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Original poster

What’s the furthest north in the UK you’ve been? Where do you think the north starts?

506 replies

BarrelOfOtters · 21/09/2023 07:10

Prompted by a friend who has never been north of Birmingham and thinks of that as North.

orkney for me.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
FpTr3952fHp · 22/09/2023 18:06
  1. John O'Groats
  2. Somewhere around Leicestershire/ Derbyshire where the 'northern' (as opposed to midlands) accent begins.
CampsieGlamper · 22/09/2023 18:06

Thurso by rail, pentland firth by sea

RandomUsernameHere · 22/09/2023 18:11

Durham. I think of Birmingham as being up North, but live in the South so it's all relative!

JoanThursday · 22/09/2023 18:20

I'm in North Yorkshire. The furthest North I've been is Dundee.

There is a lot of 'north' above me. A friend who lives near me comes from Shetland. It can easily take him 20 hours to get home. That's a long way!

ErrolTheDragon · 22/09/2023 18:21

DuchessOfSausage · 22/09/2023 17:54

@YokoOnosBigHat , Watford Gap, not Watford. They aren't the same place. Watford Gap is near Northampton, I think.

I fear some southerners really do mean Watford!Grin

GreyNomad · 22/09/2023 18:24

Ben Nevis.

I always feel I'm "in the north" when approaching Sheffield, so somewhere between Birmingham and Sheffield I guess? I used to live in Carlisle. I love the northern-most stretch of the M6 - so quiet and beautiful views.

DuchessOfSausage · 22/09/2023 18:25

Blimey, St Alban must be in The Grim North. Do they all wear flat caps and keep ferrets there?

BlueThursday · 22/09/2023 18:32

Dingwall is the furthest north I’ve been and the North starts at Aberdeen

LoobyDop · 22/09/2023 18:35

Anyone who thinks Sheffield isn’t Northern can be reassured that if you have the accent, public school types will treat you like a shaved monkey. Maybe that should be the test.

WobblyLondoner · 22/09/2023 21:54

Furthest north - Durness.
North starts - eek, Sheffield?

Usedtobemummynowjustbruh · 22/09/2023 23:27

Being from the North of Scotland, I would consider Gretna and below as south! It is all relative!

NellePorter · 22/09/2023 23:30

Furthest north I've been to in the UK is Edinburgh. I think when people talk about "The North", they mean England, and for me that starts at Sheffield (I live further north than that).

CasperGutman · 23/09/2023 06:49

DuchessOfSausage · 22/09/2023 17:54

@YokoOnosBigHat , Watford Gap, not Watford. They aren't the same place. Watford Gap is near Northampton, I think.

Watford Gap is basically the same place as Watford. It's just that it's the village of Watford in Northamptonshire rather than the town of Watford in Hertfordshire.

BitOutOfPractice · 23/09/2023 08:06

Well @CasperGutman i never knew that. I love it when I learn something new on mn. Thank you for that. I’ve often wondered as I’ve chugged up the m1. As I pass it today I will definitely pass my new wisdom on. Thank you.

milafawny · 23/09/2023 08:23

below Gloucester - Ipswich imaginary line is south
Above Stoke-Nottingham imaginary line north
Everything in the middle is midlands.

Furthest ive been is Carlisle, and agree with @GreyNomad that last part of the M6 is actually enjoyable, once you get past Preston its quite beautiful.

MasterBeth · 23/09/2023 08:37

Furthest north I've been is Aberdeen.

I'm English and "The North" to me is northern England. Culturally and politically, that's anywhere north of the Midlands. So, all of Yorkshire, Greater Manchester etc, even if they are still a long way from the Scottish borders.

MasterBeth · 23/09/2023 08:45

BitOutOfPractice · 22/09/2023 13:42

The thing is, we weren’t given a midlands option. It was north, south, that’s it.

and i stand by my earlier comment. Northern-ness and Southern-ness are a state of mind, not a position of geography. And the West Midlands, which is what I know best, is northern in mindset and culture. It isn’t Southern in any way shape or form.

No, the question is "where do you think the North starts?" It starts after the Midlands

DuchessOfSausage · 23/09/2023 20:00

@CasperGutman , yes but to those in the South, Watford is the one inside the M25.

DuchessOfSausage · 23/09/2023 20:07

And the West Midlands, which is what I know best, is northern in mindset and culture. Is it? I thought it had its own mindset and culture, but I'm not from there. I'd say it was true-ish of the northern parts of the Midlands.
It isn’t Southern in any way shape or form. Definitely agree.

CasperGutman · 23/09/2023 20:41

DuchessOfSausage · 23/09/2023 20:00

@CasperGutman , yes but to those in the South, Watford is the one inside the M25.

Never heard of it! 🤣

mrshoho · 23/09/2023 20:46

Edinburgh is the furthest North I've been but I would love to tour all over Scotland one day.

Once through Birmingham I consider myself in the North.

AlexaCanYouHearMe · 23/09/2023 20:48

Anything north of Warrington and the Peak District is 'The North' to me. Unst in Shetland is the furthest North in the UK I have been.

DonnaHadDee · 23/09/2023 21:11

Several years ago I went with my father to a funeral in Portree for a funeral of an old army colleague of his. We'd planned to do exploring further north, but had to cancel due to his own ill health. Have always wanted to go back to that area.

"North" for me has always been above the M62. For DH it starts at Birmingham.

Thighdentitycrisis · 23/09/2023 21:31

Birmingham is in the midlands so is Nottingham
I think of Liverpool and Manchester as being in the north of England

the furthest north I’ve been in the U.K. is Edinburgh/ Glasgow not sure which is further

LuluBlakey1 · 23/09/2023 23:08

Charlattanus23 · 22/09/2023 00:54

Scottish Highlands/Outer Hebrides. If only there were jobs there in my line of work I'd move in a heartbeat... I grew up in Newcastle and currently live in Greater Manchester and something I find quite hilarious, having lived over half my life in the West Country, is that Manchester doesn't seem to think it's the north. (Since the bit where I currently live bears a terrifying resemblance to Royston Casey I've come to the conclusion it's just a parallel universe.)

Manchester isn't the North- it's the Midlands.