not talking major job loyalty and she wasn't in work at the moment.

"Well, sometimes I think about moving North for the cheaper property prices, but I need to stay here for work."

"We have solicitors in the North too."

She went red. I mean, I was being funny, I wasn't actually expecting her to stutter "Oh, right, yes, I mean of course, of course you do, you... do, yes."

London is better for food/culture/shopping

I think I'd agree in principle, but mainly better in the sense of there being more of it. Quality wise there is just as good outside of London.

Saukko

Obviously she didn't realise that at all. she thought we still settled our legal differences via "Trail by Combat"

Nicely summed up Capricorn!

It's funny isn't it, most people on this thread are insistent the OP is being unreasonable and yet the comments being made...

I don't think I'm posh at all and I'm in east anglia.

However I do have a question for those up north... why does every take away have the with gravy?? Like why would I want a chicken curry with gravy. I found that very bizarre when we visited Hartlepool.

chatty I wish southern takeaways offered gravy. Chips and gravy is awesome. We've missed a trick down here.