North/South divide

[tallulah]

I was born in the South & I've always lived in the South. Now I'm stuck in Ashford, Kent which is one of the areas designated by John Prescott for massive expansion. We've seen the population increase horribly in the last few years (huge problems with schools, GPs, water, roads etc etc). Most seem to be coming from London or the North. Now I can understand people downsizing from London but why so many Northerners?

Having the usual Southerners view of "the north" as bleak, grim and industrial, my DH (also from South) just took me on a whistlestop tour this weekend. We went to Newcastle, Lindisfarne, Edinburgh, Whitby & York. Having seen these places I can't understand why anyone would want to move to Kent!!

There are huge empty spaces, with no acres & acres of housing all packed together. There is decent public transport. There is nightlife. There are people going out for the evening & having fun... no-one walks the streets in the evening here for fear of being mugged! Petrol the day we left here was 76.9p litre (having only just been reduced from 79.9p). In Edinburgh it was 71.7p. Why the difference?!

I suppose the question is, do you live where you live through choice, and if so, what do you like about it? If you don't, what do you hate about it? (& why are so many Northerners moving to Kent? )

Think you have just got an expensive Petrol station , I live in South London and petrol is 72.9p a litre.

I've been to Ashford! In fact I have a Scottish friend there who is a Biology teacher and has just given birth to her 1st child. Ring any bells Tallulah?

I wasn't impressed with Ashford or Dover, but Canterbury was grrrreat! We went there twice while I was there (b4 children).

I live about 25 miles from Edinburgh and it's lovely, but I'd move in a second. I like the fact that house prices are relatively low, the scenery is spectacular and the people are fab ())

I don't like the weather and the shortage of jobs in my area.....

I lived in Edinburgh for three years and now live in Manchester. Would move back at the drop of a hat. Loved it, it is the best

Forestfly - were you studying at Edinburgh?

No it was the last stop when i was traveling, only supposed to be there for 3 weeks but fell in love!

Nutjob, that was the cheapest petrol station... ! Everywhere else in Ashford it's still more than that. We noticed when we went to London the other week that fuel is cheaper there too. Why are we being penalised?

I live in Worcester and originally moved to be with DH. Having lived in Manchester (where I was brought up), Wales and Surrey, I can honestly say that I enjoy it here the most. We have exactly the right balance of city & country. You can travel 20 mins and be in countryside with not a soul for miles or alternatively you can go the same distance and be in the heart of a small but busy city with plenty of shops etc. For the hardened shoppaholic Birmingham is just 30 mins down the M5/M6.

I feel happy that my kids (DS1, DS2 & DD) have plenty to do without me panicking too much about their whereabouts.

If I could change one thing, it would be the house prices. Though I'm sure most of you in London would think we're getting pretty good value !

I live in London and don't want to. DH has been looking for a job outside London for a while now but has not found anything suitable and doesn't want to commute. So we stay until he finds something. Moving to a more familyish area to try and make it better in the interim.

I have also lived in Winchester (too small town) and Sydney (ok i spose if you like all that sunshine, I prefer the uk)

I live 20 miles outside Edinburgh, and love it. I have lived in and visited a few different places and found Edinburgh to have a great way of life, it is really beautiful, lots of things to do and a good centre for business so plenty of jobs. I would recommend it to anyone! The weather would be the only downside but you get used to it!

Talluah - not sure but I think it is just that there are so many petrol stations in close proximity to each other in London that they all have to vie for your custom and that keeps prices down. Probably a load of old codswallop (no offence codswallop!!) but it's what I have been told.

I used to notice petrol in London was cheap compared to just outside but I once heard someone say the garage oppposite him used to put their rices up just before a bank holiday or whenever they felt people would be heading off for a long drive....!

Here in Nottingham the prices at the mo range from around 71p at Asda to 80p at a smaller non-supermarket but can't remember which brand garage just over a mile from Asda.

Petrol stations around the south-east coast, channel ports, eurotunnel etc all charge at least 76/79. I think its to catch the traffic from Europe but what about those of us who live here? It's a rip-off.

I live in Liverpool (through choice - was brought up here) but have tried London, Durham, Germany, America in the last 12 years.

Some say, "East West Home's Best". I think that's crap, I like the humour, the house prices, the city architecture, the coast (yes, we do have coastal areas of beauty). I hate the weather, commuting to Manchester every day for work, stray dogs in parks.
Moomicat

I was brought up in Glasgow and loved it. dh and i planned to settle there but his job was transferred at short notice and he ended up in Watford. dh is from the Wirral (fake scouser) which is also a really nice part of the world. Would love to end up there or even better back in Scotland. I hate living here - too expensive, dirty and too far from home - sob

Just for info - thought some of you might be interested in the "petrolbusters" service provided by the AA. Gives the cheapest local petrol in your area.

Have a look at this

i moved from north to south about 18 mnths ago - and your chippies are crap, your curries are crap, your accents dodgy to say the least, not the friendliest of people on the whole - however you have the sun and northereners moving down to make it loverly for you miseryarses southerners

in my area at least - wages are higher educational achievements are higherm medical care standards are higher - still you all have them silly accents

Thanks for the web link, woozle. Now I know where to get my petrol tomorrow.

Custardo, I missed decent London curries when I moved to Nottingham but have to agree on chippies. What's that fish they serve? Rock salmon???? And whoever heard of a chippy without good mushy peas? I don't think I really ate from a decent chippy in almost 10 years of living in London.

Chips peas and gravy, always wins!

amen sister! chips peas n gravy lordy

My SIL has lived in Ashford for years and my Dsis lives in Canterbury, where I used to live. There is no way we would ever move back to that part of Kent, it's so awful compared to even 20 years ago, with endless miles of concrete and houses. My dad's old allotment now has a Sainsbury's Homebase on it, waaahhhhh!

In the UK we live near Aberdeen and I think just about everything there except the weather is better than 'Darn Sarf'. We'd like to retire to Soemrset, though, when the children are off our hands.

Re petrol, the price here in Jakarta has just been raised to a stunning 17p a litre!!!!!!!

My SIL has lived in Ashford for years and my Dsis lives in Canterbury, where I used to live. There is no way we would ever move back to that part of Kent, it's so awful compared to even 20 years ago, with endless miles of concrete and houses. My dad's old allotment now has a Sainsbury's Homebase on it, waaahhhhh!

In the UK we live near Aberdeen and I think just about everything there except the weather is better than 'Darn Sarf'. We'd like to retire to Soemrset, though, when the children are off our hands.

Re petrol, the price here in Jakarta has just been raised to a stunning 17p a litre!

Arrrrgghhh, connection problems, sorry.

I'm in West Yorkshire about 10 miles from Leeds and quite like it here, though would possibly like to live in the North Yorkshire countryside. Leeds is far too busy for me and I would just hate anywhere bigger and busier.

Fish shop fish is usually haddock here with the skin removed and fried in dripping NOT oil (it really does make all the difference). We are also near the curry capital of the UK - Bradford, where a good restaurant is usually the downstairs of a little terraced house (as recommended by Rick Stein - DH goes there regularly for around £5-£8 per head, sit down 2 course meal).

I was also in Whitby at the weekend! It was busy because the Endeavour came in again but not as busy as I have seen it in the past, the weather (although not bad) put people off I think.

well,by birth and up until my mid twenties i was a confirmed northerner,but have lived in east london for a few years and it gets my vote(pls note this is deffo not a trendy bit of east london!!)i love it here,i know lots of people in my street,my neighbours are great,public transport is good compared to other areas,we have endless free huge parks,fantastic free museums,loads of under fives,over fives and teenagers stuff-and im comparing this to berkshire and manchester as thats where other people who i know have kids,ok so secondary schools aren,t the best in the country but surprisingly they do have kids who get Alevels and so forth!!i go out and leave my back door open,(and sometimes the front whoops!!)my car is often unlocked over night(obviously dp knowws nothing of this!),anyway,i understand why people hate living in london if they live in islington,hackney,camden etc but where i am is fab,for in 10 mins,nature marshes in 5 mins,west end in 30 mins,seaside in 1 hour hooray for the least glamorous part of london!!good chips too.