Are people from some areas friendlier?

[McBethany]

I’ve recently been on holiday to a place that due to its location was full of Scottish people and Geordies. I was struck by how friendly everyone was, chatty with strangers, and friendly. Everyone saying morning or afternoon when they pass you.

Its similar when I’ve been to Liverpool - I strike up conversations with strangers all over the place. Great customer service too, chatty bar staff who seem to give a shit about serving you.

This isn’t a South bashing thread, and I’m aware everywhere has its share of miseries, grumps and idiots. But do you think the stereotype of friendly Northerners is true?

Whilst living in Edinburgh (not particularly friendly)

Can I make the case for parts of the West Country too? Somerset in particular. Not Bristol, Devon or Cornwall though

i travel for work all over the country and it’s definitely noticeable in some areas more than others! Geordies in particular are so friendly.

Hell yeah. I'm a Southerner, and I think they are pricks.

I've lived in South Liverpool for 20 years and don't recognise the place you're describing at all! I've found this to be a great, friendly city where I feel safe and happy.

Not my experience at all. I lived there as a student and they types you are talking about are few and far between thankfully. It's a city so crime and antisocial behaviour is to be expected like anywhere.

On another note, Yorkshire people are just lovely!

I’m from Newcastle, moved to London for a time. Went jogging said ‘morning’ to everyone I jogged past in the park like you do in the north, no one said it back! Just not a thing to chat to strangers when you’re out and about like it is in the north.

Yep. Londoners are the most friendly.

“real” Londoners are very friendly. The ones with the bad attitudes seem to be people who have moved to the big smoke & think they need to toughen themselves up. It can be quite entertaining when they get challenged though!

I'm from Essex originally but now living in Dorset, having just moved from Hampshire.
I find that people down in Dorset are friendlier and more relaxed than Hampshire and Essex.
I took a trip to see a family member in the Lake District and found that Northerners like Northerners but were rude to us southerners!
In my experience it's:
Dorset
Essex
Hampshire
Lake District!

Basically people get more friendly the further from London you get!

I know Manchester well as DH is from there. Always found Mancunians friendly, kind and helpful.

This is so funny

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0seF62AhuM

On the flip side a lot of these wonderful friendly Northerners expect to be able to give you their opinion on all sorts or stick their noses in where not wanted which can range from claustrophobic to insulting to downright intimidating. And I say that as an ex Northerner currently enjoying the peaceful anonymity of the south east.

London/SE generically tend to be more cautious and less outwardly friendly - it’s cultural. If you’re too friendly you’re seen as weird.

When working in different parts of the UK I found Liverpudlians very friendly and Mancunians very chippy and like they had something to prove. Could just be the people I met though.

There is definitely a reaction in some places to a “posh” Southern voice. My DS in Glasgow finds ppl much friendlier to his Scottish and Northern friends, even though he’s a polite and friendly sort.

So how friendly you experience people I think very much depends on your accent as well. And obviously also how friendly you are to them!

When people from other parts of the country come to London and interact with people they seem to automatically assume they’re interacting with a Londoner.

Oh good, another London bashing thread. It's been at least a couple.of weeks.

The notion that Northerners are more friendly is bollocks, in my experience. London is far and away the friendliest place I know, but then wandering about saying hello to random strangers isn't my yardstick of what constitutes 'friendly'.

The last thread we had about this pointed out that we've learned to respect and value people's personal space, which is why it's considered rude to invade it by talking at them on the underground, for example. Nothing to do with being 'unfriendly'.

Nope, some of the most awful people I know were Northern. Ignorance and misogyny is a powerful combination. I've never understood why they witter on about how fabulous the North is, but all live down South. If it is that great, why aren't you living there?

When people from other parts of the country come to London and interact with people they seem to automatically assume they’re interacting with a Londoner.

yep!

Exactly. What some people call 'friendly' is what others call nosey, overfamiliar and intrusive.

Lived all over Scotland, and Glaswegians are definitely the chattiest. I've found most people from Lancashire and Yorkshire to be friendly too.

Good point re the “real” Londoners. The hackneyed Cockney geezer is a bloody diamond! Met a good few and they are the friendliest on earth.

Edinburgh: very unfriendly
Scotland in general: unfriendly
Bristol: very friendly
West Country: unfriendly
West Midlands: neither friendly nor unfriendly
East Midlands: quite friendly
Wales: very unfriendly
London: quite friendly
Northumberland: friendliest place in UK

See I disagree, Bristol is incredibly friendly for a southern city. I love how diverse it is too, everyone rubs along together.

I like Somerset and Devon and Cornwall but they are not friendly like Bristol is.

and if you’re not white they’re even more unfriendly. That’s why I could never move there.

south wales on the other hand is much more welcoming.

it’s also a myth Londoners don’t say hello to each other, depends on the context. When I leave my house in the morning, someone will say morning/greet me eg dog walker etc as we are part of the same community.