To think people from up north / Wales are much friendlier than southerners

[Snorkers]

Was born in South Wales, currently live in southern England, husband from Manchester.
Whenever we go up north to visit his fam I'm always shocked by how much friendlier in general everyone is.
I haven't been back to Wales for 30 years but recall when i did everyone always looking out for each other and generally being genuinely friendly and interested in each others' wellbeing.
I like where I live now but I am considering a permanent relocation back to Wales in a few years as more people than not here in Southern England are either just unfriendly and a large minority are moody, aggressive and selfish.
AIBU?
What are your experiences?
Before anyone shoots me down for annoying folks I tend to keep myself to myself so am not getting up in people's shit, it's a genuine observation!

I live in Norfolk, have done all my life and although I know it isn't considered the most friendly of places, I'd never thought it particularly remarkable....until seven years ago I bought a cheap holiday on ebay in South Wales, and off we went for our first holiday in years for a week in a little ex mining village. The friendliness absolutely overwhelmed me, in the week we were there my youngest son with autism and I got invited to a birthday party, and my husband when out for a walk got asked if he'd like to go fishing by a bunch of elderly men, and so many people engaged us in conversation in the street, I had never known anything like it. In our current lockdown it's the place I keep thinking of.

@Snorkers
I'm native to north wales but have been away 30 years, recently moved back. As long as you go in with the right attitude, make some attempt at the language and joining in with the community, you will be welcomed.

There has been some unpleasantness on local fb pages about second home owners STILL flouting non essential travel guidance (inc next door to my vulnerable mum) but it's not because they are outsiders it's because they are selfish idiots.
When Wales is open again, there will be an incredibly warm welcome. I run the guides in my village. New English family moved in at the end of January, learning welsh and getting involved with local events. Warmly welcomed, lovely family

My limited experience is people are superficially friendlier in some places, lots of hello and smiles and chat - but actual friendship and genuine helpfulness isabout the same everywhere. I would say i live somewhere with a highish churn so there is none of the 'you must have lived here for 10 generations to fit in' which i have experienced in some areas and it makes a big difference.

I'm a lifelong southerner (London, Home Counties, Oxfordshire) who moved to NW England in my 40s. I think where I now live, people tend to talk to random passers-by more than they did anywhere I lived down south. But that doesn't mean they are more friendly in every way, and also it will vary hugely across 'the north', especially between fairly rural villages like mine compared with big cities. Just as it will also vary in the south.

I come from North Wales.

Generally friendly. Every time I go for a walk with the dog, strangers have waved or said hello. Strangers in the pub or the supermarket will generally make small talk.

I wouldn't say people are racist like previous posters have mentioned. I don't know anyone that would stand for it. Everywhere has an arsehole or two living there, though.

I tend to find it's the cities that are most unwelcoming. I've been to small towns down south before and always felt welcome.

North Wales is not friendly in my experience

Not my experience, either. I live up north but find people are pretty similar wherever you go: most friendly with a few grumpsters thrown into the mix.

I moved SW England from Wales about 30 years ago and hated it for ages. Nobody talks to you unless they know you!

It took me a long time to settle in, and I still have hiraeth.

The majority of northerners I’ve met are very blunt to the point of being rude. They often pass it off as ‘I’m just straight to the point, I’m not fake so I’m not going to try and put things nicely’

Well, it's obviously a thing if you watch

I live in the Northwest of England ,but I think your looking at your past through rose cloured glasses if your of moving back somewhere that you have,nt been to in over 30 years ,I have two friends from London ,they are both lovely friendly women but I would be massively generalizing to believe all. Londoners were lovely and friendly based on my sample of two , I'm sure lots are just as there are lots of friendly people in my town ,but there are some right grumpy Bastards too.

Yes.Northerners rule

They are not generally friendly to ethnic minorities. They are probably more friendly to people who they see are more like them.

In my experience, yes. I'm European, living in South Wales, but lived in different parts of Wales, different parts of Midlands and also London before.

Love Wales. Everything is better (FOR ME) here and people are much friendlier (IN MY EXPERIENCE). My boyfriend is English, but lives in Wales (for years now). His experience is the same as mine.

I lived most of my life in London and have zero interest in inane whitterings by people I don't know. That includes shopkeepers who insist on endlessly talking to customers when I just want a loaf of bread

I'm approaching this thread assuming the OP was being lighthearted! I work at a Tourist Information Center, in a Welsh speaking town. Most of our visitors compliment us by saying that local people are very friendly and very helpful, they often illustrate our friendly nature by saying that their own hometowns/villages are less friendly. Its their observation, unprompted by us! Yet it is a constant thing, its just something that visitors always say. I would say that the vast majority of visitors are from England and English, obviously to me that means probably somewhere near London (lol).
I am confident that when I send the visitors to visit colleagues in the industry who run restaurants, cafes, beaches, campsites etc that the visitor will be treated well. I would be "proper gutted" should someone not be impressed by their treatment as it is not indicative of the expected friendly nature.
Now I know its tourism, so not really any sort of representative sample, but it is interesting that the friendlyness is something that is continually mentioned.
With regards to Northerners, they do seem to be friendly in my experience, but honestly most people I meet are.

I did once spend a few days attempting to chat to Londoners arriving at Paddington about visiting our area, but the people I met were very rude, very unfriendly and very unwelcoming, but I guess they were going to work in a rush and then going home in a rush, despite my poor impression its understandable as people were busy! The Welsh rugby team who arrived by train on the other hand spent a while talking to us, including Shane Williams (a famous player). They were busy too, very famous, very rich and in a rush, they did however stop and chat for ages!
So anyway, when the apocalypse is over please come and visit South and West Wales!

Oh and by the way, if you have been to Wales and not had a great experience, give me a message and I'll recommend a few lovely places for you!

Yes, I think it’s normal to talk to people you don’t know in the street or in a shop in the NW I don’t know if it is because we are more friendly or not, but it’s certainly more common.

Depends what you mean by 'friendlier'. I've lived in London and in the north and people in the north are certainly chattier in the street, shops, on buses etc - but it depends whether you like talking to people you don't know, doesn't it? I don't, it stresses me out when strangers talk to me, so I find it much easier to get around, get shopping done etc. in London.

I do think northerners are more likely to chat to strangers than southerners - you can always tell a southerner by the nervous “am I about to be mugged” look they get when you say hello to them on a dog walk 😂
However it is a massive generalisation and southerners tend to be friendly to people they know

This is not my experience at all. I moved to London from the countryside and our street couldn't be friendlier. We all sang happy birthday to an elderly woman who's self-isolating earlier this week, from the road, and we have a very active whatsapp group filled with residents of all ages.

The Welsh are the least friendly of all - I will never forget a childhood holiday to Wales when we went into a little pub for lunch off the beaten track and they were all talking about us, pointing and laughing! It sounds funny now but I was ten and mortified (and honestly we were a very normal family - we just happened not to be from this remote Welsh village that we were passing through).

But if it cheers you up to think this way OP, carry on!

I’m a North Walian, and I can categorically say that we are far more likely to start speaking English in the pub when English people walk in so that they can understand when eavesdropping

Could be true, but probably a lot more casually 'racist' in North Wales too... Although I doubt they'd agree

Northerners are more friendly to other Northerners, yes.

I live in the south, plenty of northerners are living here but they are still quite fond of reminding us how much friendlier/better is it in the north. I think it’s a bit of an northern obsession tbh

Friendliness is directly proportional to distance from London.