to wish people would stop saying 'The North'

[Lludmilla]

...like it's all one great big homogenous lump of land.

This irritates me at the best of times, but the recent Covid scapegoating has made it worse. Newsflash: Covid rates actually VARY in what people are referring to as 'The North'. Just like poverty rates, crime rates, unemployment rates, everything really. Who'd have thought it?

I've spent my life in various places, mainly around the north-west and the east Midlands, and I don't have all the southern counties lumped together in my mind as one big mass called 'The South'.

Am I alone in feeling that some (note I said SOME) of those who use the term 'The North' are exhibiting unconscious ignorance/bias?

@Straven123, or Edinburgh.

As others have said, in Scotland "down south" means anywhere in England!

No, Hexham. It's lovely up here in the Proper North.

@Disfordarkchocolate

No, Hexham. It's lovely up here in the Proper North.

When I'm PM I'm drawing a straight line No where I'm England will be more North than anywhere on Scotland. It's confusing 😂. You're gonna be Scottish

I'm from Northumberland and to me south of Durham is the Midlands. Bloody liverpool is not "the north". On that side Carlisle and cockermouth are the north (or north west)

@nancybotwinbloom

It always makes me think of game of thrones when people say the north.

You beat me to it. I’m off to build a wall to fend off the southern white walkers

@Disfordarkchocolate

No, Hexham. It's lovely up here in the Proper North.

Hexham is beautiful

@Disfordarkchocolate , haven't been to Hexham for years. I'm to the east of you, in Sunderland, also the proper north.

I'm never sure whether people mean "the North" as in just the North if England, or is it just Scotland, or is it the North of England and Scotland combined? Also, where does the South begin?

I think "the North" means "not London " for some lazy minded feckers

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion Thu 15-Oct-20 19:23:35
I'm never sure whether people mean "the North" as in just the North if England, or is it just Scotland, or is it the North of England and Scotland combined? Also, where does the South begin?

Depends on the conversation. If it's the north of Britain then Scotland is the North and England is the south.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion

I'm never sure whether people mean "the North" as in just the North if England, or is it just Scotland, or is it the North of England and Scotland combined? Also, where does the South begin?

I think generally they mean North England, South England unless they're Scottish or Welsh. The South starts below the Midlands and the North above it

Clitheroe is the middle of Britain, apparently.
And the people of Lancaster are the friendliest in the country.

YABU, Southerners are also lumped together. To some, the entire South equals London where apparently everyone is a multi millionaire banker, stabbing people on the weekends and plotting to make the lives of ‘Northerners’ hard.

I also remember seeing lots of Daily Mail comments in April claiming that Covid was all the fault of Londoners because we’re dirty.

People say “the south” too and London is nothing like Cornwall (for example). Just a loose way of speaking. But yes if you are the govt making an announcement or similar you need to be specific.

It's because it's the north of england, rather than the north of the U.K.
But yes, saying the north is annoying, it's like we're just one huge town

”It always makes me think of game of thrones when people say the north.“

^^
To be fair I think it’s the other way around! Whenever they talked about “the North” in GoT it made me think of our North, and I think GRRRRRMartin based it loosely on the North of England.

For American audiences I guess their equivalent would be their South though.

I've been to Durham and I'm sure somewhere on the way was a sign on the motorway saying To the North.

I live in the Midlands. I often refer to going 'up north' when visiting the North East or the Lake District. I also refer to the South too though.

I am guilty of conscious bias as I love the north. I love the stunning scenery and the friendly folk of the North East and regard it as my 2nd spiritual home.

The economic north south divide.

Hello there @MuddlingMackem, the place where I bought many a pair of Geordie Jeans.

Well I’m north of Dunsop Bridge so I’m definitely a northerner 😂. I don’t mind ‘the north’ being referred to as a whole, I do think we have a common... I don’t know, shared identity. How exciting is it when you meet a fellow northerner on holiday and you don’t have to tell them you live ‘near Manchester’? 😂

Anywhere south of Manchester is definitely the Midlands.

I just think it hilarious and depressing at the same time that all those who were telling us we only had ourselves to blame for the restrictions last week are now outraged that they’re being included 😂.

To be fair it is very Game of Thrones as Westeros is modelled on Great Britain in the time of the war of the roses. The wall is Hadrian’s wall and the Scottish are the Wildlings. Us Lancastrians are Lannisters and the Starks are House York (total GoT geek but it’s really interesting if you look into it).

[quote MuddlingMackem]@Straven123, or Edinburgh. [/quote]
Edinburgh? That'll be in the west then

@Devlesko

Clitheroe is the middle of Britain, apparently. And the people of Lancaster are the friendliest in the country.

It depends on what you're including. It's either near Dunsop Bridge, in Morecambe Bay or near Whalley (and if you're going to ask 'where's Whalley'... it is indeed quite close to Clitheroe.) At all events, definitely in Lancashire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CentrepointssoftheeUnited_Kingdom