To think the north of England offers a worse quality of life than the South or Midlands?

[DDRickyDD]

I was thinking of moving to Lancashire, but having done some research online, it seems a lot of people have negative opinion of it. I'm now set on Warwickshire or Leicestershire. Does the north in general offer a worse quality of life than the Midlands? I know its cheaper up north but is it much worse up there?

I don’t think it was a north / south thing no, and I know cities such as Liverpool where there is a large student population voted remain, but there was a discernible shift when it came to those “red wall” constituencies and the shift was due to people wanting to “get Brexit done“. There’s no other reason for the way they voted - look at all those areas that had been Labour for generations. People in the Shires had always tended to vote Tory anyway, so no shocker there and it’s precisely why a lot of Londoners don’t want to move to the Shires for the big house and grounds because it strikes them as not their scene. And yes, there has always been that part of Essex that was Farage’s stomping ground and no surprise he was able to manipulate and exploit in an area of such extreme deprivation as Jaywick. But what I’m saying is, this kind of thing, doesn’t exactly encourage people to move out of London because they feel suspicious and alienated.

The thing is, if people in London are daft enough not to realise that of a 16 odd million Remain vote, the majority of it was cast outside their environs and that there are strongly pro Remain areas in other areas of the country (no, not just in student areas) that really isn't anyone else's fault. Although all the Londoners I know are well aware of the Remain voting other areas of the UK, and I feel disinclined to assume they're unusual.

What’s the point of posting links to houses, we all know you get less for your money down a South .
And yet we are all down South, filled to bursting and still people come.
I’ve already said I’d like London moved 100 miles further north. Get the the money spread further up.

But today was glorious, Like it has been since the beginning of lockdown. I can only remember two days of rain during the day since March. It’s holiday hot here in fact and that’s reflected in everyone slipping round in flip flops enjoying themselves. The beaches are 15 miles away because the South isn’t just London. Its warm enough to drink wine outside and marvel that it’s only just dark at 9.30.That’s the selling point for me. 100%. Sun and sea

@leflic sorry just wanted to make a point as to what you can get in various parts of there north and show that they’re varied properties not just new builds or whatever

If you lived in lytham or formby, you could have drank wine by the sea today too! Tomorrow is forecast 27 degrees and it’s been warm this evening too.

That would also pretty much describe the weather where I am 200 miles north of London as well. To the extent that I'd have preferred a bit more rain during lockdown, the plants could've done with a few more showers. The country as a whole has been quite warm and dry for the past couple of months.

@blackberry we were just saying this, we have had the sprinkler on so much on the grass ! It’s dry as a bone dp not happy lol

It is! And I don't even like hot weather. It's to be 27 degrees here tomorrow too which is a bit warm for me.

It’s very complicated BlackBerry and I agree with what you’re saying. I’m trying to explain though why people might be cautious, because often on these threads, people are genuinely incredulous as to why Londoners don’t want to swap their 4 bed terrace for more space elsewhere. But really it’s not even about moving North - lots of people feel as if they couldn’t cope somewhere like Surrey We’ve friends who moved out to places like Cobham and they’re desperate to get back. You’re either a suburban person or you’re not. I know I wouldn’t manage in a rural area for all sorts of reasons. I wouldn’t last a week in a village or small town / city, so that rules out quite a lot, whether in the north or south. Just as London makes people feel anxious, I know I’d get very stressed. Not just in the UK, I wouldn’t want to live in a rural or small town anywhere and there’s no house that could change that. DH and I did once have a look around Poole in Dorset because he loves sailing and the Jurassic coast is one of my favourite UK areas... but no.

I just realized I posted the houses on the wrong thread anyway hahahahaha

It's not rained much in Lancashire either since the beginning of March either though, and we've had a good deal of warm weather. My arms are quite tanned . It did rain this morning but frankly the garden needed it ... we had a lovely sunny evening walk. And I've just been in the garden at 9:45 to smell the flowers, dusk f but light enough to see, and the blackbirds are still singing ... the north definitely wins that one at this time of year. (Yeah, it's darker in winter but that's the season for cosying up indoors)

Its obviously fine to have preferences about preferred areas and lots of people feel that way, I'm just not sure I'm willing to accept that it's commonplace for Londoners to be so poorly informed about patterns of Remain support across the country. I've no doubt there's plenty of ignorance to be found, as there would be if you take any 10 million people, but that seems to me to be selling London residents short. Or maybe I just don't know any of the thick ones.

Also if you do like light late into summer evenings, surely the south of England is the worst place in the UK for that. You want Scotland!

BlackberryCane please stop with Brexit and constant references to “poorly informed, ignorance and thick”. Half the country voted one way the other half didn’t. Life will go on either way.

Yeah everyone bangs on about Scotland having the longest summer nights. However couple with the sporadic grey skies and rain it’s impossible to tell. I go in August and summer has essentially turned in autumn already. It’s a rare drive up the M6 that I don’t hit rain at sone point. The point about the long evenings is that it’s nice to stay out after dark.I’m pleased the northern end is having a good time on the weather front. And yes we need the rain as we’ve lots of farmers down south. But it’s been sunny, every day, all day.
If I could find somewhere further north with the same climate and access to a beach I’d go. Any suggestions?

There is a thread going at the moment about places people are missing and where they will go when lockdown is lifted, and I have to say, most places are in the horrible north.

Blimey! Sorry op. Some of these posts sound like they've come from really nasty sods. People who no area of the UK would want to own.

Mumsnet at its nastiest

Not great for people with frizzy hair. Think Monica. All that rain.

I'm not sure there was anything much which would be generally applicable rather than a stereotype observed in some but not others, which is the point.

So you wouldn't notice any cultural differences between the UK and, say, Morocco?

Quite possibly but that's not what you asked. And some of those cultural differences might be observed within the U.K., and elsewhere.

The problem with dismissing places for their weather is that it's generally based on a long weekend someone once had in the "North" in 1994 when it was drizzling for three days. I live in the Lakes - it rained on Monday for the first time in six weeks. We've had non stop sunshine other than that. Obviously it rains sometimes but not all the time. When you live here you get to experience the lovely weather too.

I went to New York once. It rained. I'm not stupid enough to think it rains there all the time though. Any more than I believe it rains in London all the time because on a couple of my more recent visits the rain was torrential.

Obviously it rains sometimes but not all the time

There is a reason why it's lovely and green with lots of lakes and waters

I went to Florida once. You wouldn't believe the rain...we went home a day early.

On that theme - we once flew to Nice, last minute, to escape a wet British summer to find it pouring down when we arrived and the rain lasted most of our holiday. We returned to the UK to be told how fantastic the weather had been while we were away

Quite possibly but that's not what you asked.

To recap. I said

"Given that people in other countries can make accurate observations about English culture, is it really so odd that would also apply to regions?"

You questioned whether there was such a thing as English culture. I said yes, people from outside the UK can observe it quite clearly. You stated you haven't noticed differences in culture between the country you lived in and the UK "rather than a stereotype observed in some but not others, which is the point."

Your point seems to be that there are no cultural differences whether between countries or regions, just stereotypes. Hence my asking a different question about Morocco vs UK, that being a comparison that my Moroccan friend has made specifically with respect to cultural differences.

So, do you think observable cultural differences exist between countries? Not that every individual in a country adheres to a single cultural template, because of course that's not what culture means, but that observed en mass, enough people follow the norm enough of the time to create observable differences?

Is this still rumbling on?

Goodness.

The reason these things always go on is because there is a ridiculous idea about the North. I've seen it for 30-odd years.

And the thing is, and it goes on, that I think people don't get out that much. People in the South stay in.