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?

Hope you like motorways and flight paths if looking at knutsford, although more easterly like great Budworth and round that area is nice but not much going on...depends what you are after

Don’t come back up north… you aren’t allowed to have that humour anymore it’s all gone to shit.

I've lived in London and Sheffield and I must say found both sets of people very very friendly and very funny. Sheffield is more relaxed. But that's comparing two major cities. Moving from a big city to an insular village would be the culture shock.

@pincklop ffs that's my retirement bolloxed then, I will just have to be a grumpy twat down here instead...do you think it's been influenced by all the southerners moving north because they've heard it's cheap up north?

Have you got owt moist?

You should definitely come back up and be grumpy here. Nothing to do with any southerners it’s just how pathetic people are becoming. Yoh can’t say anything without upsetting people. Probably best to be more southern and not be chatty and sociable because trying to be nice up north is likely to get you into trouble. No one can take a joke anymore. Kids are traumatised over everything it’s pathetic.

I never really understand these threads. I find it hard to believe that people in 2025 ask things like this tbh. I mean, there are plenty of differences in the areas in terms of socio-economic factors etc., but 'cultural' differences? When you're driving about three - five hours in a different direction, in the same country? It's not exactly going from the Mongolian Steppes to downtown LA, is it?

Both DH and I moved separately from the south to the north decades ago. It never occurred to either of us to do any furrowed brows over the 'difference' between southerners and northerners.

Surely you know people from all over the place already?

Our families are down south, some up here, friends from all over, colleagues the same. Some are brilliant, some are wankers. Some are warm and hilarious, others are brittle arseholes. Nothing to do with whether they're 'northern' or 'southern.'

And the 'am I in denial?' About what?

Well that's a nice area. And Knutsford has a Booths.

Oh and in case it helps, Peover is pronounced Peever.

I went to “that London” once. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying without swearing as punctuation and I was confused by the lack of rain.

I live in the wettest past of Cumbria though and it’s pretty expensive to live here.

People are friendly

I'm from south Manchester and wouldn't live in the posh cheshire villages. Where I live is vibrant and diverse, whereas Knutsford etc are all white, quite stuck up vibes and a bit dull to me. Come and visit the difference places for a week or two and see what suits you!

Well, at least you now know that if you do go north, you will have to choose your words very carefully with some people. Of course, you won’t know which people, so that’s going to be challenging.

I’m sure there are cultural differences. Some things are going to be much better. But as you can see from the posts, one thing many northerners and southerners have in common is that they each believe they are far superior to the other.

I’m from the south and moved to the midlands. The biggest thing I found was that people don’t say hello or engage in small talk with people they don’t know each other in the Midlands. I had some funny looks at first when I tried to do that with strangers lol.

That took some getting used to as I found the South much friendlier but I did adjust, I now do an eye contact test first, I give someone eye contact and if they give it back then I say hello. When I’m down South I just say hello.

That is the midlands though, I don’t know what the North is like because I’ve never lived there!

Here’s one difference. If you’re on public transport in Liverpool and don’t know where you’re going, people are keen to help you.

If you’re on the tube in London and the journey is terminated early and you ask for advice, people either ignore you or look at you as if you’ve got two heads.

That’s why after a few days working in London I am very happy to be standing on the platform at Euston waiting to head north.

There's JL in Manchester, Stockport, Leeds and Liverpool.

Were you not able to read the opening post?

Not everyone is friendly up north and nor is everyone unfriendly down south.

Friend who works in Manchester, lives in Hale, and loves it. You need to properly explore the area. Knutsford may be the place, or not.

I couldn’t comment on what it’s like living in the north due to living well above the line across the country of Manchester to Grimsby, even above York, truly a wild desolate part of the country barely different from Scotland. Seriously why do people talk about Manchester/ Cheshire as the North, clearly it’s North of London, but there’s Cumbria(generally stunning) Durham(nice countryside,really nice people) and Northumbria which is fantastic though admittedly a little sparse in towns/ cities , above Manchester and much more the north. The weather is definitely a bit cooler however

Manchester’s full of southerners these days anyway, you won’t need to speak to a northerner unless you want to. Cheshire is generally posh so you’re hardly moving to the set of Kes. I think you’ll cope op.

Transport is your big issue.

If you are planning to work in central Manchester the commute is horrendous.

Cheshire East is very rural.

And honestly, the idea that around Knutsford you would struggle with being a southerner is hilarious. It's known for being pretentious!

Have you been to Cheshire?

If we are talking about the cost of living going down and then living near Booths in the same breathe, you might need to lie down!

Every village in the area has it's own unique character and culture. Which is different again from south Manchester.

It's wildly different between Knutsford, Alty, Wilmslow and the Heatons. Like seriously different. Each has its pros and cons imho.

You do need to visit.

No one tells this poster about Selfridges Manchester or Harvey Nics...

Don't think there is a JL in Stockport but there is one in Cheadle Royal, so not far away.

Anyway, OP is looking at Knutsford area.