Why is The North seen as backward and undesirable?

[Sibsmum]

Can't understand why The North, seems to get looked down on , except when someone wants a holiday home somewhere pretty, or a big house for cheaper prices.
There are Universities, theatres, good schools, roads that aren't clogged all the time( and some that are...)spectacular scenery... So why is there still a perception that somehow The North is 'less' everything than the South?

I imagine the people who characterise “The North” as some sort of working class wasteland are the same sort of witless people who would characterise “The South” as some sort of soulless pretentious shithole.

In reality the majority of people just quietly get on with their lives without looking down on anyone because of where they live.

This ridiculous North vs South “divide” is tedious - there isn’t one, just some people are twats no matter where they live.

Its only a debate because people can't comprehend that that little well known town called Birmingham exists along with a ton of others to form the Midlands. It should make it easy. Up from the Midlands is North, down is South,West is

All of that is just 'down south' to me.

I think people are being lighthearted about it. Manchester is obviously in the north of England but calling it 'the north' is very English centric so people are just pointing that out in a tongue in cheek way. Eg the north starts at Carlisle joke

I moved South from Yorkshire and whoever didnt notice the weather difference is not paying attention!! To be honest I miss Northern weather sometimes, vertical instead of horizontal rain just seems wrong to me somehow.

Anyway as soon as you spend any time with Americans (or anyone else who lives in a big country presumably) and they start saying things like 'yeah it's local, only a 5 hour drive' you realise how ridiculous all this really is.

I moved North as a student and stayed. Films like Rita Sue and Bob too, even the wonderful Billy Elliot, played into this idea of "grim up North"

And don't forget the KLF song "It's grim up North"

Bloody cheek! 😒

I live in Durham, anything past Scotch Corner is 'down south'

Really, buddy? I lived in North Leeds for years, never saw trees being pollarded. Maybe it depends on which bit. Roundhay, Moortown, Alwoodley, Chapel Allerton all have tree lined streets. Not to mention Roundhay Park!

This ridiculous North vs South “divide” is tedious - there isn’t one, just some people are twats no matter where they live.

Absolutley coundn't have put that better myself!

Well with tha execption of Gods chosen land of course:)

Why you can do some train spotting from the head office:)

railcam.uk/partners/NRYorkROC1.php

I'm from the north, have lived in London and am now in the south west. Some of the comments on this thread are just as rude about southerners as anything that people say about northerners. There's nice people all over.

Ha, a reverse of the previous comment!

@MingeofDeath I think you're spot on personally. In terms of generalisations/stereotypes. Obviously it doesn't mean it's all true but I think it's where it stems from.

I'm not from the UK originally but all I get fed info wise about the North is essentially how much poorer it is, how much higher unemployment is, that people are less educated and then there's loads of ex mining/industrial areas, which in any country are bound to be less desirable. Even silly things like knowing that the army focus a lot more on recruiting soldiers up north because the demographics mean they're less likely to have other options, so they're basically targeting poor 16 year olds who are unlikely to do their A levels and have very limited employment options in their areas. Or that Blackpool has the lowest life expectancy in all of the UK.

No one thinks that's the whole picture obviously but it does taint the image a bit.

Imagine living in the Midlands where you are neither - perhaps considered 'northern' by those further South and 'southern' by those further North. And every time you open your mouth people think you are thick

I don't have much experience of 'up north', but a family member moved up north some years ago and we went to visit. They lived on the coast, and made a huge deal of 'being by the sea' - except the sea was brown! But I know tidal flow can't be helped.

What really got me was the food. No veg or salad anywhere when we ate out. Suet puddings and chips were the norm. Very carb heavy, and no sign of balanced, healthy eating on restaurant menus.

Where I live we have fresh fish, a wide range of salad and veg on every menu and I don't think anyone has seen a suet pudding in years! And this was only a few years ago - and, from what family member tells me, hasn't changed. It's all beige food and veg/salad is seen as something only 'soft southerners' eat.

I do appreciate my experience is limited to Blackpool and its environs, but it's done enough to put me off!

@PartTimeTeacherOfEnglish

Totally agree. Fruit and veg seem to be a foreign food where I live and my friends up here are always bemused when I buy so much fruit and insist on lots of veg for dinne

I've lived in the north my whole life. I have no idea what a suet pudding is and I always have vegetables in some form when I eat out (and no I don't just mean chips ).

What really got me was the food. No veg or salad anywhere when we ate out. Suet puddings and chips were the norm. Very carb heavy, and no sign of balanced, healthy eating on restaurant menus.

This made me laugh. I think you might've just frequented carby establishments! Obviously the whole of the North of England is not only eating suet pudding and chips!!

I disagree. Blackpool and those food examples are about as typical of 'The North' as Jaywick is of the south.

Go into the centres or suburban areas of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, York or Sheffield to find the cultural and gastronomic norm for millions of northerners.

Just Googled suet pudding and the only thing I really recognise is the jam roly poly.

To all of you arguing over where the north starts you're all wrong. Inverness is the south because it has an M&S and you have to lock your car bangs gavel.

Can't be that great up north, when I used to advertise for people to share a house in Surrey they were nearly always northern graduates escaping from the north.

@ThePlantsitter

Obviously not, but it definitely is a much more 'meat and 2 veg' place with an absolute admiration for chips everywhere I've been

[quote 2155User]@ThePlantsitter

Obviously not, but it definitely is a much more 'meat and 2 veg' place with an absolute admiration for chips everywhere I've been [/quote]
I think you just ate in some weird places.

The weather in a word - I don't look down on anyone but lived in the SW and SE and the difference in rainfall is astounding. SE def has driest, sunniest weather in UK, that's just a fact. Why does everyone 'looking down' on Southeners assume we all live in £1 million shoe boxes

Having lived half my life 'up North' and the other half in 'down South' I would love to go back when I retire soon but the weather puts me off.

The weather is more often than not much better the further south you are and that is a big plus for me.

@EveryPlanetHasAYorkshire

Not necessarily talking about eating out, more going round to friends/families/colleagues etc

@GreyGardens88
There was no such thing as a north/south divide in the UK before the late 20th Century

Not true. William the Conqueror deliberately laid waste to large areas of the north in the 11th century in order to suppress rebellion. The result was depopulation and comparative poverty in the north of England that lasted hundreds of years.