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'm a Londoner (born & raised). Looking at moving to Manchester (nice & plenty of veg in the shops).

Always wondered how long before I can refer to myself as a Mancunian?

Another resident of Northumberland here.

It's awful. Freezing in the winter, drenched in the summer, nothing nice to look at, no carrots or apples.

No veg or salad anywhere when we ate out. Suet puddings and chips were the norm

You’re right, my toddler couldn’t pick a carrot out of a line up but she makes a mean mince and dumpling! Got to teach them life skills early before she gets hoyed darn pit

This thread is hilarious just for the incredibly triggered folk...

I don't know about backward and undesirable, but the more history I study, the more it's clear that there has been a clear divide between the Celtic Roman Anglo Saxon south of Britain and the Danish Viking North for over a millennium.

In fact the more I read the more surprising it is we are still a single country of England.

[quote gofy]**@SimonJT* its amazing how many arseholes have pulled a horrible face when I tell them where I’m from, something I have only experienced from a small number of people who have always lived in the south.*

Was that by Londoners or Southerners?

Only because I constantly get told "I've never met one of you before" (in relation to born & bred). Very odd, as I don't think "we" are particularly rare. Could be that people aren't aware BAME are also born & raised 😆[/quote]
Mainly people from south of London, but a few Londoners as well. One was horrified I went on holiday to the forest of dean as it would be full of northeners, I thought he was taking the piss, I was wrong...

😱🤣

@Wheresthesanitygone, are you in Leeds by any chance? We stopped by one year for a meal on the way home from holiday, and were gobsmacked at how expensive everything was compared to elsewhere.

I've lived most of my life in the westcountry but spent a few years living in the north west. I moved back to the Westcountry because the weather is better and there is more to do. When we've taken the children up to visit family we've struggled to find much to do besides hiking in the rain or standing on a freezing cold beach in the wind and rain or queuing for ages in the rain for the Beatrix Potter experience. Its dull, wet and there are a lot of very miserable people up there.

that was in relation to Got to teach them life skills early before she gets hoyed darn pit

Absolutely creased at the idea of there being no fruit or veg in the North

It is one of the more funnier ones. It can be topped.

Personally I'm not arsed. I have such a low opinion of London you couldn't pay me to live there. Works. Both ways. I pity them. so crack on if it makes you feel good.

The weather is usually poor, especially in the North West where I live. There are some rough places in the North but I’m sure there are in the south too. Most people stay fairly close to where they grew up though don’t they? What is the percentage of people who do that, does anyone know. I lived in a London for a couple of years when starting out at work and whilst I enjoyed it, I missed friends and family etc.

When I went to university (Cambridge, so, snob central), demonising anyone from north of Cambridge was essentially a sport

Oh yes! them thar fenny boys and Wisbech!, well anyone ever been there?.

And woss wrong wiv Jaywick sands then?....

What IS this „veg“ you speak of..?

The people who live in the North don't think that way.
Besides the North, like the South is a huge area. Its not just one mass it is very varied.. Eg Liverpool is very different from Howarth. Both are great places but in very different ways.

I work at an independent school in the south. In a staff meeting the music department asked for volunteers to accompany the choir to a competition in Sheffield. There was an audible titter when the town was mentioned.
I’m from north Cambridgeshire so common as muck.

I’ve never thought of it as backward. We have relatives in various Up North areas, so I’m well aware that many areas are stunning and people are often friendlier than down south. Dh and I (southerners) both went to a northern university, as did a dd. But of course there are areas of deprivation, too, same as any city, inc. London.

The areas I know are def. usually colder though. I have a sister in a small Yorkshire Dales town and spring (e.g. daffodils and new leaves on trees) is often 3 weeks behind here (SW London.). Likewise winter arrives sooner.

@pussycatinboots

The same way that the south is seen as poncey, pretentious and over priced?

@lockdownparty you have wifi? 🤯🤯

You forgot 'soft' 😛😉😉

My SIL is from London and was amazed we had pasta north of Watford 🙄

Don’t the people on this thread who are slagging off the south or people from the south realise that makes them look just as twatty as the pricks who do the same with the north?

Oh no look, people in the South so easy more veg than people in the North! But people in the North do eat veg at all.

I can't really believe I went off to research that.

Aye, it’s grim up North. You all stay away ;)

I meant *do eat not so easy

Shish OP, we don't need them all coming here and rising house prices😂

I've gone from The South to The North and I like it here. Even the weather is quite ok where I am.

The discussion about where The North starts depends on whether people are talking about England or the whole UK imho.
If you look at the map north of England is quite a middle if you count England and Scotland.

I live in the south and think people who live in the north are luckier.

I might be wrong, but I don’t imagine pay is much different for ordinary jobs - retail, cafes etc, but the property prices mean that its much easier for young people to get their foot on the housing ladder or even rent. My daughter rents a little room in a shared flat above a vape shop in our town and pays £650 a month for it. A friends daughter in Scunthorpe has just bought a three bedroom house in Scunthorpe for £75,000. The same house here would probably cost £350,000 or more. They both do low paid work.

Unless you work in London, I can’t see many benefits. We live here because we were born here (although not in this town. We couldn’t afford to live in the town we grew up in and neither could any of our school friends), and we’ve never had the courage to move away, but I’m envious of people living in the north or the south west.