Is there a cultural difference between North and South?

[Thepo]

Dh and I have decided we are going to leave our home counties home and move ‘Up North’ to a Cheshire vilage close to Manchester. We’ve spent time in Manchester but not for extended peiords of time. We like the city. Our commute will be slashed in half and our house will be much more comfortable.

I’m of course expecting there to be slight differences but at the end of the day the North is still England. So how different can it be? Right? We get along with pretty much every one we meet.

Am I just in denial?

Manchester isn't North its South 😉

I've lived quite a few places in the UK OP main difference between South East and North West would be people generally friendlier but also straight talking and will say it as they see it.

Scotland different level of straight talking 😂

I’m a native southerner who lived in London for three years, definitely not a friendly place, in the locality that I lived or other areas.

Gravy on chips is bloody lush.

Yes, it’s freezing, but none of my friends voted Brexit (although some southern relatives did) although if you go looking for Brexiteers, you’ll find them.

Plus the house prices are affordable.

Yeah, plenty of money as the cost of living is cheaper too.

@Hhoudini you lived in London for 3 years but call yourself a native? 🤔

Fair enough if Op were talking about London but even with my tenuous grasp of geography south of Nottingham I know Kents not London
DD's BF is from Surrey and he had very little exposure to decent Asian food, local to him are just gastro pubs and Italians.

I lived in Hertfordshire for most of my early years but London for three years.

London isn’t the only Southern town 😉

I’m from the North and live in the South, there’s no amount of money that could tempt me to move back, it’s colder, wetter, people aren’t friendlier - in my opinion they’re ruder, there’s les opportunities up North, I wouldn’t put my kids through it.

When I was livid with Ds16 for using the word Cunt (not referring to me) my Scottish friend explained its a term of endearment up there

I love Korean, Chinese and Japanese food. There is no shortage of them around the Trafford/Cheshire belt these days. It's where all the Hong Kong Chinese have moved so they are everywhere round here now. And if you really don't like the local options the number of restaurants in Manchester city centre itself is nuts. I could happily dine somewhere every day for two months and probably not get round everywhere.

The funniest thing is there's a huge number of southerner who have moved up this way. The way the OP says it you'd be forgiven for thinking that she is the first intripide explorer and we've never seen a southern before

(Whispers - northerners are being priced out the area by southerners with their London pounds).

Haven’t read all the posts. You are likely to find your money goes a lot further in some parts of the North, than some parts of the South, and can get larger properties, often with a decent garden for a lot less money. Don’t expect transport links to be as good as say London away from the big cities. I personally find the South less of a friendly place, less striking up of conversations with strangers, less eye contact, so for me the North seems a warmer, more welcoming place in terms of human contact. The scenery is definitely more rugged. Manchester will be wet, across the Pennines in Yorkshire it’s a lot drier, and our Summers and Winters have got a lot warmer this last decade or so. The cities are like cities anywhere else, there will be horrible parts and there are some very nice parts. Personally, I don’t like Manchester, but plenty do, you have to find your own niche as you do anywhere. Expect conversation to be slightly more blunt, but the smiles come through the eyes as well.

I would have to agree with Madchester, so many cool ( in both senses of the word) places.

Hahahah hahahaha.

Erm.

You get paid less and by the time you've spent your money buying a house in that area, you probably aren't much better off these days. The most sort after places are in line with prices in many parts of the south - with the exception of central London.

It WAS true a good ten years ago or so but not so much now. The house prices have gone nuts (see above comment about Hong Kong).

She needs to look around then as there is decent sushi in York. Again, can’t compare to the range and options in London but I’d be surprised if it weren’t able to match Sevenoaks or Tunbridge Wells.

Yes, there'll be differences. But it's more complicated than just a North v South thing. There are cultural differences between places within the south or within the north. There are probably more differences between, say, a leafy Surrey commuter village and a deprived inner city area of London than you will ever find between two similar villages in Surrey and Cheshire.

If you want the best rats, aim in the middle. Birmingham is the place to be atm.

I've lived north, south and in the middle. Never really found much difference. Everywhere has its nice areas, and it's not so nice areas. Some people are friendly, some not.

Fwiw I think every city in the UK has it's own feel and culture. Even just down the road from Manchester in Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield it is very different. And the weather is surprisingly different in each.

In Manchester the rain is reliable - it needed it to be to fuel the industrial revolution with watermills. But it's also very changeable. DH used to cycle to work daily and found it rarely rained on his commute even if it rained daily.

You get used to it quickly.

I’ve lived up north with northern family, down the south west way and also in London and in all honesty, people are people. There are some good ones and some shit ones.

You’ll be fine as long as you stop wondering of northerners are aliens. They’re the same as everyone else.

Hmm, I'm from the SE and we have family near Liverpool, and I spent a whole year living with them and commuting to Chester for my Legal Practice Course a decade ago. Maybe things have changed, but the only difference I noticed (barring the absence of savaloys 😩) was a more defined difference between the sexes and normalised sexism. I was very outspoken on the fact I had paid the same as the guys for my education, so they would bloody well let me access it, but the other girls were very much shut out of group training scenarios. I also recall there being mildly fascinated surprise that I was not going into law to find a husband and then give it all up to have kids, following some rather direct assumptions being directed against me. Never experienced that before, or since moving back down south. Still, the girls I studied with have all gone on the have great careers, so I can only assume they let it wash over them more. Cheshire is lovely and I'd have happily stayed there but for finding a job elsewhere.

These days I suspect there’s more money in Cheshire than Surrey. Footballers easily out earn the bankers.

And Cheshire has Booths!!! 😍

Manchester Centre and Cheshire rents are not far off London now, certainly at the higher end that I deal with.
One of my clients rented a house in Cheshire for £12k pm recently and for another one we got a Manchester City Centre flat for £6kpm for a 2 bed.
Some of my London clients pay less than that

@Thepo We like the city. Our commute will be slashed in half and our house will be much more comfortable. I’m of course expecting there to be slight differences

OK let's try and help you to answer your question about culture. Not all Northerners will agree with me here, we are not one big amorphous lump of people - but I do know many, many people will recognise some if not all of these points.

First, there are many different 'Norths'. We are not one big homogenous mass. Within that there is also considerable diversity of class, race, religion and ethnicity. The landscape is hugely varied too, and this also affects the culture of each area or region.

Second, the city of Manchester is not the North, and the culture of Manchester pretty much ends at the outer ring road. Greater Manchester encompasses lots of places, many of which don't consider themselves part of Manchester at all.

Third, as others have pointed out, if (and I'm sorry if I've got this wrong) you are moving to an affluent village in Cheshire, then this won't be particularly representative of the North, either. Many such places are now colonised by folks recreating 'the South'.

Fourth, in terms of 'culture', you will find that the North is generally more sociable, people are generally more direct and open, and this is reflected in the Northern sense of humour. Rightly or wrongly, Northerners often perceive Southerners to be humorless and selfish.

@Thepo but at the end of the day the North is still England

The thing is, from a Northern perspective, there are 'two Englands' - one in London/SE, and a culturally and geographically diverse 'England' beyond. And this social, political and economic divide is widening, mostly due to the actions of London/SE and its institutions.

So, I don't think people are having a dig at you personally, OP. We like people moving to and appreciating the North. But many - again, not all - of us are also fed up of two-State England and the patronising and insulting way the North is treated by London/SE.

South Walian married to a Yorkshireman. 20+ years in and he’s finally getting the hang of cutlery and indoor toilets. The works of Shakespeare, I fear, are never going to land with him though.

Manchester isn't 'north'. It's practically Spain, hen.

I've actually never lived in the south. However, some of my friends/colleagues who relocated from down south seem to confirm the stereotype of northerners being more friendly at least at surface level.
There are places such as the "Golden Triangle" which have a more southern feel.
North Leeds/ York may be a good shout.