Taking Sides: NORTH OF ENGLAND VS SOUTH OF ENGLAND

It's my sleep deprivation, Nick. It all fits ...

Naughty North or the Sexy South? Dunno, but if London and Birmingham could swop places = Classic!

Anthony

Colloquial Northern English is much closer to Scottish-English than Southern-English, and Northerners generally find it easier to get on with their Celtic cousins than those in the South (in my experience). Many Geordies and Scousers prefer not to identify themselves as English.

come to sheffield at 12 pm sundays to laugh at them 'dancing' i nthe carparks. the howard is just over the roundabout from the station so you dont have to walk far.

Which says it all about Londoners, Ed.

I'm still not sure whether I live in the West Country or the South of England. Anywhere in Somerset is the former, Bournemouth the latter (and Wimborne, for that matter), but Portland is *right* on the cusp.

Debatable, highly debatable in fact. I doubt I'll ever go back to Dorset, shame really, but there you go.

(= major bid for joke of the month btw)

Poole although this may be the reason Jonnie is talking about "The harbour is now the worlds biggest natural one following those Aussies building all over theirs. "

Sydney

Tim will be pleased to hear that Falmouth claims the world's third largest!!!!

and Halifax, Nova Scotia claims to be the second largest in area but the largest in terms of water volume.

more to follow undoubtedly.

dunno - I have been there though and it is nice. But probably not as nice as Arne ;)

http://www.infomagic.net/~martince/wlbanana.htm

Chris, don't summon Candyman Pinefox. These days, he's all about disparaging me.

No = no one, it's too much effort to bother writing out complete sentences when it comes to N.

there's a case to be made for the moral superiority of the north in terms of how much more plausible their lumpen mra/roid psycho was compared to this cargo cult imbecile

Inside-mind-Wolverine-Videos-reveal-bizarre-ramblings-21-year-old-triple-murder-suspect-struggled-cope-mother-s-alcoholism-parents-separation-job-hated.html

great dn

this lad needed a nice youth club but there all closed now

I've come to the conclusion and, the fact that this thread exists helps confirm it, that the Midlands is a bit of a mystery to me. For a start, I don't know where anything is. I had no idea Leicester was so far south and Stafford was so far north and what is Northampton? The accents are confusing, Leicester is slightly northern, Northampton sounds "Midlands". I don't know what's in the Midlands and what isn't either. Derby is the Midlands, right? Is Shrewsbury? Peterborough? Crewe? Worcester is but Cambridge isn't?

Derby is classic Midlands, Shrewsbury I never feel is nor Worcester, and i feel v borderline about Crewe - perhaps because it feels it’s one of those places that’s in no sort of zone at all. imv The Midlands is that cluster of industrial towns - Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Stoke, Leicester, Staffs.

Peterborough’s that Lincolnshire and fenland country for me.

Yeah Northampton feels the southmost tip of the Midlands to me.

to me for me jesus.

too many questions to spitball all of them at once. my first proposition would be that anywhere Staffordshire as now constituted and Derbyshire are at least partly more a kind of pre-North than tru Midlands. kind of. Shropshire & southern Cheshire too, but then they've both got a Welsh marches thing going on as well

Notts & Leicestershire also not quite tru Midlands either, or East Midlands as a discrete entity at least

i mean this is a big parcel of vibes that i don't want to spout certainties on but can't help playing with anyway

welsh marches and The Ambiguity of Cheshire < yes. i’m firm on Derby and Notts tho.

otm about vibes obv. my entirely correct but continuously shifting vibes based analysis.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire definitely seem northern because of the accents.

accents is part of it yeah, i guess underlying stuff about the industrial base and the geography, the gravity around Birmingham, idk need to think more on the vibes. obv "the Midlands" shouldn't be reduced to a monoculture any more than "the North" or "the South"

the Peaks is its own gravitational centre maybe

not the entire Black Country - Dudley & Stourbridge were in Worcestershire

oh yeah good shout

the North starts at Stoke as any fule kno

kay, hang on, need to check if this opinion is controversial... East Anglia is part of The South. Is that just me or is that a commonly accepted feeling?

― emil.y, Sunday, 7 April 2024 14:16 bookmarkflaglink

I don't think this should be controversial but has made me think - technically I am from south of the Watford Gap and I have lived in the south my entire adult life, but I still think of myself as a midlander and probably always will, I strongly believe the midlands is its own thing and not north or south. but some of East Anglia is further north than the west midlands - Norwich is further north than Birmingham for instance

on the other hand I call my mum "mom"

there is also "the west is its own thing" argument which I personally agree with - the south west/West Country doesn't have a whole lot to do with the rest of the south and probably has no reason to be grouped together with it really

West Country / London / Anglia / Central / Yorkshire / Border / Meridian / Granada / Tyne Tees - I don't make the rules

tbf that sort of works